I Figured I was Eating a Hamburger.

What sort of stuff are we posting here?

Is it just stuff to do with traveling or to do with our interaction with different cultures. Do different including spinoffs of your own? ‘Cause frankly, when I suddenly find myself in a different sub-culture of the US general culture than my own I go though culture shock like an ignorant westerner walking into Tehran. And though it is only for a moment it has been those interaction which have most jarred my sense of right and wrong.

So... is “Travel for Fun” a place to talk about when we DON’T TRAVEL and DON’T HAVE FUN but still learn loads about our own cultural understanding or is it simply a place for us to reminisce over our days aboard and how they have shaped us. ‘Cause friends, right now, I don’t even know if I can explain how I feel about the culture shock I am going though right now so bare with me as I try.

I have spent most of my thought filled life thinking God was one way. Though I still had lots of questions about his nature and his creation (aka everything) I was comfortable in my confusion and had developed a way to live life with joy despite my lack of understanding. I had developed these ways so well that I started to believe there was no new statement people could make about God that would though me off.

Do you realize how secure I was about that? Picture a hamburger. Really, close your eyes and build that hamburger in your mind. The bun, the condiments, the tomato and the lettuce. Feel it in your hand.

Now open your mouth and take a bite of this.

Friends, I too expected the bun to be made of breed, the condiments to be catsup and mustard, the tomato to be red and the lettuce to be green. And I found that only the meat was the same. That only the core points the Apostles' Creed makes about God was as I expected. Nothing more. At least not at first, not now. Sure, I may soon discover that both buns are made from wheat but for now, for now I am hung up on the fact that some aren't made from bread.

The other culture is Catholicism. I have recently entered into conversation with a Priest of the Catholic Church and become so baffled that I finally feel able to say I understand why our friend Jesse views herself as an astronaut navigating unknown territories. Call me one too cause I can not think of a better description right now.

And the type of doughnut didn't help me either. I mean, why didn't this priest at least use something from Dunkin' D's. I would be doing so much better with this if he had. Man, you know how bad I want a Boston Cream right now?

-Chase