Weekend

I had a great weekend...on Saturday i made it my goal to figure out how to use some buses to get around. It was really good to see more of the city - and to be able to explore. I think i also see buses as a great way to get around. they may take a little more time - but they save so much money! (it costs 5 times as much to take other transportation). I'm sure its only a matter of time before i get on a wrong bus - but that will be okay too :) Emily and Catherine came with me...and we successfully took a bus to the train station (commuter train) and we went to a cloth market where i found material to make curtains, and to make a couple shirts too (it was a good day - i didn't get lost, i saved lots of money by taking the train and buses, and i was able to find and buy 2 things i was looking for!).


On Sunday i went to the coast and sat at a coffee shop and journaled. It was beautiful - and restful too. i loved adventuring in the city - and i also loved just being - thinking, putting words on paper, observing other people. One thing that was hard about the weekend was seeing more poverty - and having to wrestle again with how to respond in a way that honors the Lord - I'm back to asking hard questions without pat answers...in some ways it feels like i'm picking up right where i left off in Kolkata.

I think that being here forces me to ask hard questions about myself too. Things that i don't have to address when I'm comfortable in my own culture (like my own brokenness, misconceptions, selfishness, pride, stewardship)...I think the things i see, and the people I'm meeting bring up big questions about life, and God, and justice - but they also bring up big questions about my own spirit. Questions about who I am, why i'm that way...and questions about who i'm becoming - and who i want to be. And i'm so thankful to be in this place (emotionally and spiritually) - its part of what drew me back overseas - my desire to be continually transformed into a more clear reflection of Jesus...and at the same time - sometimes all these questions make me feel like i'm banging my head against a wall... :)