the battle of epic proportions

11/6

                There is a constant battle in my house; it’s between my bother and the rest of the family.  My host brother is out of control hysterical.  Every day he does something to make me laugh.  He is eight years old and makes the strangest noises.  Everyone will be sitting at the table in near silence and he will bust out in these strange noises and hand movements.  He knows he is doing it so it’s not like a medical condition or anything; he is just an eight year old boy who only has an older sister to pick on.  But that’s not the battle part.  We also have this dog, Puska.  My brother, Andro, loves Puska.  So does the rest of the family but everyone else seems to love him from a distance.  Andro always wants Puska around.  When it is getting close to dinner time yelling always breaks out.  This is how I know when to come down for dinner.  I walk in to everyone yelling at my brother and the dog.  They are trying to get the dog out the dining room and he is trying to keep him in.  Andro and his sister, Ani, are always on either side of the door; one trying to close it and the other trying to open it.  At this point my brother tends to lose because everyone, including my sister is stronger than him.

                What is really great is when it’s between my host grandma and Andro.  I’m laughing as I’m writing this but I just cannot convey the noises that everyone makes when this is going on. I’ll have to record it or something.  But, her voice get really high pitch (like and octave higher) and she is yelling and stomping at the dog and trying to hold back Andro.  She is bent over at 90 degrees so her center of gravity is a little off so he can usually win.  He almost taunts her.  Then again there is the element of the table in the center of the room.  You can imagine how this plays into it.  Puska is running around and under the table, my brother is perpetuating the excitement in the room and my grandma is trying to hold him back.  I really wish I could explain this better but it is just so funny.  I stand in the corner laughing almost every day.  We also, usually, go through this twice a day, once at breakfast and again at dinner. 

                I always wondered how life would be having a little brother and now I know.  Although he does not pick on me as much as he picks on Ani, I get it.  I don’t know what I am going to do for my daily dose of entertainment when I leave here.