the wave. a friendly greeting, a moment of recognition, an acknowledgement of sorts...i like waving. its nice. goodbyes mostly are where i use it. but today, my opinions have been swayed. screeching along in my violin class, willing with every ounce of my being to force that bow into harmonic submission, the corner of my eye caught glance, of yes, my upper arm doing the wave, i'm sure directing its recognition in my direction. its hard to pay mind to "twinkle twinkle" when all one can think about is a loose upper arm swaying in the breeze to a three count...ahh the discoveries in a day.

sunday i got a text message from my Bangla teacher. it went like this:
"have to cancel class. chaos in the kitchen. cook has fled!"
what more can be said. what more can be said...

i'm reading this book right now about a book club in Tehran made up of women discretely meeting to mull over the great classics of our time. needless to say i've been inspired. i bought ernest hemmingway's a farewell to arms. and leo tolstoy's anna karenina. if you've noticed how slow i read, well i still might be reading tolstoy till jesus comes. but if anyone out there has suggestions or addtions to my newly inspired classic book hunt do offer insight.

i've also been thinking about tattoos. mostly because all our SB ladies have a few down their forearms. names mostly, a few simple designs. i love them. i find myself just staring at them and thinking about what moved them to get that writing inked on their body, where they were, who they were, its like a window into their past that i've still to gain the keys to understand. many of the beautiful women we know have such markings. and its got me thinking about how i myself could be marked, what i would want displayed, marked, remembered along a path i've yet to imagine. ha! maybe i could have the SB ladies do a little ink action on My arms.....what do you say...

well these are the musings of an afternoon's walk through the city. so more depth to come i'm sure. but for today, just a window into the inner beth chambers...

a recounting of adventure.

a recounting of our past weekend in a few delightful pictures:

54 beautiful faces peaking over seats, shuffling up the stairs, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. munching away at bananas and bread, off we went on our 2nd annual SB picnic. for some, the first time seeing the ocean. one beautiful woman so sweetly asked: does it just keep going?referring to that great expanse...this same woman later put all her force into wrestling me to the ground, who needs beach entertainment when you've got live sand wrestling to keep one busy.

then there was the beach horse. need i say more, plastic flowers, tassels. and my personal favorite of its endearing qualities: bowlegs. there was no restraint in the amount of pictures taken of this horse. maybe you just had to be there. look closely here. its a glimpse of the special-ness of my first hair combing of the weekend. it got worse. once the ladies had a comb, there was no where to hide...but, beauty is in the eye of the beholder i suppose. fuzzy is the new straight here in india...

here's a glimpse of my salwar swim suit, definitely not condusive for speed swimming. but if your looking for purity well, you've come to the right place.
all in all it was a beautiful weekend, i LOVED being with our friends. we laughed so much (and just a bit of invaluable info: poop jokes cross international borders.) the immensity of a weekend like this takes time to sink in, coupled with our 2nd birthday celebration this week, made for a week of big inputs. and leaves me with speechless awe for all we have to celebrate. in the face of so much injustice and pain and hurt and broken lives, we get to be a part of something being rebuilt. we get to see things being made new, lives being reborn and celebrate!

and my ultamate favorite memory of the weekend: sitting around laughing with our ladies, and one of them saying to us, "look at the time, now every night at 9:35 you can remember the fun we had this night".

that, my friend, is for certain.

happenings.

tomorrow is a big day.
picture with me, a travel bus. green in color, with one small TV for viewing pleasure in the front (i'm assuming its in the front).
stuffed with 56 indians and their 2 liter water bottles. ready and waiting to endure 5 hours of travel to the digha beach for SB's 2nd annual picnic fest extravaganza.
yes, its true, we're packing up the fam and heading south for the weekend to celebrate New Life, another year, and a growing family.

and if you've never swam in the ocean in a full salwar suit (which is basically a dress with pants...i'll dig up a picture for all you curious souls out there) well you're missing out folks. if you're swim racing though, it could definitely hinder your game.

plus i'm awaiting with dread the moment the ladies hold me down in order to comb out my unstraightenable hair. they believe with all their precious hearts that if they put a comb to my head my hair will turn silky smooth and sudding beauty will happen in a way they've yet to see. i tell them i will run and hide. they just laugh. i feel fear...

so, nothing says vacation like a salwar swim in the ocean and a good fro. and lots of indian cuisine.
although praise the good lord that the ban on chicken is over in west bengal, or at least kolkata. we all partook in KFC last night and it's taste was like pure bliss. honestly it was so good.

so, do think of us this weekend as we travel.
and i'll be back with many a story i'm sure when we return.

much love.

belated Lental reflections.

Last night I began reflecting on the 40 days ahead.
And well, I concluded that I’m able take a million easy avenues…give up chicken…if the bird flu in West Bengal hadn’t helped force the discipline already…or I could give up dating…but so far I haven’t needed Lent’s helping hand to keep me single, Kolkata does a fine job by itself…or there’s always cheeseburgers/tank tops/driving/using toilet paper... But the point is, that looking towards a time of discipline, sacrifice, and submission, I find myself longing to create a space through my laying down, through something sincere, practicing my no’s as David Landt would preach. Where God’s words come into focus. like the twisting of an old SLR camera lens and I begin to test who my masters are, and peer deeper into the mysteries of a relationship with my Savior.
The fast before the great celebration.
I like it.

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Lent has begun. The countdown to a beautiful celebration.
A giving up. A reflection. Stepping back.
To be a part.
Usually I start off strong-ready to give up tons, ready to make goals, loads of promises on how to spend my day in prayerful reflection.
Loads of promises-ideals-rarely taking root.
Unable to see me through to the celebration day. I fizzle out.
Breakdown. Get tired, busy, bored.
So this year? Well this year’s different.
I feel like I’ve got no choice but to take it slow. One step-one day of expectancy at a time. Look too far ahead and I forget where I’m standing in the present. So, I’m not lenting, at least not how I’ve practiced before.
I’d like something more lasting, more steady, more sincere.
Keep chipping away at this schedule of mine. This life of mine. To recapture the meaning of sacrifice, taking in more breaths that water new life.

a peaceful saturday off.

random thoughts passing me by on a saturday afternoon.
it's cold. well, relatively anyways.
my hands feel a little numb when i try to type, but honestly, it's maybe in the 50's...so for you canadians, i know i know, this ain't nothing.

reading a book about nigeria in the sixties that is ripping my face off.
Half of a yellow sun.
makes me think too much about war, and the people it seems to affect and how i've never understood really, what it means to be a victim. and how history seems to be always repeating.

and last night we watched the english movie playing at the Empire...a not so classy but nice and cheap theater that plays one movie every week. and has a menagerie of felines prowling around the place. anyone seen The Kingdom about Saudi terrorists groups? interesting and disterbing all at the same time really. and of course, it reconfirmed my desire to visit the middle east at some point in this life of mine.

many friends leave this month, moving back to the UK and germany and Sweden...unending goodbyes. life i suppose.

and now i'm off with sarah and kristin to take some of our beautiful British friends out to High Tea. i'll probably try to speak in my butchered english accent at least once during the evening. my own special ode the queen. wilst we drink proper tea.
i really do like the british, even with their mushy peas and odd minced pies.