A Banking Update and More Lessons Learned

So, just in case you were wondering…after two more unsuccessful bank trips, I finally discovered that they STILL don’t have American dollars at the bank and the money transfer will never go through because my bank has been banned from the clearing house. Funny? Yes. Incredibly frustrating? At times. Just another day in Africa? Of course…I would expect nothing less.

On a completely different note, I learned a few more lessons today. It seems I am always learning lessons out here…

Today, after another couple of days of women’s teaching, we finished up and prepared to head home. As we were packing up supplies and cleaning, one of my little friends, Elizabeth, came up to me and grabbed my hand. She has recently learned the English word “freckle” and has made a habit of spending several minutes every time she sees me counting the freckles on my arm.

Anyway, at one point I looked down to realize that Elizabeth had a rather mischievous look on her face. She then slowly began to pull my hand towards her mouth. At the appropriate time, I feigned shock and pulled my hand away, just as she was about to bite down on my hand. She laughed, I laughed, and a new game began in which she pretended to bite my hand and I pretended to be shocked and pull away. It was a fun, if somewhat traditional game of “I’m gonna eat your hand,” and I eventually bored of it. Seeking to spice things up a bit, I, all of a sudden, pulled her hand towards me and pretended to bite it. Oh, to see the look on that little girl’s face. She was absolutely HORRIFIED. Her eyes became round as saucers, and you could see the utter panic written in them. She jerked quickly away, and I saw tears well up in her huge eyes just before she ran quickly away.

I was kind of surprised at Elizabeth’s reaction to all the fun and games until I remembered this little tidbit…Dinka children are often told folktales of how the white people--the “kawajja”--eat the little black children. I should have remembered this, as another girl on our team once terrified a little girl by saying in Dinka “Give me your nose!” in response to the girl’s haughty demand for clothes, money, water, etc. However, I didn’t remember this, thus, terrorizing my little friend Elizabeth and making her think I was trying to eat her hand. Today, I learned that it’s not a good idea to pretend to eat little Dinka children.

Oh, and I also learned today that sometimes people who are not accustomed to riding in motor vehicles often easily become carsick. Just in case you were wondering, it is not usually wise to sit next to them, and if you do, it is rarely pleasant.