A Little Bit of Culture Shock

Just the beginning of the cloud of dust

We’ve been here quite a while now.  We have a pretty good understanding of life and culture on the islands, but that doesn’t mean we are immune to feeling the occasional pangs of culture shock.  We had a funny little incident happen this week that is worth mentioning in this respect.

“Meso” our landlady and the tile mason said.  Since arriving to our house there has been some broken tile on our kitchen counter that our landlady has consistently told us will be fixed soon.   We have lived here long enough to know that most time commitments are very relative.  So an answer of “soon” or even “meso” (which means tomorrow in the local language) can be a long time in coming.  So “tomorrow” had stretched for two months. But now the tile mason was actually there which did seem like a good sign.  It meant that it was on his radar and probably, when he had time, he would come and fix the tile.  Sure enough, no one came the next day or the day after that.  “Tomorrow” is a relative term.

Megan was about to start fixing dinner three days later around 6:00pm when our landlady arrives with the tile mason.  He’s ready to work.  “Meso” has arrived.  Quickly we start clearing the counter of all the clutter that had accumulated and we grabbed some sheets and covered some of the things in the kitchen.  This seemed good enough for the mason who was eager to get working.  He plugged in his tile saw and got ready to start.  Before he turned it on he said to me—“You should shut that door.”  He motioned to the door across the way.  That’s when the culture shock set in.

Our daughter turned 9!

Suddenly I realized, “if he wants me to shut that door that means this job is going to be dustier than I thought.”  Sure enough the very first cut sent tile and cement dust spewing out in a great cloud.  As he got to work cutting out the broken tile, I realized there was still work to be done.  Soon I had shut all the doors in the house, moved everything in the living room to the far side of the room (as far from the work as possible) and watched a bit forlornly as dust settle on all the clean dishes in the drying rack and on all the things on all the shelves we hadn’t covered. Urgh…Feelings welling up—annoyance, anger, frustration…culture shock strikes again.

I think the shock was a little sharper because of our experience in the States.  You may remember our blog about water coming through the ceiling and the concurrent resolution to that disaster?  What I specifically remember is how carefully and thoroughly the workers in the states covered everything.    There was not an inch of furniture or floor that wasn’t covered.  They even put up a wall of plastic to keep dust from seeping into other rooms.  I remember at the time thinking that it was overkill.  Now as I watched the air fill with a fine grey mist that permeated the entire house before settling on and in everything, I found myself longing for that thoroughness which we saw in the States.

The shock didn’t last too long.  One thing about less preparation meant the whole process went quicker.  After about an hour he had finished the job and swept up the dust as well as he could in the immediate area of his work.  He did a nice job.  The new tile looked good.

After he left Megan started our postponed dinner plans and we both got to work dusting and sweeping and mopping.  Our landlady came up and grabbed a rag too and helped out.  Before long things were nearly back to normal.  We’re still finding dusty pots, pans and various other things, but it’s nothing that a quick rinse can’t take care of, and now I know what to expect next time somebody has to fix a tile in my house.

In front of a possible office location

PRAYERS ANSWERED
A few colleagues have left the islands.  One for home assignment and two with no plans to return.  We are so thankful for all the hard and faithful work they have given over the years and the light they have shared with us and islanders.  Our daughter had a great birthday this past week and is now 9 years old!  Our team continues to work well together and we are thankful for the new teammates preparing to join us and the news of others who might be interested in joining our team.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are still waiting for some resolution for two complicated situations.  The first involves a former employee of the language project which has yet to be resolved.  Things are moving forward and we are happy for unity among the committee which had to decide what to do.  Pray that the employee will agree to the generous terms.  Secondly, a colleague on the little island continues to have trouble getting his visa.  The situation will come to a head in the next few weeks.  It may even mean that he comes to work on our island while things are figured out.  Pray for favor with the government and the issuing of his visa. We have been looking to open an office and we recently found a good location, but we’ve run into some trouble figuring out the details of the rent.  Pray that everything would work out well if this is the place where we are meant to be.