Things currently making me chuckle:
1.I saw maybe the best thing ever a few days ago. A herd of ducks...BEING herded in a grassy marsh!
2. I bought a few things at a local shop and gave the man a bill that I would need change back for. Instead of giving me my change back, he tried to convince me to buy HIM for 50 Rupees...(I said no!)
3. I joined a few friends in getting a chocolate treat a few days back. Another guy was in the shop and gave me a bite of his dessert so I could try it out. This has never happened to me back in the states.
4. I asked a guy friend a question while strolling down the street to the sound of horns and the smells of who knows what (typical, mind you). Instead of answering, he grabbed my bag hanging around my body and spun me around behind him and off the street...in order to stop the huge bus from hitting me. (mom, you can send that helmet. I'll wear it even for just strolling down streets!)
5. I asked an auto driver how much a 2 Kilometer ride back home would be. He said it would be 210 Rupees!! It is definitely suppose to be 20 RP. A kind man on his motorcycle next to us gave me a ride for free, though we got into a tussle with a huge pothole and almost crashed, sending his cell phone flying out of his pocket.
6. Police officers tried to give me a ride back home...I did not take it. Slightly creepy.
7. Today, I got my haircut and decided to be daring. It was a bad choice. When I was little, my dear mother once gave my sister and I bowl cuts...yes, bowl cuts (like little boys have). Even when I look back on our sweet angelic faces, I cant help but feel queasy just looking at our awful hair. Apparently I didn't hate it enough because somehow I have it again. (Hopes of finding n South Asian husband are now out of the question) Dang it!
8. I have developed cat like reflexes as a response to the large and never ending amount of ants in my house. Pray that they all die. (God cares even about the little things)
My new rule: Stick to only one adventure a day
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Mixed emotions
As I have expressed to some of you, this Tuesday will mark my one month anniversary of being in South Asia. This month has been good, yet hard and I am absolutely convinced I have actually been here at least 5 months by now.
I have had fun...I traveled to the Southern tip of this country to a point where you can watch the sun rise and set from the same location and attended a wedding; I have ridden a bike which is a feat in itself since crossing the street is the most life threatening thing you will have to do each day; I have eaten great food with my right hand; have seen more beautiful colors than I ever have in my whole life; and after bargaining back in forth with a man, ended up getting a free scarf which should have been 500 rupees.
Other things have been not so fun. I was sick for a little over a week and just yesterday got some sort of food poisoning. I have seen the abuse of dogs, children and women; the effects that idol worship has on a place; the earth cry out for restoration as the inhabitants defile, corrupt and trash it. I have smelt things I wish I never had; have had to pay to use bathrooms that someone should have paid ME to use and more.
Everything is much more intense here. In many ways, I hate it. At the same time, all the things I have seen here, exist back home but are more hidden...in a way, I am confronted by the way I live, the idols in my own life, the way I defile God's creation...I am confronted by reality and see how quickly my world can become like this.
I am thankful for the prayers that I know many are praying. I have felt peace and comfort when I know it was impossible on my own. I have been sick but felt God's calling for me to rest and spend time in His presence more than ever. My needs have been met over and again by Him.
I want to enjoy this time, soak it up, live in the present. Currently, all I want is for it to be over so I can come back to my comfortable, understandable, predictable life. I want control to drive my own car, I want to understand what people are saying, I want to not have to strain to understand the culture around me, I want the comforts of my life that I have taken for granted, I want to be with family and friends and people that know me.
Yet that is not what He has planned for me now. If you get a chance please pray that this time will be enjoyed..that I will not try to rush through something God has so truly blessed me with. I realize that this is what my heart has desired for so long...to be a part of this organization and this work. If I ever start complaining...you have my permission to scold me!
Anyway, thanks for listening!
I love you all!
I have had fun...I traveled to the Southern tip of this country to a point where you can watch the sun rise and set from the same location and attended a wedding; I have ridden a bike which is a feat in itself since crossing the street is the most life threatening thing you will have to do each day; I have eaten great food with my right hand; have seen more beautiful colors than I ever have in my whole life; and after bargaining back in forth with a man, ended up getting a free scarf which should have been 500 rupees.
Other things have been not so fun. I was sick for a little over a week and just yesterday got some sort of food poisoning. I have seen the abuse of dogs, children and women; the effects that idol worship has on a place; the earth cry out for restoration as the inhabitants defile, corrupt and trash it. I have smelt things I wish I never had; have had to pay to use bathrooms that someone should have paid ME to use and more.
Everything is much more intense here. In many ways, I hate it. At the same time, all the things I have seen here, exist back home but are more hidden...in a way, I am confronted by the way I live, the idols in my own life, the way I defile God's creation...I am confronted by reality and see how quickly my world can become like this.
I am thankful for the prayers that I know many are praying. I have felt peace and comfort when I know it was impossible on my own. I have been sick but felt God's calling for me to rest and spend time in His presence more than ever. My needs have been met over and again by Him.
I want to enjoy this time, soak it up, live in the present. Currently, all I want is for it to be over so I can come back to my comfortable, understandable, predictable life. I want control to drive my own car, I want to understand what people are saying, I want to not have to strain to understand the culture around me, I want the comforts of my life that I have taken for granted, I want to be with family and friends and people that know me.
Yet that is not what He has planned for me now. If you get a chance please pray that this time will be enjoyed..that I will not try to rush through something God has so truly blessed me with. I realize that this is what my heart has desired for so long...to be a part of this organization and this work. If I ever start complaining...you have my permission to scold me!
Anyway, thanks for listening!
I love you all!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Seriously?!
Okay, as you all know, I am not usually one to get "worked up" over things, especially over small creatures and insects...
But enough is enough!
Started out with an ant attack. They invaded not only my bag with residue of melted chocolate, but my cereal, my bed AND personal space!
But I sucked it up and I ate that cereal, fishing out as many of the ants I could find. I left my bag untouched as a sweet present to my new "roomates" and did a routine bed check each night before turning off the lights.
This morning is different. I had my last bowl of cereal and thought nothing could go wrong. Until I walked through the hallway past the bathroom. There it was....a spider. "Don't freak out, don't freak out" I chanted over and over again. Grabbed my boot and I SMASHED IT! ...I think I did at least. Only problem is that now I can't find it. See I smashed it with all my strength and then ran behind my bedroom door.
Okay, so a little freaked out but still okay. At this point I am recovering by the front door. When out of the corner of my eye I see a lizard slither out from under my chair and dart for the refrigerator! That was it, I lost ALL composure and bodily control!
The worst part of it all: I had a fresh pot of coffee that had just finished percilating that was located right past the refrigerator.
I am currently jumping from chair to couch to chair in my place hoping to avoid all creatures great and small.
But enough is enough!
Started out with an ant attack. They invaded not only my bag with residue of melted chocolate, but my cereal, my bed AND personal space!
But I sucked it up and I ate that cereal, fishing out as many of the ants I could find. I left my bag untouched as a sweet present to my new "roomates" and did a routine bed check each night before turning off the lights.
This morning is different. I had my last bowl of cereal and thought nothing could go wrong. Until I walked through the hallway past the bathroom. There it was....a spider. "Don't freak out, don't freak out" I chanted over and over again. Grabbed my boot and I SMASHED IT! ...I think I did at least. Only problem is that now I can't find it. See I smashed it with all my strength and then ran behind my bedroom door.
Okay, so a little freaked out but still okay. At this point I am recovering by the front door. When out of the corner of my eye I see a lizard slither out from under my chair and dart for the refrigerator! That was it, I lost ALL composure and bodily control!
The worst part of it all: I had a fresh pot of coffee that had just finished percilating that was located right past the refrigerator.
I am currently jumping from chair to couch to chair in my place hoping to avoid all creatures great and small.
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