a couple of things

I went to the bank today to change a $50 CDN bill into American and behold- they do not carry Canadian funds. In fact they said that to get it changed I could have the bank send it away to a company that does that sort of thing for a charge of $17 USD. Now, the dollar is doing pretty well these days but if I did that, I believe that my $50 CDN would end up being something like $23 American.

I think I'll keep it until I get back to my home and native land.

I've been reading a number of different books in the last month- some of them aren't finished but plenty of them are well on their way- they include Rob Bell's Sex-God, Yunus' Banker to the Poor and its sequel The Poor Always Pay Back, Anne Lamotts Grace (eventually), Lauren Winners Real Sex and for school I've been reading Emergency Relief Operations, ed. Cahill and Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace- or War by Mary Anderson.

I have particularly enjoyed the last two...
Here is a taste:

We must learn to be quicker to detect and prepare for crises before they occur. The earlier we intervene, the more likely we are able to have a meaningful impact on the ground. Similarly, we must more consistently enter all crises situations with a clearly defined available exit strategy that guides all of our actions, even in the initial response, toward the ultimate stability and recovery of the affected country" - Emergency Relief Operations
- hello Iraq...

"Many people criticize international assistance, accurately citing examples of ways in which international aid has done harm rather than good. We note such examples, but we do not condemn aid for its failures. It is a moral and logical fallacy to conclude that because and can do harm, a decision not to give aid would do no harm. In reality, a decision to withhold aid from people in need would have unconscionable negative ramifications" - Do No Harm.