Its Been Too Long

Today was my first day of Arabic Class. After a brief introduction from our teaching team leader, I asked her where she was from. She said 'Ah, a very good question. Who has heard of the country of Palestine? That is where I'm from.' ...awkward pause. When she left the room, I told the rest of my class, under my breath...'dont mention Israel! Dont mention Israel!'
Eh, ya had to be there.
Brenda, my mother-in-law, came in last week for a visit, and left yesterday. I was sad to see her go. It's so odd, because of the mother/son-in-law cliche, I actually enjoy her company. She is so funny. I took Kasey and her all over California's central coast, from our place in monterey to hearst castle to the south, and even across the golden gate bridge, to the observation area that I discovered 5 years ago when Josh and his mom came out for a visit. it was such a beautiful day, a beautiful weekend. Now it is nose to the grindstone.
I found out today that I am a class section leader. I will be in charge of ensuring that 9 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines make it through a yearlong Arabic course. That is such a serious responsibility, considering the government spends anywhere from 70k-100k for a qualified linguist, depending on the difficulty of the language. Arabic is a 3 way tie for the most difficult. I am excited, motivated, and ready to lead by example, and I expect nothing less than to march all 9 of my guys across the graduation stage in fall, 2007.