When it became clear we were heading to Kansas, far away from my (Daniel´s) lifetime homeland of Minnesota, with Rebekah to have a full time job and me to work from the home, we were all afraid that extroverted little Daniel would suffocate during the "long lonely days", and then overwhelm Rebekah with accumulated extrovert neediness when she returned home. It´s hard to say definitively, but after a week or so, it´s looking like there´s not so much to fear! My family and I have long known that I have not only a fierce extroverted side, but an intense introverted solitudinous side too. I think we forgot that when we were being most afraid. And in my days at home, I am finding myself fairly content to pretty much work all day. For example, I have been taking a great satisfaction in converting a big box (apartment) full of little boxes (our stuff) into a homely, warm, functional, aesthetic home. (I will post pictures once I feel my "masterpiece" is complete.)
Rebekah already reported our A/C-less victory over the nefarious heat monster, which is very pleasing given the $150++ our neighbors were reporting paying for their electric bill. The kitchen is fully complete, and the mildew-monster (in one of our couches and several drawers of clothing) is slain or at least in remission. Having also established an office with which I am very pleased, I have begun to transition away from the home-establishing task and into a host of other logistical things... Peru-related tasks, financial documents, planning our internet and phone services, etc.
I have found a great satisfaction in taking care of Rebekah during this time, bringing her food from our kitchen, rushing to the rescue with a handful of onerous teaching tasks such as transcription, gluing, etc.. This is her week of madness since she needs to get everything to a Braille translator 2 weeks in advance, but they only told her 2 work days before classes start, putting her a week and a half behind from the get go. Not to mention the fact that tomorrow´s her FIRST DAY ON THE JOB!
Naturally we think about gender, gender differences/trends, gender roles, etc. from time to time. Partially because Rebekah and I are, of course, doing the approximate inverse of the "normal" or traditional work roles. Our decision to be okay with this path partly comes from debunking gender roles. But in reality, it satisfies MOST of the traditional views... there is nothing that feels more chivalrous than to make sure that if she´s got lots prep to do, that she doesn´t have to lift a finger when she gets home. Not that I´m a big chivalry buff, but I guess all I´m saying is that the work-role flip doesn´t really feel problematic at all.
So overall, it´s clear that I´m not SO extroverted that I can´t deal with working alone all day. I have not sat depressed tapping my desk. When Rebekah comes home, I have not pleaded for her attention, or overwhelmed her with clinginess.
Nevertheless I still like people... when presented with new people, I jump in in the usual friendly way... our neighbors are SUPER nice and friendly! They always say Hi and chat when we bump into each other at our front doors. It´s a mom and daughter. They have given me yummy lunch on one occasion. (I think they might be assuming that if Rebekah´s not home, there´s nobody to cook for me hehe.) They enthusiastically lent me their vaccuum cleaner for my war on mildew, and yesterday they bought all three of their new neighbor families plants, and left them on each of our doorsteps, saying "welcome to the neighborhood". Also, I´m spending some time enjoying continuing (now long distance) friendships. Adolfo and I keep up business chat and banter on MSN messenger, Bruce has been debating me quite enthusiastically around the nature of scripture, revelation, etc. via email. I talked with Noah for a good hour and a half about his summer, and have been chatting here and there with a few other friends and family.
Given the amount of logistical stuff I still have to deal with, I haven´t started looking for people-contact part-time-jobs yet, but I did call to sign up for a grant-writing conference being offered by United Way. Should be cool. When the time for jobs comes, I think I´ll start by looking at substitute teaching, and perhaps some youth group stuff, and stuff like that.
Back to work!
Daniel
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