a novel

count for the the days I got to spend out of the city on an organic vegetable farm 1. the number of kale smoothies i slurped down while sitting in a relatively bug free dinning shack 2. the nights i slept in the shack while slapping at the few mosquitoes who managed to make it past the barriers 3. the number of vehicles i got in to take me back to nature (there were 3 buses, but still...) 4. the number of wonderful people who welcomed me into their home and shared their life with me for a few days 5. the meals i ate that were fried over a wood oven in a caste iron pan that i accidentally let rust 6. the number of rungs on the new ladder i made for the bunk beds 7. probably the combined hours I actually got to work in the field because of all the rain 8. the number of phone calls i missed while going without technology 9. the fresh kale leaves i snacked on between meals 10. the time it gets to late to read by the light of twilight on these longest days of the year 11. the number of bit...

A month ago I blogged with my mind in the depths of the Congolese jungle while I pulled myself away from the pages of the Poisonwood Bible. It's been a long month, and at many times a hard one, but in the end it has taught me something. At least that is my hope. Regardless of the lessons from the past month, I have been struck recently by a story from the Poisonwood Bible that had stood out at the time, but had been buried by all the others. Hidden within the culture upheaval and the independence and then American sponsored military coup is the story of a village hunt. All of the villagers partake in the hunt, including the white missionary family in their midst, and when the animals are killed and the carcasses are brought together, a celebration would have been tradition. However, the conflict of skin tone and privilege takes what was once a joyous celebration of abundance and turns it into a competition of scarcity. The village families fight over the bounty, and in the end what...

I made a decision the other day. A friend of mine encouraged me to be proud of how I spend my time this summer, to plan things to look forward to, and in many ways to enjoy life. For awhile now I've waited on God to change this summer, and somehow I've forgotten that I have hands, feet, a heart, and a brain to change it too. And so I set out to make a list, a list that will bring joy, encouragement, and excitement to me as well as others. In many ways it's a simple list, consisting of smiling, leaving random notes of encouragement, and caring a trash bag around town to pick up the worlds litter. However, this list is helping me to find the passion for life that I felt I might have left at school in Virginia. Being so far from the God-loving, hippie culture of the past year is forcing me to come to terms with how I can love God's world and Her people in my own way. And this time, doing things like not-washing my hair, washing my clothes by hand, and building calluses on ...

I recently rediscovered my iTunes and mp3 player. It's not like I had forgotten they exist, only that I have forgotten the power music can have over the soul. Simply letting music play, fill in the spaces in my boredom, helps me to feel emotions I have put off and to apply poet's lyrics to the stories of my life. Thoughts about loneliness, about change, and about friendship have been comforted by familiar tunes and songs I'd forgotten I knew by heart. I guess you could say that the music has helped me to make peace with my summer, with this time of unknown and insecurity. At least it has helped me to fill the days with something. That's not to say that I am stuck in my loneliness, more that I have accepted the situation here and am not looking for more. And somehow music makes that acceptance a whole lot sweeter. Peace and Prayers