Village telegram...

The other day, I had a real ‘This is Africa” moment. I took off barefoot on a walk with my leatherman knife and a mango. It was awesome, just looking out at the scenery and enjoying my fruit. Soon, some little boys ran up wanting some. Later, I finished the thing off (with an old man’s help), licked my knife and carried on. So I started jogging to the water pump—I’ve taken to running in the afternoons and it’s caused quite the stir, you’ll see—and came upon a batch of men coming from the fields with their cows… and AK-47s. Wowza. Did I tell you about these already? They’re like jewelry… for men. They carry them around nonchalantly and to look cool. And if they get excited, sometimes they’ll shoot them off in the air. Or just to say hello. (I’m yet to witness this myself, praise God.)
Anyway, I greeted them and talked for a while. Can you imagine calmly talking to a guy holding an AK-47 or a machete in America?) Then took off to find Husa, where my house is that I’ll be moving into soon. This place is confusing, so I kept asking and pointing and saying “Husa.” Worked like a charm. They’d show me on my way or take me a ways. The little kids would run alongside me for a while until they got tired and died off. But, sure enough, a little later, I’d have another group pacing alongside me. Haha.
Everyone was super concerned that I wasn’t wearing any shoes. They’d point and holler and look confused. I really didn’t know how to respond to that, so I eventually just took to pointing back at their barefeet. At least then they laughed, haha.
In situations like this, it doesn’t take long for everyone in the hills to know what’s going on. By the time I made it up to Husa, everyone knew I was coming. There’s something with the flutes and special notes. I have no idea. All I know is, they knew I was coming and were all standing out to greet me along the way. You can hear the crowds of children coming like herds of cattle from their houses to the trail. Even better was the way back. Everyone knew what was up. “You go to Husa?” “Husa?”
That’s called the village telegram, friends. It’s more reliable than most anything, I promise you. (Certainly us Westerners’ precious cell phones, since they’ll do you no good out here!) I’m sure this will prove helpful when someone gets let into by a scorpion.