It's 1:19 am and I'm awake and writing in my blog - what would cause me to do that? A very active mouse who thinks my bedroom is his playland. I tried to ignore him, but he seems to like to run back and forth past my headboard. That's a little too close for me. I have no offensive weapons and my only defense is to leave the room - so the mouse wins! The other battle going on in Riga happened this weekend when the first Gay and Lesbian Parade was held. This whole issue is a shock to Latvians or so it seems. The Anglicans have embraced and celebrated with the gays. The only group speaking against their lifestyle are the neo-Nazi types. I had no idea it had happened until the next day when testimony time in church became 'state your opinion and tell the other guy he's wrong' time. Even then I only understood a bit from the random translation I was getting and my own limited Latvian skills. It seemed we were debating about law versus grace. It's a good discussion to have, but it was not the appropriate time nor was there a church leader there to give some direction. As Latvia becomes more and more like the rest of Europe, they are going to have so many ethical issues to consider and debate. The Church is going to have to figure out what our role is. Last year in Chicago I helped pass out cold drinks at our Pride parade. I'd love to get a group to do that here, but I'm not sure they would be ready or that I would be allowed. As I've been listening the thing that has struck me is how challenging but extremely important will be the ethics and social issues classes for our training program. I'm going to need serious prayer and consultation.
Now for something totally frivolous since I'm not ready to tackle the mouse yet: I've been thinking about shoes and bags the last two weeks. Why? Because I'm trying to figure out how to efficiently travel back and forth to my new training center office and just generally get around Riga comfortably. My office is a tram ride and depending on my timing a long walk away. I'm enjoying the route and just getting out of this building but I've got serious blisters from using the wrong shoes. Latvian women wear Italian pointy, spiky shoes which I can't even think about. But, I can't wear my Keds or Reeboks either. So, I've been trying different shoes. What I've noticed about the Latvian women is that their feet are seriously damaged from those awful shoes - they all wear strappy sandals in the summer so you can tell! The problem is the roads are mostly cobble stone or some other uneven brick work. Which leads me to what bag do I use to carry my laptop and work back and forth? I have my brief case which rolls and have hesitated using it because I look even more like the rich American. But, I brought it out last week. Now I know why people here don't use them (even the rich ones) - it's those same cobble stone roads - the wheels don't work on them! So I ended up carrying it which makes it useless. For now I'm using my back pack which makes me look like a student (old one) or tourist. And I saw a disaster in an airport when someone's laptop just dropped right onto the floor from a back pack. I cannot afford that. When I think about all the good bags I've had from youth councils, camps, conferences and given away...oh well. I'm shopping for just the right bag. What do Latvians use? For most of their toting they use plastic shopping bags - random ones from various stores. Women carry one or two instead of a canvas bag, even those who wear suits and seem to be professionals. Marina brought 6-7 bags on our trip last week. She kept bringing out surprising things like mugs, coffee and tea, a heating coil, spoons and food, plus the clothes and things she needed. One small suitcase would have held it all, but she likes her bags. I guess it's a good recycling program. No great insight from all of this thinking - just part of trying to live and fit into another culture without aching feet!
No comments:
Post a Comment