To The Bus!

Yesterday was a weird day...maybe not weird...but kinda.

As I was leaving the gym, I saw a blast from the past...a big yellow school bus.  Immediately, my mind took me to the show we'd watch in school: The Magic School Bus.  It looked so out of place - so vibrant, colorful and...American.  We don't have a whole lot of color here and most of the buses are tourist style buses or what the locals drive on that are decked out in all sorts of decorations and writing and old pictures of Michael Jackson (they love him here).  But this was an American yellow school bus.

It looked as if Mrs. Frizzle took her class all the way here to Affy - as if to see how troops live here on the FOB or to visit a parent of one of her students.  In reality, I know that's not the case, but had it been, I was very tempted to get on that bus and take it's crazy ride on a fast track back home.  Instead...I have no idea why it was here or who rode in on it...I didn't see any grade school children.

It's odd to see such colorful and American things here.  Everything is so drab and tan and brown and gray...the only color I usually see (other than all the orange in my room) is the blue of the sky - complimented by oranges and pinks from beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  And as for American stuff...only with what we decorate our offices with.  It's nice to see reminders of home.

Last night, walking back to my room, I randomly looked up while in some shadows of a building and realized how many stars were out.  Immediately my eyes were drawn to the Seven Sisters.  Then I found the big and little dippers.  I don't know a whole lot about astronomy, but those are the three things I can always find...and I like to know that wherever I'm at in the world, it's the same stars.  Yes, it's cheesy, but there is also something very comforting about it.

In a few weeks, I'll be responding to Mrs. Frizzle's, "To the bus!" but instead I'll be climbing on plane and finding my way home - but until then...I'll be looking for the magic school bus to return and bring me home...