Saturday and the Beauty of Skype

A few random thoughts as I close another day...

One of the challenges of being abroad is how to stay connected with friends and family.  Though I've only been here a few days I find I want to share my experiences with the folks back home.  Fortunately I still have my U.S. cell phone, but eventually I'll have to hand it in.  Last night I found the miracle of Skype.  If you don't use it yet, I highly recommend it.  All you need is to download the program, have a mic/speaker on you PC and create an account.  If you're fortunate enough to have a web cam, then you can also see each other.  Last night I talked with each of the kids, Jill and Kyrstin.  It was very nice.

Today I took a trip to explore the area around our new apartment.  I REALLY can not wait to move in.  There are so many neat things to explore and do.  I found one whole street dedicated to little food shops - butchers, bakers, fish store, cheese and, yes, 3 or 4 wine stores.  I had lunch in the neighborhood.  The guy spoke to me in French and I actually understood a few of the words and what he meant.  I asked him what kind of sandwich the guy next to me was eating - in French!  More surprising, he understood what I said.     

Tonight I had dinner with a good friend of mine, Bruce.  We met at the Canadian bar in the 6th Ard.  It was nice because everyone spoke English.  You know for my last dinner in the U.S. until end of November I asked Jill to make chili because I thought I wouldn't find it here.  Well they have it and it's not too bad - but it doesn't compete with Jill's.  The place is a sport bar so they had the Ryder Cup on the televisions.  It was the 2nd session of the day and the Europeans were winning every match.  The 4 people at the table next to us were from England and they were cheering every swing of the club.  It was fun, but after awhile I felt like I was watching the Buffalo Bills.  Man, one day I'd like to cheer for a winner...