decompressing and perfect answers

Life has gotten very busy very quickly.

University has started, and while I still have a great many stories to share, I haven't had the time to sit and type them out!

Amazingly, almost two months after my return, I am still "decompressing" from my trip. I find myself fumbling for a way to quickly describe my travels when people ask.

"You were overseas? Woow. In Burundi?"
"Yep! It was amazing!" 
"...and what were you doing there? Why was it so amazing?"

Now I have the long version of this, the version that requires we go sit down for coffee and I will unload the story in a few hours of conversation. I have yet to come up with the perfect short-version, try as I might. Just so much happened and it's still being processed!

Acclimating and Advice

I've been home for about a week now. This past week, I haven't taken too much time to chill out. I've been busy, just plunging back into "American life" -- VBS, housesitting, all of that fun stuff.

I thought that was the easiest way to go about it.

Well, now everything is hitting me. I am tired, and sleep is a wonderful thing. I am exhausted. I guess the adjustment to a place halfway around the world where the water ph is different as are the viruses does take time. I know for a lot of my stay in Burundi, I felt drained of energy just because of the physical environment.

I was pretty sure that by the end of my 4 months there I would be better adjusted to the germs there and I'd be coming back with vulnerabilities to the viruses here.
I was right.

I am also getting used to a few US customs that I unlearned in Burundi.

For example: hugs/handshakes

When you see someone you know in Burundi, you either shake their hand or give them a hug. when you say goodbye, it's customary to shake hands or give hugs.

So, hello = hug, goodbye = hug

I like hugs.

Americans? They aren't as into hugging, I am realizing.

I might keep this trend up, because such a feeling of friendship comes from as simple a thing as giving a hug hello.

Burundians also have little-to-no personal space. Now I am a personal-space-girl, but after a few weeks of having people in my "bubble" it became a more normal thing. But I don't want to weird people here out with being "in their face"

there are things that are taking getting used to, but I have also been surprised at how many things I have slipped right back into.

Like driving.
Driving in Burundi is like the Rush Hour game.

You are the red car, trying to get to your destination. It's a trip! It's like a theme park ride.

We were stuck in this gridlock intersection for about 10 minutes.

My dad was afraid that I'd drive like a Burundian (i.e. no rules) but as I started up the car, everything came pretty naturally back.


Also, this is my stack of necessities--what I suggest every person bring with them on a missions trip.  Or even to survive the daily grind of life -- no matter one's location.

These books were MAJOR during my time in Burundi.

The top is Jesus Calling -- and it's an amazing devotional. I can't tell you how many times it was dead-on in what I needed to hear from God that day. So, definitely take a solid devo book to guide quiet times. I didn't spend too much time with the devotional book, but it served as a good jump-off point for when I didn't know what to read for the day.

The second book was my journeying journal. I recorded the events of the day in that thing. I resolved to write in it daily...but often I was too tired. I am sure it will be a great thing to re-read in a few months. So many things you think you'll remember, you forget. So this is my way of remembering.

The third book is my sincere supplications book (yeah, I had to name it. Why pass up alliteration?) It was awesome to take notes of sermons/write prayers/spiritual thoughts. It was handy, and looking back on those kinds of journals is great for seeing spiritual growth. I've been trying to keep one up for the past 2 years, and they are encouraging!

The last one is most important. It's my guide to life, my love letter from God. The other three books don't even compare.
My Bible.
If you're living anywhere and you want to be used as a vessel for Christ, you must have this book!

my first week in Burundi! pictures

Because internet was what it was (super slow and unreliable) while I was in Burundi, I was unable to upload many pictures.
So.

Now I have faster internet and uploading pictures will be easier. My plan is to upload pictures chronologically of my time in Africa. The following pictures are of the first week: adjusting, seeing the sights of the city.

So, here are my first glimpses of Burundi.

I was totally discombobulated, but I had a good welcome crew!

The crew

Dazed? Me? OH YEAH.

African puppies! SO CUTE

beautiful flowers

Flies were pretty prevalent during rainy season

Snails

Jonathan, one of the workers and my first Kirundi teacher. Urakoze Cane, Jonathan!

The Internet cafe where we were able to sometimes access internet. Dad wasn't really angry.

Walking to market!

Dad and I walking to market

Lots of "dives". I was NOT brave enough to try these

More strong, hard-headed people walking to market

A funny little monkey.

Grass truck!

dreaming...

I wrote this on the plane 2 days (has it been that long??) ago:

I am sitting in the air, hurtling at 500 miles-per-hour somewhere over Egypt. I have slept very little since Friday morning. I took a power nap in the 1-1/2 hour hop to Kenya from Burundi, and while in the Kenya airport for three hours, I took another nap on the floor in the waiting area on the tiled floor.
I did not know that I could possibly sleep in such a public place, but sleep I did.

 There were many others napping, too. When you've been up since 8 am, and it's 4 am in the morning…it's pretty easy to fall asleep anywhere.

I am finding it hard to sleep on this plane for long spurts, even though I have been so blessed to have an aisle seat and no immediate seat-mate. I have room to sprawl out. Daddy sits a few rows ahead with space besides him, too. I catch 5 minutes of dozing here and there.
The plane is going 500 MPH and so are my thoughts!
As I sit, my mind races with thoughts, trying to reconcile the past four months with what is waiting for me when my air safari is finished.

Already, the past 4 months are starting to feel like a dream, however, I have over 4,000 pictures that prove me otherwise.

I am thankful for this time to allow my thoughts to (somewhat) gather. ...well, as much as can be mentally thought-out when you're overtired and sitting in an airplane.

I have 4 more hours in this plane, a short layover in Amsterdam, and then another 8 hours to get to Dulles. When Dad and I get to Dulles, it'll be a 6-hour-drive home. And then…
HOME.

I have been homesick off-and-on the past few months, but I have become skilled at distracting myself from homesickness. I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing…which is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in that I can get focused on what I'm doing in the moment, but a curse in that it takes a lot more effort for me to stay in touch with my family and friends back home.

As a camper at girl's camp, I was usually the homesick one. I strongly dislike changes and I always have to have a day or two to grieve my "losses" and acclimate to my "gains"

So if you see me right after I get back, I can't promise what you'll see.
You could see a Makenzie bubbling over with stories and giddy.
You may meet a pensive, pondering, quiet Makenzie.
I'm not sure what my reaction will be!

I have never gone through anything this drastic as far as leaving for four months from everything I am used to and then returning.

So I don't know how I will react.
I'll let you know (or you'll see for yourself)

In my mind, I'm afraid that I have imagined everything being exactly the same as when I left. I know this isn't so…and it hasn't even been that long.
Only a 1/3 of a year. (though that makes it sound like a really long time!)
...

And now, it is Sunday afternoon and I am HOME!
I arrived to my house at 1 am this morning, reunited with my wonderful mom and sisters and then rolled into bed.

Everything still feels like a dream.

I went to church this morning in a fog, and it was all I could do to stay awake. I was pretty much on auto-pilot.
Now, I am trying to stay up until closer to bedtime, so I can quickly adjust to the time difference.

Packing and Pondering

I'm in the process of sorting through my things, deciding what would be good to leave behind, and stuffing the rest into a suitcase.

I can't believe the day is here.
I'm America-bound in 8 hours!

I have been reflecting on the lessons I've learned, the experiences I've had.

God has taught me lessons, but not quite the lessons I thought I would learn.

Never put God in a box. 

I thought I was going to learn the most about hard work and service.
I thought I was going to learn about sacrifice.

I have learned about those things, yes, but the lesson I have learned is much like John Milton's in On His Blindness (Joy told me about this poem, and it's perfect)

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."  

Not that I haven't done work, but I have been hit hard with the truth of Martha and Mary (Luke 11): a relationship with God is infinitely more important than any good works I can do for Him.

For me, this was a super hard lesson.

God has been teaching it to me for some time, even before I came out to Burundi.

It's funny how God trumps our expectations. I thought I knew what I would learn.
Well, He is full of perfect lessons and surprises.

So, I'm finishing up my goodbyes, packing, and reflecting. This morning I took my dad to Musee Vivant (it's going to be a great story)

My next post may be from America!

Thank you for coming on this journey with me!
Thank you for praying.

I'll keep this blog up, as I still have quite a few more stories of Africa to share.

almost-goodbyes, cooking, and parties

Let me start by saying, happy 4th of July!

I have spent quite a bit of time at the computer the past few days...and yet I haven't blogged or posted much!

I'm working on a few brochures/web updates for the Mission here. I love this sort of thing, and while it is simple enough to sit in front of a computer and format things, it doesn't get me into a very bloggy mood. I don't feel like just sitting and typing some more.

I'm leaving here Saturday morning at 2:40. Only 2 more days in this beautiful place!!   Leaving is going to feel so surreal, just as coming here initially felt surreal.
Also, I can't say this enough: I have been so thankful for the love and support I have received while I have been here! Thank you!

I have also been blessed with many friendships here, and I am excited to keep them going and (someday! Lord willing!) be Burundi-bound once more.

...but this is not time for goodbye. Not yet, anyways. There is still much to be written about.

Yesterday, I cooked dinner with my friends Alphonsine and Whitney.

It was the real African experience.
We went to the local market that sits right outside the mission gate (it is so much smaller than the big one I've been to a few times) to buy the needed items.
For less than $5, we got:

• 3 onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 7 carrots
• one bell pepper
• 1/2 kilo of cassava (tapioca) flour
• one cube of chicken bullion
• 3 large bananas
• 5 mandarins

It was a good haul. We got back to her house and scrubbed the veggies, sliced them up, and stuck them in a pot.

Of course, we first had to prep our stove with charcoal. This took some time, and I looked on in shock as my friend lit her charcoals with a plastic bag.
I told her I would be happy to find scrap paper. She said she was all good.
Oh dear.
I do NOT recommend lighting plastic bags to start fires.
But we were okay (I think)
The charcoals were lit, our veggies were simmering, and we had a good conversation while we waited for our meal to cook.

After the veggies had simmered, Alphonsine added some mukake to the dish.
Mukake is the local fish. It's traditionally eaten whole. 

Annd, the food simmered some more.

Lemon was needed, so we found a lemon tree nearby and picked a lemon.

I can't get over the novelty of having fruit trees. In the states, of course there's apple, pear, and peach trees, but they aren't quite as exciting as say, orange, passionfruit, mango, guava, tangerine, avacado, breadfruit, and lemon trees are.

A lemon was squeezed in, and we waited some more.

Cooking this way was relaxing. It's pretty much waiting, sitting around the pot and inhaling the mouth-watering odors.

After some time, everything had cooked.

It was time to make the ugali.

Now, I have posted a picture and blogged about ugali. I have eaten the sticky, playdough-y stuff. BUT, I have never made it, so this was an experience!

We sifted the flour, boiled water, added the flour to the water, and stirred.

That's all there is to it!

...except the stirring? It takes some major muscles.

When our feast was ready, we sat around a small table with our citron (lemon fanta...but it must be said with a French accent. Citron!)
After praying, we ate with our hands (after washing them well!)

Now there is an art to African eating. I have yet to master this art. I was taught well (enough) in the way of fork-welding growing up that I have lost the knack that I was born with: eating with the hands.

Babies have it figured out!

To eat ugali, you pinch off a small ball of it and roll it around in your hands. You flatten it and use it as a spoon to scoop up sauce.

It's pretty tasty and super filling. 


After our feast, we took some time to say goodbye.

In this culture, speeches are very important. Alphonsine has been a great friend to me, taking me to market, showing me around a wedding ( I blogged about it in 3 parts!), and being so welcoming and generous. I was very thankful for her!

On another note, it is acceptable, even expected, for one to throw their own parties. Baby showers, weddings, birthdays, going away parties...
As I am getting ready to leave, and as I have made many friends with the teachers here, it is appropriate for me to throw myself a goodbye party tomorrow.

...so I am, in the Burundian fashion (though Joy is orchestrating most of it...shh!)
The Burundian idea of a very good party is one where everyone sits around, drinks a citron, eats some cake, and makes speeches.
The thrower of the party makes a speech about how they are glad everyone came. The guests each make a speech about how glad they are that they were invited. And so on and so forth. This will be a good final African experience for me.

I will be sad to make this goodbye 'speech'. I really hate goodbyes.

A week semi summed-up

Mmmm. It's Friday. I mean, Saturday.
It is Saturday, right?

I planned on posting more frequently, but well, it has been another week, if you know what I mean. Two weeks of weeks.

Whitney and I discussed my lack of posting.

It may very well be why we had the power go off for 24 hours.

It may be the reason for a great many things.

I don't want the lack of my writing to affect anything any farther, *wink-wink* so here is a post.

If you don't know what I mean about it being a week, well, these have been weeks full of activity, adventure, and new things.

Here's a somewhat-quick sum up (and that teacher's trip wiiiiillll get a post, eventually)

Sunday- I taught Sunday School, played lots of games with the kids, and helped unpack all of those exciting boxes! What with all of these great resources, I could definitely see myself become a teacher.
...which I've been considering strongly.
It seems that the tasks I like to do go hand-in-hand with teaching. Annnyways...

Monday- I went to Discovery School bright and early (7am), and met the team! There were 12 people from NC here this past week.
I can't imagine how they felt.
ONLY ONE WEEK in a foreign country?
Talk about jet lag!

They were great, and (as I said in my last post) they definitely helped me with getting used to seeing a crowd of white people. The morning was filled with reading groups from P3, and assisting Joy in multifarious ways.

In the afternoon, we went to Musee Vivant (I guess that's how it's spelled? The living museum?) I've posted about that. There was a lot of carnage, as the team bought guinea pigs to feed to the animals...but those pictures shan't be posted, since I may have readers with weak stomachs. It was some hardcore National Geographic.

this lock wasn't actually attached to anything closing the door...and these were 12-minute snakes (meaning you DIE if you're bitten) 

Petting something that isn't meant to be petted...yeah

Powerful animals!

They let this guy out for a bit, so we could all see him REALLY close!

 As I've been told, it's basically a petting zoo of things not to pet.

The museum contains a psychotic chimp, a leopard, a room full of highly poisonous snakes and too many huge crocs for comfort.


Tuesday- School in the morning, FULL of activities! It is seriously all a blur, and I wish I had journaled it. As it was, I just remember helping out and feeling like I was a busy bee!

In the afternoon, one of the teachers, Mama Furaha cooked a FEAST for us all!
She doesn't have a fridge or ovens...and she had the biggest spread for our group of 30-ish people!

Some teachers :)

...and there was ANOTHER TABLE OF FOOD!

At Mama Furaha's house

Whitney, Alain, Jane, me, Mama F, and Mary

She had SUCH a joy, it was touching. She was so thrilled to have us all at her house, and I was blessed to be there.

Wednesday- In the morning, there was school, working with the kids, and running various errands. The day was full and busy, as the team had prepared seminars for the Discovery School teachers. While they were in seminar, I helped to prep some of the classrooms for next year. As I did, I had an awesome conversation with one of the ladies from the team. God gives great unexpected blessings throughout the day.

Thursday- After the morning at the school, we planned to go to visit a tea plantation, Teza. The timing didn't work out, so we went to visit the National park. They have hippos and crocs there, and I got the chance to ride on the roof rack of the land cruiser as we drove around the park. Woo hoo!

Riding on the roof is something that sounds fun, but in reality is not in the least.
Especially when you're squeezed up there with 5 other people.
And there are bumps and turns.
At least we were going slowly.

But it was a bucket list item that has been crossed off! 

Friday- I woke up with no voice. Whitney felt nauseated. After going down to the school for a bit and ending up with a splitting headache, I came back to the house to hang out with the little guys (Thursday was their last day of school!)
Those boys are a blast to play with. After lunch and a long nap (I hate naps unless I'm sick) I started to feel more like me. I don't know why I don't like to sleep. Lately I've been borderline insomniac. When I do actually sleep, I am always soo thankful for it.

The power went off in the evening, and stayed off for 24 hours. This is the longest power outage we've had here.

Today was the Discovery School's last day.
It was the closing ceremonies. The teachers were still frantically finishing writing report cards (they do them ALL by hand--hopefully that will be changing soon with new computers for the school!) so Whit and I helped with that, and then headed back to get lunch for the little guys.
I had rice and beans.
One of my favorites.
Really.
Rice and beans is a food that takes some getting used to, but man, dab a little pelepele and mayo on those, and they are the best!

We brainstormed what would be good for dinner.
Okay, Whitney decided to make her family's secret recipe stromboli. I just emphatically agreed with her plan. I wasn't much in a cooking mood.

She worked on it, and I worked on a gluten free version.

I am seriously so thankful for that girl. The timing of her visit here has been such a God-thing, and I have been blessed by being able to room with her and work with her. We have shared the Burundi experience, and it is awesome to have someone to talk to about the experience...especially in a few month's time.

Anywho, as Whitney worked on the stromboli, I went with Joy to pop by to make an appearance at a wedding (yep. I left the other volunteer to cook while I went to a reception. I'm suuuch a great help.) 

I understand more Kirundi now than the last time I went to a wedding, and I smiled at how they referred to the bride as a...
COW.

They talked about her like a cow constantly, and my Burundian friend told me that it was a huge compliment to be called a cow.
I told her that it was a big insult in the states, and we laughed together over it.

We got back and ate Whitney's stromboli. SO MUCH YUM.
...did I mention I'm thankful for her?

Tomorrow is my last Sunday here, so I'm going to sit through the entire 3-hour service at the chapel. The past few weeks I've been teaching Sunday school to the 7 Johnson kids [and occasional tag-alongs] (which I LOVE doing!) but since it's the last Sunday here, I'll get that full African experience one more time.

I cannot get my mind around the fact that I'm going home on Friday. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for this.  My dad is coming here on Monday (thanks to my wonderful grandparents!) to escort me home. He's also going to help out with some construction projects. I know that him coming here will help me to re-acclimate to coming home-- such a blessing!
I've been praying for a while now that the transition will be smooth, and so far God has been so faithful.
My college adviser finally contacted me (I was getting stressed!) and things are falling into place for my return in a way that only points to God being the one in control.

I keep reminding myself that there are only a FEW MORE DAYS LEFT, so it's time to get into high-gear!

I should also go sleep.

It's quite late here, but my mind is racing.
Oh the curses of being a night owl.