The Dry House

Yesterday the sun came out.  Yea! hooray! We stood out on our balcony, rode bikes, soaked in some Vitamin D!

One problem, however, the cold concrete that is our apartment began to sweat.  And sweat it did.  You know, like when you have a ice cold drink and you take it outside on a hot day.....it sweats.  Most people here throw open their doors and let the warm air come inside, but the problem with that method is that is soaks your walls and floors and furniture and clothes and GROSS!!!  So we are careful to keep everything else closed, and let everything warm up slowly.  

Today, my new helper arrived at 9am and began exclaiming, "Your floors are dry!" "Your walls are dry!" "My whole house is soaked, I don't understand." I quickly told her that we kept our place closed up.  To which she replied, "Ahhhhh, you know how to live."  I thought that was pretty funny, because normally we are looked at as weird, but I guess she doesn't like having a wet house as much as I don't like having a wet house.  Maybe it will also make her think twice before opening every door and window she passes in my house. 

Fireworks Excitemnt

All around us New Year celebrations are in full swing.  Day and night there are firecrackers, fireworks exploding everywhere.  What are 2 boys to do, but join in the fun.  Yesterday, Rob and Hudson went bike riding after we finished school. They came back with the loud, long strand of firecrackers.  One of the things people do is hang these off of their balconies and light them.  This is all fine and good as long as your neighbors below know what you are going to do. 

Let's just say that 30 seconds after this video ends, there was a knock on our door.  We had scared our neighbors to death.  Imagine sitting comfortably in your living room and suddenly smoke, fire, and a lot of noise begins.  It would scare you too.  Rob apologized profusely and told them it wouldn't happen again.  And it won't.

 Rob and Hudson took a big bag of fruit to them a little later and apologized to them again for scaring them.  On the bright side, we made some new friends tonight. :)

Daily Sights on the way to the store

Lately, we have been coming up with a running list of "little" things we look forward to once we are back in the USA, things that wouldn't rate on any important scale, but little insignificant things.  For example, expectation of toilet paper in the toilet stalls, tall glasses filled with ice (tea) that keep getting refills at a restaruant, no one staring at you, not having to climb 7 flights of stairs every time you come home.  The little things.  One of the bigger things is our excitement over grocery stores.....cereal aisles, meat wrapped in nice little packages, cheese, options, nice smells while buying food. 

Today, as I walked to the market for a few things, then on to the bakery for bread, then a little farther to another store for some other items, I thought about how completely different my shopping trips will be in just a few weeks.  These are some of the sights I saw today as I walked through town with the kids.  I likely won't be seeing these on my way to Wal-Mart.

The unloading of the watermelon truck.  I wish I had a picture of the hundreds of watermelons sitting on the side of the road already.

 The random lady on the street selling and shucking corn in the miserable heat.

 I won't be passing a lady on her bike coming home from her shopping run with her makeshift umbrella shading her from the sun.

 And....thankfully, I will not see this, our one stoplight in town, which is more of a suggestion than anything else, because traffic always looks like this no matter red, green, or yellow.

Watermelons

It is watermelon season here.  There are watermelons everywhere! Good thing I like them.  I think this week I have had 7 watermelons brought to me.  I have had to give most of them away because there is no way we can eat so many watermelons. 

It became a little comical this week as everyone who came to the door, came bearing watermelon.  Our landlords, Hudson's friends, teachers from the school we taught in last week, etc.  So, I just keep cutting it up and putting it in a bag in the fridge.  They are soooooo good!!!  I wish you could come over and I would share some with you. :)

A Most interesting experience

Today was a first for me in this culture.  After 3 years, I don't have many firsts anymore.  But today we finally had another interesting experience. 

Last Saturday we had all the girls on our team over to watch the Royal Wedding.  We were all occupied making our own crowns and talking about the hats and pomp while Rob was diligently working upstairs.  Hudson had 3 friends over at the house playing basketball and other crazy games.  It was a very good day. On Sunday morning we woke up and were getting ready to take a trip and Hannah began frantically looking for her ipod.  We told her the normal "parent things" like "did you look behind things?" or "where did you use it last?" "when you say you have looked EVERYWHERE what does that mean exactly?"

Hannah is a very careful, responsible girl.  She is extremely organized and meticulously careful with her things. (I will add that this is not a trait passed down from me)  Hannah knew she had used it on Friday during school.....it is hard to do your math when your brother is breathing beside you.....and then she had placed it back on her dresser by her stereo system.  Suddenly the thought occured to me.....one of Hudson's friends stole it.  Rob quickly said "no way" to that, but I couldn't think of what else had happened to it.   Hannah very graciously accepted that it was gone and that it was just "stuff" and not the end of the world.

On Monday, 2 of the 3 boys returned to our house to play.  I casually mentioned, not accusing, that Hudson's sister couldn't find her ipod, had they happened to see it on Saturday.  They said no.  Then on Wednesday, Hudson's buddy, Kenny, called to Hudson and said he needed to talk to us.  He came upstairs and said he knew where the ipod was, one of the boys had stolen it. The boy was showing it off at school that day. But....Kenny had a plan.  The boy who stole it didn't want Kenny to tell Hudson about it, but he said Hudson was his friend and he should give it back. So Kenny came up with a plan and told Rob and I he would get it back today and the boy wouldn't lose face.

Now, here is the interesting part of this culture.  "Face" is everything.  In my mind, once I knew who took the ipod, it seemed ok for me to walk to the boy's door, ask to speak to the parents and get the ipod back. Simple.  However, in the process I would have humiliated the boy, the parents, likely broken relationship with them,  and it would have been culturally inappropriate.  So, Rob said we should instead trust Hudson's friends and see what would happen.  Today, after school, all the boys came back over and asked to play ball. As the thief passed by us, Kenny pointed him out and whispered to us the thief had brought the ipod.  A few minutes later out comes Kenny telling me to stay in the kitchen and for Rob to come help me in the kitchen while the return took place.  Shortly after, Kenny reported the ipod was hiding under a blanket on Hudson's bed.  Sure enough.....it was.

I don't think we ever expected to see the ipod again, but here it is.  More importantly we didn't alienate a little boy and his family, hopefully we can continue to build relationships with them. It sure wouldn't be worth "being right" just because of an ipod.

In the Country

The last week of our lives was spent out in the countryside with some wonderful people from Tennessee.  We always love when our Tennessee friends visit!  Especially when my brother, Reagan, is among them. 

Living in the countryside is always an adventure.  It is not for the faint of heart.  There are fleas/bugs/unknown biting things in the covers (just ask a few of my family members). There are very dirty floors.  There are no western toilets and your shower just flows into the toilet.....causing you to not be particularly thrilled to take a shower.  The bathroom smells like the choir tour bus after 14 days of touring. The key to your room sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.  There are loud noises from trucks, dogs, pigs, trucks, horns, trucks....ALL DAY AND NIGHT! 

However, there is a very sweet lady who runs the "hotel" and has been there for all of the last 3 years that we have been there.  She is kind to us and we have become friends with her. She always comments how amazing it has been to watch our language improve and has told us we are her first friends that are foreigners.  We got to talk about many wonderful things with her this last week.  She makes it all worth while. 

Village Driver

Tonight was my night to travel out and visit with some girls in a small town.  I stayed later than normal, way after the last bus had already departed.  One of my friends has a new home and wanted to make dinner, meaning I would be late.  My plan was to take a taxi for the hour drive home. Upon arrival this afternoon, I walked to the center of town where taxis hang out.  I scoped out the drivers and found a lady....I didn't want to drive back after dark with a man I had never met.  She agreed with me on a price and that she would pick me up after dinner and take me home.
A little before 8pm I called her, and 15 minutes later I was in her car.  I knew it was going to be interesting after the first 5 minutes in the car.  Here are a few of my highlights:

1. The driver's husband came along for the drive.  Apparently both are drivers.....and the hour drive might require the 2nd driver, at least that's what they said. 

2. When I called Rob to tell him I was on my home, the driver's husband leaned forward and said,
man: "Wow, I didn't know you could make calls to another country from your phone." 
me: "What?!?!"
man:  "You just called a foreign country and it was so fast and clear." 
me: "Oh no I didn't. I called my husband who is in the next town. We live here."  
man: "But you were speaking English....."   
In other words, as logic would require, a phone call where English is spoken has to be going to another country.

3. On a cold dark, rainy night, it is imperative to use the defrost feature in the car. My driver and her husband spent half of the time trying to figure it out. Finally they rolled the windows down, so then we were all cold, but the driver could see out the windows.....at least the last 1/2 hour.

4. The best part of the evening was when we were about to go through the toll gate to get onto the highway and I discovered something.  My driver was having her first highway driving experience......on a dark, cold, rainy night.....WITH ME IN THE CAR!   Several times I thought about demanding to drive. Especially when the husband was halfway in the front seat with us trying to get the defrost to work and she was weaving all over the road.......I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it home.  Thankfully I made it safely, and she felt good about her new experience.

And yes, they really are villagers who took me to the big city tonight......for the first time.  Boy do I know how to pick 'em.

Local Friends

So this lady isn't really my friend, but she looked cool so I took my picture with her.  I think she wanted to be my friend, though.

This is our house helper's little girl and she just turned 1.  She was a cutie.  Our helper brought her over to our house on Sunday afternoon and she played and played with Hannah.  She was very outgoing and wasn't afraid of us at all, which is the case many times.....we look different.

 I love how she is laughing in this picture. Did I mention she REALLY liked Hannah?

We are happy to have friends who are willing to drop by our home and visit for awhile.  This made our day!!

Happy New Year!!

So you thought it was already 2011, and had been for a month.  Over 1 billion people would beg to differ with you.  Finally the holiday season has arrived.  For those of us who are expats, Christmas and Thanksgiving just don't have the holiday feel.....but alas, New Year has arrived.  There is red everywhere and the shopping is insane.  Hannah and I have enjoyed venturing out into the streets to take it all in.  I have found that every day I have bumped into someone different on the streets who I know.  It is quite a reminder that we do live in a "small" town.   Here are a few sights we saw on this day.  

Cotton Candy only comes once a year in this country
Hannah waiting for her freshly spun blue flavor.



Hannah walking down the street of our town, booths as far as the eye can see.

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This man is selling blessings to be pasted on the sides of every doorway. Hopefully this will help good luck come to each home.