The New Normal
I grab the fish head, slip my thumb inside the gills and clean out the blood and muck that is inside. Flipping the fish around, I clean out the insides before throwing the fish in a bucket of water to rinse. I reflect on just a few weeks ago when I first did this job. Every time I scooped out the stomach, I sent up a prayer that mine would stay inside me. Anyone who knows where I grew up in central Victoria would know that fish was not a regular menu item. It normally came on my plate in two forms: fish fingers or battered and served with chips. To say I’m not used to fish would be an understatement. Now, however, I can look the fish in the eye (literally), and shrug with indifference. I’ve found a new normal.
Normal is getting up at 4:45am to cook breakfast for the base over a fire in the bush kitchen. Normal is wrapping a chitengi around my waist and walking slowly through a nearby village. It’s greeting everyone with ‘Mulishani! Bwino. Mwapoleeni mukwai? Ee, mukwai’ and the three-part handshake that accompanies that greeting. Grasp the hand, grasp the thumb, grasp the hand. Normal is eating nshima every day and getting excited to have toast at a nearby foreigner’s house. It’s normal to ride the 30min into town, dodging potholes along the way. Getting followed by locals calling out ‘Hey, muzungu (white person)!’ and asking for food or trying to sell you a kitchen knife. It feels normal (or at least not surprising) to walk into the kitchen and find 20 live chickens sleeping on the floor ready to be killed and plucked. Normal is sitting eating breakfast while a spider climbs down his web right in front of your face, and you don’t flinch…you know he’ll move on soon.
I’ve settled into a routine, and it’s nice. It’s good to be getting to know people, and knowing the layout of the base and town. I know where the best place to buy fruit and veggies is. Where you can get the freshest bread and who sells new eggs every day. I know what time the bank closes and what time the freight train goes through town.
I know this normal won’t last too much longer. My training season is almost over and soon I will be teaching. I know that will bring many changes and soon I’ll settle into yet another ‘normal’, but I’m looking forward to it!
