footprints in the sand

I have been in a more comtemplative mood lately. On weekdays I walk to school in the morning and after about 4 hours of Mongolian language lesson I walk home for lunch. Maybe it is the peace corps strong warning about people falling in potholes or maybe its my own interest, but I find myself noticing the footprints in the sand. I see the footprint and take notice to the shoes mostly...converse, pumas, umbro soccer shoes, cleats, or hasha sandals. Sometimes I see...crocks, now i know i am the only one with crocks in this town and i know this footprint is mine. it serves somewhat as a symbolism for me. I am really just learning in Sukhbaatar, but no matter how insignificant my role, i am leaving my footprint in the sand. Everyone around here has noticed the 15 american peace corps volunteers and little kids will scream "hi, hi" as you walk by. some will even say "how are you?", but when i respond with a simple, "i'm good, how are you?" they giggle and run away. they have no idea what they are saying...they just know that it's in English. The other day we practiced games in mongolian with a bunch of mongolian kids. people as they walked by joinged our group and the kids were so excited to play with americans. they laughed as we muttered the directions and made mistakes with our crappy mongolian skills. Where this experience will lead me....i have no idea!! only time will tell. All i know is that i'm happy to be leaving my footprint in a place on the other side of the world and a place that would otherwise not know I exist. I think sometimes, in our everyday lives we forget that with everything we do...we live our footprint. In all of our interactions we are leaving an impact on the people we are sharing our lives with. People have always said....a smile goes a mile, but i think that smile needs to be genuin and it is important to appreciate all the people that walk in and out of our lives. All of these interactions make up who we are and how we perceive the world. Everything is a matter of perception and I think people would be more satistied with their lives if they realize that they are leaving their footprint in the sand. Everybody's footprint is different, but recognizable if we take the time to look.

on another note:
Today, I chopped wood and learned how to cook Mongolian food on a fire stove. it is really cool to think about when i get home....i'll be able to say "i'll cook you some bomb mongolian food"! I have been here for almost a month....i think.....but it's funny my mind still sometimes reverts to hebrew. i feel sometimes that because i went to israel before coming here i was somewhat more prepared. simply because i have gotten over the "i miss american food" stage. of course i miss the people in my life at home, but i have gotten past the innitial shock and know that the important ones will keep in touch and still be there when i get back. (physically or not)