miss marisa.

I don't think I've mentioned enough what a kickass job Knox did of placing me with the perfect host mother.

I know I mentioned she's an artist, but she's also a feminist and kind of a crazy cat lady (without the loneliness part).

She's constantly talking about the two cats we have now (Max and Vito... I don't know WHAT I'm going to do when I have to leave them), and their past cats. Morgan, who was this orange striped tabby that was REALLY fat. This other one whose name I can't spell that was the son of Max (and whose photo hangs next to my bed) and now lives with a friend. Also Max's papa also. They talk about him a lot and there's something close to a shrine to him above Marisa's (host-mama's name) desk.

Yesterday, my host mom was telling me that it was the anniversary of Morgan's death. She then showed me this drawing that hangs in living room of a very old man with enormous wings, which was in fact based on the Borges' story "The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." Under the man's wing, a cat is drawn in to the silhouette. She explained to me that that cat was Morgan and she did the drawing. It's so cool. The title is "Borges," but the "ORG" are really big, so the name "M-ORG-an" is written beneath it, sharing the ORG. It's hard to explain. She's crazy passionate about her cats and I love it.

THEN today, she told me that she was walking somewhere like 20 blocks from our house when she found this injured bird. She put it in a box and carried it around with her all day and then TOOK IT TO THE VET and set it free again in a park by her house. Jajaja.

I HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO DO MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE.