Today's Collage

Yes.  That's cheese.  I remember what it looks like, but it'd been a while.

The highest potassium I have ever seen in a living person.

Our front stoop's inhabitants.

No title redux

See my April 10, 2015 post for context.

Yellow boat on the Padma (Ganges) river.  not at all related to my post.

So.  I still struggle with the role money plays here.  I understand that money is the currency of relationship and is the sign - the very palpable sign - of the depth of relationship.  I don't particularly like it.   

  Here is a conversation I had recently with someone I consider a friend and whom I truly trust.  As a mark of that trust, when I became aware of a transient need for a significant sum of money, I offered to help.*

somewhat freely translated:

Fr: So, if you need that money back, I can get it to you tomorrow.

Me: But you haven't actually used it yet, right?

Fr: That's true.  It's just sitting in my account.  

Me: You still need it, no?

Fr: Well, yes.  But I told you I would return it before now.

Me: Well, then keep it for the moment.  I trust you completely.

Fr: I told my wife what you did for us.  She said, "Wow, he must really love you to lend to us."  I told her, yes, I think he does - he really loves us.  

Me: Well, I have faith in you!

Fr: Well, that's all fine and good, but there are many people I know who would never do this.  Or if they did, they'd charge me interest.  This is different.

It still sounds strange in my ears that this is a sign that I love them, but that is what it communicates in this culture.  As a mark of my adjustment, this conversation began seeming natural to me.  What I really found interesting, though, was some of the words that came up - that in Bangla are inextricably linked: faith and trust are the same word, and to love someone implicitly means you trust them completely.  

*I've known him for five years, and the sum involved was $226.  It was important to me that I wasn't asked for the money - I was made aware of the need but clearly without expectation.