surprises...

Since we've been back we've been enjoying so many things about our home culture.

 And we've been caught by surprise by several things we sort of forgot about, like:

*Mail delivery...seeing the mailman delivering to each home! Now that's amazing.

*Seatbelts...it took us a few rides before it became natural to click-it again.

*Long days...being close to the equator, we've lived for 3 years with the sun setting every day by 6pm.  

The extended summer days here took us much longer to adjust to than getting over jet lag.

A&E with 2nd cousin, J!

*Feeling like eavesdroppers...we can understand everything everyone around us is saying,

 and it leaves us feeling as if we're spying on you.

*Smart phones...people around us are not just texting on those cps. 

  5 out of 6 are playing games, on facebook, or browsing the internet.

cousin K hangs out with Michael

*Looking like everyone else...we've had trouble locating the family in a crowd 

because 'everyone looks alike!'

*Soft grass...like carpet, this grass.

*Reading sale ads...it's kind of fun to browse the ads in the Sunday paper!  There's no such thing in Davao.

*Getting tans...we find we're in the sun way more here than we ever are in Davao - 

it's just way too hot under the Philippine sun!

*Oatmeal at McD’s... healthy breakfast options even at the Golden Arches?!?

*Celebrating American holidays...we forgot how special these days are.

photo by Elise

Time changes everything 

except something within us 

which is always surprised by change.

-Thomas Hardy