another week

moved this weekend, and am really excited about the new place!! I will have to put pictures up when Kate is finished painting.

On sunday, Jose (missionary from Honduras) and family took me to the ostrich farm. Thats right, Ostrich. Its about an hours drive out of town, but it was really fun and a great place. Ostrich meat is pretty amazing!! There was opportunity to ride an ostrich, but when the ugly thing was staring at me with its mouth open, growling, I decided against it.

As I was sitting in church, I was thinking about cultures and coming home. As much as I dislike parts of the American culture, it is what I know. I grew up with it, I know how it works, and how to work it. But the past two months I have been learning about Kenyan culture, specifically Nairobian culture. As unfamiliar and different as it is, I have been learning to exist within it. I dont begin to understand how it works, but I have grown accustomed to it. Or at least accustomed to not understanding it.

I started considering how I am going to have to re-adapt to Texas American culture, then back to Oregon American culture, then Alaskan culture all in about two months time. Then the Revelation really hit me. I don't belong to this world; I don't belong to these cultures. I have to work within them and adapt to them, but its just a temporary visit on a much bigger, eternal scale. I think people who do not understand cultures have a lot harder time with this concept. They like their culture; they are comfortable with it. But it is not going to last. Are you comfortable with your world? Who's world are you really living in?

I realized more than ever that I am simply visiting this planet for a short while (what is the average American lifespan?), preparing to go home.