ouch

i have decided that God meant for all eyebrow hair to STAY WHERE IT IS- on people's faces.

the sea is silver here, at least half the time. whenever the sun is partially behind the clouds, the water turns to silver, rolling glass. and until yesterday, i hadnt seen a SINGLE cloud since three days prior. the rest of the week is supposed to continue on in a similar fashion.

the week has come and gone. i have done SO many stupid things since i've been in this country, and most of them i have not bothered to jot down here because they will be all the more entertaining in person- plus they're too elaborate to write out in a reasonably amount of time. but this one's simple enough:
for the past month, i've had trouble hearing from my right ear. there are reasons for this, but i couldnt fix the problem in the way i am usually able to, and it took about a month to finally get in to see a doctor. so yesterday i found myself in a humbly-sized waiting room, watching a toddler try to pile four teddy bears into an ingeniously made play-cart made for three teddies. finally, a doctor entered the room and called out what i thought to be my name, though of course my right ear was facing him so nothing was a guarantee (by the way, as someone who DOES sound, not being able to hear completely has totally freaked me out) but i got up and followed him to the room. 45 minutes later, i emerged with my problem almost entirely solved and went to the desk to make a followup appointment. another doctor was waiting there talking to the receptionist. i told the receptionist that i was Margaret McClellan and that i just needed to schedule a follow-up on friday. both she and the doctor looked at me, and soon they were joined by the doctor who had dealt with me. turns out, the dr who had called "my name" 45 minutes ago had actually called "Bailey"! shooooooooot. i was so embarrassed, and not for the first time. conversation ensued but noone was angry, or no one showed it! they were really humorous and kind about it actually. whenever i do something stupid here, i feel like it gives people a reason to utter "stupid americans" under their breath. i have this paranoia that most people worldround think we're idiots in general.. and let me just say that i havent proved that wrong during my time here!

thanks for continuing to keep up with me. saturday marks my mid-way point, and after the kids' school holiday is done i will have just a month left! i have already been planning my 4 days of summer, and hopefully i'll get to see you before orientation and school start up! after those few cold days we had last week, it's really warmed up, for which i'm thankful because life without central heating is cold.

take care of yourselves, be blessed!