The Chronicles of Africa

8/9/09- John’s Journal- The Chronicles of Africa
Being in West Africa has been very unique. So many things have happened for the “first time”. Since Dave and I left the states there has always been someone reaching out to us and assisting us in our cultural ignorance. We made some friends on the plane, our best of which was Yosef Mohammed. He was very kind and because he was a student, he had good English. Once we landed at a small terminal in Casablanca, Morocco, we immediately began to learn that West Africans do not form single file lines. I like to call it “polite pushing”. They will just push their way through the line if you let them. So you basically have to push your way through, but it’s still polite because you do it with a smile. Once we got our way through all that fun, we waited outside for the “red bus.” This was very exciting. The red bus took us to the main airport terminal so that we could talk to accommodations and get put up in a hotel for the night. On the red bus, I got manhandled by a woman twice my size. It the states it would have been embarrassing. Upon arriving at the other terminal we had some more help. A friend that we made on the red bus named Re-da, guided us through the airport to accommodations, which we were very thankful for.
Upon arriving at the hotel we were told to go upstairs but leave our luggage in the foyer. Needless to say I was hesitant to comply, lol. But after a short conversation, we agreed. We were led upstairs to the hotel restaurant where we were immediately introduced to some foreign foods. We had 3 courses: a taco-like flavored salad dish, followed by some fish with some interesting sauce, followed by some good old watermelon. The main dish was especially challenging for me as a I do not like seafood, but I ate it nonetheless. After eating we went up to our hotel rooms. They were small but in decent condition. Rather than go to bed we decided to take a taxi to the nearby beach!!! Being from Southeastern Massachusetts, I liked this idea. The taxi ride was fun. I learned quickly that they do not share many of the same driving laws and requirements that we have in the States. Upon arriving at the beach we noticed Muslim men praying. They were side by side in a secluded area with their prayer rugs in front of them. This grabbed my attention and was very thought provoking. Knowing that much of Africa is dominated by Islam, I knew that what I was observing was the one of the greatest obstacles to the gospel of Christ. Our friends Lacey and Lauren from the states, who are also doing some missions work in West Africa, began to pray.
We decided to follow up this visit to the beach with another visit to the beach the following day, this time to swim! I have never seen so many people at the beach in my life. Their were thousands, about twenty soccer games going on at once (which we participate in!), barely any open sand to lay on. It was exciting. And because we were the only white people there, literally, everyone was watching us like we were a TV, lol. While swimming we made some friends and then when we got out we made some more, these were the one we played a soccer game with. This was slightly embarrassing as my soccer skills are sub-par. We left the beach and finished the day with a two mile walk. This was not exactly by choice. We just started walking towards the direction of the hotel until we were able to find a taxi. Once arriving back at the hotel, we ate and then packed up for our midnight flight to Niamey, Niger.
At the airport we ran into more troubles...to be continued