Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Im not to good at titles....

A few days ago I realized something. I was reading a conversation between my Dad and I on Skype and he wrote something to me. He said "I hope Morroco was a blast."

I've been to Morroco. I've lived in Spain. I traveled to India and I spent some time studying in Washington. Along those lines I've spent two weekends in Portugal, along the ocean, in a city named Lagos. All of this in the last year.

And now I'm back in Michigan. Suffice it to say I've lived through a good deal of change in the past year, and I've experienced quite a few different cultures. Each culture has its own way of doing things. Spain is slow, relaxed. The people there enjoy their time together, and they value it. In India the people shake their heads in the exact same manner, whether they are saying no, or yes. Portugal...well I didnt experience much of the actual culture there, but I had a blast with some friends on the roof of an apartment building. And Morroco. What a unique country, and that weekend was one of the biggest adventures of my life (inside of the biggest adventure, namely Spain).

So, with all these experiences, I've obviously changed. But how do I incorporate that change into my life? Is it possible to take ideas and ways of living from other cultures and incorporate them into the old lifestyle you once had? Is it even possilbe, after this type of experience, to have that old lifestyle? To go back to the place you left and make a difference?

Its been two months. Little more. And I have no idea as to what the answer to those questions are. I can say it feels as if I have been a miserable failure in trying to change an old lifestyle. So, I felt "change" in Spain. I thought I had changed. But, really, did I?


oh and ps....you should all read "The Shack". Lots of interesting ideas about God and our relationship to him. But its a story. and, at least for me, I work better with stories.

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