Thanksgiving

Being an SM is hard. There is no other way to say it. To say that it's just a vacation from school or that it's a year of continual fun and excitement could only be said by someone who's never done it. To say that it's an impossible task that can't be done and will ultimately destroy your life would also be untrue. Yes, some missionaries have it easier than others but I've never heard of anyone saying that they never had a bad experience or felt lonely at some point. So to say that it's "hard" I think is the best adjective I can give.

There are certain days during your missionary year that confirm the fact that you just might survive this year. For me, Thanksgiving was definitely one of those days. Of course I missed my family and friends terribly but I have begun to form a new family here at NUA that did a pretty good job at filling in for them. It was fun for all of us to sit and reflect on how far we've all come since the start of the year. I know it's only been 3 months but we really are starting to feel like family here. Even our competitive staff football game, where half of us came out with bloody knees and sore legs, couldn't tear us apart. Nothing like some good Thanksgiving football.

Being thankful. Such an easy concept when you really think about. This has to be the biggest cliché in the book but shoot if your reading this that means you are alive, have eyes to see the screen, and the brain capacity to find this webpage and to read it. Imagine your life without those last 2. (Cause without the first you wouldn't be alive) Now we all know that the concept of being thankful is all about your mental state of mind right. If you are always thinking and looking for things to praise God about, trust me you're going to find them. If you're always looking for the worst, well, you'll find that to. But I say that it goes beyond just looking for things to be thankful for.  I know people who are thankful and content with most of their life but still can't seem to find God in all of it. Well what if it was just a state of mind. If you believe God exists, which is the first step in getting to know him, then maybe it's just a matter of looking for him in your daily life.

I recently read in a devotional book called "Jesus Life Coach" that one of the best ways to see God in your life is to take something that you don't see too often and make a pact with God by saying, "Whenever I see this, I'll know that your with me". I chose the monarch butterfly. I don't know why, I've just always been intrigued by them since I see them so little. I have begun to see a monarch butterfly almost every day since I made that pact. Now someone who is scientific and has the info could tell me that monarch butterflies don't live in Egypt and it's impossible for them to be here. All I know is that I've been seeing butterflies that look like monarchs and it reminds me that God is right there with me. So back to my original point, if you find a way to see God in your life every day, won't it make him that much more real to you? I can't remember seeing a single butterfly here in Egypt until the day that I made that deal. That's not to say they weren't always here, I just wasn't looking for them. I think you can all guess where I'm going with that.

Thanksgiving was one of the best days I've had here. The food was great, the people were awesome, and God showed me how far I've come since that first day that I landed here. There is no doubt in my mind that I needed to be here this year not only for this school but for myself. It may not be the best Thanksgiving I've ever had but it's definitely taught me the most. Thanks to all of you who read this and I hope you are all touched in at least some small way by the humble words I type. God bless all of you and I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving.

Zewak

I have just returned from our short 5 day home leave. I decided to spend this vacation in the village of Zewak with some of my students. I will say it is not a place that I would ever desire to reside in or even visit for an extended period of time but I do not regret going. It was culture shock #2 for me here in Egypt. I had become tired of the sights and sounds of the city and was very much in the mood for some peace and quiet. I was told by my students that it was a small village with houses, not apartments, and wasn't as crowded as Cairo. They were not lying. After an 8 hour train ride and a 20 min bus ride we were in Zewak. We arrived at about 5:30 a.m. and I was immediately introduced to a traditional Zewak meal. Here are a couple things to know about the food. At every meal you will have a medium sized loaf of bread that probably weighs about 2 pounds, they'll serve some sort of meat, the portions are massive, and most people will make you feel like you killed one of their children if you don't eat it ALL! Lucky for me the student that I stayed with made sure that I wasn't forced to eat at least in his house.

To say that life in Zewak is relaxed would be the understatement of the year. I have found few places in Egypt where I was truly bored until this place. Of course I enjoyed not having to teach classes or supervise workers but I'm just not the type of person that likes to do absolutely nothing. For the majority of the 4 days we were there we would wake up, eat, sit around, eat, sit around, eat, watch a movie, eat, eat, eat, you get the picture. I was tempted to become bulimic for the weekend. I will say that I am very grateful for the tremendous hospitality that was bestowed upon me while I was there and I have met few nicer people. The people I met were very kind and meant only the best by offering me as much food as they did. (I just didn't want it) The kids treated me like a rock star and never hesitated to say hello. (It's the only word they know)

In all honesty I was able to do a couple of fun activities while I was there. The first being soccer. The students took us to, basically a rec center, except just for soccer. It's like paying to use the basketball court for a couple hours except it's an outdoor, tile floor, soccer field. They had three fields all right next to each other and man could those guys play. It was amazing to see how well they could handle the ball especially when the ball rolls twice as fast on tile. We played from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. and the students still wanted to play more. Needless to say I was exhausted.

The next activity may surprise you a bit but we were actually able to go hiking. Apparently there are some pretty good size foothills in upper Egypt and we decided to check them out. The students actually took us to an old monastery that is built at the base of the rocks. The monks actually used live in small cut outs in the rock itself but have moved to a formal building. The cut outs are still in the rock though and so we began to hike straight up towards them. It didn't seem like a long way at first but I found that hiking in sand is definitely not the easiest thing I've ever done. It was hard and I loved every minute of it because it was the first time on the whole trip that I felt I might want to eat something when we got back. That climb was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Anything I can do that is remotely close to something I would do at home just makes me happy.

All-in-all I'm glad that I went to Zewak and got to experience a way of life that I would not even have known existed. When you're in America you don't think about what people are doing 5000 miles away from you. It was a great opportunity to understand this culture and see why these people are the way they are. God created us all differently and each of us has a different purpose in life. While the people in Zewak think about whose house they are going to visit that day or what they're going to eat, I sit and think about what career I'm going to pursue when I return next fall, how I'm going to balance my work schedule for next summer, and why on earth am I wasting an entire year of my life in a different country? (I've only felt like that a couple times) In my heart I know it's not a waste. It's only during the times when I'm by myself and thinking only about myself that I feel that way. Obviously. I'm just interested to see who is going to be looking back at me from my bathroom mirror when I return home.

1/4

I am one-fourth done with my stint here in Egypt. As I've always experienced to be true, time seems to have flown by when you look back on it. The snails come out when you're in the present. Days become years, until they're over and you look back and think "It feels like I just woke up and now I'm going to bed". I do my best to not count the days till I go home because I know it just makes it worse. So instead I count the months............  Because 8 sounds a lot better than 226. (I swear this is the first time I have ever counted the days till I go home and it will be the last because it was a lot more than I expected)
        

Fall weather has finally hit Egypt. This morning I went for a short run before I did my sit-ups. (I'm going for the Shannon Sharpe abs Dad) The early mornings have been chilly for about 2 weeks now but today it stuck around. I wore a long sleeve and jeans for goodness sakes. Alec wore his coat. (Forgive him he's from Georgia) I came home from work, made a cup of Nescafe, and sat down on the coach to read. The cool breeze coming through the windows and the smell of Fall filled the room. It was one of the best feelings I've had since being here. Thanks Jessica for being as excited about it as I was. I can honestly say I'm comfortable here. No it's not home and I'm sure it never will be but I don't feel like such a foreigner anymore. I can go outside the wall without feeling like a billboard. I've even gotten to know some locals. Every Friday I eat breakfast at Achmeds bean and salsa stand. Nothing like a stack of bread, a dish of beans, and a dish made with tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. That's the "salsa". And all for $1.18. He speaks pretty good English to. Whenever I buy bread, I go to the same shop on the corner where a girl about my age works. She is the first and only Egyptian woman to be somewhat friendly to me so I keep going back. It's understandable because of the culture here but you have no idea how much you miss heterosexual interaction until you know longer have it. Anyways she always smiles at me and even though she doesn't know any English she does her best to communicate and be patient with me. I've also gotten to know the students a lot better which has made me feel more at home. I still have my challenges though.

My Dad gave me some of the best advice I've had so far last night. He told me that life is about how we handle our trials, not how we avoid them. I'm not going to avoid the fact the every time I see a plane flying over head I want to be on it. But I can decide whether I let that affect my attitude and how I live my life here. I recently read a letter of encouragement that a friend gave to me before I came here. It was one of the most encouraging letters I've ever read. She didn't say anything extravagant, she just reminded me of things I already knew. Let me share a bit of it with you. "Someone once told me that a person show's their true self when life is Hard not easy. Remember that whatever your going through, the Lord designed for you to go through and persevere. You're there because you wanted a chance to define yourself by Your standards and to show people the type of man God intended you to be, not the previous perceived thoughts that others already set upon you." Like I said, she just reminded me of things I already knew and yet I felt more encouraged than ever after reading that. She didn't give me something new to think about or a new idea. She just assured me that I could accomplish the things that I originally set out to do. It brought me to tears. One of the many times a letter from home has done that so thank you to all who gave me one.

Life is definitely a journey. One that we can decide to survive in or thrive in. I'll admit that I survive a lot and thrive little but I try to focus on the positive. I've started to try and remember at least one happy moment of the day before I go to sleep. Seek and you will find as Jesus says. Once again in the words of my wise father, "Embrace Egypt and love the people, give them all you have and you will be blessed for sure."

-Keep that left heal down Dad.