Friday

Friday night....

Today we went on a field trip to a Latin American Culture Museum. The museum wasn't that spectacular, it was alright, but very small. The best part was the trip there. I got to ride in the front seat of the Kinderest van, so I had an excellent view of everything. The fall colours made me homesick as we drove alone the highway which could have been any road in North America. It was such a familiar sight in such a foreign land. We came to a toll booth and I almost lost it. Over something as silly as paying toll. It seemed so normal after months of anything but normal.

As we would approach the toll booth we would roll over the rumble strip, causing the van to vibrate and roar with the sound of the tires bouncing along. The first strip we hit sent JiWoo into a fit of hysteria. I couldn't help but smile. The simple things in life. This little girl has the most contagious laugh. Its very throaty and deep, and gurgling. She laughs from the depths of her soul, her whole body become consumed by it. So as we rumbled over the strip, she burst out in laughter and somehow, that laugh made everything right again.

It is so nice to be back in a country that uses the metric system. I love Kilometers. LOVE THEM. I had my first remembrance of this love when I was running in the gym. The treadmill was keeping track of my distance and speed. Kilometers go by much faster than miles and so it seemed like I was running much further than normal, as well as much faster. Then today on our drive, the speed limits make sense again, the distance markers make sense. I can judge distance again. I can tell you what the temperature is. It is a beautiful thing. To me the metric system makes so much more sense. Another little piece of home.

My birthday was excellent. I was overwhelmed by the Facebook love I got! The wonderful thing about the huge time difference between here and home is that my birthday lasted two days! I got birthday love all day straight, for two days. Some people, who's name I won't disclose, *cough Justin cough* thought they would be difficult and not say happy birthday to me until it was my birthday in America. Silly silly. The kids at Kinderest sang to me, twice, I got a lovely card from the six year olds and the teachers bought me a cake at the end of the day. Then my roommate Hannah and I met up with Christina and we went to our favorite Mexican place, The Taco's, to gorge ourselves on delicious food! Christina, bless her heart, bought me oatmeal for my birthday! I have never been so excited to see the Quaker man before in my whole life. I love him. and I love her! thanks Xtina! Then I came back and fell into a birthday induced coma... Twas very nice.

Thank you all who wished me happy birthday by the way! It means a lot to hear it when you are this far away from home. I never realized how much human interaction meant to me. I still have human interaction but it is different when there is a huge language barrier.

So now it is Sabbath. End of a long long week. I have a club to do tomorrow. Need to make a worksheet for it. But other than that it is time to relax and recuperate, and prepare for another long week =)

Happy sabbath all!

Michelle