My host family had to work on Friday, so that left me the day to explore on my own, an idea that honestly terrified me. Their transit system is super confusing, so I decided to forgo the underground transportation and use my ever faithful legs. I figured I could retrace my steps to get back to the house, rather than try to retrace the path of an underground tram. I made my way to a mall close to the house I am living in. The mall was designed like an American mall, but filled with different stores, obviously. I found a Starbucks and a KFC, which really excited me becuase as I previously mentioned the food here is not my favorite thing. However, the only thing I saw on the menu at KFC were waffles, and a tall coffee at Starbucks was almost 8 dollars-crazy! I walked around the mall for a bit, but soon became hungry. In Singapore a lot of the eateries are half indoors and half outdoors. The kitchen and cash register are covered, but the tables and chairs are out along the street. I was not in the mood for rice or noodles, so I found a fruit stand where I could get a Diet Coke, or Coca-Cola Light as they call it over here, and an orange. The fruit stand did not have any tables or chairs to sit and eat, and you are not supposed to use the tables and chairs of another restuarent if you didn't buy their product, so I walked around aimlessly looking for a place to peel my orange and sip my drink. I was looking for a nearby park, but found nothing, so I settled for a rock in an allyway- pathetic I know! I peeled the orange and quickly realized I didn't have a place to put the peel. Singapore has a VERY strict no littering policy, in fact if they catch you violating the law you can pay up to a 500 dollar fine. I searched for a trash can, but could not find one. So there I was, an American girl, holding an orange peel, frantically looking for a trash can in a foreign country I know nothing about sans the littering policy. That was one of my "I wish I was back in America moments". In fact, there have been quite a few of those moments since I arrived in Singapore.
In my few days here it has become very evident that my faith is placed in my family, friends, boyfriend, and the United States. In a short amount of time I found myself without all of these things and in a state of panic, I was homesick and had no idea how I was going to get through these next 6 weeks. I believe my state of panic was the Lord's way of showing me that my hope is found in things other than Him. I miss the comfort and security of Texas, which reveals to me that I don't think He capable of providing me with the peace I think I need. As hard as it is to realize these things, I think in my heart I knew this would be the case all along. My prayer is for God to show me what it looks like to live a life fully dependent on Him.
You know the saying, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade? It is implied that lemons symbolize bad or "sour" situations, and you just make the best out of it...i.e lemonade. Well, life is not handing me lemons exactly, but an oranges are close enough. To wrap up my story from above, I eventually found a plastic bag on the street(obviously someone ignored the law) and placed my peel in the bag until I found a trash can-crisis averted. In the same way that my orange peel dilemma was resolved, I know that I will soon become used to living in Singapore and that God will provide me with the strength I need to face this new situation.
So when life hands you oranges, make orange juice?
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