General Observations

Today was simply not as exciting as yesterday. There was no PC vehicle to come and whisk us off to the big city. We basically had language class, lunch and went home. However I do have some observations that I have yet to mentions. One is the shirt I was that said “I am crazy Lover” among the mass of sayings I cannot now remember. The second, which I actually cannot believe I haven’t mentioned yet, is that Katie’s donkey is named Madonna. Yes- as in the singer or Kangetar. Katie’s host mother loves Madonna so much that she named her donkey after the ‘pop star’ as she is sometimes called her. The last two are discoveries that have to do with my everyday living and are rapidly developing into coherent routines.

First, because of Passover, my family who tries so hard to please me has now started to allow me to make my own egg white omelets in the morning.

This all started Saturday after the tape measure incident. I asked if I could cook my own breakfast the following morning so I could eat less oil. Well… after the tape measure magic, my host mother heartily agreed. I woke up early enough to cook and cooked an egg white omelet with spinach and onions fresh from the garden. My host mother was fascinated by this so she literally stood next to me and watched me the entire time. She was also incredibly helpful- she handed me the ingredients and such. Sunday and Monday she cooked the omelet for me and though it was good, I’d like to be in control of my oil. So, even though I’ve asked every day this morning she finally allowed me to cook again. This is quite an achievement for me. I cannot believe I have an almost oil free breakfast and am able to cook, which I really really enjoy. I think the cooking went really well today. I supplemented my omelet with her homemade bread which is delicious and we drink coffee together which is always quite a nice way to ease into the day.

Rina has been very interested in this new American way of cooking and asked me to teach her. Tomorrow, I’ll make 2 omelets one for me and one for her. Now I can not only have a very healthy breakfast, but can teach Rina how to eat healthier.

Second, I finally ventured out to the non-pee toilet. This might be a bit personal for a blog, but it is part of my everyday life and yours too! Anyway, as it turns out the outhouse that I’ve been so scared of is actually quite nice. In fact, it is possibly the nicest outhouse I’ve ever been to. It doesn’t smell at all, has plenty of toilet paper and has a brand new porcelain toilet. The down side is that it is out of the house, so nighttime use is pretty much out, you have to change from your inside house shoes to your outside house shoes and that it is a power flush (the nice way of saying dump a ton of water in after you go).