A Muddy Tale

I’m feeling the need to write something tonight. Haven’t done enough writing since I got here in Africa. Well, I did write 5 songs last week, so I’m getting out my creative energy, but I haven’t recorded enough about my experiences and observations. It’s important to write those things down because with each passing day everything that’s different here is becoming commonplace and pretty soon I won’t even notice it anymore.

On Thursday I had an interesting excursion. My German friend Lydia wanted to go to my tailor and she is a very busy person so we went as scheduled even though it had been raining for quite some time. Our African colleague Lidi tried to tell us that there would be a lot of mud, but we just put on our plastic sandals and said Oh, that won’t bother us. When we arrived in Lidi’s neighborhood we got out of the taxi and saw that the road would be difficult to traverse. Locals were carefully picking their way through the soggy mess. We decided to take a back road which ended up being worse than if we’d just gone straight there. We found ourselves zigzagging across the flooded areas, trying to find solid ground wherever we could. Somehow Lidi managed to not get a speck on her. Meanwhile I had the first-time experience of having my shoes suction to the ground. I kept having to slip out of them and dig them out because I couldn’t pull up on them with my feet!

For me this was just a funny little adventure. I haven’t really reflected on what those living conditions would be like. Some people’s houses were flooded all around the outside. I’m not even sure how they were getting in and out. It wasn’t raining at the time we were walking, so lots of people were milling around outside. It couldn’t be healthy or sanitary. The mud was accented with all the garbage around, creating a sort of chunky sludge. That’s one thing I’m sure I’ll stop noticing soon—the trash that decorates all the streets. Plastic bags are plentiful. Empty bottles and cartons are everywhere. It’s not uncommon to see a lone sandal melded into the dirt. I saw a man raking the street the other day and noted the irony that the leaves were more attention than the litter that is strewn all about.

One thing that has been a suprise is that I feel quite safe here. My biggest fear is falling off the road...All the streets are lined with ditches where the abundant rain can flow. They're generally full of garbage and nasty standing water. It would not be hard to fall into one, but it would make for a very grumpy day! But hey, if falling in a ditch is the biggest threat, I think I'm doing pretty well.