these are things that make me smile:

1. the way that cape town suddenly became winter. it took about 2 days. i can wear scarves again, and for that i am infinitely grateful. i'm all for nudity, but my neck has felt too naked.

2. a jeep parked outside a house around the corner from mine that is more colorful than anything in the neighborhood. zip zap circus school is a place i might like to visit sometime.

3. the fact that hair grows. (and mine will most certainly need to, as it has all fallen off. or something like that...)

4. five rand/hour internet that only makes internet explorer encounter a problem and unexpectedly need to close every 15 minutes or so. not so bad, given the alternatives.

5. avos on teriyaki flavored rice crackers that remind me how beautiful the world around me is because of their association with a particular day shared with gorgeous people at a gorgeous beach in a gorgeous place.

6. the lack of a second class option on the train. "first or third?" the tellers ask robotically, as if the number 2 had not ever been thought of.

7. speaking of robots, that is what street lights here are called. the thoughts of a robot standing every few blocks tickles me almost as much as hearing people talk and walk in their sleep.

8. the way that the power of language can fluctuate so fluidly and nonchalantly. there is an acute lack of spanish speakers in this country, allowing for me to have secret conversations with myself, as loudly as i want.

9. hearing people routinely yell whatever message to the world i'm advertising through my choice of t-shirt. and still, i am consistently confused when i hear "obama!" or "women!" or "thanksgiving!" shouted at me from across the street, until i remember that that is what people do here.

10. a hole-in-the-wall haircutting place, somewhere along the main road, called obamacuts. you can be president too if you get your hair cut here!

11. vocabulary as a reflection of the way this country sees the world: "just now" means perhaps in a few minutes or an hour or more; "now now" means soon, sort of; "now" means later, or maybe never. patience takes incredible amounts of intention and energy. i'm learning.

12. a gentle reminder in the form of end-of-kung-fu-class wisdom from si-jung justin: babies breathe deep into their stomachs. somehow, as we grow up, we forget how to do that, and instead breathe into our chests, when we breathe at all.