"Work for the day of Universal Peace. Strive always that you may be united. Kindness and love in the path of service must be your means."
- `Abdu'l-Baha
I have absolutely no idea what to say but some impulse is driving me to make a post, so I guess things will come as a matter of course. And evidently I'm turning posting into a monthly affair!
The beginning of this week I actually made it to the movies with one of the Baha'i youth. We saw "Dreamgirls," which was quite good. I enjoyed the play a great deal when we saw it at The Rep, but I was afraid that Beyonce would really ruin the movie. She can't act her way out of a paper bag, and I can't stand the sound of her voice. Nevertheless, she did a good enough job that it didn't ruin the rest of the movie. She even sang passably well.
It was so nice to get out of the house without my parents or going to school or going to something that you might as well call work. My social network has collapsed in on itself like a neutron star with practically everyone I know graduated and moved away or something to that effect, even sometimes driven away or forgotten by my own lack of attention. Unfortunately, my university is so non-traditional that it's a bit difficult to forge any sort of friendship. Everyone (myself included) comes to class and then goes back to their other life. Campus life exists in an odd sort of form, but I did the extracurricular activities thing in high school and now I feel too old for them or maybe just uninterested altogether.
My damnable glasses have broken again. They broke in Africa, so I bought another pair and now these have broken. I guess the arms of glasses aren't made to be particularly durable or maybe I'm just especially rough on them. I'll go the weekend being essentially blind because our optometrist is closed until Monday. I'm supposed to be doing a theatrical sort of thing at the Baha'i Centre for our third Sunday devotionals, so now I'll be holding the script in my face and peering at the audience!
Mitra just sent an e-mail about making breakfast on Saturday morning, which conjured up nice memories. I was always hours behind everyone else for breakfast on every other day of the week but I tried to make it for Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, mostly because they were substantially later. I can recall rolling out of the mosquito net, tossing on some wrinkled pajamas and jostling down the stairs, hitting the third (?) from the top which was loose and always made a noise in the process. Put a tea bag in the cup, pour in the hot water, grunt a greeting to everyone, grab a chapati, snag a chunk of homemade cheese, spread it out, put on some eggs, put on some bacon or avocado if we had them, and slowly begin to wake up. So often life here seems to be ordered around things, appointments. It's sort of irritating sometimes.
This evening I went to dinner with my parents (Friday tradition), two aunts and an uncle. My mother had originally planned to go to Ireland with my two aunts and another friend. Then the plan changed to me and my father meeting her in Scotland after Ireland. And now things have changed altogether, and we're discussing the possibility of the whole family going to Ireland and Scotland. It will certainly be the most grandiose vacation we've ever taken and, as my aunt pointed out, probably one of the last we will take together as a family. I'm really looking forward to it myself, and I know my mother is definitely excited about it.
Today, I received a package in the mail from a friend of mine in New York. She mailed me a big batch of cookies as her contribution to my "war on homework." This was a greatly appreciated gesture, and it's these random acts of kindness that temporarily lift your spirits and keep you happy and hopeful.
At least until your glasses break. =P Leia Mais…
