Carissa's (Continuing) Adventures

I jolted awake. Then I kept jolting. Trying to wrap my tired mind around what was happening, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t me that was shaking, it was everything around me. I could hear my bed, dresser, wardrobe, and various pottery pieces around my house bouncing along with the actual building itself. Earthquake. I realized what was happening fairly quickly for someone who had just been startled awake and for someone who had never experienced an earthquake before. Thoughts tumbled into my head more quickly than I could process them. Is the building going to fall down? Is my computer okay? Should I lay in a ditch? No. Maybe act bigger than the earthquake. No. Stupid. Should I stand in the doorway? No, there’s three floors above me, a doorway won’t help. When will it stop? Should I log into facebook? This would make a good status. Finally, the shaking stopped. The apartment quieted down. Nearly hyperventilating, I leaned over and yanke...

Today I was walking around downtown and two teen boys approached me. They were carrying a clip-board which, of course, makes them very official. One of them rattled something off to me and I told him I didn't understand. So he switched to English. "Have you seen any aliens?" he asked. I didn't understand him the first time and he had to repeat, "Aliens!" "No. No I haven't." He and his friend smirked and a group of girls joined us, watching me with anticipation. "Okay." He said, "Everything is going to be fine. I need you to look right here." He pulled out a silver pen and held it eye level. "Just look right here." I humored him. I stared at his pen as he clicked it. I blinked and swayed and looked a little dazed. He grinned and put his pen away as his friends laughed, "Okay, you're fine. This never happened." "It never happened." I repeated. His friends laughed and ran away,...

After one year of living overseas, I finally decided to cave and make a blog. My idea is to update more regularly what is happening in my life, because I can't seem to fit all of the awesome weirdness of my days into a monthly letter. Looking back on the past year, the things I've done and seen, it seems nearly impossible. The list of things I miss about the States (Chik-fil-a, owning a car) seem to continuously pale in comparison with the list of things I adore about living overseas (the food, windows, light switches, scenery, history, culture, and people). Living overseas has also challenged and strengthened my faith in ways I could have never understood in the States. A year of living by myself in a building where no one speaks English has been ridiculously un-fun at time. But it has been in those times, the ones where I thought I was going mad, that the beauty of my Savior was revealed to me in new ways. Relying on the Father for all of my satisfaction has become so ur...