What I will miss ...

With two days remaining in this trip, the Fellows have been talking amongst ourselves as to what we will all miss, once we return to the states.  Over the last few days, I have been thinking about this post, and here are my conclusions;

>  I am going to miss my fingernails, the ones that have grown long enough to click on this keyboard.  At home, because I garden so much, I don't have fingernails of any length and it has been nice to have pretty nails.

>  I am going to miss the "Maranga" birds that are outside my bedroom all day.  I call them this because a) I don't know what kind of birds they really are and b) because they sing this song:  Da-da-dada-da DA!!  Da-da-dada-da- DA!!  All day long.

>  I am NOT going to miss the Shamrock socks I have been wearing for two months.  If'n you recall, there was a problem with the socks I brought here (some of them were not mine) giving me a pretty limited supply of socks.  I have been rotating through three pairs, allowing for two days out with laundry, meaning these socks have been well loved and well worn and now I am done with them.  Let it be said that I certainly could have gone out and bought new socks, but I was determined to make do on this trip with what I brought.

>  I am going to miss all of my new friends. Kirstin from LEAP, Sammy from the Learning Center at school, Joyce from Kalkfontein, Lenize and Rebecca from here at the lodge - the list goes on and on.  The guards who used to joke about me when I scampered across the parking lot in my workout gear (short bike shorts, tank top, my Disneyland sweatshirt - nobody wears that type of clothing here!) and now say hi and smile.

>  Speaking of the gym, I am going to happily leave behind 10 pounds that I lost somewhere here. 

>  I am going to miss the music of the children at the school and wish that I had been able to upload any one of my numerous videos.

This list could go on for days and days as I continue to think up things. 

Type, erase, type, erase.  Everything I say seems to sappy or shallow or not quite right, so I will just leave it that I will miss South Africa.