OKAY! One of the devoted followers of this blog -- Char -- has been dying to hear about the connection between missionaries and hyenas. I promised this story ages ago, so before leaving Africa, here it is. (Those who are at all squeamish should ignore this story and just stick with the pictures.)
Okay. So. Hyenas eat what's left of an animal after the meat's been consumed by lions and leopards and etcetera. In short, they eat the bones. As a result, their stools are hard and white from all the calcium. Hold that thought! Rhino ahead!
Right, so where were we? Oh yes, hyenas and missionaries. So, anyway,in the 19th century, British missionaries communicated with the locals through pictures: they drew the stories of Jesus on little blackboards that they took with them through the jungle. Well soon their chalk ran out and they couldn't very well head back to England for more. And it wasn't like there were any stores upriver. So what do you suppose they used instead? Yup.
It is all just too beautiful!
Sigh.
But all is well. I'm off on a snorkeling/writing trip to Cayo Largo. If the Internet is working, I'll post from the Caribbean. If not, I've scheduled a post with photos of me as a little kid with my pets, and also a series of "on the road" posts of an incredible trip my partner and I took to Argentina. It's got Buenos Aires, Evita's mausoleum, Iguazu Falls where they shot Indiana Jones, treacherous mountain excursions, and the Andes! And if I run out of fun stuff there, there'll be a post on some of exciting things that have happened me that I most remember -- like being alone in a mummy's tomb.
A rividerci,
Allan
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That story was totally worth the wait! :)
ReplyDeleteFunny isn't it? Their drawings could be distant artistic relatives to this modern achievement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ
What would Sister Wendy say?? ;)