Lobster in a Bucket

Quick Update-Traveling

I've been in three cities in three days now, so things are a bit hectic, including a sense of when I'll be able to blog.

On Sunday I left Mombassa. I had been there since Monday last. It was great. We stayed at a palatial house (I'll have pics up this weekend) and I got to get to know a lot of the kids that I'll be taking care of next year in the context of being their buddy, and not their teacher. This is very good for me because I have a sense of how to handle them.

I spent all day Monday in Nairobi. Nairobi is a very multicultural city, and a scary one to boot. There's a sense of lingering danger there all the time, like there's a mugger walking behind you. But it was a nice place to rest for a day.

Today I'm in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It's a more provincial place than Nairobi, and so is instantly charming. I'm staying at an American Expat club from now until Friday. On Friday I'll be arriving at Bundibugyo, the backwater that I will call home for the next 12 months. I'm looking forward to it. Right now my job description is in flux for a set of reasons that I can't go into here, but suffice it to say, pray that it will get worked out in a sane fashion that will let me minister to more people, and not less. I covet your prayers,

Matt

Dressing Up

The cliché is that people always dress up to fly. It’s true too, just visit Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsborough, Alabama. There you’ll find a high proportion of nice clothes, much higher than say a thrift store. As I sit here in another airport (Chicago/Midway this time), I wonder why people decide to dress-up, here’s a couple explanations that spring to mind.

1) The first-time quality or novelty of air-travel inspires people to dress well- This is probably the most obvious explanation, the one that I’ve heard the most. It makes sense too, if you’ve only flown twice in your life. While it’s probably true that everyone dresses up for their first plane ride, just like they probably dressed up for their first date, their first day on the job, their wedding, and their funeral. However while this explanation does a good job explaining why people dress up for their first flight, or their first flight in 15 years. It doesn’t explain the general phenomenon well.
That is, why are their so many people dressed to impress in airports. I find it hard to believe that so many people in these airports really find this travel novel.

2) Airfare is used most by people involved in business- I would believe that it’s true that business travel accounts for the majority of bookings. However, there’s business attire, and then there’s bizness attire. Business attire consists of the company logo button-downs and Oxford style suits. It’s a uniform more than a fashion choice. As a uniform, we don’t usually recognize it, technically nice, but not what one gets at when one states, “what is it about airports and the way they make people dress up?”

3) The idea of Bizness attire on the other hand may be getting at something- Airports are maybe the most multicultural institution in our country. Nothing really focuses persons from widely varying contexts like an airport. So perhaps the perception of dressing-up to fly is actually the perception of different culture.

In all likelyhood all three of these things probably contribute to the cliché. And regardless of why people chose to wear the clothes that they do, airports are second to only maybe theme parks for rich people watching.

Week 1, Part 1 "Saying Goodbye"

This is the week of saying goodbye, it began with my great friend Wes Hollowell (pictured above)
and his nuptials with Leesa Boykin (also). The wedding was wonderful, southern, beautiful, and filled with holy moments. Overall I'd say the wedding left me sobered and focused. The import of Wes and Leesa's transition forced me to take my own transition from America to Uganda seriously. With my pending departure from the US for a whole year, I've had to say a lot of good-byes.

After saying goodbye to Wes and Leesa, I went up to Chattanooga on Sunday night. Over the course of Monday and Tuesday, I bid farewell to Todd, Josiah, Mesh, Morris, Hannah, my RD from last year Chris and Carol Clark, and a bunch of my guys from my RAship last year. I didn't suceed in really having an emotional moment with all these people, but I hope they all know that I love them, and cherish them.

I think you need to say good bye to people well in order to begin new relationships well. It's easy when you leave someone to act in a way to minimalize the loss. I've found that if you really embrace the loss, by allowing yourself to not only feel some sadness, but to communicate it, you are rewarded with the opportunity to really get a sense of how much your friends really matter to each you, and what gifts they have.

After a week of embracing this time of separation, I've found myself eager to begin new relationships as good as the old, but with new people. People like the missionaries I'll be working with. Or the young guy I'll be living with, Josh Trott.

2nd Beginning

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Uganda. After spending a day in Philadeplphia to meet with my missions agency once more, I will be in Nairobi on Sunday. I'll spend a week at a retreat in Kinshasa, and then I'll be in Bundibugyo for the long hall.

Things are going to be changing around here. I haven't really blogged well since last summer mainly because I haven't really had much to talk about. I feel like blogging is best served amidst exceptional times. Although being an RA on Catacombs was a great experience, the world I lived in there, while wonderful, was small.

Uganda will be different. I'm fairly confident, that Uganda will be an exceptional experience, in fact, it may be too exceptional, and on these pages, you could see me fall apart. Ultimately, I'm hoping that I can make this next year communicable to people that I won't see, probably won't talk to, and will have little else to communicate with.

I'm going to try to rely on pictures more than words as a means to communicate my experiences. Of course, doing this well will only work if I take decent pictures. So we'll see how that goes.