Trying to keep my head up

When I am in Antigua it is like life is jacked up by 200 degrees and there is so much going on that I have to write about it just to be able to emotionally process it. I was intending to write a list this morning of all the incredibly frustrating things that are upsetting me right now and then I thought, why do that? Why not focus on the good that is coming out of it? I’m not joking when I say it is extremely hard being here. I know some of you read my blogs and think it is pretty darn exciting to be doing what I am doing. But the day to day tragedies here can totally destroy your spirit unless you choose to see them as adventures and keep pressing on. So here is my list of ‘complaints’ and why I am glad for them.
1. It is about 3-4º hotter here now than last time I was here. The heat makes it almost unbearable to sleep at night and in a house with only 2 air-conditioned rooms and 3 people we have been taking turns sleeping in the cool rooms, sleeping in shifts, napping during the day, etc. The bright side is that sweating makes you lose weight and it cleanses your pores and is good for your skin.
2. I haven’t managed a full night of sleep yet (i.e. more than 5 hours). But the good news is, I am optimistic that it is coming tonight!
3. My injured arm aches constantly and at night I have to take ibuprofen just to sleep. The bright side is that I’m learning to be ambidextrous and write and type with my left hand.
4. As great as he is, I would describe my housemate Asa as a bulldozer. He mows through the house leaving chaos in his wake and it is driving me crazy. Spilled food. Clothes all over the floor. Dishes strewn all over. Books and papers blowing in the wind. Doors open, doors unlocked, toilet seat up, etc. He is late for everything and makes me late for everything when we carpool. But on the other hand I am glad because it is teaching me to let go and be more gracious and patient. I am learning that it is not a big deal and I can just relax and ignore the mess around me. (Also he is a chiropractor and adjusted my neck for me so I’ll cut him a bit of slack.)
5. Burton keeps forgetting me at school when we’ve arranged to drive home together and I have to catch rides with other people, walk, or wait for him to show up. The bright side is that I am learning to let it go and be patient and forgiving.
6. The power goes off every day (including water and air conditioning and internet) for several hours at random intervals. The bright side is that we have a generator at our house and I started it yesterday by myself successfully (it’s sort of like starting a lawn-mower)
7. Because the power goes off randomly, we have been forced to completely rearrange our class schedules to accommodate it. Right now that means we start classes at 6 in the morning and go through until we run out of power or our laptop batteries are dead. Then we go home and return at some other time to continue (sometimes even late in the evening if the power is on). The good news is that I am a morning person anyway so I don’t really mind getting up early, as long as I have enough coffee. Not having a fixed schedule is teaching me to just let it go and roll with the punches.
8. The mosquitoes here are insane right now. I have several dozen bites and counting. The bright side is that these mosquitoes are silent killers- they don’t make that annoying whine that keeps you awake at night. And I have lots of OFF and citronella with me.

Have you noticed a theme here? It seems that the trials I am encountering here are hand-picked by God to build character in me. I know that I am a bit high strung and all these little frustrating things are teaching me to take a deep breath, stop shouting and fighting, and just give God room to have his way. There are some crazy things happening here right now (a serial rapist on the loose who has raped 35 women, 3 decapitated bodies found on a sailboat outside our local grocery store yesterday, etc.) and the temptation is to retreat in fear from this crazy adventure I’ve gone on. If I didn’t know God was in it, I’d pack up and come home. (Maybe… I do love a good adventure…) But the fact is, God is in it, and he has tailor-made it just for me. There are some wonderful things too that I did not expect: only 7 ½ hours of classes a day, fun and interesting classes, finding out I did well in every course last term (which I thought I’d failed!), great housemates, no hurricanes, and no ants in my kitchen.