My host family was very happy to see me yesterday – I kind of snuck out the day we left because it was so early and I didn’t want to wake them up.  My teacher (and my host mom) confirmed that they were all sorts of sad that they didn’t get to send me off.  My mom said something about food – I couldn’t tell if it was they wanted to send me along with food, or if they wanted me to buy something in the big town – but I missed it, whatever it was.

They gave me slushy coke and yummy treats when I got back, and I brought back some photos I developed from the big city for them, so all was good.  Today I’m sure I’ll be back in the daily grind when I get back home.

It was really nice to have fast computers in-town.  I got to call Bonnie and even my dad for a bit on Skype with a reasonably decent sound quality.  Leandra didn’t get a real call per se, but she got a voicemail…eh, well it was nice to be able to talk to people and send out emails!!

I’m also in town today to go to the bank.  However, when we all went there, we weren’t allowed to go in, so I don’t know what will happen.  During Naadam pretty much everything but small stores close down for the week, so it’s today or not at all for my living allowance.  I have some saved, but I don’t know how much I’ll need during a special festival week.

I hope I get to see all the main events – the wrestling, horse racing, and archery.  Naadam time varies from community to community, so some of the other (Peace Corps Trainees) PCTs have already had Naadam and said it was a blast.  Some of the guys have also be already thoroughly schooled in wrestling. Heh…alrighty, likely little to no communication during Naadam, so expect a hiatus for now.  As they say here (phonetically), Cayhan Naadamaarai…

In other news, I hereby am allowed to eat the free food at conferences. It has been granted – woo!

I’m worried this may be it. My aunt is coming to visit in a couple weeks, just about when I leave, and then she, my sister, and I may come during christmas break if it’s feasible.

My sister will be moving up to live with me in November in Seattle. I’m really looking forward to it, although I’ll be super poor in October due to moves and all.

I’ll be in Seattle for two more quarters – until mid-March, then in Atlanta until June-ish. In Atlanta, we’ve moved to a really cute little pink and purple (really) house that Bonnie’s sharing with a roommate. We can walk to all the stores we need and the marta station, and it’s near Little Five Points and East Atlanta Village.

I went to a great wedding a few weeks back in Seattle – it has inspired me, but imitation isn’t an option there

We’d have some verrrry old people who would still have a curfew, I’d bet.

Gah!

Also, it reminded me of the eventual sadness I figure I’ll encounter – while I really care about my friends, I feel that in the end maybe most of em will get married or whatever and start families, and once they get involved in their own lives and futures, non-family members won’t be as important. They’ll scatter to the four corners, and it’ll get harder to see them, and then peoples’ lives slip away, one past another, until there’s only that little kernel of shared experience way back when… And that makes me sad, because I don’t think I will have family in the blood relative sense really around, and I certainly don’t want to raise a family in a vacuum – that is, without aunties and uncles and all those bits.

I miss people.