Humility and Rain

So classes have started, and I think all of them are set in a schedule now. When I came, I didn't expect having so many classes with other USP students or to be taught as much by the USP staff. But the classes have been so good and are very thought-provoking.

 Also, all of us are getting started in our internships. This week I went with one other student, a Program Assistant, and a USP driver to meet my internship supervisors. I get to work at a school for the blind.

School here doesn't really start until early February outside the University. So there's nothing for us to do at our internship sites until then. But I was really happy about how the first day went. I really enjoyed the drive out of town and into the hills. We met with the head teacher and with our supervisor, and they welcomed us and we sat down to chat for a while on some benches under a little mango tree. What struck me was how they emphasized that they wanted to make sure they could help our internships go well. That was pretty humbling, because I like to feel useful and my mindset is that I am there to help them however I can. I think I'm going to have to learn that it's okay to just be and to enjoy building relationships, because I'm not always going to be a help and may sometimes be a hindrance if I insist on participating in everything I see anyone doing.

That's not to say that I'm going to back off from helping, or that I'm going to stop trying new things or looking for ways to pitch in. But being here and not knowing how to do things is making me take a step back and remind myself again of how much I want to learn while I'm here. After all, I'm here to study and to learn to love a new culture. Which I am. But it's still a good reminder that there are a lot of times I need to accept extra help and allow other people to do kind things for me. Sometimes this is hard, because I'd rather be the one serving than being served. But in the body of Christ it really goes both ways.

All that is to say, I'm really looking forward to my internship in a few weeks. We left after setting up a time to meet once school has started up. On the way back to campus, it rained. It was beautiful. I'd forgotten what it's like to see the rain coming at you as you go to meet it. Or that the clouds are such a rich, dark, looming grey as they gather. Or the way the wind suddenly turns cold against your skin as you approach. Or the way the soil smells when the rain is very close.

The photo is on campus, from later in the day when I was walking home. It's dark because it rained again when I got home in the evening. Besides how much I love watching the rain come, I also revel in the way the rain sounds when it's pounding on a tin roof right above you, and lashing the buildings and the trees so that the leaves tremble and whip around. And it's good to partake in the cozy light of a kerosene lamp in the midst of it all when the power has gone out because of the rain.

Rain is a refresher and restorer. It's a tangible sign that there are things we're not in control of. It's humbling because God sends the rain and the wind and everything roaring down outside, which gives you some perspective when you remember how small you are in the scheme of things. And the rain washes the early-dry-season-dust off of everything. Flowers which were spots of colour on brown dust coated plants now poke out their faces amidst cleaner green leaves. And true, there is mud, and the rain keeps people inside when they have places they need to be. Yet for me, the rain was just what I needed.

But yes. I love rain (as well as the sun) and I am also very excited about my internship. God has a way of putting things I need in my path right when I need them, and preparing places for me to thrive.