little bits of courage

So you may ask, what do these rather awkward stories have to do with courage?  Well...When your bedroom is the only place in your "home" you feel comfortable, that means that there is an element of anxiety to leave it.  I realized the other day that it in fact took courage to leave the room.  So I left bedroom door open.  More than that, I didn't return to my room after dinner.  I brought my laptop to the sitting room where my host mother and brother sat and we, host mother, brother, roommate, and I chatted until midnight.  That was when my host mother began to believe I could speak spanish.  And that was when the apartment began to feel a little more like home.