Normal Saturday with Steve and Rachel

Saturday was a lovely normal day, with sleeping in, meeting a good friend for lunch, a leisurely stroll around a pond, and playing cards with friends in the evening. Perfectly, completely, and in every way all things civilized, refined, and normal.

Well, and then this happened:


Here's how it went down: Steve is working on a phone system upgrade at work that means they have lots and lots of nice-sized boxes that I can use for my half.com bookstore. I get free shipping boxes, Taylor feels a little less guilty about trashing the environment, and everyone's happy. He recently brought home all those that you see in the picture. But Steve also is sort of mischievous. And I'm kind of a klutz. As we were carrying stacks of these boxes upstairs, Steve got to the top of the stairs, turned around, and decided to drop his stack down towards me, who was paused at the landing. I tripped on them, fell backwards, and ended up as you see. Definitely one of my shining moments. (Don't worry, no Rachel's were harmed in the carrying-out of this prank.)

But Steve also won major points yesterday for buying me a new bike and a 250 GB hard drive to upgrade my lappy. So, the way I see it, it all evens out. And I totally married Steve for his money.

The Namesake

I succumbed to my cold-ravaged head today, and stayed home from work. After sleeping half the day, I popped in my Netflix DVD, The Namesake, which had been sitting around for the last couple weeks.

It’s a beautiful movie about a Bengali couple who moved to the US, raised a family, and it morphs into a story of their son’s journey to reconciling with his Indian heritage. Mira Nair, who directed Monsoon Wedding, did a fabulous job of creating a story that is incredibly relevant to ABCD’s – American-Born Confused Desi’s (natives). I believe that term was actually coined from the novel that the movie was based on. Anyways, as an ABCD myself, I cried like three times.

And it got me thinking, will I be okay with wherever my kids call home, or whatever culture they become attached to? I’m sure it was difficult for my parents at times to realize that I did not feel attached to the US at all. I just know that my children’s culture will be radically different than mine – and will I be okay with it? Even as Ashima and Ashoke stayed in the US because they knew their children would have many more education and career opportunities than they would in India, it hurt when Gogol and Sonali rejected some aspects of Indian culture and heritage. Steve and I plan to live overseas eventually, because we want to follow God’s call to make disciples of all nations. But I know that it will mean that our children will be extremely influenced by whatever culture that is, and we will have to deal with the good with the maybe not-as-good.

What parts of my heritage are so important to me that I will feel the need to pass them on to my children? Will I want them to learn about Ghandi as well as Abraham Lincoln? Will I teach them how to get around an airport as well as how to cross the street? Will I want them to be equally adept at eating with chopsticks and fingers as well as silverware? How do I keep myself from passing on my own hang-ups and prejudices?

Oh, heaven help me if they’re picky eaters. It would serve me right, I guess.

MK's, a Scary Baltimore Underpass, and the White House

The Baltimore underpass was the fault of our GPS. Yes, we are one of those. At least we didn't turn into a lake or drive off a cliff. But because we were UNDER the freeway system, the GPS couldn't find us, and there was trash and abandoned vehicles everywhere, and then Rachel (MK from Bangladesh) pointed to a train track, "Oh look! There's a creepy man walking toward us!" Fun times.

Steve and I spent a week away. It was VERY nice to disconnect from life and stuff here, and just spend some time together. We drove to Washington, DC, and stayed with some friends of my parents, traveling into and around the city during the day. We saw all the essential DC sights, and even had time to spend a day visiting some Civil War battlefields. We also got to hang out with a few friends from Taylor who showed us some fun places in the city.


Then we drove to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stopping by Baltimore (scene of the aforementioned underpass adventure) to pick up Rachel at the airport. Another of our Bangladesh MK friends was having a wedding reception at the ABWE headquarters. (actual wedding happened in Thailand) About 11 MK's and spouses gathered for the momentous occasion. It's so nice to be with people who understand you, inside and out. Got to wear a sari, eat curry, talk about politics and the world, and stay in one of the executive suites!

Postcard from Lithuania

I’m usually okay with getting rid of stuff. I go through stages, I guess. But every once in a while, there’s something that stops me from pitching something. For example, I’m moving offices this week. Our whole department – eight people and tons of files – is moving to another building. That’s a PILE of stuff, and I definitely got into a purging mood. My walls in my old office were pretty much covered with pictures and other fun stuff, and I wanted to pare down - you know, the whole fresh start thing. As I’ve been setting up in my new digs, I’ve been getting rid of even more.

But I came upon an old postcard I bought in Lithuania when I spent a semester there in 2001.




It’s really kind of dumb – it’s just a black card, with “Vilnius by night” on it, in English and Lithuanian. (Vilnius is the capital city.) I thought it was hilarious and I still do! It reminds me of the amazing and somewhat offbeat creativity and ingenuity I saw at Lithuania Christian College. The school had a really small budget for publicizing events and parties, but they did an absolutely amazing job with poster board, a few markers, and pictures cut out of magazines. I’ll never forget a huge poster for a party, advertising: “Drug-free party! (with moderate beer consumption).” Awesome.

The postcard is a little beat up, as you might expect from a postcard that not only travelled the world (it went with me to Bangladesh, where I went right after Lithuania), but also has been through, oh, about five moves. But I don’t want to throw it out! So I’m taking it home to live in my Lithuania scrapbook.

Maybe I’m pathetic for having an emotional attachment to a ratty old postcard. But if something has meaning, is it so wrong to want to hold on to it? I mean, that’s why I hang out with Steve.

I'm fine with change, it's just ....

Today was a day of relief tempered with sadness. Relief in finding out I still had a job. Sadness in realizing that some of my friends did not. On top of that, they're totally restructuring things and moving people around. And I'm totally fine with change, I really am. It's just that this time, people I know were hurt.

In the midst of pain and uncertainty, God is there. No big surprise, really, but still, it's good to remember. This morning as I was getting ready, I put on a necklace with a pendant of an elephant made from a tiger's eye stone. Elephants are a symbol of strength, and I thought I would need it! Steve was sick, so I got to drive his car, which has a working radio. (mine doesn't. But I have a shorter commute, so he gets the nicer car) As I was driving along, the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor came on. How cool is that?? And it's such a fun song about overcoming, being brave, taking risks, etc. It was like I could hear God saying, "See? I got you covered. And I'm cool, too."

Also, I almost drove off the road as I was holding the wheel with my knee and hammering out the drums. I love Rockband.