Am I lost?

I have managed to get “lost” every single day so far… but I was then thinking to myself last night: am I really getting lost? Each time, yes I have not found the destination of my intention, but I have managed to stumble across a new found treasure instead.  I was in search to find another health food store today, but of course I don’t think I walked quite in the right direction again. Side note: the roads here randomly change names even though you are still walking on the same street in the same direction.  Like always, I stopped to ask several Londoners where the store was.  They pointed me in the right direction, but instead of finding it I came across the most adorable little tea shop.  Frustrated again by not finding my intended destination, I decided maybe some tea would help.  It is custom here to offer tea to others when their day is not going the best way.  So there I sat, sipping on my tea, in a world that seemed foreign to me.  My wandering mind began pondering our seminars the past two days.  Why am I making these assumptions that this place is foreign?  Why am I noticing the things I am noticing right now and missing so many others? 

Are we actually culturally aware of the world around us?  Do we really know what is going on?  Are we as adaptable as we think we are? Basically I came to two conclusions or "words of wisdom for the future":

1.       Getting discouraged when something does not go our way is a complete waste of our time.  Look around you. Make a new adventure out of it and find a new destination. 

2.      Turn from making assumptions about the “foreign world around us” and instead look at things in a cultural perspective and dig a little deeper.  Why are people really doing what they are doing?  What are the values and beliefs underneath driving those actions and ways of life? 

In the words of my director: “This place is not foreign.  It is not better or worse from America.  It is simply different.”

Cheers!   -Brittany