Petaluma

2:45pm San Fran Time
Jayne’s House
Okay, I don’t think we’re in Kan... New Zealand anymore! I was right in saying this isn’t home. I mean, this place, Petaluma, just outta San Fran, was the place I was born and raised for the first four years of my life, and I have no memory of it at all. It’s all new. I wasn’t expecting the heat, the dryness, the tawny-goldenrod sheen to the grass, the blistering winds, and the stagnant, dull air. It's painfully hot. I've adapted to the slightly colder NZ climate (though I fuss about that, too), and to be back in this desert atmosphere, especially while jet-lagged and out-of-it is a real toll on me. It's better for Mum, who likes this weather, but Dad and Bennett are suffering as much as I am!
Being an American, and living here for so long, and not coming back for so long, this is the first time I have ever heard an American accent as an accent, but now I can really pick it up, and can pick up that my voice has changed. My accent has faded, is more New Zealand-ish. Now, the Cali accent is really grating on my ears. It’s “dawllars,” not “dohllors.” And, they say “nawt”, not “noht”. It’s so different. It’s not normal, I concede.
I’m gonna sound FUNKY when I return. All my British- and Kiwi-speaking friends, I will completely understand if you can’t understand me, because none of the Americans I’ve talked to can understand my half-NZ talk.
Must go. Have places to go, people to see, and we’re going swimming soon, I think. Very tempting. It’s about... 95o Fahrenheit here, which for all you mathematicians, is about 30o Celsius.
Since Cali is partially a Spanish-speaking State,
Sayonara,
Rachel :o)