harsh (adj)
1. difficult
to live in or endure because very uncomfortable or inhospitable conditions
2. severely
scrutinizing, critical, and rigid in manner
3. extremely
exacting to the point of being punitive
4. jarring
or unpleasant to the senses
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc.
Recently, teacher
friends have been asking me about the “harsh” conditions of Selekleka.
Questions about the “air condition” (weather) are common, but recently many are
convinced that it is harsh. When I inquire into their thinking they tell me it
is because the mornings are so cold and the afternoons are very hot. This is
true. I put on a sweater before going to school and can often see my breath
most of the way there. However, by 9 my teacher coat is enough warmth and by 10
I’m too warm.
Extreme cold and
hot could be considered “uncomfortable” or “inhospitable;” however, Selekleka
doesn’t deal with extremes. But that’s where I realize my thinking differs from
many of my friends. Extreme cold for me entails inches of ice on the road while
blinding snow is swirling around and having to walk to class wrapped in scarves
and jackets. Thank you Pacific Northwest for giving me tastes of this every
year.
While I may dislike
the cold mornings here, I relish in the fact that I can walk to school everyday
without having to worry about chains on tires. Rains may make some paths muddy
earlier in the school year, but there is a paved road to walk on if needed. The
weather really isn’t harsh.
Besides the
weather, this adjective paints the perfect picture of the opposite living
conditions of Selekleka. The people here are very hospitable. They take the
time to listen to my faltering Tigrigna and offer to buy me tea whenever I walk
past a tea house. I’ve become a part of the community where parents are
comfortable letting me twirl their kids, students are comfortable coming up and
talking to me outside of class (not a common behavior), and kids are
comfortable leaping off the 2 foot raised sidewalks to be caught by me.
While I
continuously scrutinize myself, friends here remind me that that’s not what
life is about. I’m told “Don’t worry,” “Just do you,” and other encouragements
that remind me that I’m not in a place where severe scrutiny is common. In fact
everything is flexible, relaxed, leisurely. There are things one has to do, of course,
but even those are not fixed and rigid in when or how they need to be done.
Nothing is done or required in an exact way. It is not like America when time
and clocks are adhered to like gods.
Besides the cold in
the morning and the sunburning heat in the afternoon, my senses are at peace
here. Evening walks through the light breeze as the birds and frogs call out
are relaxing. My eyes dart around from color and smiles and friends wherever I
go. The food may not have great variety, but it’s always fresh, hot and
comforting. I’ve even uped my spicy tolerance so more food doesn’t qualify as
“unpleasant” or “harsh” any more. Sure, I still have to meander around cow,
donkey and camel droppings wherever I go, but that’s just one smell in a mix of
millions that make Selekleka home.
Yes, life can be
difficult and unpleasant here. But, it’s not harsh. It’s tolerable, nice,
comfortable, even hospitable.
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