It’s Day 9 of the 31 Days in the Life of a TCK series! Welcome! You can find more info on the series here.
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There are moments when I would really like to be a chameleon.
Moments when I don’t want to be white, where black would be so much more convenient.
Where I could just blend in and be treated like everyone else.
I remember that one time in Uganda when we were invited to a wedding.
Basically, the whole village is invited to the wedding and the party has like 500 people.
We were the only ones with an oven in town, so we made the wedding cake. It was several layers high, so that everyone got at least a tiny little bit of it.
The funny thing was that we didn’t even know the couple.
We brought the cake and then hoped we could just find a seat somewhere in the back to watch the ceremony.
Well, we were wrong.
As soon as the father of the bride spotted a bit of white skin in the sea of black faces, he ran up to us and beckoned us to come in front.
No excuse was good enough, we had to come and sit in front.
In the very front.
With the bridal couple we had never met before.
They were so honored to have us there, to have the white missionaries attend their wedding and bring a cake full of sugary sweetness.
They honored us by seating us in front, expressing their joy and cultural traditions with this gesture.
I can’t deny my skin color and it might take a long time until they would treat me like one of them.
But a first step might be for me to honor the traditions they had just opened up for me. And more importantly, honor the people behind them.
What are some of the things you had to learn and honor in a new culture? What do you appreciate most about it?
What are some of the things you had to learn and honor in a new culture? What do you appreciate most about it?
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Thanks so much, it is great fun and a good experience!
I'm so enjoying this series! So interesting to get a glimpse into your experiences. Thank you for writing!