Totally Wasted Day

Saturdays are usually my "days off." It's hard to really call any day a "day on" since my usual routine consists of sitting around talking and drinking tea for hours with some language study sprinkled in for good measure. But I try to take a little break on Saturdays for myself, since even my "Sabbath" is hard work (you try deciphering a sermon that's preached in Turkish!).

So that's how I justify not doing much on Saturdays. But honestly, I still feel like I should do something, at some point, even on a Saturday. So I made up my mind that since it was raining, windy, and COOOOOLD today, that I would just hang out in the house for a while during the day and then spend a little time meeting people in the gym before going to talk to the movie rental guy that has been wanting me to sit and visit for a while. The plan was working to perfection. It rained most the day and I stayed dry. I got in two Piper sermons, one being an hour and a half biography of William Cooper. I did some reading and some writing. And I was able to catch my best friend bored at work, resulting in a nice conversation about all the latest happenings in life. It was perfectly relaxing and refreshing. The rain stopped, and the clock clicked over to 5 PM, and it was time for phase two of the plan, to put my muscles and my mouth to work.

So I got changed into my fabulous workout clothes and headed to the gym. But to my surprise, the lights were off and the padlock was on the door. I knew they closed a little earlier on Saturdays, but I didn't know it was that early! That's what I get for not reading the signs well. But, no problem, that just gives me more time to sit with the film guy, Spielberg. I'm really excited about this Spielberg fella for a couple reasons. First of all, he knows that my roommate and I are both Christians, and yet continues to insist that we meet. And secondly, he teaches Turkish in school. So it gives me hope that not only can he be a valuable resource in language learning, but that he may be seeking something deeper as well. So I come home and change into more 21st century looking clothes and head to the movie store. But as I turn the corner onto their street I'm confronted with total blackness. Every building I could see looking west was blacked out, including the movie store. I looked inside and one of his workers was there sitting in the candlelight, but said that the boss had gone home already. Well poop!

But all hope wasn't lost. I could still talk to people at the grocery store, since everybody there knows my name now. I was going to buy some healthy food for dinner, have some good conversation, then come home and make myself a wholesome dinner. One out of three ain't bad. I did get to talk to a couple people for a pretty good while. Pretty much everybody that works there knows my name, since I'm the only white man that comes in and because I try my best to practice my Turkish when I'm there. So I got to talk to two different guys for a good amount of time, even with one of my new grammar rules thrown in! But unfortunately, my "healthy food" commitment fell by the waist side. First I gave in to the temptation to buy a Coke. Next I saw that they had the chocolate pudding on sale. And finally, the real dagger into the heart of my healthy living plan, was the sight of M&Ms. This is the first time I've seen them for sale in a store in this country. So, naturally, I bought a bag. I'm already through half the Coke and am about to crack open the M&Ms. I've totally blown this day in just about every sense and it's still only 7 PM. Sad.