Construction of Time.

Time is a funny thing. The days you want it to fly, it seems to drag on. And the days you want it to slow down, it seems takes off on a sprint. On the 11th, I will have been in Edinburgh for a month. A MONTH. Already?! Yes, already.

I have to admit, I've had my moments here where I've wanted my time to be close to finishing. Where I envision myself getting off of the plane and hugging my family and friends with tears running down my face.Those moments are few and far in between. I also find them to be a natural reaction to being nervous and overwhelmed in a new place, but as I spend more and more time here I'm finding so many moments that I want to hold onto for the rest of my life. There have been instances where I think, "I want to remember this as long as I live." And there have been instances where I think, "Well, I'll never forget that as long as I live." The latter of which typically comes when I say or do something embarrassing like call trousers pants in a full room of middle aged men. (pants in the UK are what Americans call underwear)

In an attempt at remembering little and big moments, I've been keeping a journal. This journal contains dates and stories that have happened on different days during the week. They are events that I have found that I see the face of God, that I have laughed until I could not breathe, that I was so deeply saddened by what homelessness and life has done to people I've grown to love, and that I want to look back and jog my memory when I read it. In this one month alone, I've gained many stories to share with loved ones at home. My life and hopes for this world have been impacted and I'm anxious to see what else is in store.

So, though I've had difficult moments of missing home, I'm finding that I'm growing to love Edinburgh and the people here more and more. Time has FLOWN by.

How my time is typicall broken up here:

*12-hour shifts- LOVE them. They're not so bad when you play an hour and a half of table tennis at the end of the day, sit and listen to the life stories of residents during devotions, joke around and clean up during kitchen duty, or get to have tea and biscuits with some of the most hilarious guys I've ever met. What a giggle.

*45-minutes breaks during work- a time to go for a walk and get out of the hostel for a bit, a time to hang out with some co-workers, a time to possibly get a coffee or a time to walk down by the Water of Leith (picture below).

*Days off- spent going for runs, walking around town, doing daily errands such as grocery shop or head to the post office.

Yes, time has flown by indeed. And I have loved every minute of it so far.

Water of Leith. On my walk to work.