I have been home for three days now on vacation at my parents' house in KY and it has been really nice but really weird at the same time. I didn't grow up in Paducah, but rather in Louisville. For that, I don't have my friends here and when I come here, it is really just to see my parents and sister. My cousin came down too from St. Louis and we have all been spending the last couple of days eating, drinking, eating some more, hanging outside and swimming, and shopping at some of the local art galleries. I have been spending most of the early afternoons walking around in my bikini and have been loving it. No labcoat this week!

Tomorrow morning we will drive up to St. Louis where the majority of my extended family lives and have the surprise birthday party for my dad. I can't wait to see my grandparents, aunts and uncles and other cousins. Even better, I can't wait to see the look on my dad's face. I am so impressed with my mom, as she has planned a rather large party. My parents just surpassed their 39th anniversary in June and they are still very much in love. They will do anything for each other. Any chance they get, they'll let you know how they met in the summer of 1966 at a JCPenney sidewalk sale in downtown St. Louis. It is so cute to see them together.

I fly back to Guadalajara on Sunday night and am looking forward to enjoying the remaining 7 weeks. One of the best things about Guadalajara is Sunday mornings when they close off a major street for joggers, bikers, and walkers for a 6-hour period. You see so many families together and the air seems fresh without cars and with the sun shining, it makes you just so happy to be there. I go out for runs along this street and just get lost in the moment.

I will also enjoy the last remaining weeks with my new friends I have met at Solectron. They are so funny, especially the girls I have gotten to know in my department. The other people are so polite and will never tell me when I make mistakes in Spanish but I have let these girls know that it is encouraged to let me know (and ok to laugh at me too!) when I make the mistakes. We were in the dining room at work one day and I meant to say that I wanted to eat some red grapes, but I said I wanted to eat some red birds. The word for bird and grape is really close and I just wasn't thinking! Before I left for vacation, they posted a picture at my workspace of a plate and a red bird on it, with the words Bon Appetit on it. I almost died laughing! I also get the word for landlord wrong sometimes, at least the way I have been using it. You have to say "owner of my apartment" and not "my owner" like we would say "my landlord". Otherwise, it has a sexual connotation. Their comment was, "Natalie, didn't realize you had a night job!" I think they really like having the Gringa (me) around the office. I will certainly miss seeing them everyday.