Sunny but cold Southerly Winds...

I have been talking a lot of how cold it is here. It really is not the cold like it can get in Northern Idaho but it feels colder probably because none of the buildings have central heating so people just wear their hats, scarves and coats everywhere they go. At night I wear my socks and hat we have been sleeping really well but it is hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Kris asked me a great question. Do I feel like I am in a foreign country or in a place that is just back in time. Well I will do my best to answer this question. I feel sometimes that I am in a different country when we are driving first because we drive on the left side of the road and the traffic signs are different as well as the cars looking a little different and or course the round abouts and "Give Way" signs still make me laugh and get a little nervous when Glenn goes through them. People seem to drive faster around here I think I feel this way because the traffic is not Stop and Go there are very few traffic lights at intersections. Also as a pedestrian I have to be much more aware because we do not have the right away and I do think people would either swerve around you or run you over drivers just do not seem to slow down.

When talking to people there is often times that we can not completely understand what they are telling us either because of the heavy accent or the use of different words or phrases. I had a funny conversation with some of the people Glenn works with the other day they told me how funny they thought it was when they heard girls ie. cheerleaders talking about how they "root" for their favorite team..."root" here means having sex.

As I have said before the plants and birds are quite different. Their are familiar plants they are just bigger or planted along side unusual plants. I still have to smile when I pass by a yard that is full of cactus and succulent plants and the yard following is landscaped with flowering rhodedendrum, daffiodel and roses. It seems to be two worlds combined.

It does feel though at times that things are just back in time. But there are computers and cars people are not driving a horse and buggy at least not in this area. I suppose this place is not the most foreign of places I have been to because by and large we can understand what people are saying because they are speaking english and everything is written in English not in Laos or Thai. So I guess you could say that it is somewhere between feeling like a foreign country and feeling like I stepped back in time.

Cheers