Teaching them to feel.

I remembered today that we have a chin-up bar between two of the buildings. It is now my goal to, where possible, do five chin ups every time I walk by. If I can do full chin ups, I should get buff pretty soon, right? I tried to do situps on the reclining bench tonight, but the bottom of the bench is too close to the ground, so after the second time I got done with random exclamations that sounded angry, I decided to quit. The thing I really need to do is cardiovascular workouts, but those take longer than I can sustain interest.

I walked down to the French Bakery with a couple of the other teachers who had stayed here over break this morning for fresh croissants, I got a chocolate and a cheese one. Those things are kind of expensive (40 afs, 80 cents), but they are so very good. I have to be careful or I'll be walking down there every morning. We had gone later in the morning the other day, and gotten them when they weren't fresh, and while they're good then, there's just something about freshly melted cheese or chocolate in a airy, warm, flaky croissant. I know, you're envious. If you could have one, you would be, too.

There's a kind of giddy guiltiness in eating junk food. I was feeling sorry for myself since I have semi-worked about every day this week almost as much as normal, and that all these people were coming back from fall break with neat stories of Delhi or wherever they went, so I over compensated by walking down to the corner store and buying real Kit-Kats, Apple Juice, and Pudding Cups, and having a pudding cup, a KitKat, and a couple glasses of Apple Juice. Then it struck me how bizarre it is to be typing up a post for my blog on my wirelessly connected MacBook, wearing a t-shirt in a fairly warm house, eating KitKats in this definitely third world country. I just... this place can be such a juxtaposition at times. I drive by and look at people that have nothing, but the person next to them is wearing a nice shirt and tie. I went shopping for computer stuff today as part of my consulting gig, and I'm struck by the fact that the people that are selling me the stuff probably really have no idea what they are selling me, they probably don't make enough money to buy the computers that they sell. You see people in their crummy cars, people in their mud brick houses, and I wonder how we can actually make a difference or a change. I sometimes feel guilty here of how much I have.

To the guessers, I played Ultimate at the U.S. Embassy last night. It was kind of neat, although some of the folks I went with were more stoked about it that I was. My team won, which was a plus. We ate at the Embassy afterwards, in the dining hall. Kind of like nice college dorm food. Highly Acceptable.

Oh, and I heard from Joel's wife today that he's doing a lot better. They still aren't entirely sure what was/is going on with his knee, but Joel feels a lot better. This is good news, and thanks be to the One who does all good things.

I wonder, if I look back in five or ten years, how this six month period in my life will look? Will this be a blip or a precursor? Will I understand the impact that this... I can't think what to call it other than an adventure. The impact that this adventure has had, or will I still be in the process of understanding it all? I know who I am in the depths of spirit and truth. But will that translate into understanding of what I am in this world? So, can't You take all of me, all of me, all of me?

I have got to say... no, maybe I don't.