at the fair

i went to the county fair with the people i've been hosting on an exchange program from africa. and saw all sorts of things i have never seen before. like... miniature donkey driving. who in bloody hell decided it was a good idea to do this to the donkeys? we were totally expecting children to drive the carts... but no. grown men and women. looking completely ridiculous. i realize that the donkeys themselves are cute, but this is just silly! however, it definitely counts as an experience none of us had had before. and my guests will certainly be leaving with an interesting impression of americans. (which could lead one to the larger question of wondering who thought it was a good idea to give people any sort of impression of a country via ME...).

i was actually kind of sad to realize that the fair has lost much of the magic that it previously held for me. pretty sure this is just me, though, as everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly and made for excellent people watching. so it can't be all bad, right? and i must say that the petting zoo managed to be the opposite of depressing. mostly because of a very, very tiny grey goat who was evidently having the time of his life, following people about curiously, and running around and jumping in mad excitement. totally adorable. made me want goats, actually. completely impractical life ambition, but there you have it. speaking of life ambitions, i am happy to report that my long-running obsession with alpacas meant that i was unreasonably pleased to get to stand mere inches from these guys. the people who tell you that their wool is almost impossibly soft are TOTALLY RIGHT. it's my new favorite thing. although i think i like it just as much on the original host as anywhere else -- even though shearing does result in these totally hot hairdos.


p.s. is it just me, or does the alpaca bit sound oddly A LOT (it's caps day!) like i'm talking about men? there are several aspects of this in which i now find fear... A LOT (at this point, it is also a book reference).