a new normal

Approaching the halfway mark of my time here in mozambique life has been a continual adjustment into a new normal. Things that are now normal didn't become that way overnight, but it has instead been a process and constant transition period. A list of common things that are now normal:

• having dirty feet
• coming home to having no electricity, water or combination both
• traffic that turns a two lane road into a six lane road out of nowhere
• sticking out due to a lack of melanin
• seeing people urinate on the side of the road
• seeing at least a dozen goats on the way to or from school each day
• overcrowded chappas with body parts hanging out the windows
• ducks walking around the neighbors yard
• driving down the left side of the road
• a huge lack of trash cans
• cooking everything from scratch
• sleeping under a mosquito net
• seeing a whole cow head being cooked over coals
• the sun coming up at 4:30 a.m.
• men carrying huge AK-47s around
• being able to pick fresh mangoes whenever I'd like
• seeing women carry a variety of things on their heads including tables, propane tanks, and sacks of potatoes

Despite all of these things I sometimes have the tendency to forget that I am actually living in Africa. That my life looks different now than it ever did before. Yet it is a variety of these new things and experiences that I have come to accept and love about living here. There are very few dull moments. I have a new normalcy in my life and most of these things rarely cause me to even turn my head for another glance anymore.