I know I said this before, but it's really nice that a lot of the people in my life are still excited about the bucket list. I guess it makes sense and I could have probably assumed that the list would appeal to the people I'm close to, since friends usually tend to have similar interests. But it definitely makes it easier to accomplish everything.
Anyway, Alyssa came over the other day (actually, it was about a week and a half ago... this blog is kind of overdue) and we decided to do at least one thing on my bucket list. I had her look through it and see what sounded fun to her and she eagerly chose two: color through a coloring book and watch a documentary. So she came over after work and we went coloring book shopping. :)
First, we went to Target and bought a large box of crayons. We looked through the coloring books and were extremely disappointed with the selection. I was completely prepared to be coloring something cheesy like Sponge Bob or Sesame Street-- I realize the coloring book industry doesn't exactly include people my age in their target market. However, I was under the impression that there were still coloring books that were similar to the ones I had as a kid: basic, fill-in-the-lines-with-crayons coloring. This is not the case. Every single coloring book was either 75% activity pages (word searches for five year olds), sticker books, or 50% tracing paper. It's great that they are making coloring books more educational for children, but it doesn't exactly appeal to me.
So, Alyssa and I broadened our search to include Barnes and Noble. Going here is always dangerous-- I want to buy everything in that store!-- and I ended up spending way more money than I should have. But, in all, it was successful: we found the PERFECT coloring books. They actually had a series of coloring books that seemed to be targeted towards adults and each one had about 50 pages of detailed, beautiful artwork to color in. Alyssa naturally chose the bird coloring book, since she is the bird lady. My choice was not quite as apparent, but I ended up buying a cat coloring book book, with pictures of leopards and cats peering into goldfish bowls, etc.
This is a side note: this may be one of the funniest calendars I have ever seen. I was almost tempted to buy it, except the only place I would ever hang a calendar is work, and it is definitely not work appropriate.
This is also a side note: when we left, it was pouring rain-- so much so that I gave up trying to stay dry and used my umbrella to shield my new coloring supplies. My pants were completely soaking wet (I might as well have jumped into a lake) and so were hers, so we changed into sweatpants, curled up on the couch with our coloring books and watched a documentary on Netflix. Nothing is ever as simple as I imagine it will be... always an adventure.
The documentary we chose was not all what I expected, either. It was titled "God Grew Tired of Us" and was a story following a few of the "Lost Boys of Sudan." When I heard the summary, I automatically thought the documentary would be emotional and tragic, because their story IS very emotional and tragic:
In the 1980s, thousands of young boys were forced to flee Sudan because of the civil war and walked thousands of miles across the African wilderness over the course of five years, before they found refuge in Kenya. The particular village they described in the documentary had been invaded by the Northern Arabs who raped, killed, tortured and sold their families into slavery. Thousands of boys 12 and under were able to escape and they walked all the way to Ethiopia, where they stayed for a short time, and eventually to refugee camps Kenya. Many didn't survive the journey due to dehydration, starvation, animal attacks, disease, and genocide. Most of the boys who made it to the refugee camp did not know if their families had survived and felt as if they had no home, as they were forced to wait decades for their country to be safe enough to return to.
The documentary briefly describes their traumatic past, but most closely follows the journey several of these men took from impoverished, war-torn Africa to the United States. In 2001, the United States government developed a program which assisted thousands of men travel to the US, and found them jobs and affordable housing.
The documentary spent a great deal of time focusing on the culture shock they experienced, so as a whole, it was actually pretty funny. Before they left Africa, they showed men expressing excitement about being able to see a shower for the first time. In America, they showed them trying soda, being instructed to not throw their garbage out the window, and pouring milk over crushed ritz crackers for dinner. Americans seemed very unfriendly to them and the American work schedule seemed especially rigorous, without leaving much time to be with family and friends. A lot of them found Americans' misperception of Africa hilarious, but some found the need to start organizations to raise awareness and funds for their country.
The most emotional stories, in my opinion, were of those who searched for their families through agencies. One man found his mother (who he hadn't seen for about 20 years) and was able to save enough money for her to come to the United States. Another saved money to travel to Africa to marry his girlfriend.
The documentary was incredible. I know that Africa is a tumultuous place, but I have not spent much time learning about the conditions and horrific history of many of its countries. I read the news and spend a lot of time learning about different cultures, but I honestly am still one of the Americans these men found so hilariously ignorant. I have always believed it's really important for us to be aware of things like this, especially living in such a privileged country, where we have the ability (and I would even go so far as to say the RESPONSIBILITY) to help the people in these countries. Obviously, I would recommend watching this documentary. It was informative, it was inspiring, and it was really entertaining, too.
Alyssa and I only had time to color one picture each. It will be a while before I can cross this off my bucket list. But be prepared for some awesome pictures. :)
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