Ready... Set... Not Ready? Too bad, Go!

When I was back home I got myself psyched up for the idea of building close friendships with guys here. And shortly after I got back, I went to visit some of my friends. And then, well, life set in. I like having local friends, but I like having them on my terms. Seeing them once a month is often enough for me. It takes a lot of mental energy to visit them because here you don't visit just one person; you visit their entire family. Their entire family will be speaking a language you don't understand very well and following centuries of cultural norms and expectations that you know little about. Trying to navigate these cultural elements and nonverbal communication methods requires an intense amount of concentration.

It also requires physical energy because transportation here is primarily on foot, and when you visit somebody's "family" that often includes their parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and possibly a few close friends- most of whom don't live in the same house and possibly not even the same neighborhood.

So, like I said, once a month is sufficient for me. But that isn't often enough to really build a deep friendship. I think I knew that, but I also wasn't motivated enough to change it.

And so, two weeks ago God brought somebody knew into my life. He was walking along behind my wife and I as we were chatting away in English. When I paused for a moment he greeted me in the local language and then switched into choppy English. We had a nice chat, partly in English and partly in French, and when we had to part ways he explained that he wis hoping to go to a conference in Oregon in September and he needs a lot of practice speaking English. So I gave him my phone number.

Since then he has called me at least every other day. We've met up three times, once for half a day. He is a really nice guy and a lot of fun, and he is assertive. He isn't pushy, but he also has his heart set on becoming great friends with me in a short period of time. Sometimes I feel a bit intimidated, but then I realize that I think he is exactly what I needed. Thank you, God, for pushing me out of my comfort zone again.