Highs and Lows

Narnia – Where I am.
Narnian – a person from here AND the name of their language. IE: the English speak English. :)

Imagine This:
You’re huddled with four people who don’t speak English, one is holding a cell phone set on Speaker. They blurt out foreign words into the phone. From the phone a stranger poses a question to you in English. You respond, as the four glance between you face and the phone. Once you're done answering, their eyes are glued on the phone. The next thing you hear from the stranger on the other end are more foreign words, but this time the group nods and smiles at you!

Welcome to Narnia!

Here I am! In Country! PraiseYouLord! The first thing that struck me when I got off the plane was how all of the customs guards waved me through. I didn’t bring anything to declare. All of them were so laid back as I wheeled my carry-on’s out… (emphasis on the "carry-on's") I wasn’t familiar with the arrangement of the airport or the Visa booth lines. They separated foreigners and nationals. It lead straight to two baggage carousels. In my sleep deprived state I thought there must be separate baggage carousels for Narnians and Foreigners. I didn’t recognize people from the“foreigner’s line”, so I continued through the terminal expecting to see another baggage carousel. I passed through some doors where I saw two very familiar American women!

This was my welcoming committee! But I didn’t have my suit cases with me!!! They looked a little confused and clued me in on how I just exited the airport without my bags! I thought, “Now I’ve done it… There’s no way they’ll let me back there again!” But my friends held my carry-on's and turned me around to get my luggage – entering the way I exited! The sliding doors had Do Not Enter looking markings, and a guard was perched there. “Just walk through the way you came! They’ll let it slide.” I guess they knew how casual these guards were because I had eye contact with one guard who waved me back through the sliding doors! I scurried up the corridor to the baggage carousel and HALLELUJAH my suit cases were cycling around with the remaining bags. Had I stood there I probably would have waited the same amount of time because others were pulling their bags off the carousel too. :)
And just like the first time, the guards let me through and I didn’t even have to slow my pace.

The Drive away from the airport was an experience. I landed after dark on Thursday December 17th. We drove down a four lane road. As the traffic slowed I noticed there WAS a train! No red blinking lights, no bar that lowers to eye level with red and white reflectors, no bell was dinging. Just a train…cruising through the moderately lit highway. A car beside us was roaring down the street and screeched like nobody’s business! That’s when the driver (an “M” here) explained that there are three kinds of license plates here. White: Normal Citizen, Yellow: Foreigner Driving, Red: Diplomat or Embassy worker. I’ve also seen blue, but I still don’t know what it indicates. Red Plates are special because they don’t have a speed limit and rarely get pulled over! So my guess is that Mr. Speed Racer who saw the train in the nick of time was a Red Plated car.

Even though this is a city with very industrial surroundings, a cashier will give you a piece of candy or a match box at the supermarket if she doesn’t have correct change. And cashiers are ALWAYS seated!
Lines are advancement-of-the-most-aggressive or higher-status.
Women are given honor though.
I HAVE TO WRITE THIS - ON THE NOTE OF WOMEN
Tonight I'm editing the black text. I wrote it the day before yesterday. However...
right now a woman in the apartment beneath me is screaming. A man's voice is roaring in Narnian and there is lots of pounding...I alerted my hosts who are the American family I am temporarily staying with. They came to the room I'm in where they could hear it. We prayed and pounded on the floor (their roof). "They don't want others to know when something is going on. Maybe this will help them stop." The fighting moved to another room and now all I can hear is her sobbing..."Men always beat the women here..." they told me. It's not criminal, it's perceived as reasonable, and "a given". I feel stunned. I feel adrenalin/cortisol effects on my body. I'm alert even though it's after 11 pm. I'm crying and dread the thought of what that woman suffered tonight...will I see a woman with bruises tomorrow? Will she even come out in public? Will she find somewhere safe tonight? Is this going to happen in the building I'm moving into? Will my girls (the students who will be here for 16 months) hear the same traumatizing horrible sounds I just heard? And all I'll be able to do is pound the wall and pray? Where's the 911? Where's the battered women's shelter? Where's the justice??? My heart aches for who ever she is, and who ever he is too. Both need mercy and hope. Please pray for these tenants below my hosts!

Yesterday a packed metro train pulled into the station and I was in a crowd of anxious board-ers. A teenage boy with his younger brother stepped back and gestured for me to be ahead of them in the crowd. The shoving was more that I was up for and the door was sardine-ed with men. No thanks! The next train was much more reasonable. Almost once a day someone will offer their seat to me. More often I see younger men and women give their seats to elderly women. I’m learning how to say “Thank you” but it’s contains difficult sounds and letters that we don’t have in our alphabet! So I nod or smile and take the seat.

Bus trips cost $0.25 whether it’s a 10 minute ride or a 1 hour ride. I’m learning the names of places that a week ago I couldn’t even pronounce! At one time Russian became the official language of trade and commerce here. Though they are free to fully speak the Narnian language, Russian is written and spoken in almost every setting! Sometimes it’s all that’s written on products in the supermarket. I know four Russian words: No, Yes, Shampoo and Forward. Have you ever seen Russian? It’s like Greek or something! I can write only one word: Shampoo :) I’ve learned 10 or so words in Narnian. Yes, No, Dog, Moon, Flavor, One, Ten, Hello, Inner City, January, Soviet, Street, Hour, Father Snow and Blue! Common girl’s names: Gunay, Samira, Esmira, Alyana, Vusale, Sima, Leyla, Lala, Lina, Nigar. Common boy’s names: Kamran, Rasul, Arap-han, Chamil. Last names ending with a consonant indicate masculine, and ending with a vowel indicate feminine. Like traditional Polish! -ski is the last name suffix for a man, -ska is the end of a woman's last name!

My first week I made a trip to the mall with an American family. I browsed through a clothing store while the family went to the kiddie play area upstairs. Before long one of the four store keepers was “shadowing” me. Her name was Esmira. She spoke Russian and pulled out the garment I just looked at and wanted to take me to a dressing room! I was only curious and had no intention of buying. I tried to communicate that with her through gestures and sign language. She laughed embarrassed because she was rambling on in Russian to someone who didn’t understand a word! Then her other co-workers curiously came over too – but none of them spoke English! This was Elyana, Gunay and Samira. After about 10 hilarious minutes of being shadowed by all four, signing and laughing at ourselves, one girl put her English speaking sister on her cell phone. The five of us circled around the cell phone. They spoke to her in Russian and she spoke to me in English! I answered her in English and she, on speaker phone, translated my words into Russian! Oh technology! :) We did this for a little while and then a Narnian customer came in to shop. This was Vusale (Voo Saw Lay). She teaches English to Doctors to enable them to use American medical resources. She asked me to speak to her class sometime! WOW!

The unknown adventure has begun.