Things I am grateful for...

I'm back, blogoshpere! It's still cold here in my little hometown, but...I thought I would do a gratitude post just so I can feel better after a loooooong week of hard and oftentimes frustrating work.

I'm grateful for the awesome beauty found in nature. 

Last Tuesday I returned from a staff retreat to Iguazu Falls. I really enjoyed getting out into the great outdoors and socializing a bit en route (14 hours on a bus one-way!!). Incidentally, the way they arranged the 4 bus groups was quite unique. Bus 1 was the "mature age" group, bus 2 was the "families with small children" group, bus 3 was the "young married couples" group, and bus 4 was.....you guessed it! The "singles" group (no hints intended).

Tangent:
According to the Iguazu falls entry in Wikipedia, "Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.^[2] The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls in the Argentine side is named.^[1] The falls were rediscovered by Boselli^[2] at the end of the nineteenth century..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls

 Which makes me wonder, were the falls "lost" between 1541 and the end of the nineteenth century? Did the Europeans forget how to get there?

Anyway...The waterfalls are quite spectacular, especially on the Argentinean side, where you can get really close to them.

I'm grateful for Thai agar-agar desserts,  spices and curries sent by a good friend (thank you JC!).

I am, however, not feeling grateful towards the Argentine postal system.
Like I messaged my friend: "...it was quite an adventure getting the package...had to catch a ride to a nearby city to pick it up...got to pay customs tax and a stern warning from the guy saying "well, if the food items weren't vacuum sealed, we would confiscate them, you know...") I'm relishing the thought of scaring the tastebuds off the tongues of some people I know, hehe!"

 

I am grateful for the new year God has given me.

And also grateful for the people who have invited me to lunch, tea and supper tomorrow to celebrate!