This morning I got
called into have coffee with Teklay, one of my vice directors. I didn’t have to
be asked twice (especially as I had a sore throat). As the coffee was being
made I realized that the silver bowl holding sugar had black spots in it. For
the first round, my friend Merahawit carefully got only sugar, but I joked with
Teklay that ants are just “added protein.”
However, there were
also students coming and going and only Merahawit to cover the small place. So
I quickly took the bowl of sugar and a spoon to scoop out the ants (some alive,
many dead) from the sugar while we all chit-chatted about the meanings of
names, loving Ethiopia, missing friends, and how some of the other teachers can
be annoying. It took awhile, but eventually I had all the ants out and still
had enough time to get my teaching aids prepared before my 2nd
period afternoon class.
While I was sorting
out tiny ants not much larger then the grains of sugar, I realized I didn’t
feel rushed or annoyed. I didn’t see the task ahead of me as mundane, boring,
pointless or unworthy of my time. It needed to be done. Ethiopians love their
sugary tea. Sugar is expensive and keeps going in and out of availability. I
had the time on a comfy stool to sit and sort, so why shouldn’t I do it?
I can remember
plenty of times in the past that I passed something up because I didn’t want to
be bored. “It could be done by someone else,” I’d argue myself over before
walking onto something seemingly more entertaining. I’d mutter about having to
sit still doing anything when being up and about is clearly why my legs work.
Americans, at least
the ones I know and who I was, love clocks. They love making each second count
for something. There is a schedule that has to be maintained and filled
constantly. They’ll have breaks, but maybe only for the length of a t.v. show,
if they can sit still that long. Going and doing are key verbs to define a
day/life. If there are ways to save time, like instant dinners, computing on
phone, or headsets, people tend to lean that way.
Ethiopians are
relaxed. This can be annoying, but only if the American standard is being the scale
to grade them. If not, it’s…relaxing. I can do a task and not worry about what
will come after. I knew I had class in 9B at 1:26 pm, but nothing before that
was required. I could sort a bowl of sugar to make it useable again.
In “Bugs Life” the
ants are blue and purple. In “Antz” they are brown. Today they were little
specks in the sugar, but they were my reminder to have patience and just relax
in whatever task is before me.
No comments:
Post a Comment