More Emails

Oct 15
Hi Mom,

We saw many Peter Paul Rubens paintings in a museum in Munich, let's see, what else...we also saw some very big paintings.  Tell Reuben I got him a special shirt for the local soccer team.  It is called G____ (with two dots above the "o").  We bought some T Oreos called "Negro".  We have been having a good time so far.

Your son,

Peter

ps: we also got Reuben candy.

Oct. 15

Peter has been really good, although he started coming out of his shell and getting more comfortable today which included a little more running around.  Everyone has been really nice to him though.  We just got back from dinner.  Peter had lentil soup last night, but he said it wasn't as good as yours.  Tonight I chatted with a lot of people.  There are a lot of nice people here, but not anyone that I would guess to be your bosom friend.  There's one cool guy, Jack, that I've been getting to know.  He has 4 kids, their oldest son is 7 and is into all the same things as Peter.  But Jack is the only one that came.  They live in an area by themselves and would like some partner friends.  I'm not sure that they're the ones for us though.  

We're heading to bed now.  Peter slept through the night last night while I stared at the ceiling until about 3.  But I feel good now.

Good night blossom,

Paul


Oct 16 

Dear Mommadora,

Peter Paul Rubens is not Dutch, he is Flemish.  Negros taste a little bit of Oreos, to find out we ate a Negro and then an Oreo.  The weather is very nice, it's only rained during the night.  I like it here.  I can't think of anything to tell people that have asked how we are.  

Today I went to the Penalosa's house while dad was at the conference.  They are from Mexico.  They have two daughters, Amanda and we can't think of the other girl's name.  They also have a two month old baby.  We have had a good time so far.

Your son,

Peter 


Oct. 16

...Peter was kind of shy the first day.  I think it was being in a new place with so many adults.  When he and I go for a walk he is normal, but around the hotel he mostly talks to me and hasn't interacted with the adults a lot.  Although he and Georgia had a nice conversation tonight at dinner that covered a variety of topics.

Tomorrow we're going to head down to S after the conference is over.  It's that little town near E where we stopped.  We're going to spend the night there I think and then come back to I Tuesday night.

Peter spent the day at the Penalosa's apartment and had a nice time.  I'm looking forward to having a good conversation when we get home and unloading all sorts of thoughts that are starting to bounce around about T.

The time is flying by so quick, I wish we could stay another week.  We're trying to get Peter's work done, but we may be a bit behind in math.  Oh yeah, one of his social studies projects is to memorize all the states in the Midwest.  I don't have a list of which states those are.

I love you a bunch.  I mean a BUNCH!  

Paul 

ps - did you work out again?


Oct. 17
The adventure is on!  I'm writing from the P Hotel in S, just north of E.  The conference was more like a business meeting today as we discussed a lot of financial issues, so I sat in the back and helped Peter get through two math lessons.  That was a good thing.  Then we had lunch at a little hole in the wall with Jorge and Raul.  One cool aspect of the conference was the diversity.  I counted one South African, four Mexicans, two Brazillians, four Germans, twelve Americans and four locals .  The meeting got a little exciting at a couple points and one guy said "Damn", so that was something.

We found some neat ruins already in S, the church and tomb of John the apostle are just a few blocks down the street from the bus stop, you and I should have gone there.  There was also a Byzantine castle next to it, but it was closed for renovation.  And there was this old mosque that we went by too.  We happened to be there for call to prayer, it was the first one that we've heard this week, oddly, so that was neat.  Three guys showed up to pray.

We also bought a soccer pencil for all the kids in Peter's class.  So there will now be a three way war between the 3 main soccer teams in the 3rd grade class. 

I've also seen a number of great belly dancing outfits that I'm super tempted to buy you, except I'm way too embarrassed to walk into a shop and buy one.  Maybe you can get a pencil instead.

Oh, and for lunch, we had our choice of several entrees in buffet style pans.  One of them looked like chicken and potatoes in a sauce.  So I asked what it was, and he said, "Chicken and potatoes".  I'll have that then.  So I did, except as it turns out it was chicken gizzards.  But, as one would expect from T, they were the best chicken gizzards I've ever eaten.  

And Peter finally spent a little bit of his money today.  He bought a rubiks cube.  He's mentioned every rubiks cube that we've seen throughout the trip.  It cost two dollars.  And one of the cubes just fell off.  Next time we'll buy the five dollar version.

Yeah, it'd be fun to stay longer, but we won't.  We did what we came to do, it's been a good trip.  And I'm almost out of money.  There will be plenty of time for seeing and doing everything in a few years, and then you and the other boys can join us!  

On the ground floor of Jorge's apartment is a Christian tae-kwon-do studio, pretty wild huh?  I didn't go into the tae kwon do place, but Jorge's son is almost a black belt there.

It's been colder today, but it's supposed to warm up tomorrow.  Sorry I can't send more pictures, I left the cord in I.  The Penalosas are keeping our big bag while we're traveling.  We're spending the night with them tomorrow.

Please tell Reuben, "Yes, I'll be home quite soon.  Are you standing on your head?  I like you so very incredibly much too.  I'm coming back soon, I have something secret for you too."

 

I miss you a bunch, but not in the sort of way that I can't function and get weepy throughout the day.  More in the way that...

My love is for you,

Paul