carolina on my mind

I'm in Indonesia and for the past two weeks or so I've been staying at Hepatha, a church run rehabilitation center for handicap and disabled. Its been interesting, to say the least. can honestly say that I still don't know what their goal is or if the place is actually working to rehabilitate people, buts the residents are beautiful and I love spending time with them! Its hard to communicate since we don't speak the same language and many of them are blind, so even body language doesn't help. I love hearing them laugh and sing all day, or playing on the rusty playground equipment, or sowing seeds with them. every morning they have a little worship service, which just really makes me happy somehow. I can't help but think that is what the church is supposed to look like.

Although I'm in Indonesia physically, its been a bit difficult for me to be here mentally as well. It isn't that I'm not having a great time (except that one week where I was throwing up and had the runs...), but this last leg of the trip is difficult for me. Its just so easy to think about hot showers (instead of cold bucket baths), and chic-fil-a, and clean clothes, and people, and my bed. Last week I was so eager to be home to experience all of those things, but this week I feel torn. torn between the silence of my ceiling fan and the singing of summer crickets of home and the pitter patter of a rat pack underneath my bed (not exaggerating, I really shared my room with a bunch of rats for a couple of days. At first I was afraid, I was petrified, but then I grew to think they were kind of cute). Torn between the nauseating fast food smells of woodruff road and the aroma of clove cigarettes, "toilet," and malte's rancid farts. So I won't actually miss his farts, at all. Right now it is easy to think about "home sweet home," but I feel certain that I'll get home and a week later desperately miss the simplicity of life here that I love so much.

But no matter what my feelings are now, I'll be home in exactly one week. crazy!