Today I learned ...

Today my host mother walked into the room and handed me a nondescript packet of beige powder.  No explanation. No modeling of what one should do with this packet. Just sort of a "Here.  This is for you" motion.

I proceeded to smell it ... nothing.  Try again ... burnt?  One more time ... 

Me:  Burnt coffee?
Mom:  Corn.  Burnt corn.  
Me:  What do I do with it?
Mom:  Eat it man!

Then she proceeds to pour a small amount from her own packet onto her palm and licks it off.  

I've made many questionable decisions in my time here, and I think this qualifies as one.  Oh well, trust the Mama.

... kinda tasteless, then grows to something akin to flour.  Oh there it is!  Just barely burnt popcorn, with a hint of sugar.  Okay.  No regrets.

Thanks Mom!

Today I learned about Kasham.

Today I Learned ...

... that lime trees have thorns!  They're like enormous rose bushes except incredibly practical and way more dangerous.  I'm not likely to try to venture into the middle of a rose bush to pick a flower.  I might try to navigate a lime tree/bush for some delicious key lime.  

If knowing is half the battle, the other half - to my brain - is defense.  

Today I learned:

... that while I am not skilled at speaking Russian, like a small child, I can absorb most of what is intended - so long as we're talking about food or the whereabouts of colleagues.

... that a white crystallized block on which I can read the word "iodine" kept in the kitchen cupboard is close enough to salt that I'll trust it in my soup.

... that black dust in the same cabinet as the aforementioned white crystal is acceptably pepper and therefore trusted and consumed - as opposed to the tin in the same cupboard next to the tea labeled "special gun powder".  This will not be consumed.

... The feeling of "I did it all by myself" never really gets old.  In fact leaving the supermarket, having successfully purchased dinner without having to ask for help, my heart was beating out of my chest as though I had just peered off the edge of a cliff.

... that it isn't always good to have a dog befriend you and follow you home*.  Especially when home is on the other side of a very busy highway. 

... that the upload speeds for my internet are not such that google voice is a very good option for talking but it's a GREAT option for laughing until my face hurts.  While I can hear you more clearly than I could on a cell phone, I am apparently rendered mute.

*no animals were harmed in the making of this post.