Feeling off kilter

Did you know that some states still have in their constitution that atheists can't be government officials?

Well, I didn't know that either until Thursday. I had to write a brief on how a nonprofit law firm is pushing for Arkansas to ammend their constitution to take out the portion that prohibits atheists from holding public office or testifying in court. SERIOUSLY?? I can't believe that several states still hold that. Well, they don't "hold" it in the sense of enforcing it, but I can't believe that it's technically still in their constitutions. Wow. And after that I made edits to my fairness doctrine article, and there had been further developments because the afternoon before a White House spokesman released a statement that Obama doesn't support the Fairness Doctrine. Surprise, right? Now all the ultra-conservatives can (hopefully) stop giving themselves aneurysms over the issue.

After work a whole bunch of us met up at Nando's Peri-Peri, a Portugese restaurant in Chinatown, for dinner. I got a chicken wrap, and it was pretty good, even though there were issues with my order. There were a ton of sauces that actually had some spice to them, so I was happy. It's difficult to find food here with flavor, but Nando's was good. After we got back to the apartment, I went to bed around 10 ... I know, crazy, right? But I was exhausted, and that was when I had started to get sick.

Friday we had class in the morning, and then Greg invited me and Rachelle to lunch with him and Mimi, and of course we took him up on it. We went to a Chinese/Thai fushion restaurant in Union Station, which was really good. For the second day in a row, there were issues with my order, so it didn't come until after everyone else's, but it was really good, and it was really fun getting to talk with Greg and Mimi.

We then went over the award-winning article "Something the Lord Has Made," which is absolutely amazing. It's about a black man without a college education who helped perform the first open heart surgery. Amazing. We then watched the movie made from it, which wasn't so good, but it was still fun. After that Rachelle, Danielle and I went to Las Positas, an Mexican restuarant in Eastern Market. We were all craving Mexican food, so that was a perfect fix! When we got back, a group was going to watch The Patriot in the WJC lounge, so we all joined. I absolutely love that movie, so it was a good time for sure.

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a community meeting at 11 a.m. that we were informed of the night before. I already knew about the situation, but it was definitely difficult to sit through. Basically, a guy in ASP is getting sent home for breaking covenant (something sex-related), and the girl involved who's a good friend of mine here (and who, as far as I know, didn't break the covenant) left on a plane home without telling anyone a few days ago. I still don't know if she's coming back. But they both need a lot of prayer. A community like this (about 40 students) is the absolute worst for something like this to happen in. Gossip is ridiculous, and I'm so sick of it and of people taking sides and making all these assumptions.

So Rachelle and I got out of it all and went to the American Art Museum and spent three hours going through all three floors. We didn't even get to the portrait half of the museum. It was really relaxing to do this and spend hours perusing different manifestations of human expression. Art is really a spiritual thing to me because in a sense, it's almost like people trying to immitate God. I think it's amazing that He blessed us with the ability to create and to express beauty and emotion. After that we got frozen yogurt at Tangy Sweet (the only fro-yo place out here ... I've been dying without Berry Cool, YogurtLand, Beach Berries, Pink Berry and Red Mango!!) and just dished out on life for a few hours. We processed what's going on with the drama in our program as well as just what's going on in our own lives. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have someone from home here with me.

We went back, made dinner, and then found out about a goodbye party for the guy going home, so we went down for a little bit, and then I went back to the apartment to make some much-needed phone calls. I then left around 8:30 with Mark and Zack to go to a jazz club in Adams Morgan called Columbia Station. We got really lost getting there and ended up walking everywhere, but we got there a bit after 10, which is when the live music starts. It was a really classy "wine and dine" type venue, and I very much enjoyed my shirley temple, carrot cake, and the piece of Mark's pizza that Zack forced me to eat. As always, we had some really funny conversations, which I honestly think result half the time from how different of cultures we've all grown up in -- it's fun talking with people who aren't all southern Californian natives. The music was also really, really fun. The trumpet player was especially amazing, in my opinion. I definitely want to explore and find more jazz clubs like this.

We left around 12 and again, got really lost trying to get to the metro station. We ended up in a very suburban, foresty-type area with huge stone houses, and it was absolutely beautiful. If we had to get lost, it was definitely amazing to get lost in a place that made you feel like you were out of the city. I think that Mark and Zack, who are from Ohio and Louisana, especially enjoyed that. We wandered for a long time, and I had to keep reminding Zack that it's not the best idea to pull out a map at 1 a.m. at a street corner and betray that you are lost as can be, but we made it to the metro eventually and got home around 2. Overall, a really fun night.

I was going to get up at 10 this morning and go to church with Rachelle, but I woke up and about died. I've had a sore throat these last few days, but today I also have the lovely combination of dizziness and a very screwed up voice. Anyways, I just went back to sleep and woke up around 1 p.m., and Rachelle actually did the same thing. I think we were both really emotionally drained from yesterday on top of everything. But we went downstairs, and it turned out that several of our roommates hadn't gone to church either (probably for the same reasons), and we all made lunch. I put together minestrone soup and toast, and we also established that we really, really need to go grocery shopping, so I think we're doing that this afternoon. I think I'm going to a worship service at 6 at Ebenezar's tonight, though, so that should be good.

I was really thrown for a loop with everything that's happened these last few days, and it's difficult knowing what to think or how to act. All that I know is that I can pray. And not contribute to the gossip and call people on it who are. But it's been testing. And on top of that, it's just been a weird week in general. A few things earlier in the week hit be kind of strangely, and now I just really, really miss all my friends at Biola. It's always in times when things get a little more difficult that I remember exactly how blessed I am by those people, and how they are always the most amazing people to talk to and get encouragement and support from. I'm excited that I'll be seeing them in 2 1/2 months -- yes, I'm counting, haha. And I had a dream about wanting to hang out with my sister, Kelsie, last night, so Kelsie -- feel very special, haha.