Better late than...

When you sign into blogspot and your "last posted" date is more than two months in the past, it is a sign of something. I'm sure you have been drawing conclusions about what that "something" might be. Perhaps I am suffering a drastic emotional crisis and do not wish to blog until I'm in a better mood. Perhaps I got hit by a bus and am now blogging from Heaven.com. Perhaps I am simply to lazy to sit down at a computer and get the thing done.

In point of fact, what has happened is that I seem to have grown a life. I've picked up several regular or semi-regular activities to participate in. One of these is English tutoring in Mahatta. Mahatta isn't Arabic for "desperately poor," but it could be and it would fit. Many of the denizens are Iraqis. There's a church there where all are invited on Saturday afternoons. Kids bring their English books and, essentially, ask me to do their homework for them. I have largely managed to avoid this so far, and it stretches my Arabic to its uttermost limits, which means it's good for me too.

I've also joined a choir. We're singing some pretty advanced (perhaps only by my limited standards) stuff. It's very easter themed; only one of the songs is in English, the rest splitting between Latin, Italian, and one Greek number (but I only sing about 3 words in that one, and stay on the same note for the entire first page. Gotta love being a bass.) I'm really enjoying the experience, although the fact that the concert is in two weeks would throw me into an abject, gibbering panic if I let it; we're not close to ready. However, I do love making music, and I hope to stay involved with this choir (which is apparently a Christmas and Easter tradition) next year.

So, those and other things are why I haven't blogged in a dog's age. I will now proceed to fill you in briefly on what's gone on in that time period.

One of the first things that happened after my last post was that Brittany, whom I was dating at the time, broke up with me. In answer to all the questions that are occurring to you about why, the answer is that I frankly don't know. She underwent a shift, it seemed, from really liking me and enjoying my company to not even wanting me around at all (which remains the current status quo as far as I can tell). This took about two weeks. There are, of course, dozens of possible things which could have caused this, but after several weeks spent tormenting myself with the question, I have decided with some effort to just let it go and not worry about it. If you like, you may insert cliches about the other fish in the pond, or about can't live with 'em or without 'em, at this juncture. The words may not precisely express how I feel at the moment, but the attitude which generally prompts such statements is a reasonable approximation of my attitude.

I have also moved. I now live with a guy named Moses, who works the sound board at the church I attend. Moses is from Nigeria, and is a very neat and tidy individual, which has occasioned some conflicts between us (we ended up hiring a maid). However, nearly everything else about my experience here has been positive. I can now walk to school each day, which saves me something like $8 a day in taxi fare from one end of town to the other. I live much closer to church, as well, and to the places where I've been in the habit of shopping. It's a very different culture on this end of town, much closer to what I was used to in the States than what I've been used to in Ashrafieya. I miss the character of East Amman, which felt much more like a foreign country to me. Were money no object, I think I would still live there. Sadly, money matters, and stewardship dictates that I live where I live.

Work continues more or less unchanged. I teach. They learn. I'm teaching Hamlet, and dealing with words like "incest" and "adultery," as well as the whole revenge theme and the question of Catholicism's concept of absolution as opposed to the correct one. It's been a rewarding experience. Next Monday, I'll be collecting the paper I've assigned, and we'll see how much they actually absorbed. My impression is that it's a lot. They're smart kids.

That's a pretty general update. If you don't know, I plan to spend the summer in North America, hopefully working and visiting people and weddings, of which 3 are currently on the agenda. My exact travel dates are still a bit of a mystery, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for your prayers and support.