The City

As much as I hate to admit this about myself, it is true that I am from a small, railroading, blue collar town in Southern Illinois (far, far away from the Windy City, and yes, even farther south than Kankakee and Champaign.--Thank you, Mr. Soldier Boy from Chicago who didn't know the State extended that far!)

And while my roots remain true, my heart has always been in the city. The buzz of the people... the night life...the style...the opportunities. These excite me in a way that only confirm my calling outside of my hometown.

So, here I am. In the capital city of a war-torn country. We have no electricity (which means the lights at night aren't so great). The style is ever-changing (but far from being on the cutting edge). And the opportunities? ...I guess that's what keeps me here.

Not only are there the deep, spiritual opportunities that I could write about (but I'll save for another day's blog), but there are also random, never-expected opportunities that usually never get mentioned.

Take, for example, my trip into town yesterday. Jane (my friend and co-worker) and I were on a mission for supplies for our big "100 th Day of School" party. We went into all the little shops- picking out things for our games and snack time (all having 100 items, of course) and then we went to what I like to call "Blockbuster" to see what new movies were out.
(Yes, we have movie stores. No, it is not a "real" Blockbuster. It is a huge gamble if the copy will even be watchable, but hey, it keeps me a little up to date on pop culture!)

Anyway, that is when Jane, in all her brilliance, announced that getting a movie, is like "one big game of Jenga." AND it's true! They have 1000's of DVD cases all laying on their sides, stacked up in rows against rows, some probably 50 movies deep, against a wall. If you want, say...a movie in the middle, you risk everything to slowly pull and tug, nudge, and slide, all while praying that the whole movie store won't come tumbling down like dominoes. It's crazy, but true! So, if any of you are Jenga fans, you may want to come check this out! It could be the adventure of a life time!

And the fun doesn't stop there! As we headed off down the street, content with our purchases but still in need of a few more things, we turned the corner to see a purple-headed donkey! We looked at each other and both started laughing. Yes, what we were seeing was real. Don't ask me how, but this donkey had his head died purple! After a long week of school, Jane and I busted up at the thought that we had just seen a "Punk Ass". HA!

OK, so maybe it's not that funny to those of you reading this, but I'm still smiling as I write. "Who says you can't have roots and wings?"