Fish in a fish bowl

Last saturday we took a much needed break from the city and went to the sea. The overcast sky, icy wind, sand littered with clumps of dessert grass and the cool specks of drizzle rain were reminiscent of a trip Jeff and I took along the coast of Lake Michigan in October 2002. As we approached the waves frantically piercing the beach Chloe began searching the ground for shells. We were not far enough from civilization to find much but garbage and it was far too cold to spend time walking along the beach. But it was nice to see open sky free from buildings.

We spent some time walking around the Fisherman's Wharf area with a small handful of other tourists. Chloe and Ava became instant stars posing for camera cell phones with other local children while onlookers asked us questions that we didn't understand. We just nodded and smiled.

I forgot my camera once again. We only got lost two or three times getting there and back.

We stopped at a McDonald's without a parking lot but with a drive-thru (space is a premium) and attempted to order 6 hamburgers. The poor girl thought we were trying to order a single hamburger and despite our best attempts at using the Chinese word for "six" she just did not understand. We got the foreigner pass to go straight to the window without ordering where the English-speaking manager took over.

One other note: Please remember our entire organization this Christmas season. November is historically the time when most places in America give the most money to fund our organization. Last year's downturn has caused major cutbacks. The most unfortunate part is that our language budgets have been cut in addition to other areas such as medical, retirement and transportation. Language learning is our lifeline to the people who are ultimately the reason we are here. Please ask for open hearts during this offering time as well as wisdom for the decison-makers in our organization.