OH MY GAWD

Best night ever!

I got home just before dark and the power was out (pretty common around here).  One of the members of my host family is a little boy named Joseph.  I think he's 2 or 3 years old.  He's been pretty shy; after all I am a 6'4" stranger with funny skin color living in his house.  But he warmed up to me tonight.  Somehow we ended up goofing around together.  First we were doing sommersalts (sp?) on the living room flor, and then we started drumming with our hands on then living room table.  We took turns soloing and trying to imitate each other.  This kid's got rhythm!  He started drumming complicated rhythms all on his own, and keeping tempo too (I swear this isn't a case of me being impressed with a kid randomly flailing his arms).  Soon he started working in little dance moves timed with his drumming.  When he got tired of that I pulled out my Uke and started playing music for him.  He danced in the dim living room for about a half an hour, and then started drumming on the table along with me playing. 

The cutest moment came last; I could tell he was interested in my Uke, so I called him over, sat him on my right leg, nestled him into my side, and tucked the Uke in front of him.  He started strumming while I fingered chords with my left hand.  He could play straight 8th notes really well, and I got to sing a few songs with him strumming.  It was great!  And I could tell he was having a blast.  It felt so good to be trusted by him.  After a few minutes his mother came into the room and half died laughing.  We kept playing until he said "Ninachoka" (I'm tired) in his little voice.  I think I felt more a part of the family at that moment than ever before.  Soooo happy!  Definitely one of the high points since I've arrived here.

Also, I have a cell phone and a mailing address now!  Check my info page  on Facebook; I'm putting the details there because only my "friends" can view it.  At this point I can say that I'm almost universally available to receive calls from 8:30 pm until 10:00 pm (it's 10 hours later here than in California, so that trainslates to 10:30 am to noon Pacific Time).  It's reaaaaally expensive for me to place calls to the U.S., but I believe there are international calling plans available to U.S. landlines that are much more affordable.  Or maybe I'm just saying that to pass the buck  ;)   Just kidding!  If anyone wants to arrange a specific time to talk, email me and we'll try to make an appoinment.  =D

Thanks for reading!