a small fire in my heart.

"Be just as foolish as you are.  Either he likes it or he doesn't.  Say: this is me--take it or leave it."

These are the words said by the headmistress, Sally, yesterday in the staff room while some of the teachers were engaging in an empowering conversation about marriage and courtship, and what constitutes a good relationship.  It's experiences like this which I love the most--when we get past the fact that we come from different backgrounds, different lands, and just take part in discussions on life.  It is a topic that could have come up anywhere, but it happened here with these people who have taken residence in a warm corner of my heart.

My time here is more than half gone.  I cannot believe we are two weeks from November, or that I am seven weeks from entering Ohio in December.  Maybe it's because rather than leaves falling, it's my sweat.  And rather than digging out warm socks, I look forward to the cold water for evening bathing.  But I think a lot of it has to do with how quickly the time is passing.  I'll be back home before I know it.  In the meantime, though, excuse me while I make the most of it.