One month down already!

Time for an update I think... so much is happening it is difficult to know what to write here! I am currently sitting in the garden -it's 80 degrees and leaves are falling on me from the trees - it's a hot Autumn which seems a strange combination of weather but I am more than happy with that- I think those two words  are a description of my perfect season!

I am feeling really settled and it feels very normal to be here. I get compliments on my accent most days and am enjoying being stopped in the supermarket and asked where I come from ( a common question is "Wales...is that in England?"). I have tried an array of answers ('England' but that feels like I am ignoring the 11 years I spent in Cardiff, 'Wales' gets the above response and I feel a bit like a fraud as I am not Welsh and 'Britain' but that just confuses people so I am going to stick with "I'm English"- I know that will please lots of you back home...).

There are lots of things I love about America - cake batter ice cream, the fact the postman picks up your mail as well as delivering it, the vent in the floor that sucks up the dirt you sweep into it (most handy), outdoor plugs so I can Skype al fresco (although I think that is simply making people at home feel a bit jealous) and Chipotle (like Nando's but Mexican) was also a very pleasant discovery! Things that are harder to adjust to... Jello tastes a bit like perfume to me - it's just not Rowntree... I need to watch Spooks to get my fix of nice old buildings (I did not think I would miss the architecture- maybe I am more cultured that I realise!) and I can't find any noodles to go in my stir fries!! So as you can see - no great hardships whatsoever!

School is brilliant - I am loving every minute of it. Last week we were asked to chose which part of the church's practical work ('outreach') we would like to be aprt of. It ranged from providing meals for the homeless, working with people on a drug rehab programme to comunity work (e.g. helping the council with work that they cannot complete due to funding). I got my first choice and I will be joining the team who go out to pray for people who are sick. The church has become known as a place where people come when they are looking for a miracle in their lives (hence the title of this blog!). We hear stories all the time of people who have come for healing for all sorts of illnesses (migranes, cancer, deafness) are prayed for and are no longer ill.  People will often come to a church service and write down what they want prayer for or they will ring the church and ask someone to pray. I will be part of one of the teams that go out and pray for these people - I will let you know what happens!

Mishaps... well I got so excited about receiving post the other day that I left our mailbox wide open with the key in it (our mailbox is down the road). I haven't owned up to my housemates yet so hopefully none of them wil read this. Thankfully another housemate spotted it when we walked past the mailbox on a walk later on that evening! I have needed a few more translations - I asked a girl 'what time do you make it?' to which she replied 'make what?' I thought she had misheard so repeated myself and she looked even more confused- thankfully another American stepped in and said 'ignore she is a foreigner - she means 'what time is it!'. Very amusing!! There are so many other tales like that but no space in which to report them!

Bye for now "Have a great day" :)

Homework in the garden - it's a hard life!

New girls in class.

A beautiful lake near the house.