Dearest Friends...I am sorry. It has been a while. However, I am sure you all understand... Shortly after my last post my own, very old little white laptop broke for good, and whenever I tried accessing my blog on M's computer, all the settings were in German. (Dealing with this computer where indeed everything is in German in my thesis-writing process has built my character a great deal, and the fact that the computer hasn't flown through the window yet will be counted as one of my more greater successes in life.) In the midst of moving, suffering from bad back and neck pain, starting over in the new area just as we had familiarized ourselves with the previous one, trying to figure out which bus to take and where to do groceries...the obstacle of my blog being captured by German settings was just too great to overcome.
As we moved to our permanent apartment, life seemed to start from the beginning again (similar to a month before that when we entered the country), only this time we didn't have a car... Looking back, it took us another good two months to settle into our new surroundings, as only one errand could be done a day (taking the bus in this city is pretty slow). I couldn't practice, exercise or sit at a computer and write for a whole month after the accident. I also had to postpone my thesis deadlines from Christmas to some-time-in-2012. Meanwhile M's work really started speeding up, and he had to become accustomed to his normal working week - 13 hours on weekdays and 4-6 hours on Saturdays. I have coped pretty okay with that, only when I got a major flu and was sick for 3 weeks being alone all that time became quite challenging.
December seemed to be a changing point for us in terms of the stressful atmosphere of "figuring everything out". I had gotten my Californian drivers license using a rental car (which was a big deal as we're technically not allowed to drive over 3 months otherwise) and our weeks started adjusting to a more normal pace. I was back in practicing and thesis writing and got a few weeks of work done before Christmas. We are obviously still on an extremely tight budget because of the car crash but we have been very blessed in our spirit... Somehow during December we also got integrated into this church community and met some really cool people that be-friended us immediately (in real life too, not just on fb). :) Come Christmas week, we who have not had any social schedule for 4 months had plans with friends for five days in a row! It was quite refreshing, actually... We have also made friends with the family of my chiropractor and the owner of the car shop that dealt with our car after the accident (who are both part of the large Persian community here). It turned out that the car shop guy lives just a few hundred meters from us...imagine that in a city of population of 8 million ;)
We were invited to my chiropractors house for New Years Eve, and I was privileged to give the guests a house concert. It was my first proper performance in this city, and it felt really good to finally have a proper goal to work towards during the weeks leading up to it. I played Bach and Cassado, and the people received it with (American) enthusiasm. I think both them and we were greatly blessed through that evening...and it so happens that they want to start giving me the opportunity to give more house concerts at their home and try to invite people who could maybe provide me with gigs etc. :)
It is a Saturday afternoon, M is at work putting in his weekend hours and I, as you can clearly see, should be writing my thesis. Instead I find myself caught up in something else... excitement...of things to come. We have been to a few churches and interestingly, they all seem to preach the same message...that there is something new and special in the air for us children of God this year. Can you feel that? We felt a bit skeptic about it a few months ago...only to find that after entering the new year, our hearts seem to have started to leap of joyful anticipation! It has been quite funny...a change in our hearts, just like that. I am excited! I don't know why! I think God will do things in our lives we couldn't have even dreamt about before!
Can you feel it? The anticipation?
Happy 2012. Bring it on!
