This has been baby week! Two of my friends gave birth this week, one had a girl and one had a boy. My friend Lisa gave birth to little Frederick yesterday afternoon, and invited us to come by the hospital last night, since she knew Penny was sick with excitement over the prospect of holding a newborn. In fact, when we arrived at the hospital, Fred was just 6 hours hold. Penny could barely stand up, she was literally shaking with excitement.
But she was also excited for another reason: she had never been inside an American hospital before! She took pictures of the place, and was just amazed at how nice the facility was—she said it looked like a hotel inside. We were at Spotsylvania Medical Center, which I think just opened a year ago, and I must admit, it is a beautiful facility.
When we finally got to hold Fred, I handed him to Penny and she had tears in her eyes. It was a very moving moment for her, and I think that she was profoundly impressed by the “circle of life”, if I can be cliché for a moment. And I have to say, it was an amazing moment for me too!
Secondly, yesterday we stopped at the mailbox for a moment so I could put in a postcard to mail. Penny asked what I was doing, and I said that I was leaving a letter for the mailman. She asked if he was going to pick it up and mail it? I said yes he was, and she told me that this is never the case in Thailand. You always have to mail your letters at the post office. I showed her the flag on the side of the box and explained how if it’s up, that means the mailman knows he has to stop and pick up your outgoing mail whether or not he has mail for you or not. As we drove down our street afterwards, it turned out a bunch of our neighbors were mailing letters and she exclaimed “Ooooh!” each time she saw a red flag in the air.
Just another example of something we take for granted that is unusual seen through foreign eyes!
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