Monday, June 14, 2010

No swagger wagon

This is definitely a tribal wife!! Her name is Sonya. Notice she has a dirt bike instead of a minivan and her baby in a sling instead of a car seat. Before you car seat enthusiasts get all upset, there really are no other options when you live in the middle of the bush in Africa. We had a similar situation in China. We rode in taxis all day long with our kids in our laps. It was very scary, yes, but there was not a car seat to be found in China, and even if there was, there were no seat belts to strap it in anyway. So, we got in a taxi we said lots of prayers! Thankfully, taxi's were expensive, so we mostly walked or took the bus everywhere. Back to the tribe. My tribal husband, who honestly, thinks he already is a tribal husband decided during our training that he had to have a dirt bike because that is what we will have in the tribe and he needs to learn to ride one now, so he doesn't break his neck in the jungle. My answer was "we cannot afford a dirt bike". His answer, "I know, I can get a 'fixer upper' and then learn to work on small engines. I don't want our only transportation to break down in the middle of the jungle and me have no way to know how to fix it." It was hard to argue with that, so I agreed thinking he would never find one that we could afford anyway. Well, guess what? He found one. He spent about 2 months riding it and about 6 months fixing it, but he replaced the whole top end (top end of what? I have no idea, but apparently it is a big deal, like the engine or the specks on the rotary gurder... who knows?) So, he was proud of himself and gave me a little security knowing that he can fix stuff if it breaks, and there isn't a mechanic for miles or years or on the same hemisphere. The only problem was that he had to sell it recently as we are now in our support raising process, and is still in the grieving the loss. To be honest, I miss that bike a little too. He used to take the girls on rides and they really really loved it. It was really sweet to see that daddy- daughter time- even though I had a tiny heart attack and said lots of prayers until they got back. But, PLEASE do not tell him I said that. If he thinks for a minute, I would let him buy another one. He will start trying to wear me down...immediately.Anyway, back to Sonya, here she is now with my kids.
They love her to death! She now works at the Missionary Training Center as a childcare teacher, which is probably as close to working in the tribe as you can get. That is a true tribal wife- she cannot break away from the chaos because that chaos is attached to people (little or big) that she loves!

2 comments:

  1. You're a great writer! And i love the new blog header! Very cute!

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  2. Thanks! The blog header is all my husband! He is the graphic designer! :)

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