I am sitting here typing, belly full of pizza, and mind full of frustration, because the blog I wrote a couple days ago still hasn´t gotten posted. The computers here wont take OLGA, our jump, so I am just typing to blow off steam.
This morning we went to a megachurch. I sat in the back, with about 1000 people in the service. Big worship time, all the bells and whistles, everything a church needs to be successful. I am not being sarcastic when I say obviously the leaders have more business training than any of the other churches we have been to on this trip. We even had words to our songs!
The speaker looked like Madeleine Albright, from my vantage point. I didn´t understand a word of what she said, and most of the time I was in the world of Walter Mitty. Totally daydreaming, and I would join in the clapping when it was appropriate, raise my hands when everyone else did. I was probably more into this service than many english services I have sat through.
At one point I imagined I was at an auction, as the speaker was yelling really fast about something and every now and then someone else would yell or I would see a hand raised. I thought about what an odd culture the church in general is.
Other things I can´t really get used to is strangers kissing my wife. I can at least understand the desire to kiss her, but all of a sudden I see men kissing each other. I figured if I stood in front of my wife and stared at my feet, neither one of us would get kissed by some strange guy. There was no way a guy I don´t know was gonna plant one on me, he probably wouldn´t even remember my name.
Now people kissing each other is ok, but what is even funnier, is we are in the land of the eternal mullet. I tried my best to grow a mullet when I first entered the awkward stage (which I am still trying to get out of). It never looked good, but at least I was just a young hormonally off balanced kid. It is like people are in a contest for the ugliest look. And tightest jeans. It is like a music video from the 80´s.
