With Marisa and Eva, waiting to get on the underground to Heathrow
A kids play of "Cinderella"
I spent the final night of my trip in London before flying back to the states on July 22. And by night, I do really mean NIGHT. Of all the crazy experiences on my trip, this one was probably the most like that of other 20-something Americans in Europe, and less like any situation I would find myself in either here or over there.
Ever heard of couchsurfing.com? I read about it in Time magazine before I left, and tried to find hosts in a couple of places on the trip but none worked out. Basically its a system where you sign up to be a host wherever you live, and then can ask other hosts if they will take you on for a night or two - anywhere in the world. You can see before you ask if the person has good references, a verified address, or has been vouched for by other members. Anyway, all that to say there are reasons I didn't tell Mom about this idea before I left. But my last night in London I found a couchsurfer, Marisa, who was willing to take me on. She hosted me and another girl from Poland, Eva, that night.
Marisa is a pre-med college student who is originally from Afghanistan. She has lived in England for about 12 years and can speak fluent English, Farsi, and Hindi, and is learning French and something else. She is exuberant, crazy, friendly, and extremely generous. While spending one day with her, I did all of the following:
-went to a kids school play to watch her friend's sister (also Afghan) perform in a modern-day version of Cinderella where the prince turns out to be a player and the girls kick butt
-hid from some guys she knew so they wouldn't see she was buying alcohol and tell any of her mom's friends
-ate top ramen with peas and spent three hours listening to her stories, songs, and history of her homeland, coupled with pictures from her trip there to meet her dad's family (her father, grandfather, and several uncles were killed in the war against the Soviet Union, some brutally - and until last year hadn't seen them since she was a baby)
-went clubbing on Tottenham Court Rd. in London, and actually danced if you can believe that
-drank more than I ever have in my life and didn't pay for any of it (Tori would be proud) but DID NOT get drunk so don't worry
-saw a random guy slap, hit, and push a random girl on a busy street at 3:30am, and no one stopped him or went to help the girls attacked but Marisa, Eva and I
-ate french fries with a special sauce while riding a bus back to the apartment, at 4am
-almost missed the plane waiting for the girls to get ready the next day, but then they spent the next hour riding the underground just to see me off
Marisa is a treasure, a beautiful, welcoming gem who is completely confident, unceasingly searching for meaning, and open to every new adventure that comes her way. She has had a lot of tragedy in her life, but her heart is still open and she is anxious to do something with her time that will impact others. I admire her very much, but am scared for her all the same because as smart and loving as she is, she lacks the greatest thing - a heart fixed on God and full of the love and hope only He can give. Marisa is the byproduct of two very different worlds - the atheist secular world of Britain and the Muslim dominated world of her birth. Her love for both is evident, and seems to pull and stretch her until she almost has two separate halves.
Pray for her with me, will you? I find myself remembering that whirlwind day in London often lately, and I want to pray that someone will come into her life on a permanent basis and show her how Jesus radically changes lives.
