adventure in the woods

So I have to tell you about my Saturday.  I had promised a coworker I would look over a possible project for her and give her my opinion and was planning on spending the majority of the day on the computer.  I had just put some lunch on the hot plate when one of my students called and asked if I wanted to go to the woods with them.  I gave my condolences and told her I had just put my lunch on the stove.  She said "so save it for dinner!"  So I said I would and she told me a friend of hers was going to meet me at my apt.  Like in the states I don't keep a lot of food around so didn't have anything for lunch but that.  I quick scrounged some snacky foods and set out, not really knowing where I was going.  We walked awhile and in the process they took me to this tree that starts as one, divides into 2 trunks, then comes together again.  They told me if a person makes a wish and passes through the tree 3 times they will have luck.  So on we went and let me say my hiking boots have never been so caked in mud as the last 2 days!!  We got there, it's a little bonfire type place that the students use a lot, ate and talked a little.  Then on the way home we saw one of the students' father pass by and he stopped and picked us up.  It was in the van when I had another "only in Bulgaria" moment.  There were 5 of us and 2 in the van.  This van was a rusted out VW van.  The back doors were held together with string and didn't meet the floor of the van so the back was basically open.  As I climbed in I stepped over a rusted out part that led to the road below.  I was sitting on a board that covered I don't know what and, for those of you who know me better know I've always had problems with balance, struggling to keep my balance.  Then I saw what I could only think were carbon monoxide fumes and would've been more worried except for there was plenty of air running through the van.  It was during this time, looking over at my students and new friends and thinking about what we had just done and realizing I was riding in a vehicle that would have gone to the dump years ago in the states, I came to think that I'm good enough to ride in here.  In my mind I thought "I'm not a foreigner anymore.  I'm not someone who is too good to ride in a rusted out van that is used daily because that's what is used.  I'm not someone who has to be handled with kid gloves because I'm special!"  THAT'S what I experienced and it felt, well, great!  Maybe that's not at all how my students, her friends, or father saw what happened.  But to me it meant I had arrived!!  When you're good enough to ride in a rusted out van that looks like it could fall apart any minute, like the rest of B rides in everyday if they're lucky, then you're good enough to be a B citizen!  Love and hugs and prayers for Japan!!.