Hello. This is Kaya. :-)
Summer isn't the only one who got a letter this week... or the only one who sent one recently.
I got a letter from my biological sister, Rosa. She lives with relatives back in Idaho. It was a happy letter, not a lot of serious emotional stuff. She turned eight recently, and she was telling me about her birthday party and her school. Rosa even drew me a picture of her with her dog, which was really cute and made me smile.
It also made me miss her even more than usual, though. I sometimes wish I could be both places - or even better, that she could come here and live with me. I know that would be hard for her. It's a big change, and she's a lot younger than I am, so she wouldn't comprehend it as easily. Rosa is probably happier where she is. I know she misses me, though... and I miss her too. I think about her a lot. It's hard when you can't be with all of your family.
Evelyn has two sisters she doesn't live with, too. One of hers is older than her, and one is younger. I know she misses them, and feels the same way.
At least we can write, phone, and e-mail, though. It's good that technology can help us stay in touch. If I lived this far from Rosa 100 years ago, I'd most likely just never have contact with her again. I'm glad we can at least still be in each other's lives. That's the bright side.
Now, about my sent letter. I joined a penpal program! I know, it sounds very retro. Everyone uses e-mail and online message boards, now, to talk to people all over the world. We have blog friends who comment regularly from several different countries. Still, there's something to be said for getting paper mail. It's really fun to open the mailbox and get a letter.
I'm still waiting to find out who my penpal will be. I asked to be matched with a girl approximately my age who lives in The North. I know we seem pretty "north" ourselves - and we sure feel that way! - but actually there's quite a lot of area to the north of us also, where people live. Very sturdy, determined people; sometimes we have to be pretty sturdy and determined to live even where we do.
My pen pal will probably live in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Nunatsiavut. I am hoping (and it is very likely) that she will be from a First Nations tribe or band. ("First Nations" is the term usually used in Canada to refer to native/aboriginal people.) I think it would be really neat to learn about her culture, and I can tell her about the history and some of the traditions of my tribe, too.
Love,
Kaya
Salut, Kaya!
ReplyDeleteAw...Rosa sounds very sweet. Hopefully, you'll get the chance to meet her someday. :) I'm glad for today's technology- it's much easier to get in touch and stay in touch with others.
Your penpal sounds very cool! I like the idea of a penpal. My friend Lilly had a penpal (part of her French class assignment), but she scared her away. I was a little embarrassed...
Bises,
Sabine
Hey, Kaya! Penpals are awesome! When AGP had their penpal thing a few years ago I got matched with Frankie and we still email each other everyday and co-write our paranormal blog. I hope you and your penpal will have the same luck.
ReplyDeleteEmily
Yay Kaya,
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! I think it's so cool so you signed up for penpals. I was going to, but I stink at trying to keep up with communicating!
love,
Summer
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteHi Sabine! :-)
I actually have met Rosa. We lived together when we were younger, but then there was no one in our extended family who was able to take care of both of us, so my relatives took Rosa and I was a foster kid. (Sort of like Bree and Fiona's situation.) The Greens found out about me - I'm not biologically related to them - and took me in, and they would have taken Rosa too but she already has a family.
Rosa is indeed very sweet, though. I think you'd like her. :-)
How did Lilly scare her penpal away? Hopefully I won't scare mine! I hope she doesn't think it's weird to like sci fi...
Love,
Kaya
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteThat's really cool, Emily! I had no idea that's how you and Frankie met. I guess I always assumed you knew each other offline originally or something, because you're so close.
Thanks for sharing your penpal story! That gives me hope that I'll make a good friend.
Love,
Kaya
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteHi Summer!
I've never really tried having a penpal before, so I don't know if I'll be good at communicating or not.
One nice thing is I'll be getting a small amount of school credit for this via my geography co-op class, so that gives me an extra incentive to keep in touch.
Hopefully it'll be lots of fun! I didn't do it for the school credit, I did it because it sounded really cool, but it's a nice bonus.
Love,
Kaya
Hi Kaya,
ReplyDeletePenpals are amazing! When my Mama was 11, she got a penpal from Australia when her teacher took a sabbatical to Melbourne. She and her penpal have kept in touch for 17 years- this summer they met for the first time, when her penpal came to visit the US! So definitely, keep your pen friends- they can be life long if you keep in touch.
I'd love to have a pen friend, but I'm not sure where to get one. Maybe I'll write you a letter!
=^..^=
Inky!
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteHi Inky!
That's so cool that your mama has stayed in touch with her penpal for so long! That must have taken a lot of commitment to prioritize it, but I bet it was well worth it. How awesome that they finally got to meet!
You should totally write us a letter! Me and my sisters would argue about who would write back, and probably several of us would. I think your parents have our address, but if not Blakeney can PM it at AGPT.
The only thing with being our penpal is, mail to and from here is really slow! A letter can take up to three weeks. So we couldn't write back fast or anything.
Love,
Kaya
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Inky, if you do write to us, Blakeney thinks you should put her real name (which she thinks you probably already know?) as the addressee on the envelope. Otherwise the post office and/or the upstairs housemate who shares our mailbox may not realize who it's for. :-)
~KayaAgain
Kaya, it must be difficult to live so far away from your little sister. I'm glad for today's technology too... it's nice to have friends all over the world even if you can't afford to travel and meet people. =) And you're also really fortunate to have lots of nice sisters where you are, so you have two families.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on the penpal! That will be a great experience. I like getting mail too. Maybe I'll get a penpal someday. =)
When my human was in high school, she got a letter from a boy that was written in calligraphy ink and sealed with sealing wax. She still has it five or six years later! She signed up for a penpal in South American through her Spanish class, but the person never wrote her back. She was pretty sad at the time. =P
Kaya says:
ReplyDeleteHi Lucy! Yeah, I have great sisters - both here, and Rosa. I'm really lucky. It's just sometimes hard to miss somebody like that.
I haven't had any news about my penpal, but they said they should be able to tell me by Thursday... but Thursday is going to be pretty crazy because Blakeney and Summer (and maybe Bree?) are going that day. Inna and Maia are going to be watching out for us while they're gone.
Sounds like an awesome letter that your human got! Shame that the other one didn't reply, though. :-(
Hopefully my penpal will! Now I'm worried about scaring her away and about never hearing back!
Love,
Kaya