This morning Brett and I and the three little boys went to the embassy to sign our documents in front of them so Wyatt can get American citizenship and a passport and a social security number. Before we left Brett put his bike in the back of the van so he could go to work afterwards, and the bike fell down and banged his head and made him have a bump and start bleeding. So that was kind of exciting.
Then we got to the embassy and we had to go through security and even Talmage and Orrin had to stand with their arms out to get wanded, so that was fairly exciting.
Then we signed the documents, and then the embassy guy signed his name really carefully with his super cool fountain pen (hey, his job is to sign documents, he does it well), and paid our money and we were out of there in a matter of twenty minutes. So that was incredible.
But the MOST exciting thing of all was this:
Yes, that’s right—a drinking fountain. But when we saw it I asked Talmage if he knew what it was, and he did not. I demonstrated how to get a drink from it. He and Orrin were AMAZED. Then they both tried it out and found it wonderful and thrilling.
Yes, my friends, my children do not know what a drinking fountain is. Have we been in Europe too long? Maybe so. But… we have plane tickets that say we are going back to the USA on May 30!! YAHOO!!!
So, we were thinking of all the things that Orrin will see for the first time (and that Talmage will probably think are new, since obviously he doesn’t have any memories from the US). Here are just a few:
1- Waffles (you can get waffle irons here, we just haven’t)
2- Mint icecream (sad, sad, sad, sad, sad)
3- Cheerios
4- Grocery store baggers
5- Big old enormous parking lots
6- Big honkin’ trucks to go in the enormous parking lots
7- Playgrounds
See, won’t it be so great getting to enjoy some of those things again? (Just the other day Jethro was saying, “Remember those things in the States that you put in the toaster that are kind of like crackers with jam in the middle?” And we figured out he was talking about pop-tarts. ha ha.)
But until then, in honor of us, remember to really savor your drinks from drinking fountains. :)
5 comments:
Ooh, this post made me laugh.
When we went in for Ruby's passport a few weeks ago, I ALSO was amazed at the drinking fountain! The second I saw it in the embassy lobby, I was like "Oh my gosh, it REALLY IS AMERICA!"
It's funny, the things you miss :)
I've just seen Cheerios in Migros! :D
Sorry I'm just checking in. I'm so glad Wyatt is ok. I feel so bad for the little guy. He has had a rough go. He'll probably be your toughest boy yet!
So--are you moving back to the states or just visiting??? Sorry, I'm sure I missed an important blog post.
p.s. Loved the blog post. The thing I missed the most while living outside the US? HOT WATER and carpet. :) Although I would say mint chocolate chip ice cream ranks right up there...ha ha ha.
When my sister was in sixth grade, there was a girl who moved into her class from somewhere in Africa, I think? On her first day of school, she saw everyone lining up to get a drink out of the drinking fountain, but didn't realize they were pushing something to make the water come out. So when it was finally her turn at the drinking fountain, she got frustrated and yelled at the water to come out. Haha.
Funny post, and funny about the drinking fountain! We have only found two drinking fountains here in England: One is in the London Temple, the other is in the National Gallery in London.
Post a Comment