Book Review - Ana's Story by Jenna Bush

I finally read Ana's Story by Jenna Bush. It's a quick read (and big print!). I think I read it cover to cover in just under 2 hours. Jenna spent several months in a Latin American country working with UNICEF. During that time, she documented the stories of children. This story is about the struggles of a girl/young woman (Ana) with HIV/AIDS, physical abuse, sexual abuse, family and the 'systems' in place to deal with these issues. This book brought back a lot of memories from my time living in Mexico in the early 1990s. Growing up and being raised in a third world country is quite different than living in the midwest. So, if you have a few hours to spare, you might consider borrowing the book from the libary...or let me know and I'll give you my copy.

Din fart and other oddities

We've spent the last two days driving around Denmark. I've noticed quite a few things that I'll have to get used to. The first one, and the most hilarious is a square white sign that reads "din fart" and then an electronic number is produced. It's actually a "your speed is" sign that flashes white lights at you if you're going over the speed limit, which isn't posted very often. There's no right turns on red. Something we violated twice on Saturday, until I read the rules of the road last night. There really aren't any stop signs here and lots of roundabouts. The weather is great. It's actually sunny today, which is rare during the winter months. It seems the Danes and expats buy most of their groceries in Germany, which is about a 25 minute drive. Apparently there is a better selection in Germany and it's much cheaper than in Denmark.

In my haste to leave on Friday, I forgot the USB cord, so no pictures until we return.

Learning Danish

Learning Spanish is so much easier than learning Danish. I find myself pronouncing all my new Danish words with a Spanish accent. I wonder how well that will go over in Denmark. We're using Rosetta Stone to learn Danish and it's a pretty basic program, but overall very effective. I know colors, numbers, people, things, food, and some verbs. I can't speak it or write it, and I sure can't conjugate any verbs, but I can pick out a few words here and there. As long as there are flashcards with pictures all over Denmark, I'll be a-okay!!!

My favorite new Danish word - flyvemaskine (flew ma skeen, with emphasis on the first syllable): translation--airplane.

1 cubic meter, are you kidding me?

Yikes! Our big move is just around the corner. I have so many things to do. I've spent the past week sorting: bring to Denmark, store, give away, trash. I've been scanning photos and documents and saving stuff on DVD, so I can leave some things in storage and still have access to them while in Denmark.

I was anticipating a storage container about the size of a rail road car that would take the slow boat, a 2 month journey, from the US to Denmark. So, imagine my surprise today when I found out we each get 1 cubic meter. That's it. Are you kidding me? A Lazy Boy is bigger than 1 cubic meter. So, back to the drawing board. The million dollar question - how much can I pack into a 1 cubic meter box?

We're off to Denmark later this month to find a place to live. It's 40 degrees there today. Not sure if they have snow. This should be interesting.

Cheers! Here's to all things great, in 2008!

2007 was a year to remember and we're looking forward to new adventures in 2008. I'm not a fan of New Year's Resolutions, probably because I've yet to keep one!

So, I have one goal for 2008: continue learning, reading, and traveling-new cultures, new languages, new lands.

Cheers!