written Thursday, 24 May 2007
My (real American) brother called me yesterday morning to tell me that my grandpa passed away on Sunday, and the funeral was yesterday (Wednesday).
The news wasn't unexpected, but it is hard to be so far away from family and missing out on an important event like this.
I told my village family at breakfast what had happened, but instead of comforting me, they just kept telling me to stop crying, that this is part of life and you must accept it. (I had heard that you are not supposed to cry at funerals here, but I didn't know they would try to enforce that rule on me, for my own family members). I wasn't in the mood to be trying to adapt culturally right then, so I just told them I was going to Tamba so I could be in touch with my family.
I rode my bike about 40 km to Missira, a bigger town where another volunteer lives, and ate bean sandwiches and spent the hottest part of the day resting in his hut. Then we went to the road and waited for an Alham bus, which I rode for the first time by myself. It was really easy - we just waved it down, they tossed my bike on top, and I squeezed in. The price was fixed - 500 CFA (about $1) for the ride to Tamba, plus another 200 CFA for my bike.
2 comments:
Don't let them change you. If/when you feel like crying, cry. If I were you and got the same news I would be crying too. heck, I am actually crying my eyes out as I type this but over not nearly as significant as a death. You're not one of them, you're from a different culture and react to things differently. They will just have to deal!!
Sorry for your lost.
And... people just react as they know. Don't blame them.
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