This morning I went about my normal activities. Woke up, felt a bit like I'd been hit over the head with a piece of plywood (I have a cold), drank tea, headed out the door for a run. Lovely day! I'm enjoying this quiet season of running on my own in Avanos. There is much mental freedom in not running at the track with 45,000 of your closest friends who all want to talk to you in your second language before you've had your first cup of coffee. Don't get me wrong, I do love said friends. I'm simply enjoying the silence of the road for the next 8 weeks.
Back to the morning. Shower before the water gets cut off again, coffee and toast, my Bible and journal while sitting on the porch. All of these tasks accomplished, I am ready to talk to the world. If you would like to have a normal conversation with me in the morning, my recommendation is to wait until at least 9 a.m. After all, this is not what we would call a short list.
In Ankara I sit on my balcony on the second floor of my building and no one bothers me. I wonder if anyone knows that I'm sitting even sitting there? Probably not. I'm tucked away in my quiet little world until I decide it's time to walk out my front door. Not so in Avanos. My friend's apartment is on the ground floor and, well, it's a small town. In the time it takes me to read my Bible and drink my coffee several cars have driven by, children have ridden their bikes up and down the street, and neighbor ladies have gone to and from the corner market.
This morning I sat on the kitchen balcony while my friend sat on the salon balcony. Each of us had our coffee and our Bible. To the neighborhood at large it looks like we are studying lessons. Apparently, it also looks as though we are "küs" with one another. The dictionary says this word means offended, peeved, angry, stuffy or cross. It also carries the idea of taking an offense and not talking to the other person. Wow. All we had to do to communicate, wrongly communicate I might add, such a situation was to sit on two separate balconies.
This leads me to ponder the prevalence of broken relationships in this culture. I've been told that one of the biggest d*s*pleship issues in the national ch**ch is forgiveness. The behavior of those in my house this morning inadvertently communicated to the neighborhood that there was a relationship problem in our house. I think of the person who can find a wrong/dirty thought behind everything they hear. It's not that the one talking has a problem, the one listening has the dirty mind. This could be the case here. My roommate and I like to have quiet mornings and we like separate balconies. As there is not the same need to be alone or for personal space in this culture, the first thought is that we are not speaking to one another.
I do want to be careful about what my actions communicate to the world. On the other hand, I know that I can't always be looking over my shoulder wondering what the guy behind me might think of the way I walk down the street. There is a fine line. But know that the world is watching. They want to know how we interact, how we fight, how we make up.
Welcome to the fishbowl. And yes, we are still friends. It's after 9 a.m. My mouth has opened and I have begun to converse again.
