Entered on 2002-03-01 at 9:32 a.m..

Weekend with the Waites -- Part 4

Sunday morning I made sure to stay in my room until I was ready to be up and about for the day. We repeated our breakfast of grapefruit and criossants, which was fine with me. I had to burst Angela's bubble that all americans eat Denny's grand-slam style breakfasts every morning.

After breakfast we headed for Alesbury (I think) the ancestral home of Ann Bolin of Henry VII fame. The house and grounds were spectacular. The house itself was closed until Easter, but we walked around the extensive grounds marveling at the old trees, and the crazy men out in the cold fishing. The weather had given us a good break, i.e. the wind had died down, and we were enjoying it. When we had left the Waite's house it had been snowing. After we finished our treck, we headed back to warm up.

Simon and I entertained/distracted the kids while Anglea finished dinner. We read lots of farm books and put together lots of puzzles with animals on them. The last puzzle we completed was one of the globe. It unfortunately was a kids puzzle and had different icons on different parts of the world. For instance most of the eastern seaboard was covered up by a giant space shuttle, and Great Britain was hidden behind a large Big Ben, France behind an Eiffel tower, etc. So when I tried to show Pippa where I live in the US she was understandably confused.

Dinner was served early and was wonderful as usual. Both Pippa and Gareth ate with us, only adding to the entertainment. I was being watched. If I used salt, Pippa wanted salt, and on and on.

Soon after dinner ended it was time for me to leave. Thankfully, Angela offered to drive me out to the main road. She sent me on my way with a huge goody bag full of food and beat me to paying for my 'petrol'.

I left the Waites feeling very loved and secure. Just knowing that there was someone within 3 hours who genuinely cared about me was very comforting.

Becca mentioned that she had a lecture on different stages of adapting to a new culture (meant for international travels): Honeymoon, Hostility, Habit, Home. I guess I'm in the Habit stage right now. I'm learning my way around and am not as frustrated anymore.

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