It smells like home but it also smells wilder, somehow closer to nature. The town is relaxed and steady, and once the people got over the surprise of white people being in their town, they are very friendly. I’ve never been big on walking places, partially because it takes longer but mostly because I’m lazy. Today I walked to the Gandy’s house and to work and I didn’t mind it too much, I think that how laid back they are has rubbed off on me and I’m so glad! :) It’s wonderful not to stress out over small stuff and I’m very grateful to have learned it from them. I suppose it is learned here easier than in the States because here things go slower and if you expected everything to be quick and easy all of the time you’d pretty much go insane or be grumpy most of the time. I recently read in a magazine that Mexico is the second most contented country in the world. Before we came here I would not have understood that but now I do, when you learn to be relaxed and not stress out over small stuff then you’ll be pretty contented. Generally the stuff that I stressed out over while we lived in the States was pretty small all things considered. Knowing when to stop and relax and take a break is a wonderful thing.

Another thing that made coming back great was getting to see the Gandy family, I’d missed them. When they moved down here and Christina (their daughter who had been living with me) left for Moldova we all missed her and a piece of us was missing. Even though nothing can totally replace her, I believe that we are helping each other through it and I feel like they are my family too. You’d think that since there are nine people in my birth family that I’d have my fill of family but nope! I’ve “adopted” ten more people! :)

My friendships here have surprised me in how quickly I have become good friends with the Mexicans. I think that this is partially due to the fact that some of the natural insecurity in most friendships is lessened because of how hard each of us has to try to communicate. It is reassuring to know that we care enough about the other person to try hard to get to know them. I’ve never before experienced friendships that grew so fast and I’m very grateful for them.