After yesterday's action packed day, today was quiet. Del has been working most of the day, but I've been kind of lazy. We did have cleaning to do and a trip to the Iki and the Old Market, but the highlight of the day was dinner with Susie, the young woman who lives in the flat above us. She is about David or Tracy's age and until coming here in Aug. had lived all her life except college in Goshen, Indiana. She was brought up and schooled in Mennonite churches, high school and college and after working in accounting for several years, began to work in Student Life at Goshen College. One of her mentors who is on the Board at LCC, the religious affiliated school you've heard me talk about, asked her to apply for a job here at LCC. She felt that God wanted her to come here, so she quit her job and signed on to come here. She had to do fund raising and get sponsors to support her this year. She paid her own plane fare, pays her rent and had to find people to contribute her salary. After she finishes this semester, she will go home to find a summer job and do fund raising to get enough money to come back over here and live for another year. Having said this, I hasten to say that, while homesick, she believes she is in the place God meant her to be. She is also glad that God did not want her to be in a place with fewer creature comforts and lots of bugs. I continue to be amazed at the leap of faith my young neighbors and others, some with families have made to do what they believe they were meant to do.
We had good old American comfort food - sloppy joes, a veggie tray and dip, real Lays potato chips with no funky seasonings and some bacon flavored chips. As much as I love all things pork, except chittlins, I have to admit that might not have been a good idea.
Great minds do seem to think alike. I had left a note on her door inviting her to a Green Door neighbors' lunch tomorrow just about the time she was emailing her invitation. We're having a BYOB party - bring your own bowl, your plate, your silverware, your glass, and we even borrowed 2 chairs. We're having potato/barley/corn chowder, tortilla soup without tortillas because Iki was out, salad served from a big cooking pot and apple crisp. I thought I should give a choice of soups because it seems people either love cilantro or they don't. And if they don't, they really don't. I personally could just graze on it, but someone I know thinks it tastes like soap. She also thinks cumin smells like body odor.
I assume the proper thing to do after a lunch where everyone brought his/her own dishes is to load the dishwasher with all the dirty items and then go from apartment to apartment letting people claim what's theirs. You think that sounds right?
I wandered a bit on my way home from the Old Market. (No, that does not mean I was lost - this time anyway.) Found a neat little flower shop and a wonderful store that sold every herb in the world, coffee beans and teas and bring your own bottle or buy ours vinegars and olive oils. I want to go back again when it is not so crowded, but this time I only got cumin.
The pictures are of my new plant resting on our buffet table (ironing board), or perhaps our table for 2 for tomorrow's lunch. I love the bell shaped flowers. I dragged out enough Lithuanian and pantomime to ask its name and make the lady understand I wanted to know if it needed lots of sun or little sun and lots of water or little, She wrote down Kalankoe. I've never seen one like this, and I think we spell it differently but I believe that Anonymous (Tom and Sharon?) sent me another variety in Macomb a hundred years ago.
Oh, for those who did not read my poor attempt to tell this on Facebook - I recently read of an older woman who noticed that people often used "lol" in their emails to her. She started to use it in her emails to friends and family, even when they had told her sad news. It seems she thought it stood for lots of love. Who knows if it's a true story, but doesn't it sound like something I would think?
https://picasaweb.google.com/118279613107347865536/Plant?authkey=Gv1sRgCLns-brEotvtDw
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