"Old" friends and Familiar Places

When I woke up this morning, I was in an unfamiliar apartment building a bit away from campus (this is my temporary housing until I take over my rental house in a few days). Even though I was dropped off at night and had not gotten my bearings, I immediately knew where I was when I looked out the back window. I was faced with an amazing view of the mountain that is behind the campus, and the Rhodes memorial (photos in my blog from last summer). I could see to the right of that the fields where some large beasts roam (I couldn't tell what they were, but I recall seeing zebra there last year, these were larger things - horse like but with big chest areas). To the left I could see the edge of campus. On the bus to campus I recognized the roads, and knew exactly what paths to take to cut through campus to the physics building. It was a bit like coming home after a long visit. I felt very comfortable and happy.

I got to the physics building just in time for the morning tea, and I walked in to find a friend sitting there. It was good to see a familiar face that was happy and surprised to see me! Apparently he was out of the loop as to my arrival :) Then after my first sip of tea, my good friend walked in and was so happy to see me that joy filled the room. I had brought him a bunch of physics demo equipment for his growing collection, and he unwrapped it there at the tea table, and it was just like Christmas - we sat and played with each of the items! My collaborator had joined us by then, and 5 of us (most of the young physics-teaching enthusiastic crowd) went out to lunch. We went to the faculty dining facility which had the same buffet foods from last year - all of it familiar. It was good because I had been craving their sweet potatoes, but I understood why no one else was enthusiastic about the buffet since it had been the same food for over a year!!

I have now been here two evenings (having arrived last evening), and have eaten at two restaurants I remembered and enjoyed last year. The first night we went full circle and went to Chai-Yo, the Thai place we ate at before taking me to the airport at the end of last summer. It is my favorite Thai place in the world, though I have to qualify that I've only had Thai food in South Africa, USA, and Canada :)Tonight we ate at a gourmet pizza place - I had one with white asparagus (my favorite, and so rare in the US!!!), olives, and sun dried tomatoes. Yumm!! That place had been remodeled, and my friend (having not been there since our date last year) was more disoriented than I was! I wonder why it is that I feel so much at home here - but I think it is because I enjoy being abroad, and I have connections here to people that care about me and that hold a special place in my heart.