A few nights ago I watched the new Netflix film ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle‘, based on a chronological compilation of Rudyard Kipling’s stories about Mowgli from The Jungle Book. During the film, (spoiler alert) it captures beautifully the struggles ‘human cub’ Mowgli faces in adjusting to a new ‘culture’ when for a time he is separated from the wolf pack which raised him to live with local villagers.
Reflecting on this film, it parallels how Myron must be feeling these past few weeks in a completely foreign culture to his own. I cannot even begin to list the multitude of new experiences for him.
It has been the first time for Myron to:
- See the ocean
- Swim in the ocean
- Be ‘dumped’ by a wave
- Collect shells
- Draw in the sand
- Make a sandcastle
- See letterboxes outside houses
- See a postman (and was very annoyed he put nothing in Nana and Pop’s mailbox)
- Wear a Superman suit
- Get kissed by a dolphin
- Hug a seal
- Pat a koala
- Hand-feed a kangaroo, emu and fairy penguins
- Eat sweet corn, peaches, nectarines, cherries, blueberries, an ice cream in a cone, Nutri Grain, Minties, chocolate frogs, leg ham, battered sea fish, prawns, squid, Ice Magic, hot chips with chicken salt
- Drink a Caramel milkshake and a babyccino
- Chase a seagull
- See crabs
- Cut himself on oyster shells
- See an airconditioner
- Use a vacuum cleaner
- Watch a garbage truck empty rubbish bins
- Help to ride a four-wheel motorbike
- Visit a local library
- Borrow and read books from a library
- Sit next to Santa
- See a ride-on lawnmower
- Sit on grandparent’s laps and listen to stories
- Meet his cousins, aunties and uncles
- Have a bubble bath
- Go to bed when the sun is still up
- Touch a snake
- Watch Daddy put petrol in the car for himself
- Swim in a river and a heated pool
- Turn on the exhaust fan when going to the toilet
- Watch a roller door go up
- Walk through automatic doors
- Watch ‘the news’ and cricket on television
With these changes and new experiences comes a lot of excitement, giggles, questions and some inner exhaustion that we obviously cannot see but we experience in other ways. Myron has taken these many changes all in his stride, and it is quite incredible how easily he has adjusted and fitted in. Of course though, as with any 3-year-old, there are times when life just gets a little too tough and possibly too much going on! If only we could enter his mind to fully understand how he is feeling…
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 