No Shoes - No Problem
Day 13 - October 24, 2021
Today is Sunday and for some of my host family that means church. The church is much bigger than I anticipated it being. Their windows were tinted green and it was two stories high with a grand staircase out front. There was a pile of shoes outside of the door from everyone taking them off before entering the building. You know that Bible verse that says “remove your sandals for the place you are standing is Holy ground?” They live by that verse here. You walk into a home? Shoes come off. You walk into a temple or church? Shoes come off. Actually, I would say about half of the people in this area do not wear shoes in general. No joke. You can walk around the city and people just aren't wearing shoes.
I have been spoiled by doing life with people who are very tech savvy and know their way around a soundboard. It is a completely different audio experience when the sound is not mixed well. I am not talking about a little variation in the mix. This was a situation where the speakers were regularly squealing from the mics and the screens were going in and out the whole service, but despite those complications church still happened. They sang, spoke a word, prayed, and everyone walked or road the bus home. There were some girls from an orphanage who were sitting up front and after the service they all ran over and spoke to me. It was so sweet.
For lunch I had Chinese fried rice and went back to the children’s home I visited earlier to start headshots and group photos. We finished the girls photos today and will start the boys photos either this week or next. After photos the girls asked me to play some games with them which I did. Very poorly I might add. I am getting old and don’t have the energy I used to. I mean I’m not ancient but I am also not a teenage anymore and I’m feeling it. We played shuttlecock, a variation of tag, and ring toss before they made me stop playing and have tea. Because I have Rosacea, my face gets SUPER red when my heart rate is elevated so they thought something was wrong. I explained that I was okay, my face just does that, but I also wasn't about to turn down a tea break. After having tea we headed back to the house.
My hosts were watching a game tonight with the rest of the country, so I went for a walk. The perks of staying in a loud city is that you can scream sing uninterrupted and without interrupting anyone else. So I did just that. I played some music and sang at the top of my lungs until I was tired.
