Recently I ended up with a headache that lasted for 9 days. When I realized it wasn’t going away, a friend recommended I get a massage at a local place. I was a bit apprehensive since it was a new experience in a place where I don’t speak great language. I was also desperate to be rid of the headache so I tried it out. I was pleasantly surprised by the service there and enjoyed chatting with the owner afterwards over a cup of, you guessed it, tea! That is the only massage place in the city and it's fairly new. I was so thankful they are here. They have a packaged deal where you purchase so many massages in the year and each one ends up costing less than $20. This is just another perk of living here!
In other news, I had been quite frustrated with my teacher, Captain. I didn’t feel like he was teaching us as he should have. I was also annoyed that he had made fun of me at our last class when I confessed my head was hurting. I decided the teaching situation was so frustrating that I needed to discuss the problem with him. I live in a culture that communicates indirectly. I figured out a way in my head to address the problem indirectly. Then I decided to pray about it. I asked God if He would just handle the situation and have Captain come in and teach as I thought he should. Captain came in to our next class and from the first minute began teaching as I thought he should. It happened so fast and natural that had I not been looking for it, I might have missed that answer to prayer. Not only that, he was reviewing stuff from the previous week. I told him I didn’t remember any of it. He compassionately remembered that I had had a headache and said it was a valid reason for not remembering.
The following morning I arrived to school in the pouring rain. When I entered the building where my classes are held, I realized that the University was without electricity. “Great,” I thought, “I guess the teachers will bail on class today since they have an easy excuse.” I decided to wait at the entrance to see if a teacher would show up. Captain came. I told him the electricity was out but he said that it makes no difference and that we can still have class. I was pleasantly surprised. My classmates and I followed him downstairs to our dark underground classroom. There is a large window in our class but it faces a giant retaining wall. We could see but not great. Captain looked in and basically told us we were silly for waiting there and that instead we would have class in his office. I was thankful because his office is much nicer than our classroom. In fact, we have been having class in his office since then and it makes me so happy.
I have 2 gals that arrived this past week. I wasn’t “hosting guests” prepared so I took a bus out to the mall to buy a pillow, blanket, and some other needed items. I kept finding things I needed and by the time I was finished, my purchases were large, bulky, and oh-so-heavy. I make the mistake frequently here of buying more than I can carry. On the plus side, my arms are more fit than they have probably ever been! The mall has a free bus service that I can ride and be dropped off relatively close to my home but it’s still almost a ten minute walk. Since the purchases were so heavy I decided to pay to ride 2 separate buses back and get dropped off about 2 minutes from my house. As I was approaching the bus stop, I saw a bus about to drive away. I ran as best as I could with my heavy load and caught the driver’s attention. He saw my struggle and not only waited for me but even helped me get my purchases on the bus. I was thankful God had provided the bus and I didn’t have to wait. I exited that bus and only had to wait at the 2nd bus stop for a minute before my needed bus came. I managed to make it home with all my things. I spent that afternoon and the following day cleaning and getting my home ready for guests.
I still had a day to wait on my guests to arrive. After class, I headed to my house intending on dropping off school stuff and grabbing my computer. I needed to work on some paperwork and my friend here was going to help me. As I was walking in my building, my neighbor invited me to come in and help her with some work. I agreed. I had been praying for locals to pursue me in relationship and for divine distractions. This was an answer to both. As we were walking in, she told me we would be rolling cigarettes. What? Did I hear her correctly? She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who would be rolling cigarettes. Once inside, we of course had to have some tea and a local dessert. Following the dessert, we then had another cup of tea with some cake. I was so thirsty when I got there and the sugar and tea made me even thirstier. I did manage to get a cup of water in there somewhere.
After tea time, she brought out pieces of large, thin, circular dough. She cut it into pizza shaped wedges. We then took some crumbled cheese (possibly feta or goat cheese) and sprinkled some on the fat end of the piece of dough. We then proceeded to roll the pastry/cheese like you would a cigar. I learned that the dish is called “Cigarette Pastry” for the way it is rolled. We then fried the “cigars” in some oil. Man, oh man, were they tasty. She made me eat three even though I was done at 2. Between the sugar, tea, and salty/fried food, I was super thirsty by the time I left.
The following day I went to the big city to pick up my friends. It’s been great having them here. I realized how starved I had been for English-speaking adults in my home when I talked their heads off on their first 2 days here. It’s also been fun to have someone to go out to dinner with or to go shopping with. I’ve enjoyed introducing them to neighbors and friends and showing him around the outdoor market. I’m eager to see what other adventures we can have together while they are here.
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