Travel has always been a part of me. I guess I came by it naturally, as my Dad loved to be on the go. Not my Mom, she loved to stay at home. But not Dad. Mention a trip to take, and he was the first to be there! And I am sort of like that too. Right now we have tickets for two trips - one to Connectivut for a family Christmas and another to Africa for a nostalgic visit to Burkina and a new country, Tunisia. If anticipation helps to keep you young, we will live forever! God has brought so many wonderful things into our lives already, and more are to come - as He allows us to remain on this earth.
I of course travelled extensively with my parents by car and train and ship, never by plane in those days. And my parents continued to be the reason for much of our travel right up to the time they went to be with the Lord. They moved so many times - Pennsylvania and various places in Florida and finally back to Pennsylvania and then to Colorado Springs. And of course visiting them in all those places was a priority for us when we were in the States.
Dad and I started out our life together travelling as we made that six weeks honeymoon tour through Europe and the Middle East! I think that was Dad's first passport, but I had travelled with my parents and had my own passport when I was young. I have written already about that memorable trip - not evereyone can have a six weeks honeymoon in Egypt and Paris and Switzerland and such places! We traveled by plane and bus and car and even by camel at the Pyramids in Egypt and a river boat on the Nile River. Such great memories!
We travelled for years on missionary tours here in the States, in Canada and in Puerto Rico. We went by air or by car and saw some amazing scenery and met many wonderful people as we travelled for Alliance missionary promotion. One of our fun tours was after we retired and just before I had my brain problems, Dad and I were sent to California. We flew out and started out in Los Angeles, then were sent by train down the coast to San Diego. That was such a fun trip sitting in a comfortable train seat and riding right alongside the Pacific Ocean all the way down the coast.
Twice we made the trip by car clear across the United States from New York to California. When Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna were living in San Francisco, we got on route 80 and drove right across the country on that route, ending up at a big bridge in California. When we were travelling through rugged and mountainous country sometimes, we would think back to those early pioneers in our country and all they went through traversing the States in their rickety wagons drawn by horses! We made that cross country trip twice by car.
Soon after we retired, we were asked by Bob Fetherlin to do a job for the Alliance at national office and so we flew out there and spent a couple weeks clearing out files for them. We were asked not to talk to anyone else about the content of any files we found - and there were some very interesting ones - and so it was an unusual job. Every morning we would leave Kennedys (where we stayed) and spend the entire day at the office. We had to clear out all the old files of missionaries, some of whom were long dead! There were travel papers and all medical records and copies of letters, etc. As I remember, we filled fifty six of those large garbage bags with paper that were taken to be burned! In some ways it was a tedious job but in other ways interesting and it made us think of many friends whom we had in Alliance missions all over the world.
The trip to Nyack College with the Mark and John Pierces, by plane, was also fun when we were asked to go to ATS to be honored with doctorates of divinity for our missionary work. That was a fun surprise. The Pierce children were small and such good travelers. We rented a van at the airport in NY and drove to Nyack where we joined the Phenicies at the College. More recently we were asked to go to Nyack College once again for Dad to be honored as alumnus of the year, and again Nyack picked up the tab for travel and place to stay. Again it was a family affair as we were joined by John and Mark and family. And had the added delight of seeing Elizabeth and meeting Chris. Just the year before we were all at Nyack for the dedication of the Cheryl Phenicie School of Nursing and then a memory lane trip up to the old Pierce family homes in Connecticut.
Carlisle was our destination for many trips, both to see Grandpa and Grandma when they lived there, and then later to visit Grandma Kennedy. Every three months or so we would head for PA. and Carlisle to see Grandma. We were so thankful for the good care she got there. Each time we would take her out to a restaurant to eat as a treat, and she loved that, We would have to take her wheelchair, but it was worth it to get her out in town and the fresh air. But that became harder for her, and since she did not live in the side of Carlisle where they have a nice dining room, we would take her there to eat. It gave her a chance to see old friends and also helped her to eat what she needed , as she had no teeth to chew by then. We got to know Carlisle well in those years. Our dear friends, Mac and Helen Sawyer, were such a blessing in those days as they had a lovely guest room and bath where we could stay with them and enjoy their company.
A year ago we took a long trip from here to Florida, stopping to see several friends along the way. Ending up down in Ft. Myers with Tim and Ruth. That was almost our last trip as Dad fell asleep at the wheel one morning (he has never done that before!) and I screamed and saved the day in wakening him and we got back on track, after a few shaken moments sitting by the road!!
They say anticipation prolongs life, and we should live a little longer with the anticipation of some fun trips in the next couple of months. First to Connecticut for Christmas with Mark and Katy and our four youngest darlings plus John. That is next week and we look forward to that, plus seeing Elizabeth and Chris for one day! And then our wonderful February-March trip to Africa is still ahead of us! How blessed we are, and how grateful we are to all you kids who take such great care of us - even from a distance!
So travel will no doubt continue to be part of our life. We are both glad to be well and able to continue a normal life - whether here in Toccoa or on the road or in the air!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
CULTURE SHOCK .....................................................
People have always talked about - and experienced - what they call "culture shock" when they go to live in another country. I never had that expeience going to Africa. Even though I had been living for some years of my education and early marriage in the United States before we went to Africa, once we got to our village in Africa, I was content as can be. Loved the little village, the scantily dressed people, the heavy rains and the sameness of the weather every season. I was not bothered by hearing another language, as everyone spoke Jula to me and I could do that..... I think often Dad must have wondered how on earth I could be so content in that small village with no mod cons, as everything was so strange to him! He knew no language , the people were so poor and lived in extremely extenuating circumstances (from his viewpoint) and he was supposed to live here and be happy for the rest of his life??? No way! But you know how quickly and well Dad adapted and loved his long life in Burkina Faso.
More recently here in the States I have been going through what I finally recognized as culture shock!! Not just the fact of coming back to live permanently here in the USA - although that too has been difficult! But in these past months being associated with a totally different people from any I ever knew in my lifetime. This group of people is those associated with our jail ministry. It almost seems to me like they come from a different planet. There are areas in Toccoa - and Dad seems to know them all! - where unshaven, unkempt people roam the streets or stumble through the piles of refuse to get into their houses. Years of abusing their bodies through drugs and improper eating habits has taken its toll on their looks. Their hair is brittle and stringy; they have few, stained teeth in their mouths; often their clothes are baggy and need to be washed.
If you visit in their homes, they are heavy with cigarette - or drugs - residue smoke, Dirty dishes abound in the kitchen sink. The chair cushions are not clean. It is difficult to walk through the yard to get to the side door as the refuse is so deep. There is an overlaying odor over everything in the house. And there is usually a very large screen TV blaring at any time you choose to visit. Which they seldom turn off, so you have to listen and talk above the noise!
Sometimes I say to Dad, "Why do they do this or that - or why can't they change their ways?" And his answer is, "They have always lived this way!" When we are invited to a block party by these people, they lavish money on expensive gifts and grill steaks and chops (which we can seldom afford). But this is part of their culture. They will borrow money for a big party, money that they will probably be unable to pay baack any time soon!
When you visit these people in jail - because so many of them seem to end up there - they are the nicest people. Of course, there they all wear the same garb - orange, yellow, green or black stripes, the color signifying the type of crime they have committed. But almost without exception they are just the sweetest people to talk to. They love to sing Gospel songs and to ask questions about the Bible. But some of them are charged with murder, theft, drugs, all kinds of crimes!
Just yesterday we went to court for a girl I have made friends with in jail. They brought the prisoners in first yesterday and there were many of them - only one female and this was my friend, Crystal. We were in court with her one other time recently - her husband wanted to divorce her and this happened right there before our eyes. She has custody of her ten year old daughter. They bring the prisoners in, dressed in their (mostly dirty and unkempt) prison outfits. They are brought in heavily guarded by officers with guns in their belts. They have a hard time walking correctly as they are heavily chained. Their wrists are chained together and they are chained around the waist with the long chain hanging down in back. We were sitting with another friend from our church and Crystal's mother, and Crystal smiled at us as she shuffled to her place beside her public defender, a very nice lady. She has been in jail for most of a year, and so after some admonitions, the judge pardoned her and she went out of the courtroom free!! She was jailed for passing an enormous amount in bad checks. So now she will live in town with her parents and her little girl but she has to find a job (in this bad economy) to pay back the money she stole through the bad checks. And somehow worm her way back into civilization again.
And so I am going through my culture shock a little late in life! But it is real nevertheless. Some days I feel like I am crying on the inside. Other days I can handle it all OK. But I finally realized that this for me is the first culture shock I have ever experienced in all of my long life! And it is not comfortable - yet!
More recently here in the States I have been going through what I finally recognized as culture shock!! Not just the fact of coming back to live permanently here in the USA - although that too has been difficult! But in these past months being associated with a totally different people from any I ever knew in my lifetime. This group of people is those associated with our jail ministry. It almost seems to me like they come from a different planet. There are areas in Toccoa - and Dad seems to know them all! - where unshaven, unkempt people roam the streets or stumble through the piles of refuse to get into their houses. Years of abusing their bodies through drugs and improper eating habits has taken its toll on their looks. Their hair is brittle and stringy; they have few, stained teeth in their mouths; often their clothes are baggy and need to be washed.
If you visit in their homes, they are heavy with cigarette - or drugs - residue smoke, Dirty dishes abound in the kitchen sink. The chair cushions are not clean. It is difficult to walk through the yard to get to the side door as the refuse is so deep. There is an overlaying odor over everything in the house. And there is usually a very large screen TV blaring at any time you choose to visit. Which they seldom turn off, so you have to listen and talk above the noise!
Sometimes I say to Dad, "Why do they do this or that - or why can't they change their ways?" And his answer is, "They have always lived this way!" When we are invited to a block party by these people, they lavish money on expensive gifts and grill steaks and chops (which we can seldom afford). But this is part of their culture. They will borrow money for a big party, money that they will probably be unable to pay baack any time soon!
When you visit these people in jail - because so many of them seem to end up there - they are the nicest people. Of course, there they all wear the same garb - orange, yellow, green or black stripes, the color signifying the type of crime they have committed. But almost without exception they are just the sweetest people to talk to. They love to sing Gospel songs and to ask questions about the Bible. But some of them are charged with murder, theft, drugs, all kinds of crimes!
Just yesterday we went to court for a girl I have made friends with in jail. They brought the prisoners in first yesterday and there were many of them - only one female and this was my friend, Crystal. We were in court with her one other time recently - her husband wanted to divorce her and this happened right there before our eyes. She has custody of her ten year old daughter. They bring the prisoners in, dressed in their (mostly dirty and unkempt) prison outfits. They are brought in heavily guarded by officers with guns in their belts. They have a hard time walking correctly as they are heavily chained. Their wrists are chained together and they are chained around the waist with the long chain hanging down in back. We were sitting with another friend from our church and Crystal's mother, and Crystal smiled at us as she shuffled to her place beside her public defender, a very nice lady. She has been in jail for most of a year, and so after some admonitions, the judge pardoned her and she went out of the courtroom free!! She was jailed for passing an enormous amount in bad checks. So now she will live in town with her parents and her little girl but she has to find a job (in this bad economy) to pay back the money she stole through the bad checks. And somehow worm her way back into civilization again.
And so I am going through my culture shock a little late in life! But it is real nevertheless. Some days I feel like I am crying on the inside. Other days I can handle it all OK. But I finally realized that this for me is the first culture shock I have ever experienced in all of my long life! And it is not comfortable - yet!
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