yes yes, i am bomba

these last few days my sister lindsay has been in town. wednesday was her birthday,and we had a fabulous lebonese experience at nicolas' restaraunt downtown. one of the first restaraunts i went to overseas was a lebonese place, complete with hookah bar and belly dancers. i got all home sick at nicolas'.
well, the thing is, whenever lindsay comes home, i always go through this phase where i feel inadequate about every aspect of my physical appearance. i always feel a bit uncool or geeky. and its not lindsay that does it to me, its knowing that she's from LA, and secretly, LA terrifies me. i hate most shallow things, and so my loathing for Las Angeles should be pretty apparent. i hate hollywood, and i hate the ridiculous masks everyone wears. but anyway, i have been struggling with that this week, and i recently remembered when i was in Batumi (rep. of georgia)i made a whole bunch of amazing friends. we were teaching english courses at the university there, and i even got to play the guitar and sing for one of the classes. it went brilliantly, and from the thunderous applause you would have thought i was a real rock-star. after the class, a couple of these really hip girls came up to me and we casually chatted for awhile about cultural things like music, fashion, food...etc. then, one of the girls said something about my singing being beautiful (i believe it was compared to Christina agulera...)and of course i started blushing crimson and thanked her, but told her it wasn't all that good, and trying to be modest and everything. then the other girl says, "yes, you are like Bomba."
i blinked at her for a few seconds then said "sorry? whats 'bomba'?"
"it is girl who is very...very...how you say? sexual? beautiful?" she sheepishly tried to explain.
"oh, you mean like a skank?" i asked, a bit frazzled by her boldness.
"oh, yes yes, you are skank!" she laughed
"yes, a skank!" her friend agreed.
"oh" said I. they must be crazy.
but they kept saying like it was a GOOD THING. later, we said our goodbyes and i left feeling stupid. honestly, i dont think im skanky at all, but if that is the vibe i was giving off, something needed to change.
later that night, our translator, keti, asked me what was wrong. i told her about the bomba/skank incident, and she just started laughing.
"no no" she said. "bomba is high compliment. it means girl who is very pretty, who is like a firecracker in the night. she brings light. it also means... (and she got all quiet) its ok to say this?" i said yes. "it means girl with very large boobs. Georgians love big boobs."
and thus, my mild panic attack was averted. i look back, and i am so blessed to have been given such high praise. one of my leaders when i came back from O.R. told me that i had a natural beauty that draws people. he said that beauty is Christ. that is what i want. i want Christ to be so evident in me, that people feel welcomed, feel loved, feel safe. i try my hardest to feel beautiful on days like today when i feel like smashing every mirror within a 50 mile radius. its tough, but im learning that the beauty of Christ outshines everything else, and on the worst of days, i try and remember that i am real bomba.