American in Shanghai

There was a flash flood early as I was trying to get to school in time to do a few things before starting the first day. Let's just say there was a lot of water everywhere and a boat would have been a more useful way to get to work! The only thing wrong was that I wasn't still wearing my bathing suit from yesterday's Dino Beach expedition! The grossest part was that part of the river was black filthy liquid gurgling up from a sewer grate running into the river that I had to go through. I almost called my boss to say he had to send a car to get me ... hind sight is 20/20. Buses took all morning to arrive as some were stuck out in streets and others couldn't make it. Interesting start to the year.

Here we are taking a rest from the warm summery sun while nurse Svetlana from Moldavia graciously takes our picture. A beautiful day ended in a meal of one of Alene's favorites: KFC. One of our favorite moments at the zoo was watching the baby gorilla ride on it's mama's back.

It feels like walking through soup outside or any time I shut of the air conditioning for a while! The real temp hovers around 88-93 all the time but with the humidity it feels closer to 100 or more. So life here is sticky. I was spoilt all summer in the states with gloriously cool to cold nights, and I don't imagine this heat can last more than about 3 more weeks. I am seriously hoping for a glorious fall! I am admiring my boyfriend - too bad from so far away - he is going to receive a regional award for helping people in substance abuse treatment although he is not officially a treatment professional. I am very proud of his accomplishments and how many individuals he has helped over the years in our home community. He has made a real difference in the lives of countless individuals who may have been in the depths of despair and in terrible places of their lives. Life is much simpler here, that is for sure. But I really miss my boyfriend and family! Thank heaven for the

So I have a few items laying in one small suitcase that I want to bring with me as a taste of home for the year. These things include several small framed pictures, of family and also art that has been part of my family for years. I invested in some double-sided 5 lb. tape and also Gorilla tape as I don't think I can find that easily in my neighborhood of Shanghai. A few days ago a return air fare around Christmas was about the same price as last year; by the time a few days passed and I decided I wanted to buy it the price went up by about $500 making me rethink my Christmas plans. Maybe I'll go lay on a beach in Thailand, or Okinawa. It feels like leading a double life in a way as there are many aspects of life in Shanghai that do not exist here and vice versa. But things are wrapping up reasonably OK here. I was worried about leaving my house for a year but what I will do is have a good friend use it for some of her business so she will be in it often enough to look l