Breakthrough, and Bertha

Four things.

1. Sorry for the long absence. Sometimes you don't feel like writing, and other times, you do. The past 2 weeks have been one of those extended "I'll write something tomorrow" periods.

2. Yesterday in the Comunidad Santiago I was listening to the speaker and realized that I was understanding a lot of what he was saying. And that nearly every word individually registered. So perhaps I've reached a turning point in my language acquisition quest ... where I'm able to hear and understand more and more. Now to work on the speaking part (which requires, well, people to speak with, something I'm still working on!)

3. Hurricane Bertha formed this morning in the south-central Atlantic. It formed twelve years - to the day - that another hurricane bertha formed (that one in 1996). The '96 version went on to make landfall in NC and traverse directly overhead my parents' home in Greenville. While the "jury is still out" on the 2008 Bertha, all reasonable indications are for recurvature east of the US - although perhaps threatening Bermuda. Again, not a 100% certainty, as the steering mechanism is the mid-Atlantic ridge, and its weak western extent... not strong SWly flow ahead of a traveling wave. Stay tuned.

4. Wimbledon. I was able to watch the fifth and deciding set yesterday after frisbee, on tape-delay rebroadcast. What a match! The outcome was satisfying, but really both guys deserved (and played well enough) to win. Perhaps the main statistical difference was in unforced errors. Federer registered 52, but Nadal had only 27.

5. (bonus). What do you guys think about Nebraska? How about Lincoln?