A Week in Pictures

Whitman was mostly being silly, recently though he has been running around without pants as he is in the process of potty training.  When people drop by we often grab the nearest thing to cover him up, like his blanket.  Most locals will wear a sarong around the house, so Whitman, along with many of our friends think he's pretty cute in his own little sarong. 

 

Brothers in matching pajamas, each with their own "blue blanket."  Most mornings they lounge around in pajamas, drinking milk and watching cartoons (in the local language)!

 

The majority of locals celebrate their most important prophet's birthday by filling large baskets with food and decorations like those held by Caedmon and Whitman.  These decorations are filled with dyed hard boiled eggs.  Apparently it is common to celebrate for a month or two.  The actual holiday was last month, yet our neighbor just dropped these off for the boys last week.

Whitman finally has a head of hair!

 

Digging in the backyard where the grass won't grow!

Watching the clouds where the grass is really growing!

Powdered milk is the most common form sold here.  We tried a different brand this week and boy does it make a great milk mustache!

Families

Five days a week our host mom exercises with neighbors.  They gather at 7 in the morning to walk ten laps around a small cement court in the middle of the nieghborhood, then do various exercises.  The last set is referred to as beautifying exercises.  I (Erin) join these ladies, most of whom are grandmothers, once a week.  They are always glad to see me and have invited me to various events.  After exercising they often take part in refreshments or a full breakfast at one of their homes. 

The Ladies nieghborhood exercise group

This morning, with Caedmon accompanying me, we enjoyed fried bananas, fried tubers (similar to potatoes), and meatball soup (yes for breakfast) at the home of one of the ladies.  Our host mom brought along her grandson too.  Here were two boys, one 6 and the other 4, sitting among a group of chit-chatting women.  The grandson’s school did not start for another hour so it was only natural for him to accompany his grandmother as he was in her care.  As for Ceadmon, they always enjoy seeing a little white boy.

The boys love the meatballs sold by street sellers, just like those we ate for breakfast with the ladies.

Our host mom has three grandsons that live with her during the school year.  This is quite common as education is seen as being better in the city.  So if there is extended family in the city, children live with aunts, uncles, cousins and/or grandparents to attend school. 

It is not uncommon for adult children to live with their parents either, even after getting married.  Our nieghbors for example have a three or four bedroom house, yet there are at least 16 people living there.  There are five siblings, four of whom are married with children, all living in one home.  John is one of five, and we have seven nephews and one niece on his side.  So for me it would be like living with John’s parents, all of his siblings and their families.  While I have really enjoyed holidays when we are all able to get together, and we have even lived with John’s parents for extended periods, I can't imagine living together, all 21 of us, in one house.  I have a hard time imagining this because it is so uncommon in our culture.  Why the whole family lives together next door I am still learning.  It makes sense to me to offset living expenses, and for live-in childcare help.  Yet a desire to be ‘out on our own’ or ‘have privacy’ in our own culture would often trump any potential financial strain, right?  As a whole the culture here is much more relationship and group oriented.  Learning these differences amazes me at times, and yet I know we appear just as strange at times too. 

Rainy Season

Ever since Christmas day it has rained and rained.  Last week was the first time the sun actually made an appearance.  I (Erin) grew up in the Northwest and therefore am not bothered by the rain.  I have learned though that rainy season is much different then the wettness I am accustomed to on the west side of the mountains. 

Rainy Season means…

-Not only do things mold easily but randomly too.  I found in the past couple weeks a backpack, camara case, safely belt on Whitman’s highchair, and a T-shirt all growing mold.  All these items were in their usual places of storage and where not wet when put away.    
-It is naturally more humid here then our home in the States, but now a cracker left out turns to mush within a few hours. 

-The hand towel in the kitchen and others around the house seem to always be damp and clothes take longer to dry.  Thankfully we have space inside where we can hang clothes up. 

-Most rain comes without much thunder or lightening, but we do get a good share.  Last Friday was the first time Caedmon and Whitman actually slept in our bed with us.  The thunder was incredibly loud and the lightening so bright you were aware of it with your eyes closed.  In all honesty nobody actually slept; it turned out to be a very early start to our day. 

-Lastlly there is flooding.  All rain water empties into open street side gutters, which also carry away all our gray water.  These gutters are often only 1 foot deep and maybe 1 ½ feet wide. So when the gutters are full the water fills streets, homes and all our spaces available.  One of our tutors recently told us that her nieghboorhood often floods during rainy season.  To get home from work during a flood, she puts her motorcycle on a small motor boat on the edge of her nieghborhood.  The boat then takes her and her motorcycle to her front door.  New construction has caused these small boats to stop this service, thus causing our tutor to sleep over at a friend’s house when heavy rains flood her nieghborhood. 

Our backyard after a heavey rain

overflowing gutters after a rain

flooding only seems to slow people down, not stop them

Thus far, I am thuroughly enjoying this season.  The clouds and rain bring a small but noticeable decrease in temperature.  Though I will not say it gets cold as many locals would, it has made cold showers a little more challenging.