I met Jeremy, Nathanael's other roommate. Nice kid from Chicago who is studying Japanese. Talking to both him and his mother, it seemed they spoke with a very, very slight Haitian or Jamaican or some kind of West African lilt. But they say they are from just Chicago. I let it go at that. It was just distinct and, well, un-Chicago-sounding. So anyway. He had about 15 books of kanji, Japanese grammar, and kana. So next time I go there, I will let him use/have MY 15 or so books of kanji et al. The one other book he had is the Bible. :) Jay is from New Delhi and NOT a vegetarian. So if I send food with meaty stuff in it they can all have some. Across the hall is a boy from Hawaii of Japanese descent who was interested in why Jeremy wants to study Japanese. I think Jeremy is into the Japanese martial arts as well, far more than most Japanese are. Then there is Ben. I met Ben and his parents and they are a normal family from Colorado Springs with one exception: Ben is strikingly good-looking. So I said to his mom, "Well he's such a good-looking boy, I guess there must be a girlfriend back in Colorado Springs." "Ex," she said. "They didn't want a long-distance relationship." I said, "Well I'm sure it won't take the girls long to notice him." And I was right. I saw a little 90-pound girl orbiting around him in a lunch line. Have you ever picked up a bunch of paper clips with a magnet? Maybe he will major in theater and be the next Brad Pitt but smarter. Face it, most pretty boys in H-wood are total buffoons (see also Tom Cruise), so maybe Ben can change the image. But anyway, back to my OWN good-looking boy...who is making lots of friends, especially with the GOOP people he went to Wisconsin with. I met Dr. Savarese. I think it will be a good match for developing Nathanael's writing. Dr. S. remembered and has been corresponding with Irene. These connections are all good. We talked a little about autism. He talked to all of us parents about the tutorial. He isn't lax and he works the students well. If they are late he shakes them out of bed. He makes them go to the actual LIBRARY and not just the internet.

So then I drove back starting yesterday. I took another drive around Iowa City. It was a beautiful evening. I went through my park again. I thought I would be able to find the road I lived on. I know the house isn't there anymore. I went along the railroad tracks beside where the house once was. Well as I was driving a boy fell off his bike and I stopped and helped him. He seemed in a lot of pain and I helped him up as his friends jeered at him for falling. He pretty much had a scraped up hand and a very bruised ego. He was 13...I wanted to get him to a place where he could clean his hand but didn't know where to find such a place. Finally he and his friends rode off to a place down the street they knew, since they were several blocks from their home.

I also drove by a huge crowd of girls standing in front of a sorority house. New pledges were in black dresses, holding candles, posing for a picture. Probably 80 of them. They were stunning, breathtaking. I may actually be able to find this picture by googling them. I don't know what sorority it was but maybe I will dare myself to find this photo. :)