I Made It!

I have been in Abidjan for almost two weeks now. It was really nice to finally touch down, unpack and start to get to know the city.  I am currently living in a temporary location and waiting for my future home to be ready for me to move in. So there is another move involved but till then I am enjoying the apartment that has been provided till the next move. It is the raining season here in WA so the rain brings a nice breeze making it not so hot, hot, hot.  I am thankful for this because it is nice to get somewhat acclimated before it gets really hot.  
 
Since arriving I have experienced and am learning the taxi system of Abidjan. There are multiple colored Taxi’s (blue, green, yellow and red) each are different types headed to different areas and all drive like they are trying to win the Daytona 500.  I will eventually be driving the city myself but for now it’s good for me to observe and get familiar with the different zones and districts before I join the wild game of dodge people, cars, bikes and random animals. There is organization to the chaos and I am starting to pick up on it.

 

When I’m not out exploring, visiting street vendors and at the supermarche’s in search for food (all in French and Arabic) I’m learning language.  I am learning French five days a week 4 hours a day. The language program here is set up to teach you French just like a baby would start. So I have learned family, animals, colors, foods, numbers, clothing, house and kitchen stuff and a few other things.

For example my mentor will say “The chicken is on the bed” at that point I would find the chicken in the mix of toys and place it on the bed. She might say “The boy drinks the water” then I would take the boy doll and have him drink water.  I have been told I am doing great picking it up, I even passed a pop quiz in the home of a National Pastor this week.  

So far I have been introduced to an area of Abidjan. I attended services on Sunday. It was of course in French so the only bit I understood was what my teammates translated.  Even though the service was in a different language I enjoyed it and was shocked that it was only 2 1/2 hours long. I’ve been in services in Africa that have gone 4 hour regularly.  

Church in Abidjan

Later in the week I went back to that same area and joined in with the woman’s Soccer game.  We prayed, played, laughed, sang, dance to the beat of the drum, then played and prayed some more before heading home. It was a fun and I look forward to doing it again in the upcoming weeks.  I also really look forward to being able to say more than just a greeting and few broken words to these women.

I am thankful for God’s provision on getting me to where I am today, for the team He has placed around, their willingness to help me adjust to Africa and even for the cooler weather to acclimate in. The last two weeks have been full of new things. Drinking OJ from a plastic bag, getting a taxi all by myself, cooking multiple meals from scratch, learning over 150 words in a week, etc..  There is still much more first to come! 



Neighborhood Street After the Rain