happy thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving, I think. We sort of skipped it this year. Its hard to get in the spirit in another country, especially a tropical country. But I'm surprisingly ok with it. I only feel a little guilty that laura didn't get the experience, but she's too young to remember anyway, so its not a big deal. Jims office manager, edwin, brought us a baked chicken dinner from kenny rogers roasters in honor of the holiday, so at least we celebrated a little. Guess we will have an excuse to celebrate really hard at christmastime!

Laura and I have been spending a lot of time at home this week. Usually, I try to get out of the apartment as much as possible and we're only home for naptime and some meals, but it was nice to hang out at home for some reason. we played chase a lot, built a lot of "houses" out of the couch cushions, blew a lot of bubbles and colored a lot. It was fun! I also cooked a lot this week. Made applesauce, crepes, soup from broth that I made from a chicken I bought(already cooked), and pumpkin bars from a pumpkin I cooked. Just call me susie homemaker.

Laura has been talking a lot about Jesus lately. There are, of course, nativities all over the malls this time of year and she's really interested in the baby. She gets it that Mary is his mommy and likes to say that God is his dad, but I don't know what to do to explain Joseph. And at night, I usually ask her what she's going to dream about and her standard answer is always dogs, cats, and a mouse, but now she adds Jesus into the answer too.

I found a store with clothes that fit me and that I like! Well shirts at least. It was pretty exciting. I think I have bought 5 shirts and only one was long sleeved. (my original purpose was to shop for clothes to keep me warm in china) I have never enjoyed shopping so this is a pretty big deal. the store is called Dorothy Parker, but all I can find online is into about the actress/writer of the same name. I assume its named after her and its a British store because the original price tags on the clothes are in pounds. Makes me feel very international and chic. Ha! Its probably an old lady store, but I'm enjoying it anyways.

Speaking of old ladies, I've decided that I feel very young here. It will be one thing I really miss when we go home. In Minnesota we own a house, live in a suburb, and generally live a very middle-class middle-age life. But here, even if I don't talk to any of them, I'm surronded by young people, I get to go to coffee shops after dark, we live in a high-rise, we have quirky ways of doing dishes and laundry that almost make it seem fun (one of the first posts describes the laundry situation. For the dishes I have to bring hot water in to the kitchen sink from the bathroom since they done have hot water in the kitchens here). So anyways, although I'm looking forward to lots of things at home, I'm glad I found something definitely positive about being here.

I'm learning little bits of Tagalog. But only because I'm trying. Everyone here speaks English, so there's really no need but it seems kind of a waste not to come away with something. Here are a few If my favorites (actually just the few I remember):
O-o means yes
lolo and lola are grandpa and grandma (I really like these)
Po is a word you can add to to show respect for someone. As in "thank you po" to a customer or elder
Salamaat is thank you