Note: This post has been stewing for a while but, due to lack of reliable internet service, hasn't been posted until now.

I'm beginning to see things as they are. Not being the sort of person to immediately recognize certain things about the character of a person – even having known them for all or most of my life – I have made a startling number of observations in the past few days.

I have always thought of my (maternal) grandparents as being stubborn, practical-minded people, devoted very much to church and (their percepion of) god. Saturday night, however, I happened to overhear an argument between them and my cousin Aaron, a sophomore at UNO, who makes it a point to argue often (as his perspective is not usually shared by any of the older generations of the family and often ignored by the younger). The discussion was political in nature, as they often are with Aa. I seem to remember them talking about the punishment of criminals, and about faith (I missed the bulk of the conversation and only caught the tail end), with an aside about Australia and the criminals that the Brits left there.

In the midst of all this, I had a sudden realization: my grandparents are fundamentalists. It was the point at which Aa retorted to one of my grandparents that god wasn't in the picture, or wasn't an applicable solution or factor to something or other. (Like I said, I really didn't catch it all, and on top of that, I can't quite remember the context. I wish that I could, because it struck me as particularly daring of him to say, as well as him being completely in character and, I have to admit, quite funny.) In short, fundamentalism has grasped the oldest generation of this side of the family, but much more so Bonnie than Andy. An is very well-read, like Aa, and he tried to persuade Aa to read Romans, which, for him, explains a lot. Or it's his favorite book of the bible – I don't recall. Aa, for his part, threw in a bargain: he'd read Romans if An read Plato's Apology. I think that it was a mutual agreement. (Off topic only slightly, Aa at one point commented that he was beginning to understand their view of faith much more from the conversation, and he thinks that the Church of Christ seems to be the most open sect, and the most in tune with his beliefs. But I think he's a little bit Buddhist anyway.)

I had a whole 'nother bit here about Papua New Guinea, but I'll scrap or save that. Anthropology class trying to jump back through.

Of late, there's also been a rather large personality shift in my parents. I think that this is largely in part due to their recent participation with Walk to Emmaus. My mom has started explaining her view point a lot more (which sometimes gets monotonous, but it's nice to hear what she's thinking). My dad's started reading Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels – he's into feminist theology now? This is so completely out of character for him. You have no idea unless you know him.

What might be more startling is the changes I see in myself. (Or perhaps lack thereof.) But that's another story for another late night.

Also, I've discovered that someone I know is a Freemason. I will take pictures for you, Brenna.