Band of Troublemakers

I have this neighbor that a lot of people seem to admire and look up to. I think it is time to set the record straight. I mean sure, she looks wonderful when she shows up at church, together, nicely dressed, with a swarm of little boys all in their white shirts and ties, behaving respectably (mostly) while the talks are going on.

But what most people DON'T know is that they have a chicken killing dog (our poor innocent little chickens!) who leaves their lawn clean while leaving little "presents" on ours, they leave hazardous objects on their driveway that kids (mine) can break their arms on, there's trails on our lawn made by the aforementioned horde of little boys (and dog), that big strong husband of hers breaks trampolines (ours), and they are always "borrowing" stuff that they seem to have run out of. I caught a picture of the real Missy, here included, so that people no longer need be decieved.

If she tries to tell you that we killed her dog, flooded their home, broke her kid's arm, or borrow their stuff all the time too, it's just the kind of thing she would do. Don't believe a word of it!!!

.

Life changing insights

Figuring people out has always been a fascinating and helpful hobby of mine. Last year I was introduced to the "Wired that Way" personality tools. It's not like I haven't enjoyed and learned from other ways of looking at things, and as I've researched more, I have learned that many different people categorize personality in rather similar fashions, but this one was nontechnical yet specific enough that I thought I would share a much reduced version of it. (Ideally, the four categories are arranged in a square with the yellow and red quadrants across the top, and green and blue across the bottom in that order, but I wasn't able to format this blog that way).

Let's do it the fun way.
Desire to have fun.
Need affection attention, approval, acceptance.
Creative, optimistic, light touch.
They excite, inspire, persuade others.
Probably should talk less, get organized and learn to tell the time.

Let's do it my way.
Desire to have control.
Need sense of obedience, accomplish a lot, are usually right.
They are self-confident, restless, and at times overpowering.
Probably should delegate more, be more patient, and be more appreciative.

Let's do it the easy way.
Desire to avoid conflict, keep peace .
Need feeling of worth, emotional support, sense of respect.
They mediate, objectively solve problems, have an even disposition, and a will of iron.
Probably should become more self motivated, move faster, face own problems as well as they handle those of others.

Let's do it the right way.
Desire to do it right.
Need stability, space, sensitivity, support.
They have high standards, compassion, analyze deeply, are creative, organize well.
Probably should lighten up, allow others to be imperfect.

Most of us have one personality type that is predominant, with a secondary type that has an effect on our character as well. Of course, nothing is 100% and we can (should) all learn skills from all personality types, but it is helpful to know what comes naturally. In any case, it has been an interesting exercise in understanding myself, and in figuring out my family. Someone who is motivated by fun just isn't going to be into job charts and schedules. It makes a difference in which options I choose when dealing with people, and it makes a difference in how I motivate myself. The Red/Green combination, and Yellow/Blue combination conflict with each other in a lot of ways and tend not to be natural pairings--look at them and think about it and you will see why!

Realizing where my heart lies (after all these years of thinking it lies somewhere else) has changed my outlook--my goals have not been affected so much as my plans on how to achieve them. School, employment, our society in general seems to demand of us to spend a lot of time in the blue quadrant. Certainly I have been well trained in that area and derive satisfaction from functioning well in it. But I have realized I feel most alive in other quadrants, and knowing that those other characteristics are natural and the way I'm made has freed up a lot of energy and allows me to enjoy activities that previously I had felt were just too frivolous and irrelevant to the serious business of living to be indulged. Thinking like that sucked the joy out of the positives of those other quadrants without leaving me any tools or motivation for dealing with the negatives. As I develop new thought patterns and habits I think things are going to start being different in my life and I look forward with enthusiasm to what the future will bring!

P.S. This particular system is developed by Florence Littauer. Following is a Wikipedia article and a very basic personality test. There are books and official tests available, but this is a start for if you want to know more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_Plus
http://lynn_meade.tripod.com/id139.htm

Planting and harvest

As if there isn't enough to do, Bruce keeps bringing home grapes or apples to process. Personally, I would rather buy the produce off the supermarket shelves, but there is a certain satisfaction from seeing jars of produce on shelves and know you had a hand in making them.

But that isn't really what I wanted to blog about. There's been a lot to do lately, and of the type that leaves a good deal up to circumstances or other people. Fruit is easy (except for being hard work), you know what you have to do to get the results you want--pick the fruit, clean it, cut/juice/smash/cook it, put it in jars, add sugar (maybe), put on the lids, boil filled jars the required time, put the processed jars on the shelf, clean the kitchen.

But how do you find a new job? Or a new host family for an exchange student? There's a process all right, but the results are less certain--research, make contacts, prepare your information, disseminate it, and then wait. Wait for someone to call, wait for someone to ask questions, realize nobody is going to call, do it again. Wait. It's demoralizing and discouraging, and there are a lot of unknowns.

Through this process, this time, I finally figured something out--better late than never! I have known I cannot accomplish my goals by myself--too many things were out of my control and dependent on others. For this and several other reasons, I've made greater efforts to seek the Lord's will. The problem here is that I've always felt bad because I had the theory that my faith was insufficient and I wasn't trying hard enough. THIS time, I have realized that the Lord isn't really unhappy about my supposed lack of faith. Building a relationship with Him isn't His test of us, but His invitation for us to test Him. He knows that building trust takes time, and doesn't expect us to have perfect faith in him right off the bat. He doesn't just expect us to take His word for it (even from such an impressive authority as the scriptures), but to prove Him. For how many years have I heard/read this and it didn't hit home?

I have heard that we should pray as if everything depends on the Lord, and work as if everything depends on us. In theory it sounds understandable, but in reality, when is anything enough? What is the relationship between them? So my conclusion at this point? The Lord gives us the seed. That's His part. Our part is to prepare the ground, plant, and fertilize. And then it's His part again and He sends the sun, the rain, and the miracle of growth. The more ground we prepare, the more He has to work with. Being prone to guilt, of course I can always say, "I could have done more", but a wise woman at church suggested that if we counsel with the Lord as to what we should do and what we have done, the Lord will let us know if we've done enough. What more do we need to know??

So what is the result of all this pondering? Well, still no new job. BUT the host family I was looking for came forward, and they are really neat people--the husband being the mayor, no less, of one of our local communities. The Lord knows where to find them!! My part was getting the word out, HIS part was bringing it to the attention of the right people. Who they are, the timing of the whole thing, and the graciousness of them and the temporary host family all show me the Lord was in on it all along.

The Lord's patience in working with me is astonishing and heart-warming. And the results of me working with HIM are inspiring and effective. The harvest is sure. I am grateful.

Walking tall

After years of treating my body with minimal respect, things are finally changing. I've always known I can't lose weight and I haven't the discipline to exercise, and of course, I was right. But feeling myself starting to descend the slippery slope into depression, and not wanting to go to that horrible place I was two years ago, I had to make a change before it was too late. I don't know why depression should be such a widespread problem in these wonderful days in this wonderful (if imperfect) country but from what I'm hearing, it certainly is. I've fought it with varying degrees of success--perhaps my best effort involved the putting together of a "blessings" journal, which, to this day I continue to fill (along the lines that if we counted ALL our blessings, we wouldn't have time for anything else). It directs my thoughts to better things and is so chock full of fun, gratitude, people I love, and lessons learned that even just holding it makes me feel good. But it seems that even so, attacks of depression come, and this past summer was one of them.

THIS time I concentrated on reading scriptures and exercise. One thing leads to another, and starting an upward spiral isn't much harder than slipping onto a downward slope. It took me one and a half months to get started on the challenge to read the Book of Mormon over the summer, but just the same, I almost did it. Just finishing the remnants now. And a place that was hungry in me is being fed and I am grateful.

But other types of feasting may not be as positive, so the other thing I did is join the "biggest looser" group at my workplace. I didn't care that much about winning, although I can be a real competetive person, I just didn't like the way I looked, and since depression always reduces my eating anyways, why not? But just starving myself wasn't very effective, so I started walking to work. Then exercising. Then finding sneaky ways to exercise while sitting at my computer at work. My weight seems to have plateaued but my clothes fit better and I'm sore. SOMETHING is happening. It does help that there's group support though weight loss certainly isn't an absorbing topic of conversation. And sore though I am (it's abating now), my posture has improved. And my attitude. And my outlook. And my house is cleaner. Not sure that measurements would show anything, but I feel taller.

Speaking of respecting Mother nature....

This was the beach we found at our former favorite cliff jumping spot. Compare to the two pictures below and see one small sample of what a spring flood can do. This is only sand. There were places along the Cowlitz river where whole bars of boulders had been moved from one side of the river to another. Trees had been uprooted. The bridge crossing the river was cracked clear through (probably by an uprooted tree? Boulder?) causing the road leading to the bridge to be closed.

Lessons learned from canoeing

Lesson #1. Do not take a new and inexperienced exchange student out on a canoe with a loose camera in the boat.

Lesson #2. Give longer canoe sailing lessons to said exchange student before handing him the sail controls during wind gusts.

Lesson #3. Wear whatchamacallem thingies to secure glasses to face when taking a supposed fun and easy canoe trip down a higher than usual (almost freezing cold) river while camping.

Lesson #4. Do not hit rock after successfully negotiating shallow rapids (we were informed they were a "low 2" on a scale of 1 (calm pond) to 6 (certain death) on white water difficulty ratings--see #7). Note: said exchange student present, but not to blame.

Lesson #5. Stay out of range of other club wielders, er, paddlers when trying to beach canoe.

Lesson #6. Associated with #4 and #5, learn teamwork with other members of the crew.

Lesson #7. Do not tell other passing canoers about your woes while you are still dripping, ESPECIALLY writers of canoeing and kayaking columns for over ten years.

Lesson #8. Make sure roads to pick up point have not been closed.

Lesson #9. Do not pass by daughter waiting dutifully to pick us up where she said she would because we didn't recognize her without glasses.

Total damage: camera, watch, two pairs of glasses and one pair sunglasses, painful bruise over left eye, severely damaged dignity, sore shoulders from carrying canoe half a mile, confirmation of Julie's unstated thoughts that her mother (responsible for all except #2) really belongs on slapstick comedy team.

Gains: Wisdom (maybe), experience, recovered paddles and shoes, dry camera (foresightedly (amazing) sealed in a ziplock bag) with partial visual record, basic paddling lesson from experts, experience taking apart and drying out cell phone (HaHa benefited most from this).

It might also be said that we saw spectacular vistas of Mount Rainier and flower bursting alpine meadows, deep silent woods, and sunshine lighting the leaf tips and sparkling the waters on several hikes. Eric and Bruce had a lovely 20 mile, uneventful but spectacular overnight hike from near Paradise down to Silver Falls, while we spent 1.5 hours trying to start a campfire with damp wood so we could eat something. We also learned that vegetarian hot dogs taste horrible, and that vegetarian patties have egg in them, and that our poor Hindu (non-meat and non-egg eating) exchange student from India is a good sport about all that. We returned home grubby, ready for real food, eager to sleep comfortably, and most importantly--alive! Most unforgettable lesson learned--respect Mother Nature!

She's not a toddler anymore....

A couple of weeks ago we went camping with Julie. Just for a day or two while she went to a printmaking workshop at a museum in the vicinity. Nowadays I mostly see her as a sensible, hardworking, creative person, and a good teacher, but every once in a while the old saucy twinkle still appears in her eyes as she shares a joke or plays a trick on us. She comes up with the funnest ideas for Christmas--the silly
string in our stockings last year
was a blast and added a lot to
the enjoyment of the holiday
(and then there's the boxing
gloves...)

Although, it wasn't actually Julie's idea to pose with the statue--she is just graciously humoring one of her mother's inexplicable whims.




She has always been interested in sports
and taking care of her body, having lately
taken up preparing for and participating
in triathalons. She has even managed to
envigle her non-sports participating
brother into joining her when she goes
biking. Several of the blogs I read are
written by moms with little guys at home,
and I remember those days well, but I
marvel almost every time I see her what
a competent, good, and (mostly) together (nobody's perfect) adult this scrappy
toddler has become.



I always used to get a little upset
when my mother still saw the little
girl in me, but now, realizing how
much I still enjoy the glimpses of the
Julie-that-used-to-be, maybe I'll cut
my own mother some slack! Recalling
the little Julie in no way diminshes the
pleasure I feel in knowing that I had
some small part in helping her become
the amazing woman she is.

If it wasn't so sad, I'd be funny....

Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty committed to exchange students, and to learning from and enjoying the differences between us. These are wonderful kids and being able to host them for a year (if we can) is an amazing opportunity. They are not perfect by any means, but who is?

So I was really burned recently when I heard of a family, after saying they would, changing their minds and dumping a student--because he was Muslim and might do something scary. This is not to say there are no scary Muslims--but the vast majority of them are as appalled by the scary ones as we are appalled by, say, skinheads, the KKK, or, more historically, the Inquisition (all of whom could be considered Christians by people who are unfamiliar with us).

Having hung around with a lot of Muslims lately, I just had to laugh when I thought of some of the scary things I've seen them do......

Develop secret weapons--explosives, I think.

Target practice.

Mingle inconspicuously with the natives so they can become entrenched in our society. (Guess which ones are Muslim).

Spy out the weaknesses of our power grid.

These guys seem to be the ringleaders. Code names are Larry, Curly, and Mo.

Probably anyone who reads this blog is already a generous and understanding person, but I just had to vent!!!

It's all a matter of perspective.

EAT A LIVE TOAD

FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

AND NOTHING WORSE

CAN HAPPEN TO YOU

ALL DAY

What do I know of the Lord's goodness?

I found myself in the interesting position, not too long ago, of bolstering the faith of an earnest young Muslim whom I admire. His faith had been questioned by a high school science teacher. The initial question was about why violence and suffering are in the world, but as communication progressed, it became clear that the REAL question was whether there is a God, and whether you can trust Him despite all the overwhelming evidence that skeptics dig up to shake our faith. After some thought, and bearing in mind that the Lord is perfectly capable of sorting out religious differences and the state of our hearts, I sent him the following:

Why do I know there is a God, and that He cares about me and everybody else? For one thing, nature is beautiful, not only is it beautiful, but the beauty is integral to function. If everything happened by chance, good and fine, but did it have to be beautiful--from rainbows, sunsets, snowflakes and the piercing beauty of the stars, from the tears that come to my eyes when I see the Grand Canyon, from the fragrance and variety and loveliness of flowers and the peace that comes into my heart when I climb to mountain meadows--why is it beautiful? Surely nature could function without beauty--certainly man has made a lot of functional items that aren't beautiful.

Another reason is that evil has not triumphed over good. So many horrible things happen in the world. Tragedy, disaster, agony, destruction, war, disease, filth--and yet there are always people who try to do good. In the face of overwhelming evil or just creeping apathy, you can still find Victor Frankl's, Mother Teresa's, Albert Schweitzer's, J. R. R. Tolkein's, and many, many lesser unknown people who make the world a better place. One would think that evil would have destroyed them and everything good long ago--evil has certainly tried!


On a more personal level, I know God exists and cares because I have felt that love. Looking back, I know that during some extremely rough spots in my childhood, I was not alone--I was being watched over. The rough spots weren't taken away--for what purpose I don't know (perhaps I developed compassion, courage, and strength I would not have otherwise had)--but I wasn't left to suffer alone. This is not something I can prove, but I know it nevertheless. That's a big one, but too often to count I have had smaller evidences that someone is watching over me with deep understanding and caring. I have had prayers answered about how to deal with my children, how to resolve arguments, small exquisitely timed "coincidences" have given benefits out of proportion to the actual event. I have received insights into health problems, and life changing events have happened in response to prayer. One small example (I have more, but this will do) of the type of thing I am talking about is a morning when I was, as usual, rushing around, harried and irritable, trying to get things done and I couldn't find my glasses. I was unkind to my then middle-school aged daughter and sent her to school on foot (late) and with anger. Within 2 minutes of her leaving, I found my glasses UNDER the dining room table. I got in the car (now that I could see to drive) and found Julie, picked her up and drove her to school. When she saw me, she just smiled a big sunshine-filled smile and told me with total satisfaction, "I prayed for you. I knew you would find your glasses". Not only did I find my glasses, but I learned (again) the worth of prayer, I learned (again) that God really does care, I learned how much my daughter loves me and could see past my shortcomings and how sweet she is, and I learned that I could learn a lot from my daughter. God can get a lot of mileage out of finding a pair of glasses!

Another reason I know that God exists and cares is because I know my Grandmother loves me. This is not as straightforward as it sounds, because she died of disease, heartbreak, exposure, and starvation in the aftermath of World War II and left my mother an orphan at 8 years old (and me, obviously, unborn). Yet I have had experiences that not only make it clear to me that this wonderful woman is alive, but that she is joyful, knows me and loves me, and is in God's care. This is not something I can put into words and explain, nor can I prove it by scientifically accepted methods, but the experience is sacred to me and very real.

The final reason I know that God exists is because when I follow His counsel and guidance most closely, I become more than I can without it. The best way to put it into words is to say my soul expands. I reach higher levels of understanding, love, service, and ability, I feel greater joy and peace. I find purpose in my life and the energy and intelligence to accomplish it. One example, out of many, is that I have become an exchange student coordinator--and apparently one (so I'm told) that makes a positive difference in the world. Something that gives me great joy. I also believe this is something that God wants me to do--and I am overjoyed that I can serve God by doing something that is so personally rewarding. You should know that I had really (really) poor social skills most of my life due to the hard experiences in my childhood--so having the ability to connect with people and students is, to me, an unexpected and almost miraculous skill/talent--a gift from God that has expanded my soul and my abilities.

Perhaps there are more reasons, but this seems sufficient to accomplish my purpose--which is to provide an alternative viewpoint to the skeptics and give you, perhaps, a platform from which to find your own answers--although I suspect you already have some.

Eternal Youth

The realization has been growing on me lately that, despite a secret belief that I was going to be an exception to aging, I was mistaken. Sure, there were a few grey hairs here and there, but not enough to be alarming. The need for larger clothes could be attibuted to having babies, not age. More prominent laugh lines around my eyes (do I have to call them "crow's feet"?). I need bifocals (bifocals?) now. Damage caused by my klutziness takes longer to heal--but klutziness is not the problem it used to be. There's more, but ....well.... enough said. In any case, interesting observations but nothing serious.

Even Julie's becoming a teacher (who? my little girl?)








and Nina's dastardly deed of turning me into a mother-in-law didn't really shake me out of my rose-tinted delusions.








But the worm has turned. I can no longer fool myself. Importing teenagers and pretending to be one myself in order to insulate myself from the ugly truth just isn't going to cut it anymore.






Who would have thought that such completely wonderful, kind, thoughtful, and good people as Nina and Nathan would be the responsible for this? On Mother's Day, Nina, although wishing me a happy Mother's Day, also chose this day to make the announcement that I was going to be a grandma early next year! They can prove it. Now I ask you, is this kind? Is this thoughtful? Do I look ready to knit baby booties and go all gooey-eyed over a squirmy messy little bundle of trouble? No, I do not.

Not only am I not ready, but they obviously aren't either. Why, just yesterday they were goofing around, going to public school, spending money unwisely (organic shampoo?), and getting into food fights.



So, how does all this relate to eternal youth?



I guess, with all my focus on the physical processes, I forgot the joy. Who would have thought that I would have these four awesome kids? Who would have thought I would get the chance to be part of these four individuals who have become their own person, do stuff I never even dreamed of, are responsible adults and all round good human beings. And now, after the (ongoing) privilege of being their mother, they are increasing in numbers. Through marriage, and through birth. If I'm going to get wrinkles and grey hair, it stands to reason I have a shot at being a grandparent too, but I hadn't realized that the joy would be so great that it is sacred.

To paraphrase slightly, "the greatest is love". I am surrounded by it, and part of it. If that's not eternal youth, what is?

Part III - All i need to know in life I learned from Lord of the Rings...

More words of wisdom...


"Between us, there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are bretheren."












"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."











"Go to the armouries of the Citadel,' he said, 'and get you there the livery and gear of the Tower. It will be ready. It was commanded yesterday. Return when you are clad!' It was as he said; and Pippin soon found himself arrayed in strange garments,"

What animal are you?

On April 3 through 8 I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC. Although, yes, I did get to see the National Mall and the US Capital building, and even visited the offices of our state representative (to request some legislation that will be helpful to exchange students and their host families), for the most part this was a really intensive workshop, that was both energizing and exhausting.

One workshop was particularly enlightening. On the walls there were several pictures of different animals---gazelle, eagle, rabbit, elephant, ant, dolphin, turtle, and tiger. We were asked to stand by the animal that we felt most represented our character. Think about it. Once there (I was in the dolphin group, obviously), we brainstormed about what it was about that animal that we identified with. Speed, flight, aggressiveness, watchfulness, thoughtfulness, strength, curiosity, playfulness, carefulness, intelligence, teamwork, awareness, friendliness, commumicativeness, clear-sightedness, individualism, helpfulness, and others were chosen for various animals (you decide and/or add your own). That was the fun part. After all that, it got interesting. We were then asked to move to the animal that best represented us when in a situation where we had to request something--big or little. To my chagrin, I found myself moving from dolphin to rabbit. Now, people said positive things about rabbits, you know, thoughtful, watchful, fast, contemplative. But, let's face it, rabbits are timid, and they are FOOD. Finding myself in that (small) group definitely gave me food for thought. Next we were asked to go to the animal that best represented us when we were under stress. Visualizing myself as backed into a corner, I found myself moving over to the tiger. Better than rabbit I guess; watchful, strong, blends in, aggressive; but just the same, I don't really like the predator conotations. Now what to do with all this enlightenment!

Part II All I need to know in life I learned from ....

Lord of the Rings.....
These books are a mine of wisdom...there will be more posts!!

"Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. "

"One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters. "

"Sleep in peace! Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them. "

Part 1: Everything I need to know in life I learned from...

Lord of the Rings...

Maybe I talk too much about these books, but can you blame me? Look at all the good counsel they offer!!






"Do not go alone. Take such friends as are trusty and willing. "

"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out."

"There are some things it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark."

"It is useless to meet revenge with revenge, it will heal nothing. "

"...in this hour, I do not believe any darkness will endure!"

"The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song. "

Further musings from the taste buds

Although the taste buds didn't much care for the view of Central Park--such a huge park, with ponds, pathways, 4 through streets, and high rises poking above the trees on all sides--the taste buds did enjoy, very much, the breakfast we ate here at the Central Park Boathouse. Again way more food than we could possibly eat, and all of it completely delicious. Stuffed with sausage, bacon, eggs, pastries, fruits, yogurt, juices and more that I can't even remember, the stomach protested yet again, but was ignored. This was an unhurried meal with lots of time for discussion among ourselves as we compared notes on what we were doing with our exchange students, and what they were doing to us!! On the whole, it became more and more clear how much everybody loves these kids, and how strongly we believe that we can, through this program make a positive difference in the world. Afterwards, the 120 or so of us got on three coaches with a tour guide, and toured the city. Each coach went it's own way, but probably covered essentially the same ground. The taste buds were gratified to be provided with some canole at an Italian bakery in Chinatown. We took a quick walk through Chinatown, but had no time to really browse among the interesting fragrances, brilliant colors, and other unusual wares peeking through the windows and spilling onto the street.
The tour guide delighted in showing us special spots that were not necessarily on the beaten track but still typical of the New York that he loved. To the left is a photo through the canyon of the church that stands between us and ground zero. One tree on the church grounds was damaged, but otherwise it was unharmed. On the far size of ground zero is the Winter Garden from inside of which you can get a better view of ground zero than from the ground.
We stopped by the Brooklyn Bridge next, which is on the other side of the wharf building shown to the left in this picture.
Obviously it was an older structure than most of the bridges, and again I marveled at what people were able to accomplish even without modern machinery--it is not only a historical structure, but it is tall and loooong! The sailing ships were museums which we didn't have time to see, but the juxtaposition of the old schooners with the high rises in the background made an interesting picture. We saw other famous places, but this blog is already too long, so I will only mention that we spent an hour in a traffic jam--how could a trip to New York be complete without this experience--and ended up being the last bus to reach our dinner location--the Cotton Club, with enough, though very squeezy seating, where they served us wonderful wonderful soul food, with more deep-south type flavor--again forcing me to eat too much--I had no choice. The music was also "soul" music--kinda modern, jazzed up negro spirituals--the best I can do for a description because it is not music that appeals to me, but they were talented artists and it was fun to feel the energy in the room as they got the group to participate with clapping.
The next morning we were again treated to an extraordinary breakfast at the Athletic Club just across the street from Central Park. I got a ride in the van, but actually, traffic being what it was, walking would have been faster. This day we learned a lot about the scholarship programs that the students I work with receive. We learned more about what the hope of the State Department is in spending thousands of dollars per student to give them a year here, and what will continue to happen when they return to their countries in terms of volunteer work, continuing workshops and leadership opportunities. Four alumni of these programs came and told us how the exchange program had affected their lives--they were all more involved with volunteer work and international relations than they would have been without the program, though perhaps not all alumni make the same kind of decisions. Still, it was very good to know that good and long lasting things came from their experiences in America. Having a bit of time, and wanting to see a bit more of New York and do a tad of shopping, I and two other ladies who didn't think I should be wandering around New York by myself (they were very kind and fun) walked to Carmine's on Times Square, WITHOUT GETTING LOST and on time. I don't think I have any unused descriptive words left for this plentiful and delicious and very Italian meal. The waiter was a blast, and I finally got some hot chocolate (nice in the cold weather when you don't drink tea or coffee), and a full 7 course meal with an enormous variety of flavors and tastes offered at each course. I think I'm going to have to buy looser clothes once again. And thus ended this day, except for the late evening walk to the hotel, making some purchases from street vendors who kept constantly on the move so as to avoid the police that periodically tried to remove them since they were illegal competition for the legitimate shops.

These final two pictures are from my last morning in New York. I ate a solitary breakfast at the Nations Cafe (so named I realized, because it is just down the street from the United Nations buildings which are clearly visible from the corner). Again the food was awesome, I ate some blintzes, and regretfully, had to leave some food on the plate. Then back to the hotel, taking some final pictures of the park outside the United Nations, and some of the row houses along the way. Quite comfortable with the subway system by now, I reached the airport without further incident, and home in the late afternoon (evening in New York). I saw a lot, and realized there is a whole lot more I didn't see. I will never be a city person, but this is an extraordinary place to visit, and there really ARE a lot of parks when you feel enclosed in all the traffic and concrete. Congratulations to all of you that managed to read all of this and thank you that you wanted to! I didn't know I had so much writing in me!! Should you wish to see more photos, check out facebook.