Apples and Onions

When we talk about highs and lows, our director likes to call them "apples and onions." (Because those are food resources. She also told me that I can use a carrot to hit people to get them to start following food product inventory protocol. Carrots are also a food resource.)

Apples are good things; onions are negative (which isn't quite accurate because I do like onions.) Anyway, today I wanted to share lots of different little things, so it seemed better to put them into this list. I'll start with the onions so I can end on a good note. 

Onions: 

-It's hard to make friends. I feel lonely often. Even though I am making some friends, I don't always see them often. I also want to be able to do other things. It's hard to go places because it is getting dark so early and I don't like traveling alone in the dark. 

-Though I enjoy Arizona, I miss Michigan a lot. I miss my family, my friends, my work, my Bible study, learning Chinese, the MSU campus, my dorm room, the trees, the water, the weather...I'm not sure if this will diminish as time goes on because I feel like I am still in a culture shock stage. 

-Sometimes I feel stressed out by my work. I like it but it can be chaotic and confusing at times. 

Apples: 

-My Dad and Lori visited me this weekend. We had such a wonderful time! It was so good to see them. We were able to visit some beautiful places in Tucson that I have not been able to see yet, like Gates Pass for the sunset and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which was amazing. 

-When Dad, Lori, and I went to the food workshop on Saturday, one of the refugees who met my dad told him that he would be a father to me when my dad was in Michigan. I almost cried. 

-Tonight we had a wonderful Food for Thought dinner. We have these dinners every other month at a restaurant either owned by refugees or which hires refugees. The idea is to support these businesses, to have cross-cultural conversations, and to form new friendships. This month we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho 88, which is owned by several people who were Vietnamese refugees. I was nervous about everything leading up to the event, but it ended up turning out very well. We had wonderful conversations, lots of laughter, and representatives from 5 different countries.

To end, these are some of the wonderful pictures my dad took this weekend: 

Lori and I watching the sunset at Gates Pass. 

Sunset at Gates Pass, looking east 

My dad and me after the food workshop.