Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I'm in this box

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Journal from Sunday

Our brains are interesting beasts in the way we look to process new circumstances by tying them to previously cataloged experiences. New things frighten us because we feel powerless and out of control. I practically acclimated myself to Kenya before arriving here through a patchwork of Jamaican experiences, friends anecdotes and television specials. How ironic that we need to deconstruct our perceptions of a place we have never been before in order to engage fully in new cultural settings.

Yesterday morning I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see the Nairobi Marathon which passed close by our guest house. By the time the 15,000+ runners were passing by, we were plenty comfortable in our seats many kilometers away in our friend Peterson’s church. One of the many incredible things about my job is that I get to worship with brothers and sisters around the world. The drive to church was nearly as interesting as church itself. It had rained significantly over night and so the roads were slippery. We drove around downtown Nairobi and into the countryside as we headed towards the church, passing many markets, growing fields and a variety of villages. We drove past the largest slum in Kenya and it is quite overwhelming. The markets near the slums look like stables and are accompanied by a strong odor. I’m not sure I would have felt comfortable wandering these markets, though they looked fascinating. I’ve said it before, but I just love visiting markets and believe that they speak very loudly as to the culture and diversity of nations. Yet another reason to hate Walmart!

The church was located off a main highway and the connecting road was potholed, muddy and quite narrow with water filled ditches menacingly buffering the thin byway. We took a cab there and it was probably the most unfun road I’ve ever been on, and I’ve been in quite a few ghastly roads in developing nations. I couldn’t comprehend sliding so much on a mud road; it was like a sheet of ice.

My boss was preaching at the church and he was actually speaking about churches roles in the communities where they are located. He spoke on how we are to intercede, identify and influence the communities where we are placed. It was an interesting sermon considering that we had recently driven past the main slum in Kenya where half a million people live in some of the worst poverty imaginable. Thinking about neighborhoods and loving the people where you live and loving where you live was so foreign to me as my boss preached because frankly, right now I don’t really have a home right now and when I picture “my” neighborhood it’s back in West Philly and no where near South Florida. I question whether I’ve sold out to my core beliefs, I’m uncomfortable not living in a “poor” community. My life model has been to live carnationally in a marginalized community and live out a ministry of presence. That’s not my paradigm right now and I don’t know how to deal with it and whether or not I’m being true to myself with my current job. My flesh reaction to the sermon was, drop me off in the slums and pick me up in a year or two, I got to get out of this suit, this pseudo-corporate job and South Florida.

My boss gave a good sermon, he spoke very loud and oddly enough, I found his cadence somewhat reminiscent of Dwight Shrute’s, “Workers of the world unite speech.” I’m not sure why, but I started thinking about that and then my mind bounced to thinking about the Swahili song we sang in the English service that I didn’t really know what was about, but it had the word “Hakuna” in it and come on, that’s funny. I’m so immature sometimes, I’m going to go with I need a balance for all the serious and heavy things that I find myself drawn towards. Maybe I needed a temporary reprieve from the weight of the brief offertory testimony. My boss gave a great message, but my heart was most touched by the brief testimony of another guest that morning. Pastor Zoa was in graduate coursework with Peterson’s wife and was staying with the pastors family since he’s from Zimbabwe. I like to consider myself to be a good white person, “aware” of many things going on around the world, but I had no idea about the situation in Zimbabwe. The pastor was asking Zoa questions about the current situations in Zimbabwe where corruption, political unrest and a failing economy have thrown the country into utter turmoil where the average salary for a month can only purchase a loaf of bread and a soda. They somewhat joked that Zoa was a billionaire, quickly following that up by saying that a loaf of bread costs 55,000,000 Zimbabwean Dollars.

He broke down in tears and was clearly overwhelmed as he processed things audibly and faced in a new way the gravity of his people’s situation. I spoke with him at length at lunch and after the service and his congregation is on the outskirts of the slums of Harare and the church is made up of approximately half wealthy folks and half people from the slums. I can’t imagine what the dynamics would be like when the situation is so drastic and so in your face. I asked him how the wealthy dealt with the immediate confrontation of poverty in their congregation. He said that people that were uncomfortable with the poor left the church long ago and that those that remained were committed to being the church and that there was more tension than normal, but that it was to him a great picture of the gospel. I sat there at lunch and thought, man that’s where I should move. I want to be part of that kind of church.

We went to lunch at a Kenyan restaurant and I can’t imagine what Pastor Zoa was thinking. We had this green thing that looks like jello, called eeole that sounds a bit like, e-i-e-i-o and that’s what my boss calls it, but it’s this conglomeration of potatoes, green beans, corn and some other vegetables whipped together and put in a mold before being served. English football is huge, huge in Africa. Interestingly, I’ve started to get a bit more into the Premier League and international club teams and I can hold a conversation and understand the significance of the Liverpool vs. Chelsea game on Sunday that everyone was watching at the restaurant we went to. Other than the green food and everyone watching soccer, the only thing that was different about the restaurant experience were all the flies outside and the camel tied to the parking gate.

My bed here at the Presbyterian guest house is very firm and I sleep through most noises at night, including the early morning prayer call from the mosque next door. It’s rather loud apparently and my boss can’t believe that I don’t wake up. The traffic is awful around the neighborhood especially when it’s around prayer time at the mosque. There’s a tiny balcony attached to my room and it’s a good thinking and writing spot with a nice little view. Nairobi has all these giant three to four foot tall storks that are just huge and are everywhere and they graze about in the backyard with the vibrant flowers of the Kenyan Springtime in the shadows of the huge mosque that consumes much of the landscape. The sun sets over the mosque displaying beautiful colors on the minarets and metallic domes as the sun down prayer sets the backdrop of the end of the day in West Nairobi.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

God bless the rains down in Africa

I've always wanted to sing that cheesey Toto song while traveling in Africa, I just thought of it now, luckily I still have some weeks to go. Clearly, I made it to Nairobi. My body is so confused about sleep, but I've had such sleeping difficulties the past year and a half that jet lag doesn't seem too noticeable or time changes. I suppose that's ironic or something like that. I worked this morning on a report for my boss and then we spent the afternoon walking around South Nairobi where we're staying at a church guest house, which is a nice little hostel of sorts. We went to a walking Safari where we got to see Kenyan animals, which was sweet. Rhinos are always my favorite, of course. There are lots of cool animal statues and artwork all over. I think an actual safari would be crazy, but I'm not sure if it will happen b/c my boss is going to Cairo for a few days this week.

The walking safari had rickety wooden boardwalks elevated 15-20 feet above the ground and you got to walk over different animals and habitats. Many zebras are orange from rolling around in the clay of the ground, I never really thought about that before and found that really cool. There were giant open spaces with ostriches, wildebeast, gazelles, zebras, tortoises and other creatures cohabitating. All of the big game animals had their own habitats; it was somewhat like a zoo but definitely had a more organic and natural feel. We went to a restaurant that was in the trees, they actually had an Octoberfest there which was amusing to me. The big Kenyan beer is called "Tusker" and it's pretty good. They have the history of the beer on the label and I was quite surprised to find out that it's named for the rogue elephant who trampled and killed one of the founding brewers of the beer. That is bizarre. So we sipped a Tusker during our meal in the tree house that overlooked a waterhole with a herd of those funny looking red bottomed baboons. An interesting setting to say the least.

Kenya reminds me of Jamaica a bit, but is very different, i keep reminding myself i'm in Africa. I had to wait in line to purchase a visa and it took forever and there was no airconditioning at the airport. It's spring here and it's really quite reasonable, 60-70's, but the airport was steaming hot and the immigrations lady moved methodically slow. Anyhow, I am chastising myself for grumbling shortly after I gathered my bags and we're walking and the airport all of a sudden transitions from an indoor lobby to a patio and you're outside before you know it and I'm like, "Oh my goodness, I'm in Africa!" The thrill of africa was temporarily overtaken by the thrill of getting in a car with the steering wheel on the right for the first time. Waking up this morning and seeing the city in daylight quickly replaced that thrill.

Walking around the markets was so much fun. You can learn so much about a culture by their food, how they sell it and how things smell. Most people speak some English if not fluently, so people enjoyed coming up to us and starting conversations, half looking for handouts, but that comes with the territory. My boss knows a handful of people in Nairobi and we actually ran into one of them at the market, which was quite remarkable. Walking through a strange city in a foreign culture is a good way to get to know someone and I'm glad I get to know my boss this way. He has been here several times, which even though it takes a bit away from the adventure, is comforting.

Downtown Nairobi looks like the 1970's. It's pretty nice and we checked out the parliament buildings and other state buildings. There are some nice looking buildings too, but i wasn't blown away by any of the buildings. I asked the taxi driver about the upcoming elections after a moto bike passed us with a couple Obama stickers on the back. I saw someone wearing an Obama shirt yesterday walking in the market and the cabbie said that people are really excited about the elections, but he thinks that the CIA controls everything, elections included, in the U.S. and that we don't have true democracy. I laughed and told him I couldn't completely disagree with his theory(I believe that statement was more true up until the late 80's, can't say for sure now). Anywho, that's a whole different can of worms that I'm not opening.

Tomorrow we are going to church with our main research coordinator, named Peterson. My boss, who has has a doctorate of divinity is preaching. Today when we were out and about we saw signs stating that many of the streets are going to be closed for a race tomorrow. Turns out there is a Nairobi Marathon running tomorrow and it's going to go right past where we are staying. I so wish I hadn't stopped running when I moved to Florida. There's a 10K and I'm half tempted to jump in it even though I'm in god-awful shape right now and Nairobi has a good bit of altitude. When do you get to run a race in Kenya? There's a half marathon too that I could have done if this were a month ago, oh well.

Well, I'd post pictures, but I'm on a suspect internet connection. I'm very grateful for it though, don't get it twisted! My room surprisingly has a tv and I turned it on and TBN was on. I was not pleased to say the least, of all the media and culture we export to the world, why TBN? Oh well, not my battle. More to come.

Friday, October 24, 2008

London Calling

Sitting in some fancy executive lounge for British Airways in Heathrow on my way to kenya. My boss flies so much he has executive status and so i get to tag along. The lounge is fancy pants to the nth degree and i sure don't fit in even though i'm dressed the part (ok, i am a good new refined white man eating my fancy cheese with wine and coffee) Everyone has their financial newspaper and walk around all important like and i just laugh to myself. I'm bummed the phillies lost last night, but hopefully i'll be able to follow them and Barack to victories while i'm in kenya. the thought of being in kenya when obama wins is pretty amazing. If i couldn't be in west philly, kenya is where i'd like to experience such a historic and empowering moment. some of my friends told me how 20000 showed up on the deuce (52nd Street) in west philly a few weeks ago to see obama drive by.

i remember being at an mlk tribute concert on the advent of super tuesday and just getting chills as i sensed the gravity of what an obama presidency would mean to our country, specifically the black community. certainly just blindly voting for obama because he is black is a scary thought, of which i'm not advocating, but seeings as how i believe in much of his politics, plenty i don't agree with, i fullheartedly pray that i get to experience some of the pride that will erupt should he win. As crazy as the parade down broad street will be for the phillies, i imagine the pride, enthusiasm and celebration for an obama victory would exceed that in my old neighborhood. i miss it terribly. haha, well, this post from london took an interesting twist.

if my boss doesn't have to leave for egypt while we're in kenya, i might get to go on a safari!

Godspeed.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Out with a bang… when will I learn?

I waited a while to write this blog entry because I didn’t want to concern my mom before I left Philadelphia. Seems like worlds ago. Yesterday I ate a Philadelphia Roll at the Sushi restaurant in Kiev and I’ve been updating my Russian and Ukrainian friends about the progress of the Phils and they have experienced my Philly pride. I suppose it’s rather fitting that my final adventure in this chapter of my Philadelphia story ends on a basketball court in the projects. I procrastinated finishing my four page newsletter for the WestSide Weekly for quite sometime. I left work early to try and start it, but quickly realized I needed a basketball fix to get me back in gear. Usually there are just middle and highschoolers running ball on the court, but tonight, there were a group of older guys playing too. I jumped in the roughhouse game late and missed a bunch of shots at the start. I hustle, that’s what I do and I worked for a lot of boards and started to eventually find my rhythm and came up pretty quick towards the end of the game. Feeling pretty confident, I transitioned into the 3 on 3 games rather well and started out my game on a hot streak. I was the smallest on the court and “Y” was guarding me and I gave up about 4 inches and 50/60 pounds to him. I started out the game playing solid defense and picked up some steals and some nice dimes. I started shooting and I started hitting. They started jockin him pretty hard because I was making facials, fade aways and was laying him up. I was smoking and I knew it, but I just shrugged and played it cool. We played to 16 and I made about 10 of the points and we blew them out and they demanded a rematch. They switched off me and I lit up that guy too.

For our third game, Y switched back to cover me, by this time I was feeling pretty comfortable and started some friendly banter and smack talk. They were playing rough, but were calling ticky tack fouls, were setting moving screens and fudging the count too. I find myself having to prove myself and my identity on the ball court, especially if I’m the only white person playing. If I don’t know most of the people, I get suspicious that they are judging me or treating me differently because I’m white. That doesn’t sit well with me. Y starts saying stuff to me, but I’m still killing him and so it doesn’t bother me. They’re calling every thing against them and when you play street ball you don’t call much if anything. I’m a whiny player and I rarely call anything. Then they start messing up the score again and my team’s getting frustrated with them. They blatantly got the score wrong and you have to win by two and they weren’t being logical. My team reasoned with them and I made the mistake of prefacing a comment with, “I have a college…” I stopped midstream, realizing that was not the right course to go, but the damage was done. Y of all people was not happy and he stepped to me and swung at me. I stood there in his face as he said something about disrespecting his block. I was pretty livid at that point and I said to him, “This is my fucking block too, I’ve put myself on the line for this place for three years, don’t give me that shit.” Well, he didn’t like that statement either and smacked me again in the face. His own teammate, Mitch stepped in and punched him as I slipped off shaking from hurt pride and a numb face.

Why did I feel like this 20 something year old that runs the street validates or invalidates my heart and my time in my neighborhood? Even if only for an instant, I gave him power over me to dictate the fruitfulness of my time here. Looking back, I don’t regret standing up for myself. I certainly didn’t need to justify to him or anyone else that my time here has been worthwhile to me or to the community. I learned so much in my time in Philly, but yet I clearly am still immature. It would have been an awful experience had I not played lights out ball. Looking back, I find it comical and naïve of me, but it could have gotten a lot worse. I don’t back down and I don’t believe in violence. That makes for an interesting combination, especially when you don’t know what to do. Shane talks about doing crazy unexpected things to diffuse the situation, but I can’t imagine what barking like a dog or running around with my shirt off would have accomplished.

I walked off in the dark night, not sure of what my face looked like, but not wanting to see anyone. I walked up towards McDonalds and someone called out to me from the other side of the street to see if I was cool, but I don’t think they saw my face. I went up to Shepard Recreation Center, which is my thinking spot. I sat down for a while to think and I called Dre up and was like, um, so I got punched in the face running my mouth and killing at ball in the projects. I was clearly shaken up and didn’t talk much, but just wanted a comforting voice. After collecting my composure, I started to walk back home.

Living with 6 other vastly different people in a small row house was quite a trying experience, but full of so many good experiences and challenges. One downside is that you don’t have much privacy, and everyone knows your business, especially if you have a six year old brother who wants to hang out with you every minute of the day and you don’t have a door to your downstairs apartment. I peeped in the window and didn’t see anyone, so I made a dash for the freezer, grabbed an ice pack and hit the entry way to my room and was home free. No one had seen me. I sat and sulked with my ice pack, watching some baseball and a few minutes later, Ma Linda called downstairs and asked if I was okay. Of course I said, yeah I’m fine. She calls me upstairs, and I told her I was getting ready to take a shower, but that I was cool. She followed that up asking something about what happened to me playing basketball. I thought to myself, dang, everyone always knows everything that happens around here. Word had traveled to her in a matter of minutes about the altercation at the projects. I explained it to her and said it was no big deal, and she says, “Oh helllll noooo, they did not do that to you.” She practically lurches for the door ready to march off into the projects and give them hell for messing with me. I laughed at the picture I had in my head and she might be a rather short 60 year old woman, but I have no doubt she would do some damage, people don’t mess with her, and she doesn’t put up with people messing with her family.

She tells people I’m her son, and she would be offended if I called her anything but ma or granma. She laughs when people ask her how her light skinned son with curly hair is doing, and I think that’s a pretty beautiful picture of the kingdom of God. I’ve learned so much from her and her family. How she takes in her childrens friends, guys who don’t have a place to live, a young mother who doesn’t know what she’s doing, a stranger on oxygen who would be homeless without her, and me, a scrubby pilgrim trying to make sense of the kingdom of God. I miss Philadelphia. As I write this in the airport in Kiev, South Florida is as foreign to me as the Ukraine. I’m not exactly sure what God has called me here for, but I know that I am where I’m supposed to be. God has a sense of humor. I’ll likely be in Kenya when my beloved Phillies win the World Series and my heart will be in many places, but especially my city starving for a championship and starving for the gospel. Oh, but it is there, make no mistake about it, and the gospel I carry around the world and in Florida would be but milk were it not for everything I learned and laid down in West Philly. I still have a bit of a hot head and do stupid things regularly, but I’m not the same naïve kid that moved to West Philly and I have a strong feeling that I’ll be back and it will be for a lot more than 3 years.

The day that I was leaving I stopped by Vince’s apartment after Thaddeus, Vince and I got breakfast that morning at the McDonald’s a block from my house. For the first time since the basketball episode, I walked up the steps in the dank stairwell of the projects, knowing it would be my last time for quite some time. I hung out with Vince and Country for a minute before giving my last hugs, sending up some prayers and holding back some tears. As I walked out, the smell of marijuana permeated the stale air. It was a smell I had grown accustomed to and familiar with. As I opened the door and walked out some guys were about to scatter cautious that my presence signaled police enforcement, but they quickly relaxed and one of the guys muttered, “Nah, it’s cool, it’s just Pete.” I smiled to myself as I walked to my car and I begged God to give me understanding as to why I came here, why I was leaving now, and hoping to return someday for good.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Paris minute

The French are rather stingy with their wireless networks! I've been looking all night. I pretty much just didn't sleep tonight and figured I should wander the city and check out the eiffel tower and champs elysee and all that good stuff. Good food, roaming the city with crepes and wine and good cheese. I get to see the sun rise on the Seine River. I love this city. More later, you only get 15 minutes! A few pissy parisians so far. My taxi driver from the airport was not happy that he waited for an hour and a half in line and that my hotel was only 10 minutes from the airport. It's not my fault, sorry buddy.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Da Amerikanska


Kiev is gorgeous. Here are some spots I went today. Finally got to spend some serious time exploring the city. There are so many Russian Orthodox Churches that are just gorgeous. The one below is called St. Andrews and it's right next to a big market which is real cool. It looks out over the city. Kolya took us around. He speaks English better than I do and he cracks jokes on me all the time. He knows the city and the country so well. He took us to the victory statue below. It's huge! He said they call it Big Mama, but i'm pretty sure he was kidding. claro que si. They actually cut the sword so that it would be shorter than the tallest Russian Orthodox Monastery in the city. It's bigger than the Statue of Liberty and it's quite overwhelming. The city is so cool, i'll post pictures and more later. I tell everyone about Philadelphia and I'm so proud of my Phils!



Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Can't Beet Em


This picture doesn't do justice to the restaurant where we ate lunch today. It was absolutely stunning. I took a few pictures of my own. After I went to the bathroom, I told my co-worker Reni that the bathroom was so nice I might take a picture of it. She laughed and half an hour later, when she returned from the bathroom, she said, "Yeah, Pete, you need to take a picture of the bathrooms."
I am a touch overwhelmed by how blessed I am in my new job. I am paid to travel the world, do math and ensure proper research, meet brothers and sisters in Christ, participate in some evangelism outreaches, like tomorrow in Kiev and I'm participating in a distribution of the Book of Hope in Kenya as well, and my "ministry associates" at Metadigm are so awesome and encouraging. I'm real excited to be a part of this organization and feel like I have a much better picture of what I'm doing and what we do as an organization.

I had borscht, which is a real traditional Ukrainian beets, potato and beef soup (see picture below). I hated beets growing up, but I had this soup and I could eat it every day. Today at lunch was the second time I had it and it was so good. Who knew I could like beets? They julienne the beets and they are crispy but flavor infused and there are chunks of potatos that absorb so much flavor and are really soft. Oh it is so good. They put sour cream on everything, especially borscht. They also cook pretty much everything in lots of butter. I had Caucasian Style Veal for my main course, which I found hilarious, but Ilya just laughed at me and explained to me that it's from the Caucus region and that's how they prepare it there.
Last night I had a salad with roquefort cheese and bacon that was served on a fresh baked roll. It was the best meatless sandwich I've ever had. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time, although they did play an entire Enrique Iglesias album which was just awful. The coffee isn't very good here though. I can deal with it in the short term and could import it in.

Stolen from Emails


I have a bit of an internet connection here and I have skype so I can call anyone to your computer with a built in microphone or a headset for free on my computer! It's a beautiful thing and as Napoleon (Dynamite and not Bonaparte) says, "I love technology!" I confess that most of this entry is stolen from emails i sent to others. Deal with it ;cp

I had a beautiful stroll exploring the streets of Kiev last night. I got such a better idea of the city than the time that we spent here earlier. There are a ton of expensive clothing places, many of them in the what seems to be miles of underground shopping areas, which are a touch dirty but are spruced up by chic bistros, bars and coffee spots. I swear one out of every two people walking by had a long stemmed rose or other flower in their hands, including the men. If they didn't have a flower, they were probably drinking a beer. Lots of alcohol. We went to a Ukrainian buffet last night and I really like the food here. It's rather different. There are some gorgeous pedestrian walkways and there are all these underpasses so that the people walk under the traffic bustling above them. That's where all the shops and such come into play as well as hustlers and all the flower venders with their wide array of fresh cut flowers. Kiev, like most cities has a vivid contrast of old verse new and it's really interesting to see the dynamic because much of the history and architecture is above ground and in the forefront while the modern parts sprout off and shoot up side streets and avenues and take up the underground. There are all kinds of fountains, sculptures and monuments. Lots of gold, domed roofs and sweeping views of the city and the river that divides it. You can tell it'd be gorgeous in winter with a bit of snow and a frozen river. Dad would love it I'm sure. There are some really tall statues and gorgeous business and governmental buildings that surround the independence plaza.

This is from an email i sent to someone from Philly it has a bit about my job. It's 5 p.m. here (7 hours ahead) I flew in through Paris and get to spend a day there before heading back to Miami and ten I'm home for three days before going to Kenya for almost 20 days. We do research for mostly Christian organizations that distribute Bibles or gospel reading material for youth and study the impact and outcome that distributing the materials have. I train them on qualitative and quantitative research methods and teach them how to administer surveys to measure behavioral changes and social changes on individuals and communities receiving material. I train them on how to enter the data and what the analysis will provide them and how to use the information we collect to strengthen the ministries and how it can benefit communities and schools by letting them see a picture of their community. It is actually rather similar to the survey that we did last summer studying the social cohesion in West Philly, but I don't actually administer the survey.

I'm going to a Ukranian school on Wednesday to help them to a demonstration and practice run at collecting data. The school is excited that there are going to be Americans there and we are actually doing a Book of Hope distribution and a showing of the Gospel presentation through the movie, "The Godman." I'm really excited to see what that's like. I have been a bit distant from the traditional church and from blatant evangelism, I suppose it is good for me to become a bit more comfortable with it.

In general, I need to make sure that they have proper methods to gather the information so that the results are valid and useful. I'll be doing some of the same things in Kenya. I actually have 3 projects there which is why I'll be there so long. I'm learning so much and I am so excited to go to Africa. I actually go to Ghana right after Kenya and hope that I don't have to come home first. I have to get a few shots and take some Malaria pills. I pasted a few pictures from some of the places I've seen so far in Ukraine. Talk to you later! Give my love to everyone.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Kiev is wonderful! I saw the sunrise in Paris yesterday morning and now I'm in the Ukraine. I will write more later!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Never gonna be a "Floridian"

Most of you know that I'm no longer in Philly. I no longer live in the Hood. It's very weird to live in richpeopleville, USA with palm trees and the beach close by my house. I live 2 minutes from Whole Foods and right next to Florida Atlantic University's main campus. I hate driving so much, and my GPS (Gackenbach Positioning System) hasn't fully synched to So Flo yet. Being here is definitely a confrontation of my values and what is dear to me and what I'm comfortable with. The most comfortable place I've been was hanging out with homeless folks under the bridge in the artsy part of Ft. Lauderdale.

I've only been here a week, but it has been crazy, God has blessed me ridiculously, shown me a window into unbelievable community and reminded me of His place of priority and frontness in my life. I've slept on three couches and won't have my own room til November. My brother always talks about being ready to live lightly and not be too heavily rooted and that's exactly how I feel ahorita. On Saturday, I leave for the Ukraine for a week and I managed to book my flight to give me a 25 hour layover in Paris, so I will be stumbling around there for a day! I come back for a week only to leave for Kenya for 20 days on October 23rd. I'm so excited to go, but I'm going to miss Halloween and the World Series crown that my Phighten's will hopefully capture. I love my new job and I'm still acclimating myself, but this is so unreal. I love my coworkers already and the work atmosphere is so conducive to my style of working and I feel like I can joke around and enjoy them, but have already been able to contribute.

I've found some good rockbanding friends, gone to a great concert, taken a boatride from Ft. Lauderdale down to Miami and hung out at the beach a few times. God has a crazy sense of humor is all I can say. Much more to come. I miss Philly like crazy though. Even got back on the space just to stay in touch and everyone knows how much I hate Myspace.