i remember seeing albinos in various places in america.  although you knew that they were a little different, i always wondered how 'different' they felt themselves.  guess i saw some who seem to be well-adjusted while others seemed to be struggling a bit more.   

but being in africa - this is a whole different matter.... where most everyone is black (different shades, of course), and anyone who is not-white seems to stick out anyhow.  but being albino sticks out even more.. especially since their birth parents are black as well.  in different cultures in different countries - they regarded albinos differently but it seems that in most cultures in west africa, they are misundersood... that something's wrong with them... they have some form of evil spirit in them... or they did something wrong for them to look like that - that they bear some curse.  i'm sure there were some who were accepted in their culture, but in general this is what i was told.  i've seen albinos in different countries throughout west africa, but i noticed that there seems to be more in mali.  unlike other countries though, the albinos who live in bamako seem to be accepted into this culture.  the albino children are out in the streets playing with other kids, some people go to school and others hold good jobs.  and today - i saw an albino in our church leading praise and holding hands with other ladies.  it was a wonderful sight...  i couldn't help but smile.

i wonder... if there are the same amount of albinos in different countries, but whereas the albinos in bamako are out in public and seen, maybe some in other countries live discreetly.. and some in hiding..

recently i went into a store where they used an computerized checkout system.  meaning, scanning the barcodes on the merchandises, but for higher priced items, they opened an excel file to create a proforma (forgot what it was called - estimate? pricelist?).  anyhow, they said they needed help on the excel files creating more rows in the body of the proforma.  so i did this for them.  later i noticed that they struggled to drag the mouse across the screen....so i looked closely at the mousepad they were using.  you know how one side is smooth so that the mouse drags around easily and the other side is rough so that the mousepad stays in place?  well, they were using the side that's rough.. therefore, had problems dragging the mouse.  so, in my broken french, i explained that the mousepad is supposed to be used on the smooth side and the other side is meant to be on the bottom so that it doesn't move around... and even showed them how this was the case. so, they were like 'oohhh'.  i see.  i thought cool... they understand.

i had to go back there again a few days later... and saw the mousepad back to it's normal position.  and again, the same clerk had a hard time dragging the mouse. 

i see how some times we accept changes easily when we ask for them ourselves, but when we don't... it's difficult to take changes... esp when we are used to certain things being certain ways.  humans are stupid, sometimes... me included.  i guess there are some changes that are worth fighting against to keep in place (one that changes our values and moral, who we are and where we have come from), but i hope that we don't wanna not change just because we're oppposed to 'change'.  cuz change could be good...

Being in Africa, I get to enjoy the rawest form of nature - I get fascinated with certain trees, certain flowers that blooms only here, certain rock formations, different sands, and all sorts of other things that I can not find.  West Africa is also known for the different types of wild birds - some of them very colorful.  I would have never noticed them in America, but I started noticing them here.... some of them are really pretty! 

I was thinking this morning how many things (maybe all living things) have a purpose in life.  How God fashioned animals and plants with specific purposes so that it somehow brings some harmony to nature and things.  But just as I was breathing in the fresh air, a fly came right at my face... then another on my leg...  another on my arms.  I swung my arms near them to make it fly away.  But then another came at me.  What the heck - there is soo many flies here!  It's annoying! 

SO this morning... the biggest question I had is... what is the purpose of life for these flies?  Is it to annoy people?  Maybe to remind us how good it is that we have shelter so that don't have to bother with the gazillions of flies that are waiting to cling on to us, but instead we have none or maybe 1 that is waiting to be swattered. 

Somone know ... do they serve some GOOD?

by far... my most favorite french words are.... bon gout.

....  it means taste good....

       .............. but in Korean, it sounds like the word, fart....

haha....  i get a kick out of saying it all the time...  bahng goo doesn't taste bon gout...

studying french can be fun, n'est pas?  OH NO...  I'm dead when I move to Burkina! 

I never knew that fear can overtake me....  fear is a powerful thing...

My biggest fear is slipping and falling into the gutter..

.... or for that matter, dropping my keys or anything valuable into the gutter....

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the gutter is most favorite spot for guys to relieve themselves (in other words... hot peeing spot)....

haha... NASTY.  smells every time i pass through it or walk across it.... may God give me the grace to not be clumbsy and make a FATAL MISTAKE. 

haha... but not joke... I fear that sucker!