some of the great parts of living in community

having people around to talk to, and share with, and help each other out are some of the reasons i love living in community. and tonight was a good illustration of those things.

i was wandering around the house saturday afternoon doing odd chores hoping to bump into somebody to talk to as a break from spending way too much time sitting in my room thinking about my thesis (or trying to avoid thinking about it). as i was returning a book to the library (having our own library is, incidentally, another one of the great parts of living in community), i bumped into someone using the computer. i was clearly in a chatting mood and he looked like he'd welcome a distraction, so we ended up having a good conversation about emotions and general well-being. and i returned to my room, content to get back to the chores awaiting me.

awhile later, i got a knock in the door announcing a phone call/message from the people who'd just left for a 2-week vacation and had lent me their apartment during that time (and i'd water the plants). turns out they'd left a load in the washing machine and could i take it out? of course (i only live downstairs and can you imagine unhung wash after 2 weeks?!?). we did have to laugh at them, though.

then i decided to join whoever was around for tea for awhile. so a bunch of us sat outside and 'tourist-watched.' when you live in a high sight-seeing area, most of the people coming by are tourists who are rubber-necking and include my house (and all of us in it) as part of the potential attractions to check out. they usually are a bit startled by the rather ordinary-ness of a bunch of people sitting around on their porch (steps usually), drinking tea, chatting, and living ordinary life in a place people expect something a lot different. (The report from the Americans who visited mentions how the normalcy is a witness: "the community we are serving this week are so normal and simple that we become a show. At dinner people walk by the front window by the street and see a community dinner. It is glaringly different to what is in windows on either side of us. People stand and watch decent people doing decent things... It saddens me that our normalcy is such a show, but it is inspiring that so many people stop and inquire to what is going on.")

while sitting outside, i saw a former house-mate coming home for whom i'd been watching out for about week. so i went to see her new apartment. and met the new kitten who was sleeping over at her house while the couple above went on vacation - and because the house has a bit of a mouse problem, which has not gone over well with her (her initial reaction to finding a mouse has been repeated a few times through the community, with chuckles). so the couple have a cat-sitter and she has a mouse-scarer (it's a bit young so i'm not sure if it's really a mouse-catcher yet or more of a mouse-player) - and everyone benefits. and i had a lovely chat in english and dutch. and got a dinner invitation for tuesday :)

finally, back to those chores. only to hear within a few minutes someone outside in my hallway (which i don't share with anyone at the moment). it was someone checking to see if our machine for doing the floor had been returned by someone else using it (the floor-machine is only one of many machines that we own - our new super efficient high-duty clothes dryer is my favourite at the moment, though). and so we chatted for awhile and shared stories. and my chores waited awhile longer.

the chores finally did get done. my room might now pass for neat (by my mother's standards and not just mine:)). and the evening was great for getting to spend time with the people here that i know and love - and of being reminded of some of my favourite parts of community.