Existence Downtown!

Today, I experienced my first Art Walk. Yes, I went downtown. I haven’t been downtown in FOREVER! (Not even joking!) Well, let’s just say it was really interesting. No, not the art! Haha. I’ll tell ya a bit about my night…

First off, the group that I seemed to have traveled with most of the night was BIG! At one point in time, we were keeping track of 12 people! That’s crazy hard downtown on a Friday Night Art Walk! Most of the people, I could barely remember their names. I knew my roommate and one of her friends from home. The rest, I met as we walked along finding them, or attempting to find them!

I met a Chinese student, who quickly grew on me. We kept running into each other, so at one point in time, we just locked arms together. It kept us from running into each other, so it was definitely effective. Yes, it generally isn’t accepted in our culture, but it’s something that the people do in China. I like it! Haha. It seems to remind me of best friends holding hands. A sense of unity is built. A sense of community is found. She was definitely thrilled to be downtown, and was EXCITED for all of the culture she had been thrown into tonight.

Speaking of culture…I would definitely say that my favorite part was the woman hula-hooping with a lighted hula-hoop that was on FIRE! :) It was pretty amazing. I love art. But, I didn’t seem to be interested in looking at much of it tonight! I was intrigued by the conversations (whether in English or Chinese or Spanish) going on around me.

I LOVE the downtown feel. I may not feel like I fit in, but I certainly loved the freedom that people have found on the streets. Whether it is body art, playing with fire, ceramics, or painting, I love seeing each unique person for who they are. Downtown definitely seems to be the place that you can be “you.”

There’s a couple more things that I want to touch on about tonight, but they are definitely interrelated, so I’m just gonna see where this leads me……

The “Sign People” were there tonight. These people call themselves Christians, though I don’t know what “branch” or denomination they are from. They had long beards, and dressed VERY modestly. In fact, they dressed as such that women were REQUIRED to cover their heads (as well as nearly every other part of their body). Now, I am generally okay with people being radical, but they held signs that said “The party ends in Hell.” “Fortification is a sin.” “Women should be meek, quiet, and covered.” “Women should be seen and not heard.” Etc. I find it frustrating to witness when the people downtown see this example of Christianity and this group of people’s perception of it. I’m not saying that I agree or disagree with these sign people, but what they are doing is not effective. In fact, it seemed to have been so ineffective that there appeared a “Battle of the Signs” because a group created signs with “Why such sad and serious faces?” written on them, and ACTUAL Scripture written on them. I don’t know how much good they did though.

I, of course, had my head covered. I couldn’t help but shake my head at these “Sign People.” I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to know why they felt that way. I wanted to know why they chose to “witness” in that way. I wanted to know if they thought that they were doing what God wants. And most of all, I wanted to talk to them about why I cover, and why they didn’t allow women to have a voice. I don’t know…Being with a group, I couldn’t leave to debate with these people, though I’m still curious if they would have listened to me because I am a woman!?

Like I just said, I had my head covered. It was my first time downtown with my cover on my head. At first, it was VERY awkward. I constantly felt judged. I may have had my cross around my neck, but that doesn’t seem to matter to people who are already drinking! I did not feel like I fit in with being downtown. At one point in time, I wanted to take it off because the hurtful glances and stares were frustrating me. After a quick prayer, the glances got fewer and farther apart. I still wonder every day when or if God will ever call me to take off my cover. I wonder how He will do it, when He will, why He will, etc. I don’t know. Maybe He’ll never ask. Guess I won’t know the above things until He actually asks! Haha…

Anyhow, I’m out…(Who knows when this will actually be posted since my internet only works half of the time!? Hopefully soon!)