Friday, January 11, 2008

Bear Country Update

Today at a luncheon for new students I sat with a kid coming to Baylor from India. I asked him how he was doing adjusting to the culture. The poor kid looked exhausted and scared. He told me he had been in America for three days. He has to start classes on Monday. I would hate to be him. I figured he had been in America a few weeks or months, no ... He just got the visa to come on Monday.

The other kid we sat with talked super soft and I was straining to hear him over my own breathing - very odd. I gave up on polite conversation because he was frustrating me with his little voice.

The man who prayed for lunch was interesting. And when I say interesting, I mean boring. He is some sort of Dean of something. He was NOT going to be excited. No sir. Doesn't it seem like that is true of lots of educated Dean type people? If you are a Dean of anything you cannot move quickly, speak with enthusiasm or smile too much. I am generalizing as I am apt to do, but really ... I want to see that guy dance ... or just laugh. When he prayed some of the words he was using made me want to cry, especially the part where he prayed for God's providence in the lives of each young person seated in the room. He was reading the prayer, so that made it less emotional for me. Rather than let the words get to me I decided to focus in on how monotone his prayer sounded. Focusing on the wrong things helped me keep the eyeliner where it belongs.

Britt is needing to use every bit of her moxie to get things done here. She made me laugh yesterday when she asked me to wait in the car while she ran in to talk to financial aid. I said, "Okay, sure but why?" She said that when I am around she does not feel like being assertive, but if I am gone she can do it. I was entertained by that. She is using her skills today. She's on her way to meet with the people in her department right now. Lydie slows us down so we decided I better just let Britt take care of business.

The involuntary tears still surprise me here and there. Last night Britt slept in the dorm. She came to love on her dog at about 10pm and asked me if I was okay. I was totally okay, and I have been except for this weird thing where all of a sudden tears are coming down my face but I don't know what started them. When we were at Target yesterday she ran off to grab stuff she needed and I was browsing and all at once there were tears running down my face. No explanation whatsoever. I don't get it. There was no trigger. It's all very surreal, I don't even feel like this is my life. The story goes like this:

Once upon a time a young woman gave birth to a baby girl. The young mom took her baby home from the hospital on a cold and blustery March morning. The mom blinked her eyes once, maybe twice, and it was time to move her baby girl to college. The End.

Tonight we go to some dinner thing where we hope to be seated with people that talk loud and tomorrow we go to a Baylor vs. Iowa State Men's Basketball game. Look for us on ESPN, spotting us should not be difficult. We will be the only ones in the stadium with a baby. :)

Troy? What's the lowdown in Haiti? I am bored with me and this ... throw something fresh at us, would you? Any new photos from around the village to share? Give it over already.

-Tara