(no subject)

[rivka]

curiousangel and I have just signed up to host an exchange student from Spain this summer. She'll be here for the month of July. A friend of ours from church is running the exchange - finding host families, organizing activities, and teaching English classes during the day. Because she's the one organizing it, most of the host families will be people we know from church.

Our student is 19, which is a little older than I expected. She's a first year university student in computer engineering, and her English is pretty fair - at least, judging by the little essay in her application. She's from Oviedo, which looks to be a mid-size coastal city in northern Spain.

I hope she likes us.

We're not supposed to treat her like a guest - she's supposed to experience "typical American family life." (Do you think we have a typical American family life? It seems unlikely.) At the same time, though, Erin (the coordinator) is organizing some great activities. Some of the other families are planning a camping trip to Assateague Island, off Maryland's Eastern Shore. We're going to have a big cookout and a Fireworks Expotition on the Fourth of July. There are so many things that would be fun to do!

In other news, last night I had what I can only describe as a blinding flash of the obvious. I've been longing for a vacation - I mean, my weekend away with Bill was really nice, but it was just a weekend. I don't think I've taken a real vacation (longer than a weekend) since we went to the Florida Keys in the spring of 2002. (I don't really count Christmas with my parents or Thanksgiving in the ICU waiting room in Memphis.) So I've been longing for it, and I have more than six weeks of accumulated vacation/holiday paid time off, but of course we haven't been able to afford to travel.

So here's what struck me as I was lying in bed last night: there's not a reason in the world why I can't take a week off just to stay home and relax. I could visit museums in my neighborhood, and go hiking in the state parks, and sleep in every day, and read, and watch movies, and get to some things around the house that are always waiting for when I have time. It sounds lovely, doesn't it? I'm thinking maybe the second week in May.

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

The stay-home vacation sounds like a great idea! Especially if you remind yourself that you can do it again; you don't have to fill the days up with Activities when you feel more like sleeping or spending all morning reading the paper or something. (That is an advantage over a travelling vacation, where I am more likely to cram in too much because of the cost of getting there.)

I think maybe I should plan a few days like that later this month.