africa days.

This current semester, I have had two international students transfer into my hall. One is Trescillia, a 22-year-old woman from India, and the other is Anna, a 44-year-old woman from Kenya. Neither have ever been to the United States before or even seen snow for that matter, so the culture shock has been a difficult circumstance to deal with. Never before have I so badly wished to be able to speak Swahili or Hindi.

A few days ago, I knocked on Anna's door to check in with her and see how she was doing. I could hear her moving around the apartment, rustling papers, and then a plodding toward the door.

"Lauren! Come in, come in," she told me in her thick, African accent as she peeked around the door.

She slowly widened the door space, and I followed her into the thinly decorated room.

"Do you want some tea?" she offered, gesturing graciously for me to sit on the couch.

"Oh I'm okay, thanks Anna," I said hastily. She didn't seem to have a whole lot of food, and I didn't want to dip into what she did have, even if it was just tea. I was also meeting with someone in twenty minutes for coffee, so I didn't want to get overly caffeinated.

She raised an eyebrow at me and spoke very directly in her broken English: "Lauren - in my culture - when someone offers you tea, you take the tea."

I took the tea. 

She proceeded to make me authentic lemongrass tea from Africa with natural, Kenyan honey in a little white mug. It was strong and sweet and thick, and I ended up drinking the entire cup. We also ended up talking for over an hour (my friend was willing to wait) about the cultural differences between America and Kenya. She explained how "You Americans are always so hurried! Hurry here, hurry there. Time, time, time. In Africa, one day, you might walk for miles to talk with friends and just sit down somewhere to eat and then walk back. No time, time, time, hurry up. People just want to sit and talk with you." 

She clarified that some may view this as laziness, and she thought that some people in Africa do take it too far, but I couldn't stop thinking of the truth she was speaking: how many Africans are rich in time and relationship, while many Americans are solely focused on riches in money. We are quite poor in our ability to take a long period of time or even a few days to just rest and spend time with sweet friends.

When Gwen and I met for coffee yesterday, we both agreed we needed some Africa days. So this weekend, we might just walk around a little, eat, sit, talk, be with Jesus - stop focusing on the doing and focus on the being.

Trying to dwell on these verses this week. Jesus called us to rest all the time.

Mark 6:31 - "And He said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.' For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 

Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.' For my yoke is easy, and My load is light."

Here's some nature sounds to get you started:

stalls?

I wonder if anyone's ever kept a tally of which bathroom stalls are used the most. The long, abandoned bathroom in the basement of the library made me wonder this yesterday morning. Do people like the big, handicapped ones better or the small, fitted stalls that you can hardly turn around in (more cozy? homey?) Or does the common bathroom goer just choose the first one because it's closest to the door? I suppose that a certain personality would habitually use the first stall - in and out. The organized, structured type. Enter, go, come out, wash hands, leave. That's that. I came here for a reason, and now I'm done, so I'm out.

But I bet there are other people who spend a little time choosing a stall...the ones who daydream a little or pray on the toilet. The ones who aren't in a rush and are really only in the bathroom to get out of a work meeting or class for a little think time. One must choose wisely in this case.

I don't think it's disrespectful to pray on the toilet, but then I think about how people took their shoes off when they entered the Holy of Holys and I wonder. What are your thoughts?

pretty pretty bedrooms.

feeling a little homesick today and missing my bedroom at home.

onion, lantern, money.

nights too, it seems a risk to sleep;
i remember you walking by the cathedral,
head down, a bucket of clouds and oil smeared above.
you were waiting to be strewn by my brush or hand,
rearranged and altered in the white spaces.
but it never worked, really,
or at least that's what you said.

it was strict, the way we walked;
only your shoulder remained obscene,
but i never wished that or our perforations away.
and now you sit on my bench under the spruce,
a cup of cold water in your hand
that you won't look up from.

winter edition.

It's so cold outside right now that it makes me want to stay in my bed all day long and do nothing but read C.S. Lewis, Bleak House, and the Bible and drink tea.

a new year.

i love this newly picked, garden-fresh, crisp, unwilted, raw, natural new year already. i only have a pair of considerations for 2011. two of the biggest things that i complain about not having/taking/making enough time for are the Bible and exercise. ultimately, knowing the Lord is not solely about reading your Bible everyday - yes, one understands His heart and passions better by reading about Him, but knowing God also includes conversing with Him, worshiping, and just resting in Him. but it can't be all these things and none of the other. so with this blank canvas of a new year, i desire to be with Him everyday (in all arenas, but especially Bible-reading) and also to incorporate the classic push toward healthier living: exercise 3+ times a week (gwen is signed up with me for this one).

this break has just made me feel so fresh. even working at The Gap has been easy and enjoyable. mornings and evenings have been especially special. i usually get up late, have some coffee, watch the news, and then exercise at the Y with jojo or lifetime with mom. in the evening, the whole family gathers downstairs with blankets and pizza or tea and we watch an episode or two of planet earth. we love nature shows...anything from bbc or channel 2.

it's late now, and i can hear our dog addie breathing outside my door. hearing her sleepy, rhythmic inhale and exhale is making me tired. getting up early tomorrow to go to a core conditioning class with amy and then out to pazzaluna's and swede hollow to celebrate her 21st birthday, so i am off to bed.

peace.

lo