Things to Be Happy About

• Picking up a random English radio signal as I was Skyping Craig. I was talking to him through my headphones, and men's voices were coming out through my computer speakers!

• Having Skyped my whole family in the last three days

• Taxi hopping and good conversations with Reba

• Having my first shwarma here with new friends

• Students in both of my history classes suggesting a reason for studying history as "Because it's fun!"

• To-die-for mango smoothies at a local coffee shop

• Late night balto shopping

• Spending an arm and a leg on two new baltos

• City night life during Ramadan

• Playing Settlers of Catan on a porch overlooking the old city at midnight on a gorgeous night—wow, wow, and wow

• Rosa's help in getting the apartment set up

• Using my new Wally World umbrella and it not turning inside out

• A student turning in his homework a day early and starting a longer-term assignment right away

• Beautiful new-to-me curtains installed!

• A keyboard to use for a few months!

• Good talks with Tara

• My coworkers at school

• Playing soccer—me and the big boys against Joseph and the small boys—and losing

• My first hostess calling to check up on me

• My own quiet spot

• Buying a new blender and a new hairdryer (it made more sense to buy those things here than to try to transport them, specially since the plugs and power wouldn't have been compatible with here)

• Beating prices in the bigger store by shopping in the smaller stores . . . and a man in the smaller store gathering my armload of groceries and bagging them up front for me so that I could continue shopping unencumbered

• Being informed by a nurse friend. that it's far better to get malaria living here than visiting here because people here know how to treat it, whereas people back home don't. Comforting! Really. (By the way, I can't get malaria in my city because the altitude is too high. I was inquiring for if I travel somewhere else in country.)

• Sprite—my DOC (drink of choice) overseas (and remembering starting that habit while traveling with Penny 17 years ago)

• Ralph's favorite remark driving down the road, when a local driver stops in the middle of the road or drives the wrong way on the road or makes a right-hand turn from a left-hand lane: "Tell me you just saw that."

• Holidays galore in my teaching calendar

• A new housemate arrived this morning!