There Will Be Bad Days

When my friend Leigh told me about her internship at Durbanville Presbyterian two years ago, she said, "There will be bad days."  I didn't believe her.  Now I do.  Yesterday wasn't actually a bad day.  In fact, it was a great day.

It started with a women's group (they're all women's groups) that I sat in on.  They asked me to come introduce myself and as I walked forward, I heard someone say, "She's just a girl."  I looked down at a 92 year old woman (someone volunteered that information later, I didn't assume or ask in front of everyone, just in case you were wondering...I do have some control over myself), and I couldn't help but laugh.  It is apparently very exciting that I'm young, so I'm totally milking it.  Some of the kids in the youth group think I'm 24...I have not yet set them straight.

Then I went to lunch with a guy who works at the Presbyterian church in the next town over.  He's a Princeton Seminary graduate and works with both youth groups.  My first question to him was: can we teach the kids energizers??  HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT AN ENERGIZER IS!!!  I couldn't believe it.  I almost decided not to be his friend in that moment, but then I remembered that my parents taught me to be tolerant of other people.  So I patiently explained, and then told him my Wavin' Flag story (if you haven't read my energizer story, you really should) and he was all on board.  Score!

After lunch was a trip to the mall.  Apparently, it gets cold in South Africa.  So the pastor's daughter rode with me (she let me drive and was dutifully impressed when I said "robot" instead of "traffic light") and we shopped for long underwear (spencers) and a blazer for worship.  I asked about spencers, because the old ladies that morning had shown me theirs.  She said it's literally underwear and as long as no one sees it, it's fine.  So the old ladies showed me their underwear.  Awesome.

As we walked, we talked about what stores would be best for me.  She knows my actual age and she said, "It's hard to decide which stores to take you into because you're at this in between age where you could dress like me, or you could dress like a grown up, and either would be fine."  So I'm neither young nor a grown up.  That means it's okay to lie about my age, right?

After that fantastic day, I came home to a house full of people who wanted to ask me a million questions and then tell me all about their trip to Kruger National Park (where the Big Five are - the most sought after animals for viewing in Africa).  We looked at over 700 pictures, which were all stunning.  It was a lovely evening and I was thrilled to be invited in.  However, I came back to my room wanting to tell someone about my day.  I opened my email to see what was there and had one from my friend Leigh (see above).  It wasn't particularly gut wrenching, though she does an amazing job of encouraging me through this process, constantly telling me I'm stepping out on faith (see Stepping Out on Faith) and that I'm incredible.  I started crying giant tears.  It triggered my "I want my mom" reflex.  So I Skyped with my mom for about half an hour.  I felt totally pathetic, and I told my mom that, but what I needed was to be able to convey the awesomeness of my day to someone who already knows me.  I don't have to explain to my mom what an energizer is or why I love them so much.  I just have to say, "I spent hours doing energizers!!" and she knows why I'm bubbling over with excitement.

I didn't want to phone home too much, thereby relying on people in another country for my mental health, but I've decided it's okay.  So I might call you from time to time.  Or I'll beg for a Skype date.  This is hard, and I need my people who understand that I'm kind of a whirlwind and won't be overwhelmed by me.  Because I'm going to have a good time, and y'all are going to help me process it.