Yay for exercise!

If every day were like today, I'd be fit in no time! This morning I hauled a bag of equipment from one building to another in an old military sack. It was at least half my weight and I carried it more than 100 yards, including some stairs. Later in the day I found myself making the same trip with some wooden planks... and then doing half of it again with two big concrete pots.

After work my girlfriend and I walked/jogged a mile or two to a nearby school, where we played volleyball until dark.

Shortly after I got home two guys showed up who will be living with my roommate and I and I helped them drag all their life possessions up to our apartment on the second floor.

This is fantastic! I wish every day could be like today.

Games

 I have three games currently "in the works." One is a Capture the Flag- inspired board game. I first made it four or five years ago and have now brought it back to life with an extra twist. I played a team version of it (4 players) with some of my friends and it seemed to work pretty well. It also gave me some new ideas to make it better.

Another game is an entirely unique and original creation. I made a trial version a couple of years ago that didn't work too well but now I have some ideas that should make it both workable and fun.

And finally, I realised that my entire living room/dining room area, not to mention every other room in our apartment, is made up of small tiles. It's like the world's largest board game grid! This is naturally asking for any number of games to be played on it. The one I am currently working on is a battleship game. I've researched a couple dozen ships from the German, Japanese, American, French, and British navies during World War II. Now comes the part where I decide how much of that data is relevant and how much needs to be simplified so that the game doesn't take 5 years to play. It is quite fascinating though. I am tempted to include all of those nit-picky details because it would allow me to play out endless "what if" scenarios. What if the Arizona hadn't sunk at Pearl Harbor? What if the only German aircraft carrier of the war had actually seen action? What if the Yamato had been allowed to meet the American fleet rather than being sent to its grave by airplanes? What if the Graf Spee had not been scuttled because of false information? I don't know if I'll ever complete the game but I'm learning a lot of fascinating history as I work on it.

She's back!

My girlfriend got back to town last night. She'll be here for two precious weeks, so I am scheming how to make the most of it. Last night I made shepherd's pie for the first time in my life for her and her roommate. I also made an apple coffee cake that turned out really nice. And we goofed around with a straw that says "ho ho ho, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" when you blow water through it. It's the little things that count :-)

Decorations

Here are the decorations that Aranel and I put up in December. Soon I will be taking them down, now that Martino has returned to see them, but I thought it a shame to not get a panoramic picture first.

Day on the town

 I was standing at the bus stop Saturday morning, waiting for a bus to take me to a dr. appointment, when my neighbors drove past. When they found out where I was going they offered to take me most of the way, so I hopped in. Once we arrived at their destination I walked on foot to the doctor's office. It took me a while to find the place because I had never been there and the directions I had been given included landmarks which had changed. I finally found the place and went in. I spent about five minutes with the doctor and that was that.

I called my friends to see where they were. They gave me a general idea and I started walking again. I ended up walking up and down four side streets before I found them. They were hanging out in a T-shirt shop whose owner is the world's biggest fan of John Denver. They had a girl with them whose father had once fixed John Denver's telephone line. The owner therefore thought her one of the most fascinating and important people he had ever met.

After that we visited a souvenir shop and two different "dollar store" shops. I had visited the souvenir shop before but the other two places were new to me (as was the T-shirt shop). Now I know where I can buy kitchen supplies for half of what I would pay at the regular places that expats shop. Of course the quality isn't the same, but for some things it doesn't matter.

 After that we visited a place where guys make sand paintings. I think that was the coolest part of the day. One of the guys showed us how they make the paintings and told us where each of the types of sand comes from. Some comes from this country and some from neighboring countries. As he listed off places I had visited I could visualize the red or white or dark brown sand at my feet. It had never occurred to me that such stuff could be turned into artwork. He said that even the glue comes from the sap of a local tree. I was highly impressed.

After that we visited two different grocery stores. One was an "American store" where I could have bought all kinds of American brand-name food for about twice what it would cost in the states. I refrained. The second was an Indian-run store that sells lots of British goods for cheaper prices than most of the French stores around. I loaded up there on all kinds of stuff. The price tag determines my diet, and if I am what I eat I will be British in no time!

All of this happened on a morning when I was expecting to do nothing but go to the doctor. In one morning I think I saw more new stores than I had seen in the past year. Not bad for an unplanned trip!

Something Missing

Sometimes I get this strange feeling that something inside me is not quite satisfied, that there is something specific that is missing. It makes me edgy, nervous, uneasy. I start listening to a song but switch to another one half way through because it isn't quite I'm looking for. I try to find a beautiful picture online that stirs me. I look for some idea or game or video that grabs my imagination. I usually end up wasting time doing something I never intended to do, like watching pointless videos on YouTube or reading a whole series of political rants that don't actually interest me that much.

I could point to all kinds of causes for this. My favorite theory is aesthetic starvation. I live and work in a place that I don't find attractive, which leaves me longing for somewhere-anywhere- that is lush and natural. I could blame it on overstimulation. I am so constantly surrounded by noise and chaos and confusion and smells and colors that I sometimes just want to hide under four layers of sound-proofing material.  I could blame it on loneliness. My roommate has been gone for a month and I haven't seen my girlfriend in more than a week. But I know that my biggest problem isn't really any of those things. Not just at a mental level- I can FEEL that it isn't any of those things.

You know what is really stupid? I know exactly where I am lacking. At least I assume I do. I went to Sunday School- I learned the answer. For some reason the actual day-to-day living out of that truth is a challenge. For some reason I often find myself trying to meet that need somehow else, as if I were trying to satisfy my hunger by showering more often or satisfy my need for love by eating more. Sometimes it is really a struggle to get anything out of what I am reading in the Bible- if I manage to get my Bible open long enough to even focus on what I am reading before my mind kicks into overdrive on various wild tangents.  When I'm not getting much out of scripture, it makes it hard for me to worship.  When I am not living a life of worship, it becomes very laborious and unnatural to pray.

Tonight I sat with my guitar for an hour and sang worship songs. That made a big difference. I wish I had done it six hours earlier in the day, but I guess late is better than never. 

The good news is, God's mercies are new every morning. May I become better at accepting them!