That Crazy Bus Driver

As I sit down to write this, I am not sure what to say. Don't take that to mean that I don't have anything worth saying, it is more that I don't know how to say it. Hopefully I can put it into some sort of organized and logical flow of thought; but if it seems disjointed don't say I didn't warn you.

The past week has been, well... Difficult. I have been pretty homesick. Christmas decorations have been on sale here since mid-October, and I have not been home for the Holidays since 2003. I miss my family and friends at this festive time of year. My grandparents are also going through major heath decline, which makes it more difficult.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good things happening here. For example, we are starting a new English class that will meet on Tuesday evenings. I have a wonderful wife, and I love her family too. I am excited about these things, I am overjoyed at God's provision in our lives.

I am stubborn. That can be a bad thing, but not always. My stubbornness has gotten me into plenty of trouble, but it has also kept me out of trouble. I know God has me here for a reason. He is refining me and making me a better person. And, I am planning on sticking this out as long as God wants me to. That is where the good stubbornness comes in.

Here are some “free-floating ideas” that I want to share, but can't get into good paragraphs (I could make them into separate posts, but I am lazy today):

1. Its over $3500 for us to travel to the US from here. We are trying to decide whether or not to go to my brother's wedding in June.
2. Someone suggested I use my web-cam to teach English; I am looking for a practical way to do that (if you have suggestions email me).
3. I had an epiphany this weekend while teaching: Correct pronunciation of vowels is key to correct pronunciation (at least in English). It needs fleshing out, but it was cool to see how fast the students caught on.
4. This post is very interesting, and has spurred me to deep thought about the state of the Bride of Christ. [See also: 15 Theses and this homepage. The first link in particular has some very interesting reading.] Is there a connection somehow with this?

We had an interesting experience on the way home from our morning class on Saturday. We ride the bus, and this one was very full. The drivers here are not the feather-foots (at least by comparison) that drive buses in the US. This guy was the second craziest driver I have ridden with.

We were almost home, and had stood up to wade through the crowd to the exit door, when all of a sudden everyone lurched forward. Imagine 50-60 human dominoes lunging forward. I don't think anyone fell, but I came very close.

As this was happening, there was the sound of metal grinding and scraping the bottom of the bus. I could not see anything, but imagined a bicycle-sized thing being dragged under the bus. A sick feeling crept through my body with the thought of what had happened.

It turns out I was right. It was a bicycle. I have no idea why it was in the road, but it was unoccupied by all reports, at the time of the collision. The driver got out, and walked to the back of the bus. He said something to someone I could not see, got back in the bus, and drove on.

What in the world? No police? No pictures? No transit official? Nothing. Just drive on, driver. I still don't get that stuff. It makes me wonder how much this stuff happens.