look at the stars

well....
like it or not, i'm awake right now. brain...sheesh.

so i decided to heed my mother's request and write something to help you all get a better picture of what it's like here.

every day i...
wake up to an acapella version of the mission impossible theme song aka my phone alarm (thanks, celo)
make my bed and put my owl on top so he can look at me.
pull on my hair so it will grow faster :)
kiss people hello and goodbye (i know, right?! who of you can picture me doing that!)
sit in my office and get falsely greeted by countless people "buen dia doctora!" (doctora...pft)
eat peanut butter toast, just like in the states. (chris and tasha, tell ester :) )
walk miles and miles.
play with my gorgeous and highly misunderstood german shepherd, sunset.
get a hundred slobbery kisses for "tia brianna" from a beautiful little 5 year old.
epic fail at speaking spanish. and succeed 50 times for each fail.

i also have a rich random life from time to time...
i buy flowers often. and arrange them to put on our dining room table.
i occasionally dance around to jack johnson and the beatles and attempt to help the brits cook.
we go to different places to eat all the time just to try things.
i walk around gardens and take pictures of flowers to put on the wallpaper of my cell.
i feed street dogs my leftovers, and watch little boys juggle knives at stop lights.
some days i drive ester to school.

today we went to a museum and a palace. i got to see stuffed animals (taxidermy, silly) and cases of bugs and butterflies and huge condors hanging about randomly. and then i went into a palace and walked down the gallery of an ornate italian inspired ballroom. i looked into the perfectly preserved faces of angels painted on the vaulted ceilings. and i have never seen french damask silk on walls like i saw it today. sigh. look up palacio de portales. beautiful. i spent some time talking to the girl who guided our tour of the gardens and palace. she was an amazing person, very concerned with helping people and the greater good. and it's highly possible i'll get more opportunities to talk with her, as there will be many arts events at the palace in the future that i plan to attend. her dream since she was 7 was to be a museum curator and guide. what an interesting soul! she also gave some glowing reviews of our hospital and what she'd heard about it, which was perfect encouragement after the past few days we've had.

i wish i could show you the flowers that grow on and hang down off of the trees. i wish you could see the always warm faces of the people, and my random chosen reactions to their nearly constant staring. i wish you could see how dirty my feet get when i go walking about in the city with flip flops on. i wish you could come to la cancha, the market place, and see the fabrics, skirts, and pirated dvds hanging from the tent flaps. i wish you could taste mandarin fanta, and sugar cane freshly cut. i wish you could meet my church kids and see how strong and amazing they already are in their faith at such young ages, and trash talk them in spanish as you're playing boys against girls water games at youth group. and most of all, i wish you could feel these things. because even if i had pictures, which i never make the time to take, it wouldn't even scratch the surface.

so let me know if you can see it. even just a little. and picture me there in your mind. i don't miss my old life as much as i once did. what a blessing.

i really do have a beautiful home.