Africa Light?

We live in a big, busy city.  By West African standards, it is also a very developed city.  Nearly all of our roads are paved.  We have a couple of shopping malls and a movie theater.  We have grocery stores that look like American grocery stores (LOOK, not operate NOR stock.)  We even have a couple of chain restaurants, most of them are South or West African, but we do have KFC. 

Our colleagues that live in other parts of West Africa like to remind us that we live in "Africa Light."  Most of the time, we agree with them and we know that we have it easy, comparatively.  But, then there are these days when it doesn't seem so "light"  and I really just want to punch them in the nose and challenge them to come live a few weeks in "Africa Light."  Ummm, I mean, I wouldn't really ever want to punch one of my colleagues in the nose.  Never.  I love them all and we are united in our efforts in perfect harmony.  All of us.  Always.  So no worries there.

I remember when we had only been on the field for a few months, we were Skyping with friends who live in another developed West African city.  We were sitting in our bedroom, in the dark, because the electricity was out.  They had the nerve to explain to us that they thought that we had it easier, with only about 50 percent electricity than they had it, with 95 percent electricity.  According to them, it was more challenging for them because they didn't have back up sources for power like we did.  I thought that was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard.  Except that now, I am in a 95% city, and I agree with them.  Because, when we lived in a place where power outages were daily occurrences, we did have a generator and solar panels and an invertor system.  Here, we might only lose power a half dozen times a month, but we don't have any back-up systems.  We have candles.  It's simply not worth the financial investment to install any sort of back-up system.  Really, it's not a big deal, unless it's super hot and we need fans.  Or, when I just filled the crockpot for the day.  Or if the school laptop computers are on 15% charge and we have the whole school day ahead of us.  Or, if it's just been a rotten day and I am being a spoiled American who simply wants the lights to be on.

Another thing that I love about "Africa Light" is that the many of the businesses have the appearance of being "shiny" and having high standards.  But really, you'd be better off if you refuse to be deceived by the shine and remember that you're still shopping in West Africa.  Because, quite frankly, many things are just a souped up version of what you could get for half the price in the open air market, if you wanted to battle the traffic and invest 1/2 of your day in finding a parking spot and getting sunburned.  Yes, there is an entire cereal aisle, and it has 6 different kind of cornflakes.  Or one $20 box of stale Rice Krispies.  Take your pick.  There is also a meat counter.  Where you can get chicken.  Sometimes.  Or beef.  Sometimes.  Or goat meat.  All of the time.

It's also fun when you fall for the movie theater online schedule...the one where you look and find that the movie you want to see starts at 2:45.  So, you go on Tuesday afternoon to see a movie that came in last Friday.  Except, after you make the 3 mile/45 minute drive and get there to buy the tickets, they tell you that the movie didn't come in yet.  And when you inquire as to why the website says the movie will be playing at 2:45, they say, "Well, it was supposed to come in on Friday, but it hasn't come yet."  Then you make the mistake of asking why, between Friday and Tuesday, they didn't update the website to indicate that the movie wasn't there, and they look at you like you're an idiot and you decide that you need to just walk away, before you lose it.  Then, you pack your frustrated and/or crying children back into the van and drive the 3 mile/45 minute drive home.  But, you've learned your lesson and the next time, you call before you go.

This summer, we had some friends who worked with us in Nigeria and have now returned to the States, come for a visit.  They brought us lots of treats, including a big quantity of pepperoni.  We sort of had this running joke while they were here that if they had known how developed our city was, they wouldn't have brought us pepperoni...we weren't really suffering enough and we hadn't earned our pepperoni.  All joking aside, by the end of their week, they reassured us that, even if we live in "Africa Light", we still earn our pepperoni.

I know I might sound like a crybaby, and that's not my intent.  I'm thankful for the conveniences that do come with "Africa Light."  Living here has helped me to understand that the old saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side," is definitely true.  I pray that increasingly, I will be able to say, like the Apostle Paul, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."  Lord, may it be so!