Upon arriving back in Barat our main goals consisted of helping the boys transition back into school, house hunting, language learning, and opening the academic center back up. We have had a few unexpected developments in each of these areas.
First, the boys transitioned into school unbelievably well, not due to anything we did as parents.
Second, we have seen five houses thus far. The process for looking for a house to rent in quite different. There are not any magazines, papers, nor offices, listing rental properties. Instead you mention it to someone, who will ask a friend, who will ask a friend, and so on...all word of mouth! Our hopes in finding a different house was to be an area where the local Barat language is used more regularly and to give us a little more living space. Three of the houses we saw were the same size as our current house. Another, though quite large, would have required a great deal of work. Every window on the second floor was missing as least one pane of glass for example. The fifth house, seen by John, was at least a 10 minute drive from town and on the main highway/road. During this whole process, the third unexpected development occurred.
In mentioning to our neighbors our intent for moving, one specific family expressed their wishes we would not move. This family is of Barat origin and both the husband and wife have increased their use of the Barat language with us, using almost exclusively Barat with John. They have also expressed willingness to help us in our language learning, to the extent of inviting us over everyday should we so desire to practice. This family has always been very kind to us, but their current intentionality has blown us away.
These neighbors have four children, two of which attend the same school as Caedmon. Very graciously, this family has been giving the boys, and I, as I am not ready to let them go alone, a ride to and from school everyday. Many days of the week they also provide cold drinks for the ride home, which takes only about 5 minutes.
These neighbors have four children, two of which attend the same school as Caedmon. Very graciously, this family has been giving the boys, and I, as I am not ready to let them go alone, a ride to and from school everyday. Many days of the week they also provide cold drinks for the ride home, which takes only about 5 minutes.
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| Whitman and Caedmon waiting for a ride to school from our newly intentional neighbors. |
Lastly, our intentions of starting activities again at the academic center were recently put on hold. John received a visit, while at the academic center, from a couple of immigration officials. For at least two hours they questioned him and lectured him on what he could and could not be doing on our current social-cultural visa. It came down to not being able to teach, even if volunteering. From the conversation, John gather the biggest issue was the perception of others. Regardless of whether he was being paid or not, what people saw was John 'working' at the academic center. Since this surprise visit, John has spent increased time in language study, literacy preparation, and at the local museum. As unnerving as the visit was, it may be a blessing in disguise: forcing John to focus on other tasks!
As I continue in language learning, I am trying to take advantage of the willingness of our neighbors. The wife has invited me over to cook twice and even taken me before hand to the market to shop for ingredients. A funny side note, in this culture it is very indecent to hold hands with a person of the opposite sex, but completely normal to hold hand with a person of the same sex. So the wife held my hand the whole time we walked through the market. I know in my head this is quite normal here, but it still feels very uncomfortable.
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Ingredients to make curry chicken; using 3 chickens.
From left to right: a type of ginger root, candlenuts (in yellow bag), lemon grass, shallots, garlic, and chili peppers.
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We peeled and chopped, for at least 2 hours.
I gave myself a blister peeling garlic and never before did my fingers burn from slicing garlic.
Granted, it was a lot of garlic!
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Snacks: thin fried pastry filled with fish and spices
What I expected to take a couple hours, turned into a five hour event. Thankfully they served snacks and cold drinks. We devoured them.
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| After prepping outside, where it was cooler, we moved inside to cook. |
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Washing Area
Here the wife washed the spices, chicken, pressed the coconut to make coconut milk, and later washed all the dishes.
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| Cooking chicken with all the prepared spices. |
We ended up eating sometime after 2pm. The food was delicious and there is nothing like seeing first hand how it is made. It was well worth the time spent, though quite tiring as well.
