A fundamental thing about traveling to Southern Sudan is the psychic dissonance implicit in the contrast between what you do to get ready and what you're getting ready for. I imagine the whole mission team has been, like me, up to their eyeballs in trying to pack everything they need for two-plus weeks in Africa without exceeding 15 kilograms, get immunizations for diseases they never thought about before, wind things up at work, and do whatever Christmas-y things are necessary when you won't be home for Christmas. I have spent an unreasonable amount of energy trying to decide what electronics and books to take for maximum efficiency and comfort. Set all that against the simplicity of life in Lui, where people have time to sit under a tree and talk, and much of every day is devoted to finding, hauling, and preparing food and water. In Lui, visitors have little more to do than eat, sleep, talk, and gracefully accept the gift of being taken care of. Luckily there's that long plane ride between getting ready and being there.
I started out intending to write about "things done and left undone," but I never got there.
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Oh, my! How I resonate with this. "This friend speaks my mind."
ReplyDeleteI well remember my own frenzy of preparations and packing when I prepared for my 2006 trip. I blogged it here.
You are right, and you remind me vividly of a lesson I learned in Lui: In my packing, I had a wish to be self-sufficient ... because that's what we Americans do. Then I landed in Lui and realized I was utterly dependent on the kindness and hospitality of our friends in Lui and my fellow missioners. It is indeed a conflict.
I'm not e-mailing you or the other missioners much now, as I realize you all need to focus on your preparations. My heart is with you.