02/08/06

So, someone who shall remain nameless gave me a hard time about not updating my blog. I also won’t mention the fact that she doesn’t even have a blog!

Funny thing, I was re-reading some of my blog entries and I got to the one with the quote about comfort. Man, what I wouldn’t give for a little more comfort! This last week has been pretty rough. I mean, it was going through it. Looking back I think, “What was so bad?”

But it was. Bad, I mean. I spent all of Wednesday holed up in my hotel room due to bad kabob (at least that’s what I’m blaming). The topper was Friday. It rained for like 36 hours without end. It was a deluge. The streets flooded, a dam broke, etc. For me, though, it was just unpleasant. Our kitchen ceiling fell on the kitchen floor, we got trapped in a parking lot when cars parked behind ours. Plus at 2 am, I had to go up on the roof of the house to flip the satellite over so it wouldn’t fly off the roof.

But then on Saturday, one of the team members (let’s call her Dorris) cooked a real homemade meal. It was the best thing to happen to us all since we got here and things have started to pick up.

We met with other internationals last night and got to socialize with new people for the first time in a few weeks. (There’s only so much socializing that can be done with Kurds when you have the vocabulary of a three-year-old.)

I think this is the second stage of culture shock:

The Honeymoon Phase
The Hatred Phase (I’m not sure this is the official term)
The Acceptance Phase

I remember, though, that I once hated London, too, and look how that turned out. I was prepared to move through the stages, but I had no idea what the circumstances would be.

Don’t feel bad for me. God truly does provide and I have an amazing team here with me. Culture shock doesn’t last forever. Soon I’ll have routines and a normal life again. Plus, I know I’ll be a better person when this is done.

Which, if you think about it, should make me an exceptional person based on my starting point. ;-)