Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you. Genesis 12:1
Many people likened my journey to South America as the Lord sending Abram to a land he did not know. Brazil reminded me a lot of Jamaica, but Argentina, well let’s say I think it is the polar opposite besides it being on the other side of the equator. I knew little about it except for its football. It was truly miraculous how God made a way to come here. And although I had my doubts sometimes before coming, I knew if I did not leave, I would be disobeying God. He also made it clear that I had to move from the house where I lived. So having given up my home in Jamaica, I embarked on an adventure to a place I did not know.
So, I have already established that Brazil was similar to Jamaica in many ways, yet there were still also major differences like no flushing of toilet paper, the pharmacist never having heard of Advil Cold and Sinus, and they speak Portuguese. Despite these differences there was definitely a sense of familiarity. One day, after telling some folks in Brazil that I was from Jamaica, a lady burst out singing “Could you be loved”, and being the good Jamaican I am, I asked who sang the song because I couldn’t remember. They told me Bob Marley. Ok I feel like some Jamaicans will be ashamed of me right now, but it could have been sung by other Jamaican artistes. Some of those Brazilians seem to be more Jamaican than I was.
Argentina, on the other hand, is another story. Although they do flush toilet paper here, which I am very thankful for. But everything seems so different to me here. Being on the other side of the equator they have seasons at contrasting times. Therefore, we are now in August, and it is the middle of winter. Schools had there two week winter break in July and the start of the school year is March as summer comes to an end. Thankfully some days are warmer, but there are times when the temperature has gone close to freezing. And I am allergic to the cold. One day, I went looking for a lavendería to find a place to wash my clothes as I had just moved to another location. I had it all planned out to go ask their cost at this new place that I had found on Google and then to walk over to the supermarket. It was a little colder with a slight wind that day and as I walked outside, I could feel my legs starting to burn and itch, and I also started getting a headache along with being out of breath. I managed to make it to the lavenderia, but I couldn’t go to the supermarket. I returned to the apartment and took allergy medicine that I had bought in Brazil at the direction of the pharmacist since he did not know what Advil Cold and Sinus was. Thankfully, I was able to go to the supermarket later that day.
Now, on the matter of the supermarket, things are not the same as in Jamaica. I am in Rosario, where Lionel Messi, the great football player comes from, and it is the more European part of Argentina so the spices are just not the same as in Jamaica. I can’t find curry here. I had to buy curry in Brazil and also in the northwestern part of Argentina. I tried to make curry chicken, and rice and peas to celebrate Jamaica’s Independence and it was a major failure as the spices are so different and I couldn’t get real coconut milk. I got coconut milk that was made from coconut water, and it had all these added ingredients. I had also tried getting chicken wings to curry, but the supermarket didn’t sell wings. I am still wondering what they do with the wings since they sell other parts of the chicken. And if you know that there are no wings, then you know there is also no chicken back, right? Nothing turned out the way I wanted it. I got a bit depressed because I don’t like my cooking here and I don’t have my favorite comfort foods, like a julie mango. I bought a mango here once. It is one of the most expensive fruits as it is not grown in this region. It just didn’t taste the same. No comfort for me there. And going to the supermarket can be quite a task too as I am not sure of the products. Ironically, I had to come here to learn from folks back home that ground beef and minced meat are different. I can’t just pick up a back of ground beef either, I have to go to ask for it. One day, the man behind the counter asked me which one I wanted, I told him I didn’t know the difference and he asked me if I wasn’t from Brazil. I said no that I was from Jamaica and we just have one to choose from there, only to find out later we have two different ones.
And I can also totally forget about buying hair products for my hair here. The last time I saw a black person was weeks ago, so black hair products would not be a thing here. Buying vitamins are just not the same either. They don’t usually come in bottles of thirty or more. I tried buying vitamin C and could only get the ones you put in water which are more expensive.
I also have been having major difficulties with the language. I have been learning Spanish, but the dialect they speak here is different. They call it Rosarino and I have a hard time understanding it. So, I stumble my way through to try to get things done. Recently, I went to buy a bus pass for the first time. Not wanting to mess up I decided to ask for exactly what was written on the paper they had there saying they had the card. I laughed at myself later when I realized that I told the lady that I needed a “we charge bus cards here.” I just wanted the card as I had been trying to find it from the week before and I was happy I finally found it even though I sounded stupid and the man beside me just looked at me if I were strange. The cashier was very nice though and was very helpful. I have already made up my mind that I am going to look like an idiot and sound stupid here just to get things done. But this is what happens when God sends you to a place you do not know and that is so different from your own.
I am wondering why God would send me to Argentina and miraculously open so many doors for me to be here, when my experiences and culture are so different. I am a woman who walked alone in what is considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Jamaica and I sat on sidewalks speaking to gangsters about Jesus and life. I don’t think that would be considered appropriate here. And to change the subject a bit, here I am in the middle of the World Championships in Budapest where they cut it on television right when the finals are to be shown to air football or sailing. I have been so frustrated, and I have resorted to trying to find bootleg livestreams on YouTube which are covered over with titles saying that they will take down the video soon. I am definitely not in Jamaica where everyone is watching the races and field events in every nook and cranny of the country, and some even have their pot covers ready when we get gold.
Now, I am constantly asking God why He would do so much to get me here, where I know few people so I have to do a lot of things alone not knowing what I am doing most of the times. I am in a land that I do not know and do not understand, but I recognize I have to depend on God more and be led by His Spirit. There are times I do not want to go out and do things alone, but I go knowing He is with me and that since He was the One who brought me to the other side of the equator, then He will also be the One to guide me and provide for me for as long as He has me here.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
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