Some More Thoughts

Last night we had our respective men's and women's nights to discuss issues about living in Egypt. We had about four American women who have been living in Egypt (mostly past MESPers) come talk to us, and we ended up having a pretty good time. One thing that our intern Claire said last night, though, hit me and made me look at my thoughts about coming on MESP in a clearer way. Claire was talking about our expectations for our time here, and how if we don't let go of all of the amazin things we expect to happen, we will have a harder time being open to different things that may shape us this semester.

I have so many expectations for this semester that I really hadn't even articulated before, largely because I know so much about the experiences of past MESPers. I came expecting to fall in love with a new culture, to be adventurous, and to be as Claire deemed it, a "cross-cultural maverick".

I expected my experience to contain many of the same experiences others had: connecting with my host family, being fascinated with the speakers and topics, and having a transformative experience.

I feel pressure to impress Dr. Dave and be another great Dordt kid in his Dutch mafia tradition. I expect myself to write great papers, ask profound questions, and have a perfect personality in the group.

Mostly, though, I had the expectation that I would come to the Middle East and want to work and live here. I've never really known what I want to do, and I was hoping that this could be my thing so that I wouldn't have to start back at square one for ideas. I hadn't even thought that this time might show me that God wants me somewhere else or that now might not be the time for any of that.

I guess what I'm realizing is that none of my expectations could be met, or none of them could be, but I need to realize that I am only here for an incredibly short period of 3 1/2 months, and that I need to be more open about what God has for me here, rather than what others have experienced here.

Thanks for listening.

Linda