Random fact of the day:

In some cultures, adults are forbidden from eating lollipops. I guess they have to settle for a free toothbrush when they go to the dentist.

My last travel day for awhile was 2 days ago, and as I flew into my final destination, I looked out the plane window, and all I saw was brown. Brown roads, broad land, brown buildings. I had to chuckle to myself as I thought, “Actually there are quite a lot of different colors here.” I then proceeded to name them: Chocolate, caramel, tan, sandy brown, soil brown, etc. I’m looking forward to learning to appreciate nature in a new way here. I know that I’ll still enjoy flowers and “green” nature, but in The Beginning, it was good, and I am determined to find the good and beautiful here, too.

I haven’t had too many experiences outside yet, but I did have the opportunity to go walking in a local park with some other people. As we were walking down one path, I noticed a little boy off to the side in a ditch. I looked ahead and saw that his family (a big group of at least ten) were continuing to saunter up the path. I turned my attention back to the little boy and noticed that he was picking up handfuls of dirt (yes, brown dirt) and just throwing them into another ditch. He just laughed and laughed as he delighted in getting dirty and throwing clumps of sand and rocks. I smiled to myself because I thought that here, in a totally different culture than I grew up in, there are some principles that seem to be universal...like how little boys and dirt seem to go together. It took between 10 and 15 minutes for his family to realize that he wasn’t with them. What else will I discover that transcends cultural differences?