Crossing Cultures

Despite having lived 2 months in Bolivia, 2 years in Kenya, and 10 months in France, the cultural transition to Burundi has been the most significant. Likely this has to do with being exhausted after a difficult year in France and facing transition chaos for the umpteenth time - I finally discovered my limit! My brain's language center also seems to have attained its' maximum potential and the tonal Kirundi language has pushed it over the edge. It's so confused that I frequently throw words from 2 or 3 different languages into a sentence without even realizing it - and those languages could be English, Spanish, Swahili, French, or Kirundi! Only my teammates (who also speak those languages to varying degrees) can understand some of those crazy sentences! We even have an unofficial contest going on as to who will be the first to unintentionally use 4 different languages in a sentence. But it has been quite overwhelming to me to be thrown into this new culture and to have significant difficulty communicating beyond simple greetings. That and other stressors have led to me being a lot more frustrated by cultural differences than I have been in the past. 

And so it was a great encouragement to take a day off from Kirundi study and to read through my SPLICE notebook from MTI (Mission Training International). That was the 3 week course we took before going to France that covered many aspects of cross cultural living and provided essential missionary survival tools. As I read through the definition of culture shock and the manifestations of transition chaos and stress, I was relieved to discover that my experience is actually quite normal and expected! 

The chaos is inevitable in crossing cultures and may last shorter or longer depending on the person and other variables at stake. Recognizing difference is the starting point but we can do so with the attitudes of acceptance, openness, flexibility, trust in God, and hope or we can choose superiority, prejudice, rigidity, fear, & doubt. These attitudes lead us to the positive choices of curiosity, interest, optimism, empathy, acceptance and then entering their world and developing cross cultural relationships. Or we can criticize and withdraw choosing the fight or flight results and refusing to enter their world. During these last two months in Burundi, I certainly have made many of those negative choices in my internal attitude and external words and actions. Reviewing this chart has convicted me and reminded me anew that I have a choice in how I respond to difference. I don't need to react immediately from my own cultural perspective as to what is comfortable, normal, right, and good. By God's grace and strength alone, I can begin to enter their world and to embrace many aspects of their culture just as Christ entered our world and embraced us. Below are some pictures demonstrating opportunities to express openness and curiosity instead of judgement and frustration. 

 As the above and below pictures demonstrate, we attract a crowd everywhere we go. This is hard for me when I prefer personal space and not being called "muzungu"(white person) continually. I'm not in these pictures because I was avoiding the crowd and walking ahead. But, based on a friend's advice, I'm trying to hear "respected guest" when people say muzungu (cause that actually is what they mean). And Jesus welcomed the little children even when they were a bother to others - as John is welcoming the children in these photos. I pray for God's help and strength for me to do so, too! 

Sammy, age 2, joyfully greets all Burundians with "Yambu!" and "Sawa!" - Kirundi greetings. They absolutely love it and he brings great joy to all. I can learn a lot from him! 

This setting of the Catholic guesthouse in Banga has been great for beginning our Kirundi study and cultural acquisition. Hopefully we will make fewer cultural mistakes once we get to Kibuye next month after 3 months of language learning and cultural exposure - although I'm sure we will still make plenty. Of course, it's certainly renewing to have the opportunity to live in such a beautiful place! 

An interesting observation - making charcoal on the hillside. This evidently will smoke for some time (days) and then they will dig out the charcoal. 

Micah & Anna exploring the stream at the bottom of the valley

Leaping cow - impressive! 

Studying by candlelight - not exactly "normal" or "comfortable" based on my previous norms, but actually can be adapted to without too much difficulty - so long as the iPad and computer can be charged every day or two! 

We attended a special church service at Kibuye on Sunday welcoming the new district superintendent. Above is the Bishop and his wife making one of many speeches. Below is the new superintendent and his wife receiving gifts and being instated in his new position. I observed lots of formality and respecting of status and protocol during this 4 1/2 hour ceremony - also noticed the presence of the paparazzi (see above and below pics). As I only understood approximately 50 words in this all Kirundi service, I definitely agree with the SPLICE recommendation to suspend judgment and to simply observe curiously and openly.  

My favorite part of the service was the giving of gifts to the superintendent and the Bishop - primarily because the gifts were live animals! Two goats and many chickens (often in a wrapped box with their head poking out) were given. And now we know if we are ever given a chicken that it is very important for both husband and wife to pet every chicken in receiving the gift. There is a goat in the above picture being held by the guy walking on the left and a chicken below and a goat being petted by the superintendent in the second picture below. 

And, finally, we observe that the Burundians seem to work very hard. This is the land cleared for the Cropsey's house - progress continues to be made quickly. 

We move to the guesthouse at Kibuye in just 10 days! Please continue to pray for me to move through culture shock in a way that enables me to enjoy the positive aspects of both the expat and the Burundian culture and to develop good friendships in both cultures to God's glory. 

Life "Up Country"

We are learning the terminology for life and elevation here in Burundi. One goes "down" to Bujumbura. It seems that most of the rest of the country is considered "up". And as one descends several thousand feet in just an hour and a half to Bujumbura, the description of "down" becomes clear!  Bujumbura is located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, 3 degrees south of the equator (latitude) and at an altitude of 2600 feet. We are currently living in Banga, Burundi at 6500 feet. High altitude is definitely the key to living essentially on the equator! We will continue living at high elevation when we move to  Kibuye (~5500ft) and the reported average temperatures throughout the year there are 53-64 degrees Fahrenheit! The equatorial sun does make it feel ~10 degrees warmer, but that makes it perfect. I'm so thankful to be living in a place where I need to wear a fleece in the evenings - ideal weather for me. 

Now, there are certain disadvantages to living "up country" compared to Bujumbura - more erratic water, electricity, and internet coverage, no ice cream, no ATM machine, muddy walks in the rainy season, and the necessity of traveling on the motion-sick inducing windy roads to do business and meet friends in Buja. But, thus far, the advantage of the gorgeous scenery and perfect temps makes up for those challenges. And hopefully our container (now on a boat off the coast of Oman) will arrive soon with an ice cream maker on it! (It's the little things...) :) Some might feel more isolated up here, but that's again the huge advantage to our team:  we brought community with us! And we look forward to adding Burundian friends to that community when we get to Kibuye as we are able to communicate more and more in their heart language. 

Lots of pictures below of life "up country":

Banga, Burundi

Teammates on a recent hike

  Adorable teammates sitting outside my house here in Banga 

Bridge traffic

We enjoyed a fabulous visit with the Stanfields last weekend (in the foreground). They were friends and neighbors in Kenya and currently live in Uganda. With 20+ years of experience as missionaries in Africa, they were a huge encouragement to us in understanding the nature of these beginnings and transitions. 

 Anna & I with the ubiquitous banana trees behind us

And, finally, I got to visit Kibuye yesterday for the first time since May 2011! It was a joy to see this place that will hopefully feel like home very soon. I loved touring the hospital, seeing new and familiar sights and people, and picturing life there.

This picture was taken at my last visit to Kibuye in 2011. Jason, Heather, & I are standing at the sight where we thought our houses would be constructed. Well, it's not exactly the same site, but the below guesthouse where we will live until our houses are finished is located quite close to where the above picture was taken. A lot has changed in 2 years! 

 I loved sharing the experience of going back to Kibuye with the Faders again. And I greatly look forward to November 2 when our whole team will move there together! 

 Likely for at least 6 months, my apartment will be the third one in the above picture of the quad-plex.

 Across the field behind Abi & I, you can see the hospital complex on the left and the church on the right. We're standing quite close to the guesthouse, so that gives some perspective as to distances. 

 Construction seems to be happening quite quickly. This is a new medical student dorm under construction. They just broke ground a couple weeks ago and have made significant progress. 

I was excited to see the above chart posted in the hospital. I will work on learning these Kirundi words this week! One of my big goals as a pediatrician here is to teach neonatal resuscitation. The infant mortality rate for Burundi is 1/16! APGAR scoring is certainly a start to recognizing distress in newborns, so I'm thankful someone already is teaching this concept in the hospital. 

 Proud & happy mother of healthy newborn twins above

 And work has begun in clearing ground for 2 of the houses for the team. Amazing to watch them saw these logs into planks with a handsaw! 

 This is the site of my future home. On the right behind me is the site already cleared for McLaughlins' home - complete with piles of bricks ready to begin construction! Looking forward to watching the progress. 

 These two pictures are of the well that will provide water for the hospital and our homes and other surrounding buildings. Again, the work here is occurring at a very rapid pace - for which we are very thankful! 

Beautifully green fields around Kibuye with corn, cabbage, beans, and peas all growing together. We look forward to starting a garden there soon! Now, to get the notes from the class I missed yesterday - certainly saw again the necessity of learning Kirundi as I walked around the hospital. Even the medical director preferred to give his greetings and speech in Kirundi! Please pray for us to learn quickly!