Check in!

My brown plaid look a like converse slammed down into Dinka planet’s red dirt for the first time!

Check in! This is just an intro to my blog and I will not be able to tell the rest of what has happen in the last 2 months....mostly just language learning and bike riding.

The first week I went to Akot and a volunteer team came out here and built a training center to teach the word of God to their own people. It was wild to see God move in only my first week! The team told Bible stories to the Dinka people on their lunch breaks.

I followed Jennifer as she lead the way because she has been on Dinka planet for about a year, a lot longer than I have, and she knows how to survive on this planet.

I guess we had to get check in. I didn’t know what was going on! So she led me to this little broke down building with a small concrete porch. We where the first of the passengers to get there and I assumed this was the check in. We went in the door way by the porch and we where met by this huge, stern, mean, Dinka man in a red button up shirt. He came toward us and kind-of pushed us back out to the porch saying and gesturing, “back!, Back!” With aggression in his voice, it was very intimidating. Then he say’s “NO! line!” I have no idea what he wants because it is only the two of use and he wants us to make a line..OK. He pushes us off the porch an he keeps saying “line!” with a stern aggressive voice. Jennifer is in front of me. Then he let’s her go through and I follow her to the desk of an older Dinka man who is checking her in, but a blur of red comes into my sight of vision and I am being starred down again by the huge Dinka man!

He says “No! Line” and he aggressively guides me out of the building and back off the porch. So Jennifer gets check in as I look through the arm pit of the huge Dinka man blocking the door way.

I was a little confused with all types of different thoughts going through my head. Jennifer got through with no problem but I have been waiting here for like 8 minutes maybe, and the line is building up. OK that’s cool she will get treated like an American, an earthling, but I am black and they probably think I’m Kenyan. I read about this, I knew this would happen, but not so soon! In Kenya, me and Jennifer where treated like equals and in fact I think I had more of a bond from the Kenyans. So for this to happen I was a little thrown off but not scared or hurt, I expected it. So finally a Dinka man tells me to come in the check-in building.

That’s another thing, on Dinka planet at the airstrip the workers have no identification or uniforms, they just wear whatever they have on that day. So you don’t know who is who, so I figured who ever is giving me orders like he’s my daddy must work here.

I went cautiously checking for the big Dinka man with the red shirt. I get to the check-in desk and they check my papers . It seemed like I went to three different men for the same thing, just to check my papers. “Who you for?” What” I said, “Who you For?” I said “ I am with Baptist Mission” The tall Dinka man with the red shirt, stares into my eyes as I stare at his, and then he gives me my papers. So I grabbed my suitcase and my camera bag and my stupid plastic covered pillow and headed for freedom out of this intimidating place but I was stopped once again right at the door to check my bags! Than they went through all my bags!

I look to the right of me and I see an home free exit door to get out of here, where Jennifer is peacefully waiting for me. Than the guy checking my stuff pulls out my camera! O crap! Red Alert, Red Alert!(I’m a photographer so my camera is big..that’s how I roll!) ‘’You, Journalist!, Your Journalist!” yells the big dinka man with the red shirt! Everybody and the building looks at me some people even get up from their desk. I can feel the tension all on me! I say “No I am with Baptist Mission” I strain my ears to understand their broken English as everybody talks at the same time...”Your personal camera?” I say “yes it is my personal camera”. Than everybody calms down. Good Lord I’m thinking! The guy finishes checking my stuff and than I high tail it outta there!

Check in!