I love Jesus, I Like Tattoos

I like tattoos and I love Jesus. I want a full sleeve. I also want a job in a church some day. Apparently, these two things tend not to go hand and hand. I have been involved in numerous conversations since coming to seminary about tattoos and none of them has left me feeling too great. We all wish that we lived in a world where people are not judged by their appearances but alas, this is unfortunately not the case. I have one friend that has a full sleeve. It is from just above the shirt cuff all the way to his shoulder. If he needs to, he can hide it. Personally, I do not think he should ever have to hide it. It is beautiful artwork and now a part of him.

The year after my father died, I got a tattoo in memory of him. I knew instantly what I wanted to get but the difficult aspect was figuring out where I would get it. I want to be a pastor some day so it had to be in a location that is easily covered but at the same time, I wanted it to be in a location where it could be displayed if I wanted it to. One major factor was that I want it to be visible on my wedding day so my father is visibly with me. In the end, I got a starfish tattooed onto my left shoulder blade, easily concealed, and easily revealed. Three years after my Dad died, my Nana Rosie passed away of the same type of cancer. I want to get a tattoo to remember her by and once again, the problem I run into is since I am going to be a pastor and will need to cover this up, where do I get it?

I want at least three more tattoos:

A rose to represent my Nana Rosie who passed oflung cancer two years ago 

A shamrock to represent my Auntie Barbie who passed from a Pulmonary embolism this summer

A PCUSA cross that represents my love of the church and the role Fourth Pres (South Boston) serves as a place of refuge when home was not

Tattoos are beautiful pieces of art. They can carry so much meaning to a person. If done for the right reasons, they can carry a story that is otherwise untold. Tattooing has been practiced for centuries and yet it is still taboo. There is a Christian tattoos movement. People get back pieces that are the full crucifixion scene. People get scripture tattooed on them. But is it okay for the pastor to have tattoos? I want to be a tattooed pastor. I understand the Leviticus 19: 28 reasoning behind not getting tattoos but I also eat lobster.

I suppose my whole point is that I wish the appearance was not such a huge issue in society. I think someone with facial piercings and tattoos can be a better pastor that someone that is entirely clean-cut because it is not our appearance that determines our suitability for ministry but rather our heart, our faith, our experience. I love Jesus and I like tattoos and I do not think that these need to be mutually exclusive. I am a future pastor with one tattoo and plans for more. I’m pretty sure Jesus loves me and my tattoos. 

Grades and Internships

Oh Good Lord, I just realized that I have not blogged in forever and a day! The Fall semester has ended, and I am anxiously awaiting my grades. Really, I am anxiously awaiting the grade for my Old Testament class. There's a chance I failed and will have to retake it next year. This class made me realize that my college did not prepare me for the academic world. I did not know how to be a student prior to this semester, and I am still trying to figure out the proper way to be a student. I never had to study in college because everything was so slow and so easy so I did not  have studying skills down. We also didn't have huge finals where I had to study endlessly. I will be upset if I have to take the class a second time, however with my previous academic background being taken into consideration I won't be overly distraught. On the plus side, if I do have to retake it, I will ace it the second time around.

I head back to Princeton on Sunday for the Fall Short term. I am taking a class called Church and State of Modern Europe. I didn't realize that modern does not actually mean today it means late 1700s- early 1800s. I am not too interested in the class, but such is life.

The big thing I am currently working on is field ed placements. I am trying to find a place for summer and for the 2012-2013 academic year. I am willing to go pretty much anywhere in the country and work almost anywhere the fulfills the field ed requirement. I thought I only wanted to do a church placement but I realize that other placements could be interesting as well. I'm doing a lot of googling trying to find something for the summer. A lot of my searches include some combination of "Church Summer Internship PCUSA". I've not really found anything yet but I'm still looking. I would love to do a church placement or something completely different involving public policy, amendment 10A, gender right, equality, hunger issues, social justice, ecumenical relations....

The Face of God in Philly

Sunday evening three of my new seminary friends drove into Philly to attend service at Broad Street Ministries. I have been wanting to check out Broad Street Ministries for a very long time and when we learned that a classmate, Andy Greenhow, would be preaching, it was clear that we would be attending. I am so glad I went.
Broad Street Ministry is located on South Broad Street in Philly. It is a community that emphasizes hospitable outreach, passionate civic involvement, courageous discipleship, and creative expression. If you are anywhere near Philly, I would suggest dropping by some Sunday evening. When you walk up to the building it looks like a giant traditional church, but I'm not sure that there is anything traditional about Broad Street and that is why I liked it. 


During the service I was looking around and realized that those gathered there truly were the body of Christ. There were young people and old people. Students, professionals, and those without a job. There were people from Philly, people from other states, and people from other countries. There were black, white, asian, hispanic. There was the uneducated and the well educated. Those who are illiterate and those who have published books. There were those who came dressed up for church and those who wore what they had. There was what I feel to be every variety of person. I think I like how the BSM website puts it best, "BSM also welcomes into its body not just those who are on the margins of faith but those who are on the margins of society. The member of prestigious private clubs worships alongside the homeless person. The gay and lesbian activist passes the peace with the Pentecostal lay preacher. The possessor of a PhD. In theology prays alongside the summa cum laude graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. " All of these people, from so many different walks of life joined together with the purpose of worshiping God and sharing a meal. 


I was afraid to attend BSM. Not because I was afraid that I wouldn't like it. Not that I was afraid that I would be uncomfortable. I was afraid to attend because I was afraid I would like that, and that is exactly what happened. That is the type of worship I have been looking for. It's real. It's nitty gritty. It's not about keeping with tradition and doing things in a particular way. It is about ministering to the people and being ministered to. It's about seeing the face of God in those gathered. It isn't about inviting God into the space because God is already there and waiting for you. I felt more in touch with God and with myself, felt more convicted and felt more dedicated to Christ than I have in quite some time than I did in that short service Sunday night. 

Finding a Church

So last week I went online and looked at the two PCUSA churches within walking distance of the Seminary. One of them is Nassau Presbyterian Church and the other is Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. I looked at their websites and what I could find about them online. Nassau street has an intense staff with multiple pastors. They have somewhere upwards of 1200 members and ...primarily Caucasian. Witherspoon Street was started as the first all black PCUSA church a couple hundred years ago. 

I don't know why I have an issue with the churches with huge staffs. It could be that they are wealthier, but I don't see why that would be an issue. I think it's because they remind me of mega churches and therefore do not seem like the personal connection that I have always found in my refuge at church. Also the churches with large staffs also tend to be all white, lacking in diversity, except for sometimes age. 

I went to witherspoon and it was very much steeped in the African American heritage which I enjoyed but it seemed to be an African American church that just happened to be PCUSA. So I don't think that is the church for me. I am a fan of the PCUSA traditions. I'm hesitant to try Nassau because that's where all of the other PCUSA students went on Sunday and they described it just as I pictured it. Lots of members, all white, pretty dry. 

I'm on the PCUSA website looking for other churches in the area. I am trying to discern just what it is I have against larger churches. I grew up in a church of a little over 100 members. The members were from all different backgrounds and spanned all ages and socioeconomic classes. It had a massive heart for outreach and social justice. The Church I attended while in College, and that I am under care with is about 70 members. Maybe 40% of our members are from Cameroon. The church I grew up in had one pastor, an associate for a while, but a lot of seminarians. The church I am a member of has one pastor who is amazing and makes stuff happen. 

Next Sunday I will try a new church. Maybe I will go to Nassau so that I can see what it is like for myself or maybe I will check out a different church. According to the PCUSA church locator site there are 45 PCUSA churches within 15 miles of the seminary. 

My Modern First Pentecost

So today is Pentecost and as is expected the Pastor lady preached about the first Pentecost. There was the swooshing of spirit, flames and everyone speaking in many different languages. She spoke about how everyone would have been praising God in a language they understood but there would be many languages all at the same time. What I instantly thought of was an experience I had last summer. Last sumer I served as a Steward for the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The official languages of the WCRC assembly were English, Spanish  French, and German. The vast majority of our printed materials were in all four of these languages, including the worship materials. For close to a month I got used to hearing everything in these four languages. However, during worship people would speak in their own languages. At one point during a worship service I looked around and heard people praying in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Hindi, and other languages I couldn't even begin to identify.

To me, this is a small glimpse of what I can only imagine the first Pentecost was like. 

He Went Poof!

Finally getting around to posting Sunday (June 5th)'s sermon!

So there we were at Passover. Peter and John went and got all of the things required for us to eat, like the lamb. We got the room ready and prepared for the feast. Here we are getting ready to enjoy the Passover meal when Jesus drops a bomb on us. He informed us that it would be his last meal. He wouldn’t be eating again until he was in the Kingdom of God. Then he broke bread and we ate. Like it was No big deal! After dinner he dropped the second big one of the night. He decided to inform us that one of us would betray him. Obviously, all of us fought about it. Why would any of us betray him? In the end, of course, he was right. Judas betrayed him and Peter disowned him. The next day, Jesus was beaten and crucified, died and was placed in the tomb. And then, something crazy happened. Days later he was back with us. We all got back together in Jerusalem and he showed us his hands and his feet to prove to us that he was Jesus. We had 40 great days with Jesus. He was back with us again and it was fantastic. Everything made sense again. And then he went poof.

I mean he told us that everything that was written about him would come true and that he would send what his father had promised but I wasn’t expecting him to just disappear. He brought us to Bethany and blessed us and then all of a sudden he was taken up to heaven. He was right in front of us and then he ascended into Heaven and all that was left was a cloud. It was like he went poof.

In the book of Acts, Luke gives an official account of what happened, but Luke was a well-educated doctor. That is what I think it would sound like if one of the other, not as educated, disciples narrated what happened during the ascension.

Ascension Sunday is not one of those days on the liturgical calendar that I get excited for. It’s not like Lent or Advent where there is a whole season for it. It’s not like Easter or Christmas where there is a whole lot of attention given to it. Heck, it’s not even like Pentecost where there are special pageants or special clothes. It feels like it’s just a random day. Some random Sunday between Easter and Pentecost without any flair added to it. When Cindy asked me to preach today I said sure but once I realized that it was ascension Sunday I regretted it a bit. Ascension Sunday? Why? Is it really all that big of a deal? Maybe I should leave the lectionary and preach on something I want to preach on. The way we thought in Jesus’ times and the way we think today are totally different, does it even matter anymore? But, No. It is ascension Sunday and that’s what I’ll do.

Alright, so picture this. The world is flat. We all believe that the earth is simply a flat surface. We know this to be truth. Our parents knew this to be true and so did their parents. But there is a dome over us. This dome covers all of the earth-disc. It prevents all of the waters circling our disc from crashing in on us. It keeps all of the chaos out. Everything is simple. We are here, on our disc, and God is above us, outside of the dome. In a way, God is the dome because He holds the chaos away from us. In a world that had almost no scientific knowledge…this made perfect sense!

When European missionaries first arrived in Africa they faced many obstacles. In South Africa they faced a particular issue that was difficult to overcome. The natives of South Africa, the Zulu, Xhosa, and Sotho believed that God, whom they referred to as Nkulunkulu or the biggest one, lived in the ground. Caves and holes were known sacred spaces and were decorated to show respect. Whenever a villager was faced with an obstacle they would go to a cave in their homeland, and in order to ask for advice they would pour beer to the ground. This was very difficult for the missionaries who were to preach that God lives in the sky and that there is actually a place called Hell (something that these tribes had never heard of) and it is deep in the ground, not God.

That makes teaching the ascension rather difficult. I’m guessing that they were as confused as I was. When I think about it, God being in the ground makes sense to me. Man was made in the image of God, man was made with dust. All things beautiful grow out of the ground. Nkulunkulu makes sense. But the European missionaries did not feel that way so the notion of God in the sky, right outside of our lovely little dome spread.  

The Acts account of the ascension has Jesus literally being swept out of sight. One second he is there praying with his friends and then the next poof he’s up in the clouds, above the dome. Now I don’t know about you but I’ve never seen anyone poof out of sight. None of my friends have managed to figure out how to ascend into the clouds. It is hard to relate to this whole notion of Jesus ascending into the clouds. To the first century thinkers,  it made total sense. They thought heaven was directly above the earth. In that case it would only make sense that Jesus would be swept up into the clouds to return to God. Even though we still point up when we talk about Heaven or look up when talking to or about God, we know that you can’t just float up high enough and reach heaven…just the stratosphere. This just makes everything even more difficult to understand, which makes me like it even less.

I read the Acts passage over and over trying to break it down. Trying to understand what this whole ascension business means and then finally one line got my attention. So right after Jesus goes poof, the disciples are staring up at the sky and two men, dressed all in white appear and say “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Right, duh, we knew that. Jesus said that the Kingdom would be restored but not when. Well, Jesus ascended, will come back at some point and the Holy Spirit will be with us in the meantime. We should probably get down to business and keep doing all of the things Jesus told us to do.

In a way He did leave a to-do list. He wanted the disciples to continue doing the things they were doing while He was with them. There is preaching and converting, baptizing and teaching. They’ve got to continue spreading the Good News. As Christians we need to work on that to-do list as well. While, all of us are not expected to go travel in pairs converting, preaching and baptizing, spreading the good news is on the list. Acting justly, being loving, being merciful, and walking humbly. Yeah, those are all things on our to-do list.

Now, I think of the ascension as the kick-off of our preparation time. It’s sort of like a huge rally day. We aren’t sure how long out preparation time is, but we know that we are preparing for Jesus’ return. We are making ourselves and the world better so that when Jesus returns we will be ready. Enough looking at the sky, time to roll our sleeves up and love our neighbor. Our tasks are pretty simple. They are really things that we are all ready doing. I guess in a way, Ascension Sunday is our yearly reminder: Jesus is going to return and we’ve got things to do to get ready but the Holy Spirit is with us to guide us every step of the way. 

Amen?

It Makes My Heart Happy

Tuesday Afternoon I was sitting in my New Testament Epistles class. The final class of my undergraduate experience. This has been a difficult experience for me this semester, not because the work was too difficult but because my beliefs are so vastly different than the beliefs of my classmates and this class really brought that to the surface. In this class I preached a sermon on the role of women in the church. I preached the sermon as woman who hopes to be ordained some day. Many of my classmates come from backgrounds where women are not meant to speak in church, women are meant to teach the little kids and that is it. I also wrote my thesis on homosexuality in the bible, and not from the “condemning Gays to hell” perspective that my classmates support. Rather, I wrote it from a open and accepting viewpoint and presented it as such to the class. So Tuesday when someone was presenting their paper on “Sexual Immorality: fornication and homosexuality” everyone in the class turned and stared at me.

Tuesday afternoon, people were glaring at me and making snide comments because the only conclusion they can draw is that if I support gay rights and do not condemn homosexuality I must therefore be gay and practice sexual immorality. Truly, I do not care. The looks and the comments are no skin off my back. I know who I am and what I believe. Tuesday night, in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities, the votes were cast and tallied and Amendment 10A passed. This Amendment, which I have written about previously, will change the wording of a section of the book of order (The Constitution of the PCUSA- for all you known presbys)to allow those who are not in a committed relationship consisting of a man and a woman to be ordained into official positions of the church.

It should not come as news to any that follow this blog that I rejoice in the passing of this amendment. I did not wish to be in a church that would exclude so many devoted Christians simply because of who they love. Many have threatened to leave the church and to those who do, I wish them all the best. I hope that they find a new church home that is more in line with their theological standing, but please do remember that you are leaving by your own free-will, no one is forcing you to leave. To those that have been standing on the sidelines, the PCUSA is open to you. We will accept you and the one you love.

Someday I hope to be ordained as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament within the Presbyterian Church (USA), and it makes my heart happy to know that one day I will have the opportunity to serve alongside my fellow Christian brothers and sisters regardless of their sexual identity.

That All May Freely Serve Webinar

Tonight I participated in a webinar hosted by Lisa Larges of That All May Freely Serve and our former moderator Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. The webinar started by asking us participants where we think the church currently is, on a scale from 1 – 5, 1 being life support and 5 being freaking awesome. I gave it a 3. I do not currently think that the church is dying, however I know that there are many things that our denomination needs to work on. The second question was “On a scale of 1-5 (1 being low, 5 being high) how passionate are you about the Presbyterian church? 4 out of the 12 participants responded with a 5 and only 1 responded with a 1. I put a 5. I am passionate about the PCUSA and cannot see myself in any other denomination; I do however wish that there were more chances for me to show how passionate I am about the church. When asked “why do you think people remain dedicated or connected to the PC(USA) in the midst of this on going strife?” the most common response was “people love their local congregation”, followed by “have hope for the church”. My three responses to this question were 1) people love their local congregation, 2) believe in connectional church, and 3) have hope for the church.

Some of the interesting parts of the conversation focused on what we should put our energies into once the Amendment 10-A discussion are over. As Larissa said in the chat, “I wonder if we can even fathom putting our energy to something else?  And if we can, will we put energy behind the positive or something else we can disagree on?” Sometimes it is hard to live without opposition when it becomes a part of our daily lives. Most people said we should just wait and let the Holy Spirit guide us but I also feel that economic justice will be an aspect to look into. Many agree that we need to focus on church development and nurturing our leadership.

Then out conversation turned to the youth. Obviously as a youth this is of great importance to me and it is something I care a great deal about. Sometimes as a youth in the church it feels as if we often go overlooked. All too often it seems impossible to get involved with things because we lack the years of experience that those, decades older than us, possess. When there are so few youth in the church it is hard to make people take notice of us and make them listen to our ideas and hear what we truly care about. As I said in the chat, during the webinar, it is things like this, the ability to take part in a webinar with other members of the denomination, on a topic I care deeply about, and be taken seriously, even though I am a youth, that keeps me in love with our church. I love the Presbyterian Church (USA) and I appreciate all of he opportunities that I have been afforded thus far, I just hope that there will be a swing in the church, when our congregations realize the amount of youth we are losing, that will places a greater light on the youth and the role that we are more than capable of playing given the chance. Only in the PCUSA can people so far apart in age be considered young adults. One member of our webinar is the youngest at his presbytery meetings, and he’s forty. I thought I had it bad. Someone said that “young people just aren't feeling engaged by the church and many of them don't find it relevant to their lives”. It is a valid point. As a denomination we need to focus more on the youth, bringing youth into the church, and keeping youth in the church. We put too much stock in experience and do not provide youth the opportunity to gain the experience. As a youth in the church, things like this (the webinar) are what keep me passionate about our church.

Talking about youth in the church reminds me of the letter I wrote at the Synod of The NorthEast meeting back in October, which was distributed to the stated clerks of the presbyteries in our synod. 

Here is the letter:

Dear Presbytery Moderators and Stated Clerks,

My colleagues and myself are continuously told that we are the future of the church. I was under the impression that this was a good notion but more and more it seems that what you really mean by the future of the church it means “you are the future therefore I do not have to deal with you now.” I do not want to be a cynic so I hope that that is not what The Church has meant for all these years. And yet, you say we are the future of the church but you continue to deprive us of the opportunity to prove ourselves.

We are the future of the church so wouldn’t it be best to provide us the opportunity to begin to take on responsibilities now and gain experience now rather than to have us lead the church twenty years from now without any experience whatsoever? The synod is comprised of ministers and elders from different walks of life with very different experiences. Sounds like an environment that would be conducive to learning. It seems that synod would give us the experience that we so desperately need to learn.

The Synod assembly of 2009 had a total of 3 YADs. The Synod assembly of 2010 has a grand total of 1 YAD. This saddens me immensely! Last year was a learning experience for me. I met and learned form the Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly. I met and networked with pastors and elders from across the synod. I learned what a synod is and what it does and I learned how to moderate a meeting. I should not be the only Youth in the Synod that is provided the opportunity to have this experience.

Presbyteries need to make youth representation a priority. Presbyteries need to ask youth to come to Synod meetings. The Youth are the future of the church and we need a voice in the church. Furthermore I believe that the Youth of the church need to have a voice and representation on the Synod Council. If the future of the church is at all a priority action need to be taken now.

Yours In Christ,

Devin Berry

leaving on a jetplane

1/6/11 8:00 AM

My bag is packed. My carry on is packed. Once we all get to the church we will have to rearrange things to fit other things in our bags. Ma has a whole bag of stuff she wants me to send to her son in Texas. I have to talk to Cindy about that. I'm not too sure what we can take into the country. I've made a list of stuff I've bought/received to make declaring things at customs easier: a palm broom, a necklace, a bracelet, two dresses, a bag, a chalice, and a wooden bowl. Half of those gifts were given to me last night at our send off party. We gathered with the pastor, all of the elders, and our hosts for dinner and celebrations. The wine (both grape and palm) were flowing as was the beer and soda. There was a great feast prepared. The church presented Shelby, Cindy and I with amazing dresses and Dave received a matching shirt. The are so beautiful! Ma designed them and they all fit perfectly. We will wear them to church on Sunday. Erica came to say goodbye and gave both Shelby and I matching necklaces and gave each of us a bracelet. My bracelet is beaded and has my name beaded into it. With our dresses we were also given bags (from Prescraft) that say greetings from Cameroon. The church embroidered them with "PC Musang" on the bottom. They also gave us wooden bowls with loaves and fish burned into them. Everything was so beautiful and so generous.

Two million pictures were taken of us an with us last night. I an certain more will be taken today. When we gather at the church some people will be there to say goodbye. The chairlady (their equivalent to the clerk of session) will go with us to Douala to make sure we get to the airport and see us off. Our time here has been so amazing and I do not want it to end.

Schools

1/4/11 6:50 PM

American schools don't know how good they have it. Today Ma took me to the government bilingual high school, which is one of her many jobs. When I told her there were thirty students in classes in America's public schools she laughed. The class I visited had 135 students in it. 135 in one class room! That grade has six classes of over one hundred students each! The vice principal of the school had me introduce myself. Essentially I told them my name, where I am from, that it is my first time in Africa and that I love Cameroon. They laughed after that. We stopped at the library to greet someone. It is disgusting how few books they have. When I get home I want to look into some way to ship books over here. I'm too poor to do it myself but I wonder if there is some resource. I'm also going to contact the Presbyterian Church Young Adult Volunteers. There are many things here that would be great for the program. When we left the school there were children on the side of the road cutting grass. Apparently that is a punishment here, instead of detention you do manual labor if you act up. They also hit students here. A flick to the neck or a cuff to the back of the head.

After school we went to the central market. There are people selling everything there! It's aisle upon aisle of stall upon stall. We stopped at ones that sold medicine and hygiene supplies to get stuff for the store. She bought a thing of ten packs of sanitary napkins and had me carry them around (because I am part of the business now). It's odd, in America I would be so embarrassed being seen carrying around this passive thing of feminine hygiene supplies, but not in Cameroon. We brought the purchases back to the shop and stayed there for a little while. Shelby's host is also a teacher but she had a staff meeting so she dropped Shelbs off at the shop. Because it was the first time I'd seen Shelbs since we got new hosts I told her all about Ma and she told be all about Evelyn. Ma supplied us with coffee flavored candies and groundnuts (peanuts).

We both love our second hosts. Evelyn goes to sleep early, does force food or alcohol, and Shelby has her own bathroom with a shower there. We are a lot more comfortable bow than when we went with our first hosts. Both of our hosts are teachers and speak very clear English which makes things easier.

At noon we walked over to the church manse. Ma's shop is just across the street so it was not a scary walk. There David was waiting and we found out about his second host. Emmanuel is more hands-on than his first host, Thomas, which took some getting used to. David is staying in a hotel that hist host owns and his breakfast was delivered by room service. We got in the van, provided by the hotel Emmanuel owns and went to Fru Ndi's compound to pick up Cindy. Once we were all together we headed to Bafut.

In Bafut we went to the palace. You have to pay to take pictures in the palace so Cindy took all the pictures. There is a museum in the palace so we went through that. As we were leaving, people living in the palace set up handicrafts to sell. I got a necklace, David got a cup (which will be our new communion chalice) and Cindy and Shelby both bought masks.

When we got back to Bamenda the girls stayed at the manse for a little while. We had drinks and watched pastor Julius register people. People here have to register as members of the church at the beginning of every year. Then the elder who is head of the Christian youth fellowship (their youth group) came in to talk to Shelby and I about youth work and youth activities. He was surprised by what we said about our lack if youth involvement in our church and in our area. When he left Cindy, Shelby an I went and checked out the Sunday school room where the children's choir was practicing. When Evelyn came to pick up Shelby I walked over to the shop.

I love that the little kids are so excited by the color of my skin (or lack of color). One child started shouting "white man" and Ma apologized profusely. It doesn't bother me. I'm sure if a little white kid saw a black person for the first time they'd do the same thing. The fact that people love my hair is interesting. I told Ma that I don't get it. I wish my hair could do things their hair does so she said she will try to get some one to braid my hair before I leave. I hope there is enough time.

Pig leg

1/3/11 10:44 Am
Breakfast this morning was pepper soup, yam, and meat. I ate goat meat and they gave me pork. It wasn't just pork...it was a pig leg, skin and everything. That was hard to do. I also had a fruit called pawpaw. Emelia decided not to wake me up this morning for the prayer meeting. I was glad because I was sound asleep at 5:30.

Erica washed the car and we talked about the differences in education in our countries. Derek had breakfast with us and asked all about my time here. He is studying in Amsterdam so he has a different perspective. He wants to skype when I get back home.Emelia went to a funeral and Erica and I stayed at the house and have been watching American music videos. She has so many of them on a DVD. She is obsessed with American music. I plan to send her some stuff once I get back to the states. Soon we will walk up to the church to meet the rest of the group. I think she's planning to show me around on our way there. People are fascinated by the color of my skin, when we go places people point and say things like "white" or "white man". It's so interesting.

When we meet at the manse we will go to Fru Ndi's house for lunch. Fru Ndi is Cindy's next house. That shall be interesting: spending three days living with the leader of the oppositional party. I enjoy when they start talking politics and theology. We shall see what today's conversation will entail.

I'm sort of nervous about going to the next house. I'm just now getting use to this house. It's hard to get used to so many changes all at once. Shelby was near tears last night and I was yesterday afternoon. A change in time, place, people, culture, language, food, climate, experiences, even our bodies are changing. It's all at the same time and its scary, confusing and a whole slew of other sentiments.

New years

1/1/11 8:32 Pm

I am not sure where to start when describing today. So naturally I will start at the beginning. Showering this morning was something special. I could not for the life of me figure out how to shower properly. Ultimately I ended up sticking my head in the bucket of water and then shampooing and then sticking my head back in. When I showered tonight I figured it out and showered more easily.

This morning I was not feeling well. My stomach was nauseous and when I went to eat breakfast I couldn't eat because I thought I would get sick. I felt bad because Erica made eggs. Emelia and I went off to church. We were a few minutes late and had to wait outside until we could go in. Dave, Shelby and I were seated on the chancel and Cindy was sitting between the pastors. Everyone was very friendly. I have never had my hand shaken so many times. After church we went to the manse. We were fed lunch. I only had some rice because I still felt nauseous. Next I went back to Emelia's house. Erica wanted to make me lunch but I wasn't feeling up to eating. After a while she came out with a snack and so I had that. I feel bad saying no every time they offer it but either I feel sick or I'm full. I need to take really small portions tomorrow and see how that goes. I have had more soda to drink while in Cameroon thus far than I have in like a year.

At 12:30 we went to the chairman's house. He is Fru Ndi John. By chairman I mean the head and founder of the oppositional party that is trying to remove the president and by house I mean compound. Shelby compared sitting in his house to visiting the senator. While there, a group of Catholics from Detroit came by. We compared notes about our journeys to Bamenda. The chairman fed us and once again I only took small amounts. I sat next to one of the pastors. Cindy, the chairman, and the two pastors got into a Theological discussion which I loved. We were invited by the chairman to attend a traditional dance in a town called Santa. People were in their traditional dress and doing tribal dances. We danced for the king! It was amazing. The music, the dancing, the colors, it was all so good. It was like a native American powwow but African. After that is was back to the chairmans house for drinks and more food. The Ginger ale here is amazing and super gingery. Amazing! Pastor Julius drive Cindy and I back to the church manse. Emelia picked me up there and brought me back to her house. One of her friends wanted her to come down so we walked down. She offered me food and drink. I turned down the food but accepted a soda. After a while she insisted I eat something so I agreed. I ended up having goat stew. When we came back I stood outside with Erica talking. She couldn't believe that before coming to Cameroon I had never seen a palm tree and half only seen pineapples in the supermarket.

Faith saw me brushing my hair tonight and she was amazed. Her eyes were like saucers. After my shower I was sitting on my bed with Erica and she touched my hair. They are fascinated by it. Erica and I talked about Obama and the president of Cameroon. She told me all about how corrupt their president is. She also thought that the USA is a continent. So we did a rough geography lesson. She also told me about yaounde and how beautiful it is. Tomorrow is church and dinner with Grace. If they don't have plans for us for after church, Amelia and Erica are going to take ne to Bafunda.

Day three

12/30/10 11:40 pm
They keep trying to feed us. At breakfast this morning Joseph informed me that I had the smallest amount to eat at dinner last night. We told to go up and get seconds at almost every meal. The food is amazing but there is so much. And I found out what the weird bread we bought on the road yesterday was...it's a soft sweet bread they serve as like a sandwich with chocolate. We walked up to the church at twelve and had lunch with the pastor. We shared a kola nut , which Is what coke is made out of...does not taste the same!! It seems that the majority of the food people serve is the same. There's always the spinach dish, fried chicken, rice, stew, potato, fufu. At lunch they added the cabbage dish. They are surprised that we know what the dishes are and that we've had them. I have had the salad multiple times now and haven't died so I'm not worried about it. Silly travel clinic. Soda is a huge thing, but I'm not sure if it is a regular occurrence or if it is because we are guests. The soda Is tasty but we'd be perfectly happy with bottles of water. After lunch we processed into the church. The church is one room with a corrugated tin roof that isn't fully attached. We sat near the front. The Women's Christian group sang as we marched in. During the service there was a lot of singing and dancing...it was great. Cindy preached the sermon, which was good but I wanted to hear a true Cameroonian sermon. At the end of the service gifts were exchanged. The congregation gave Shelbs, Cindy and I dresses!!!!!! Our gifts to them suck in comparison.

Next we got in our truck and headed down the bumpy road to Bangem. It's a primarily catholic town with the little Presbyterian church off to the side. This is the church we have had a relationship with for years. We plan on strengthening the relationship when we get back. During the service we lost electricity so we sang in the dark. Instead of a traditional service it was singing, dancing, and introductions. While we were at the service I started thinking about how the Presbyterian church's young adult volunteer program should be working in cameroon. The ride back to Nkikoh was kinda scary in the dark but we made it back in one piece. They are working hard to raise money to fix the roads, Joseph informed us. Back at the compound we were offered more food again. Shelby and I settled for just some fresh pineapple and papaya.

Shelby and I are in an awkward situation. We aren't males so socialising with them is awkward, but at the same time we are in official positions which makes it weird for socialising with the women. We aren't really sure what to do about it. It will be interesting to see if this changes when we get to Bamenda tomorrow. We love Joseph's brother David. It is really great. He jumps to get us anything. We invited him to come visit us in America.

Tomorrow we will have breakfast, visit some more and then drive to mundong. From there we get in a different car to trek up to Bamenda and face a new village.

Cameroon #1

Day 1 (December 27th-28th)

Well yay the "blizzard" hit Boston but was pretty much cleared by the time we got to the airport. After fretting about whether or not our flight would be cancelled it ended up being 4 minutes delayed. Ultimately it was over an hour after we were meant to take off but oh well. The plane in front of us was a British airways flight. The pilot decided to go 90 degrees against the wind. Apparently that wasn't a good idea because he had to turn around and land and try again. Our take off was a little rough. I thought the wing might fall off but it didn't. I didn't sleep much from Boston to Zurich. I love my new headphones but they are too big to try to sleep with. Cindy got attacked by a tray of food. It just fell off the cart and all over her. Eight hours later we landed in Zurich. We were worried about making our connection because we landed late but the flight from Zurich to Douala was delayed as well. Zurich is beautiful. It looked like a Christmas card. I even saw a horse pulling a sleigh as we got closer to the ground. Looking out the windows as the airport it seemed so serene and peaceful. We are currently aboard the flight to douala. Its 5:53 Douala time. We just flew over Tamanrasset...I have no clue what country that is even in. On this leg of the trip the four of us are sitting together which I like. I'm pretty sure we are the only people on this plane that do not speak French. All of the questions are asked in french. We say "English?" to the flight attendant and they try again. Shelby and Cindy both got pat downs at security in zurich. The questions by the security officers were in German and I actually understand what she said. I was proud of myself. :)there is still 1916 kilometres until we reach Douala. I'm not sure how many miles that is. Oh the screen says 2 hours and 29 minutes. I seriously need to learn the metric system. I'm sick of sitting down now. The 8 hours to Zurich and the 6 hours to Cameroon...my butt hurts. Airplane bathrooms scare me (I'm claustrophobic). So I can't even go walk there. Whoa just looked out the window and the sun is setting. It's a pretty epic shade of peach. I love it. I am flying over Africa and in a few hours I will be on the ground in Africa. One of my dreams is coming true. They just handed out the Carte D'embarquement/ debarquement. Uhhhh??? Oh I like when it has English translations. Apparently we hand it over at customs, with our passport, visa and yellow fever card. It's negative 77 degrees outs of the plane (-77°F) it's funny because we are above Africa which is known for being HOT! When we land it will be around 90°, so that's a change of approximately 160° crazy!