Sit with me and tell me once again...

...Of the story that's been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty, of the beauty
Why it matters
-Sara Groves

I knew before coming to Neufahrn that I wanted to remember what matters. Lacking pre-established friendships here, it would be easy for online reruns of "The Office" to become the highlight of my day. But I don't want to miss the richness in culture, the wonderful and quirky ways that God's children in Neufahrn differ from the ones I've already met. I've been fighting to enjoy the beauty that exists here, and to revel in the beauty of its Creator.

As evidenced by the photo, I really love the clouds in Neufahrn. I've never lived anywhere nearly so flat, and I'm usually passionate about my preference for mountains or even rolling hills. I don't like it when buildings are the biggest thing in sight. But here, the clouds dwarf my view everywhere I go...there's so much sky to see. It's an amazing sight every day.

I discovered a Turkish grocery store down the street. I get some weird looks when I go, and I might be the only one there who doesn't speak Turkish. But I'm having quite an adventure searching for food amidst labels I don't understand. (Somewhere on the package, the important details are always listed in multiple languages: often German, French, and English, among others. But Turkish is the one printed front and center.) Some of my finds so far include couscous, a mix for lamb soup, snap peas, and chocolate-filled cookies, all at low prices.

A related adventure is baking. The guest house supplies all kinds of tasty breakfast foods as well as some baking staples. But when I went to bake a cake this week, I realized there were no baking pans. I ended up baking the batter in a saucepan, praying that the handle wouldn't...
1. melt,
2. explode, or
3. emit toxic fumes, poisoning the cake.
It apparently worked, so I invited my housemates to join me, and the two who were still awake shared it with me. One of them looked utterly dumbfounded when I offered him some. I think it was the highlight of his week, poor guy. Since then, I have the feeling that he's on the lookout for me to do something else totally unexpected, like paint a mural in the dining room or bring home a stray kitten.

I'm curious about people in Neufahrn. When I get bored or lonely, I love watching people downtown. I went to a tiny park yesterday where some toddlers (probably Turkish - there's a large Turkish population here) were having a ball. Nearly every evening when I leave the house to go for a walk, an older neighbor is sitting on her front porch. Once she watched me pass her, turn around and go back in, then re-emerge with something I had forgotten. She smiled knowingly and told me, "What is it they say? What you don't have in your head, you have to have in your feet." If I get that woman to invite me over for tea, my life in Neufahrn will be unquestionably a success.