This is a lesson I have had to be reminded of lately. Mariama has such a natural flair for life. The whole world is her stage, so as a general rule, being stared at does not bother her. However, personally, though pretty outgoing, I would prefer not to be in the limelight. Living here pushes that preference to the side.
Here, we stick out. We cannot help it, we just do. We try to dress to blend in. We speak their language, rather than expecting them to speak ours. Contrary to those who have called me Senegalese lately, I am not. I am very white. I do not think like they do. On some things I come to appreciate how they do them (wearing babies on the back rather than the front), but other things will never make sense to me (running after the group of young men and then running away from them when they come at you).
Mariama and Lydia-Ann go out to play with their friends. The squealing can get loud. I ask my girls to turn down the volume because we do not need to disrupt the whole neighborhood. The girls though are having great fun together, whether in playing tag or police or just letting their friends braid their hair.
Sometimes a group of school children on their way home pass the house and stop to watch because they have never seen white children.
Sometimes the neighborhood boys think it funny to frustrate the girls because they can get a rise out of Mariama. I try to stay calm to correct the boys, but I find myself impatient after hearing Mariama get frustrated one time too many. Sometimes after hearing me correct them in their language, they stand there staring, as if I had just spoken some foreign language rather than their own. I get more aggravated. I have to remind myself to stop talking and being dramatic.
If I don't want them to stare like I am a cinema, I have to stop acting like one.
(I talk the situation out with my house helper the next day. She agrees the situation was out of hand. She tells me I must go see their mother. I tried to go see her but she was asleep. My guess is the mere fact that I went to their house was enough to make them nervous and to set the boys straight. If there is a next time, I will go straight to their parents rather than wait.)
This story and the other incidences of late where I drew more attention than I desired reminded me of Jesus teaching the people. He asked them why they went out to the wilderness to see John the Baptist. What had drawn the people to John? Was it because he was dressed finely? Certainly not! Was it because he was strange? While this was true, they were accustomed to those possessed by spirits, so certainly John was nothing on the strange chart. So what was it? It was that his words declared the Coming King.
No matter how much I try to blend in here, I will always stick out. If I am going to be stared at, I want it to be for the right reasons. I don't want it to be because of how I am dressed or my losing my patience, but I want it to be my declaration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If I am marked strange, let it be because of a life wholly surrendered and obedient to the Lord.
If you don't want them to stare, don't give them anything at which to stare....
But if they are going to stare, make sure it is for the right reasons.
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