Bird Watching

In the previous blog post, I explained the importance of friendship upon which trust is built – a trust that oils the wheels of creativity and grace much needed in the office. This friendship is built out of many different blocks, some of which are merely the hours upon hours we spend with each other in our work-related activities. Even in our most serious days, rarely does an hour go by without something happening or something being said that makes us all laugh. These last few months, we've discovered a new game for us to enjoy together – bird watching.

 

The sun beats down pretty hard on Gilgel Beles, and unfortunately, the city's location on the gentle slope down toward Sudan, doesn't afford it much of a breeze. Stale heat, as we have come to learn, has very little to speak well of and when the three translators and I crowd around one laptop screen for a team check, our collective body heat cranks the degree of uncomfortability up another few notches (not to mention an unfriendly aroma surpassed only by that of a Friday night locker room). Oh well, I guess it's all a matter of perspective, as many of our Scandinavian colleagues would say that our "sauna" office is lacking several degrees of heat, a whole lot of humidity and definitely the freedom of self-exposure! In other words…it could be a whole lot worse!

 

Early in the project we requested and received a "ventilator" for the office - that is, a fan. And so, on days where there is electricity, it is not uncommon for us to set the fan on oscillate and circulate our stench around the room for all to enjoy. Believe me, the dry mouth and itchy eyes that follow an afternoon drinking in the breeze are well worth the exchange.

 

However, it doesn't take living over here long, before one learns that electricity is not something to take for granted. A day without at least one power outage would be news-worthy around the dinner table. A week without at least one powerless day is a true blessing from heaven. All that to say, we've learned to appreciate the "ventilation" when we have it. For when it is gone, the best we can do is leave our doors and windows wide open and pray for a  low pressure system to blow through.

 

Working with our doors and windows open, however, has recently added a new dimension to our work. You see, when we first moved to Gilgel Beles in May, Micah was desperately wanting a pet. He had a tortoise for a couple days until one day it bolted into the tall grass and disappeared. He had a tree frog for some time, but without finding what it wanted to eat, and with its evening croaks getting quieter and quieter, we decided to let it go to live the happy, free life. He has captured plenty of snails, but they haven't turned out to be very exciting pets.

 

Then one day, as the Gmz translators, Eric and I were hard at work in the translation office, we had an unexpected visitor – a tiny little bird flew in through our open door and instead of choosing the straight shot out the window on the other side of the room, he decided to take a pit stop on the curtain rod. Ah yes, Micah would love to have a bird, I thought as our work quickly took a backseat. The translators and I got up and quietly closed the windows and door. Then, after a short chase and with the help of the window curtain, we trapped that little bird live and boxed him up for the short trip home that evening.

 

Needless to say, Micah was thrilled to have a tiny little bird all of his own. We carefully took him out of the box and for all of about 2 minutes Micah was in pet-owner heaven. But as I searched for a suitable box we could turn into a permanent cage, a sudden gasp caught my attention and I turned just in time to see the bird shoot out the window and up into the sky. One very happy bird made for one very sad boy.

 

The next day at the office, the translators asked about Micah and his new friend. They laughed to hear how happy Micah was to doddle over his new pet, but they laughed even harder to hear how the bird escaped his grasp and darted straight out the window. But, when their laughter subsided, they returned to seriousness, saying, “Just you wait, the next bird that flies in here…we'll get him for Micah. Just you wait!”

 

And, ever since then, we have been on a mission. And so, once a month or so when a bird happens to visit us in the office, all mayhem breaks loose as all of us spontaneously jump off our chairs, and scramble toward the doors and windows with all-out shouts of excitement. Thus far, we've yet to get all the windows closed before our frazzled and panicky visitors find an open one, but that doesn't dampen our enthusiasm and anticipation of the next one. I never knew bird watching could be this fun, for whatever reason, I always thought it was people just walking around looking at birds from afar. Boy was I wrong. I love having fun with the Gmz translators. I love the memories, the inside jokes that come out of things like this. They are the glue of friendship. Now if we can just find a way to tame that birding excitement after each hunt, so as to concentrate again on our other mission, Bible translation…