Mission 2.0 – A Post-Note

See what I did there? Not a side note, as I said last time was the last time. So, this time, a post-note. And it actually is. The title fits better.

I guess we will be going back and forth a bit. Back to the weeks I spent in Guiné-Bissau and then back to the weeks after I came back and how things are currently going. How things are with me… Because, wowza, I don’t think I was prepared for the after. The post. You see? Fitting title.

I’ll share about it in bits. Today I want to talk about the first weeks of confusion. Confusion of being back to “normal”. A “normal” that was and is not my normal anymore. I lived in Guiné-Bissau for 6 months, of which 5 months were in rural Tabanane. Tender, sweet and raw Tabanane. Where the people live in self-built houses, most of them with no doors or windows, just the shape where one should go. Where the population is about 500 people. Everyone knows everyone. Heck, almost everyone is related to each other. Where most of the people have no phones, only two televisions exist, and children build their own toys. Where loud laughter is innocent and genuine, and sometimes clearly mocking. Where street sounds are mooing cows, singing birds, bleating goats, chattering geckos, and hooting owls. Where I lived with no fridge, no speedy internet, about a month with no electricity, and no supermarket or fast-food restaurants to run to. I lived a basic, easy, clutter-less life. Six months of no concrete jungle distractions. And my eyes fixed on Christ. Living my purpose. Living for my purpose. Simple and clear. A lot of activities, yes, but still weirdly and differently simple and clear.

Coming back, was very overwhelming. There was no more normal. Things don’t make sense anymore. Time-wasting arguments, decisions, and again, distractions coming from everywhere. Phones, apps, people, places, so many places. Public transport, cars, too many cars. Food, so many options of food and meals, and my mouth wanted it all. And the conversations, they felt empty. Just words, just because we can say them. No goal. No purpose. Life around me, life around us in this opposite reality we live in, is too often with no goal. Doing, living, just because. Time feels as if it goes faster here. We have the same hours, same years, but somehow here, much more is expected and asked of you. And truly, we expect and ask of ourselves.

Coming back, has been a journey of finding my new normal. Remodeling. Reshaping. I’m still at it. One day at a time.

Thank you for reading, danki di kurason.