What I have learned

This is what I have learned in the past week:

1. Never say never. We are all capable of doing things we never dreamed we would do.
2. People are not always who you think they are, and can be extremely deceitful. What that doesn't mean, however, is that we should go around assuming everyone is like that. I really believe there are a lot of good people in the world.
3. Why Jesus tells us that we shouldn't judge. It's because most of us have no idea what we're talking about when we spit words and assume things about other people. Most of the time - only God knows why people act the way they do. Our job is to love people when they fall. I've never felt the sting of judgement so much, and it doesn't feel good.
4. We cannot get mad and lash out at people who hurt us, or others who talk without knowing. Turn the other cheek.
5. We shouldn't love the people closest to us for what they've done or their personality or even how they think. We should simply love them because they are.
6. This world is messed up. But we can heal and grow through the mess.

Let's Be Honest...

For the past couple weeks I've been charged with a project at work that I actually don't mind (gasp!). I'm responsible for putting together and writing the awards booklet for our company's annual Service Awards. These are awards given to employees who have been at the company 10, 20, 25 and 30 years. According to legend, there have been the occasional 35 year-ers as well.

First of all, I just want to note that if I am ever at a company for that long, even ten years, please drag me away to Rome and entangle me in an elaborate Italian scandal involving wine and gorgeous Roman men. I have made similar vows to help other friends if they are found years down the road in the nightmares of their youth. Such as the time when I was a senior and promised my friend Kelly that if I ever found her extremely overweight, screaming at her kids to shut up in a Wal-Mart food court, I would dutifully pull her away by the ends of her greasy hair. So friends, please pull through for me as well.

Carrying on, I've been interviewing the long, long-timers; those with 25 or more years of exciting employment, asking them why they've stuck around. Today I interviewed a 30 year vet of the inventory dept, and I asked her why she has chosen sto stay here so long, what she's liked about it.

Her hesitation at the end of my question was more than obvious. So I padded the landing a bit. "That is, of course, if there's more than just the pay!" I said, half joking just to ease solemnity of the truth.

"Well," she said. "I guess there does come a point in your career where you can't make what you do somewhere else, because you have all the skills needed here. Plus the benefits are good, and I like the people," she added, almost convincingly.

So I say, "Do you like what you do or is it pretty boring?"

"Well, it can be pretty dull at times. But there are always new challenges."

Her tone said it all. Let's be honest. She doesn't really like her job. The challenges she speaks of, well she probably doesn't want them. Maybe I'm making assumptions but it seems that one of the main reasons she's stuck around so long, is because she wasn't able to get the same amount of pay somewhere else.

This may be fine for her, and I'm sure she loves her life and I'm not sure if she has any regrets, but for my life, I desperately want something different. I don't want to look back at the past 30 years and know that I was in the same position because I was too scared to do anything else, too starved for security. Because for me, that's the only thing that would trap me somewhere for 30 years, unless of course, it was God's desire.

So, God willing, I'm going to make a vow right now to take chances. I'm going to go to Europe so I'm not one of those 60 year-old guys Mike and Brett talk to that keep saying I wish I would have gone there. I want to do the "I wishes" now, because for some unknown blessing of God, I have the option. For lack of a better ending and because I have to get up now I will leave you with my new life motto: Make a Wish, Take a Chance, Make a Change and Breakaway.......Hey you can make fun of Kelly Clarkson, but look where it took her:)

Out of Africa

My original intent was to map out more completely my experiences in Africa. However, the trip is quickly passing me by and the blog entries would be far too long if I were to write in detail my accounts. So, I think I'm just going to provide a list of highlights and be done with it. Ready, set, go:

1. Visiting the Rwandan Genocide Memorial on the day anniversary of the genocide's end. No one could speak in the memorial, not because we were forbidden, but because we had no words to say. Especially after looking through walls and walls of murdered children's pictures. Never has life seem so insignificant, fragile and short to me.

2. Going on the bumpiest ride of my life with three mzungus and like 8 Africans piled into a 6 person van on a 40 minute ride up to the middle of a Congolese jungle where us white people were subsequently hit on my drunken soldiers with big guns. I never realized, until this moment surrounded by by pouring rain and completely unfamilar situation, how many layers of security we have in America, and how much it is our second nature to trust in those layers. Now I see why the poor are so blessed, it's because they only have God for security, thus they trust in him alone. While we often come to God when all else fails.

3.OK I'll make these shorter. Me becoming a radio broadcaster in Goma. Super random. In Congo, if you're white, you are qualified to do anything.

4. Um, experiencing "community clean up day," in Goma. Which, I hate to be a hater, but is the most ineffective clean up day ever. So for four hours in the morning, the city forbids all cars to be on the road. This is so they can collect all the trash, put it in piles on the side of the road, and burn it. So all day, the city is saturated in smoke b/c of the piles of burning garbage.

5. Seeing real faith in people. And seeing no faith at all in others.

6. Riding in a roofless van late at night, driving to the lake side to see the wildlife hiding in the night. We saw a baby hippo and its mother. It was almost like playing with that paper in which the black outer surface scratches off and underneath are all these beautiful colors, and you never knew what you would get. On the drive, the scenery was black until the headlights pierced the darkness, revealing a herd of zebras, or impalas. I remember having to touch my cheek during the ride to make sure I was really seeing such sights.

I can't think hard enough to remember everything right now. So I'm going to leave it at that.

My Budding Journalism Career

Look Friends, I am now a web page editor! For my favorite topic too!

Check it out

The site was just started, so it's still being developed. But who else would you rather get quarter life crisis advice from than me??

That's what I thought, no one. OK, now read my stuff.

Peace to the out.

Things That Are Completely Useless

I just wanted to take a break from Africa and discuss practices/things that are quickly becoming obsolete as my generation sets out to lead the world.

1. Newspapers. I don’t understand why you would purchase a newspaper subscription if you have a laptop. I have to credit Mike for first bringing this pondering to my head. But each weekend morning, I stumble over to the coffee pot, stumble back into my room, grab my laptop and sit down in my chair to read www.nytimes.com. Which is free, and much easier to navigate that those awkward, large papers. The only time I see newspapers as a somewhat intelligent option is when you find yourself bored, and w/o the use of a computer. Like, at the airport, or, the doctor’s office, or anywhere else. And, if you get the Sunday paper so you can look through all the print ads that come along w/ it. You can’t get those online.

2. Landlines. At the moment, I couldn’t think of a less useful, waste of money than having a landline. What’s the point? You can talk on your cell phone from home people. I’m not sure how this will work out as we become parents with children old enough to talk on the phone, but I’m guessing that they will get their own cell phones by age seven or something ridiculous like that. Should be interesting to see how that one turns out.

3. Phone books. What a waste of space. You can find any number that would be in them on www.whitepages.com, or www.yellowpages.com. As for personal cell numbers, well, they aren’t in phonebooks anyway. Save the planet, prevent the use of phonebooks.

4. Offices. Ok, maybe this is wishful thinking. But, I’m pretty sure I could do most of the work I do imprisoned behind these beige cubicle walls in the refreshing pink environment of my room, or the comforting, north woods environment of Caribou. As soon as my generation’s in charge, I have a feeling the corporate office commune will become extinct. I’m counting on it.

5. C.D.’s – I can’t remember the last time I bought a c.d., other than a blank one. iTunes people, iTunes.

OK I don’t want the list to get too long so I will stop here. Please feel free to add to my list of potential obsoletes.

Your innovative friend,
Me

OK, ONE thing I learned from Africa...

I think one of the biggest things that impacted me, or that I learned or became, whatever; is that Africa became real to me. Its people had a face, a name, and became more than an anonymous mortality statistic reported once again in Newsweek.

Let's face it, if we're being honest with ourselves, most of us feel a little sorrow when we hear about the tragedies in Africa, but for the most part, it doesn't exactly impact us. For to many of us, as much as we hate this ideology, Africans are just masses of faceless poor people, sharing the same earth, yes, but living in a different world. I'm not blaming anyone for thinking like this - we live thousands of miles away. But going there, people became real, they became our friends.

Not fully, I'll acknowledge, I still glaze over slightly when I hear about tragedies in Africa, dismissing them as "oh, it's Africa." My compassion is far from unfiltered. But it's been affected, it's been dented and my wall of apathy has definitely been bruised. Coming back to America, I've been fighting the wall's reconstruction, not wanting it to be built up again by stones of comfort and distraction.

And hopefully it won't be. For although I most definitely feel completely helpless in light of Africa's need, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So who knows what kind of fire a little compassion can spark.

Grenades, Drunk Soldiers, Eh - Just Another Day in the Congo

Let’s tell some stories of Africa. Hmmm….where should we begin. This will be more of an account of my journey rather than a rundown of the vast impact it had on my life – because umm…yeah I don’t know what that is.

So here’s a short little account of the first couple days. We flew into the Kigali, Rwanda airport. When we stepped off the plane, we literally stepped into the warm breeze of the country. We walked down the stairs of the plane onto the runway. I felt like I was a president or movie star in a private jet…well, close. I was almost sad to leave Kenya Airways, because they gave us all the free screwdrivers we wanted, not to mention Tuskers beer. Way to go Kenya Airways.

Anyway, I was immediately shocked by the view around me. Rwanda is extremely colorful and lush. Although, it is a third world country so the city is pretty dusty and smelly as well. We left for Congo the next afternoon. To get to Congo, we had to travel through three hours of Rwandan countryside. It was so beautiful. The scene was an array of banana trees, rural, primitive farms, women carrying fruit on the side of the road, mountains, mist and soccer games in the meadows. I felt like I stepped into the pages of National Geographic.

As we neared Goma, the landscape began to change, it became less and less green really, and from what I gathered, more and more poor. We finally came to rest on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – a place where I can’t say I ever expected to find myself. Harper came to usher across the border, a feat that I didn’t realize would be so difficult. Naturally, I was really excited to see her.

So we got our visas from Rwanda and attempted to cross the 5 meters or whatever to DRC – which was black and dusty compared to Rwanda. Harper went to talk to the guard about our arrival. After exchanging some Swahili she said we had to wait awhile. I asked why. UM apparently, there was a soldier with a grenade on the other side, and he was drunk so they were trying to get the grenade away from him.

Welcome to the Congo!

The soldier was finally calmed and disarmed. So we were able to get our visas approved at the official government office – a.k.a. a cement room with a computer. I didn’t have a visa yet. So I was last for the approval and a large group of us had already left for HEAL Africa. There were four of us remaining. It was dark, it was the Congo, and there were soldiers with big guns all around. I’m an American, when people have guns here – they conceal them or use them on deer. This made me nervous.

So there we were, huddled in a circle while we waited to get our bags across the border. Harper was having an argument with the “customs” people (a.k.a. people w/ guns) about checking our baggage. They wanted her to pay for them to not check. But she said she would only give $2. Finally, she won the argument after they had only checked a few bags and we were on our way. I was super excited to arrive at the Lucy’s house (the Dr and his wife that run HEAL), and the comfort it provided after a long, adventurous and crazy day.

Story one. More to follow.

Africa

So just so you all know (all two of you), I haven't written about Africa yet because I don't know what to say or where to start. A lot went on there. Needless to say it's hard to be back at work...

I will keep thinking.