IP Nonsense

Sometime in the last twelve months, my computer figured out that we don't live in the US anymore. I don't know how it figured this out and I dón't know why, but you have just witnessed the first evidence of how troubling this can be. Do you see that little accent over the o back there in don't? That is my computer deciding of its own accord to go euro. Don't ask me why it did it on that don't and not on the subsequent three. I don't (4) have answers.

We first noticed this when one day we, meaning Benj and Sarah, could no longer access the Hollister clearance page. That was a bad day. Then we started getting a profusion of pop-ups from Neckermann, a Dutch company with an enthusiastic add/tech department that seems to be similar to Big Lots. Next to go was Google. We no longer default to Google.com...it is now google.be, which in principle is the same except that tons of the results are either in French or Dutch. I find that irritating when I am looking for graphs of the Norwegian brown rat population and its destructive impact both economically and ecologically (don't ask, but I really did do that search). I not only have to sift through dissertation abstracts but a bunch of franco/dutch hoopla as well. Last week my Facebook page got stuck in Czech, and let me tell you, that is a language with a lot of consonants and accents and little cappy things that look cute but are difficult to pronounce. I had to call in teenage backup to fix that one.

My Blogger homepage is now in Dutch. I am choosing to look on the bright side. I now know that Aanmelden means "Sign in," Onthouden means "Remember Me," and Watchwoord means "Password." That last one was pretty easy. Mostly this is not a big deal. I might have to click on things a few times before I get where I am going, but that's OK. The big deal part of this is that certain tools are no longer useful. Very important tools. For those of you who know me well, you can appreciate what I am about to say. I am not a speller. I have never been a good speller but I have fully repented for cheating on my Third grade spelling tests. I think it has something to do with the fact that I never see words in my head--ever. Only pictures. But never mind that. The important part is that when the homepage is in Dutch, SPELL CHECK IS IN DUTCH AS WELL!!!!! When I write a post and click on the spell check button, the only words that aren't highlighted are things like ör (did it again--I don't know how the dots got there). Just imagine how that makes a spelling-challenged person feel. Everything looks wrong. It is like the computer is mocking my disability in neon yellow. So, if you notice in subsequent posts that things are spelled differently than you might think they should be, take pity on me and let me know. I am counting on you...

Leeds Castle

This year Dave and I decided to take each of the kids on a trip for their birthday. Two declined (go figure). Anna and I went to London for two days and walked each other to exhaustion, pausing only long enough to see Wicked. Matthew and I went to Leeds Castle in Kent, England for the day. I know I promised to post pictures, but guess what...someone (under the age of 20) took the card out of my camera to download some pictures and...wait for it...didn't put it back in. So I took my camera all the way to England and carried it around without being able to take one picture. Not of the jousting tournament. Not of the falcon show. Not of Matthew admiring the rock garden. Not of us eating mushy peas and meat pies. Not of the proud peacock with full feather display or the albino peacock that Matthew described as looking like he was wearing a wedding dress. Not of the beautiful gardens or the amazing castle. Not of Matthew enjoying being 11 in England. Oh well. We still had a great time, and Matthew's DS had batteries, so all in all it was a good day. Here is a pirated picture from the internet so you can see what we saw only not exactly. Close enough...

Wishful Thinking

Sometimes I check our blog to see if anything new has magically appeared. Then I remember that I am the one that has to put the stuff here. Do you ever do that...look in the sink to see if the dishes are still there. Get into the car hoping that some gas gremlin as filled the tank for you. Stare at the laundry basket hoping to catch the laundry dissolve before your eyes. I do. So, sometime in the near future, there should be posts about Sarah in Ghana, our spring break in France, Julia's trip to the Belgian coast, Benjamin's track triumphs, Matthew and my trip to Leeds castle, plus other ordinary little things. I just have to get after it...or work on my summoning skills. A personal assistant would do very nicely.

Work

I spent last week substitute teaching for 6th grade...in Florence, Italy.






This is what I missed:
7 loads of laundry
10 kid pick-up's
8 meal preps
2 trips to the bank
Mother's Day
470 dirty dishes
4 grocery runs
13 socks on the floor
3 "Can you get me some toilet paper please"
15 math questions
1 Romeo and Juliet paper revision
3 overdue books
American Idol semi-finals
2 field trip meetings
1 sore throat
5 "Time to get up--I mean it this time"
25 good night kisses
My 6 favorite people in the whole world

This is what I got:
























Plus 22 of the most unbelievably well behaved kids I have ever seen.
And, I didn't have to do their laundry.
I did have to medicate a few...

Kind of a fair trade...for a week.

Sarah's Wallet

In Sarah's wallet there are:
8 Dollars
20 Euros
10 Francs
7 Moroccan Dinars
An expired US drivers license
A Belgian ID
A US Passport
A Victoria's Secret gift card from 9th grade
a couple pennies and some nickels
two boarding pass stubs to Casablanca and one to Accra
and a poem written by Brennan in Ghana

A little slice of the world contained within a knock-off Coach clutch from China.

Real Life Willy Wonka

Chocolate is everywhere in Belgium...good chocolate...very good chocolate. A group of us went to one of the chocolate factories the other day: Passsion Chocolate, arguably the best chocolate shop in Brussels. The factory is run by 4 Belgian French employees. The current owner bought the shop from the original owner and designer of all their chocolates. He was a charming white haired gentleman with incredible good humor and class. They make everything by hand on the premises and deliver it to their shop each day. The workers were very gracious and extremely patient. Our racous group of American ladies was begging to buy their garbage and eating everything in sight. We watched them mold the chocolates then ate some. We watched them pour the chocolates and then ate some. We watched them dip the chocolates and then ate some. We watched them make the florentines and then ate some. We MADE nut and fruit encrusted chocolate coins and then ate them all. We licked spoons, stole seconds, ate the garbage, and looked for more. One of the girls got chocolate all over herself and was escorted to the kitchen for a clean-up and an apron. Well, the aprons were so cute and everyone wanted one so the owner went into the storeroom and came out with their rejects which we oohed and aahed over and promptly put on dispite the holes and stains. I am now the proud owner of an authentic, well broken in, chocolate permiated, Passion Chocolate apron. I love it.

They were so glad to get us out of there.

The best part is that the store is three blocks from my house...and they have free samples.

The Contrasts

Sarah is in Ghana. We are in Belgium. Today we went to the flea market where Benjamin bought a WW2 gas mask complete with instructions in French and Dutch. Our friend Marilyn bought a crystal bowl and a set of silver spoons. And a really cool chair for 15 euro. Then we came home and ate chocolate. Then we went to the Garrison shop and the library. Then we had a lovely dinner of grilled salmon with roasted celery root and leeks Now we are watching American Idol.

Here is a synopis of Sarah's first couple days as told by one of her chaperones:

"After much travelling, we have settled into our village. As I write this email, your children are making bricks out of soil, digging, and clearing brush.

Hot and humid air greeted us in the Ghanaian capital at about 2:00 am local time. Rather than spend two or three hours in a hostel, we decided to strike out for our village. Unfortunately, I can't report many of the details from our bus ride, since I slept nearly the entire way. We arrived at our village at about 1:30 in the afternoon (yes, unsurprisingly, the trip took more than 6 hours).

The rest of the day was spent settling into our accommodations and seeking shelter from the rain. Four families evacuated their houses for our stay. We are sleeping on thin mattresses and our mosquito nets have been installed. The kids have quickly adapted to their homes for the next week and a half. The villagers are extremely friendly and have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. The village children are abundant and adorable. At our orientation meeting this morning, many of the village kids were comfortably resting in the laps of ISB students. We also had the pleasure of experiencing our first tropical storm yesterday. It began pouring (yes, pouring, not a Belgian drizzle) at about 4:00 and didn't stop before nightfall. This didn't pose many problems, though, as most kids were asleep --yes, asleep, not just in bed -- by 8:00! Really! It was reassuring to hear local people say it only rains once or twice a week.

We were up at 7:00 this morning in order to eat breakfast at 7:30. We were at the work site, which is just around the corner from our houses, by 9:00. A sweat had been broken by 9:15. After making sure everything was in order, I left the work site at about 10:00 to travel to an internet cafe, which is about an hour away from our village. The students, who are brimming with excitement, are interacting with villagers and learning that patience is required in Africa."

I cannot tell you how happy this e-mail makes me. It is spring break and Sarah is up by 7:00 and sweating by 9:15. I am really looking forward to seeing if the patience piece sticks. Actually she is already pretty patient, but there is nothing wrong with more. And for the record, I would gladly give up the chocolate to be mixing mortar with my girl.