Back Again! ( and with added pictures)

I feel like we’ve had a 4 week vacation.  Ok not really, but we have done quite a bit of traveling and have been blessed by a visit from Jack and Melinda, John’s parents.  We first met them on another island for a week of rest, relaxation, fellowship, encouragement and learning.  The time was full of beautiful sights and thought provoking conversations.  Enjoy the pictures! 




a house amidst rice fields for our first weekend
with the grandparents

the rice fields right outside the house

time in the pool





Caedmon and Papa

Whitman & Grammy

We visited a local forest full of monkeys

the monkeys where everywhere



they were pretty tame and very bold, especially if you had food

even without food, if you stopped, you just might find a monkey on your shoulder

Caedmon joined some local musicians



chillin in the hotel while enjoying treats from the States

amazing balancing while at the beach

our beach wear versus her beach wear, guess who will swim?

more pool time

ice cream at the pool, what else could a little boy want

Lost in translation: the small sign on the edge says 'no diving' in English, we assumed this literally meant no diving.  We shortly found out it is meant to communicate 'no jumping from the edge.'

We returned to our home town, with Jack and Melinda, feeling refreshed and motivated to continue working hard.  We were even motivated to change some of our methods for language and culture learning, specifically in spending more time with locals (more on our progress in this area later). 

Mall Fire

On Tuesdays and Thursdays John teaches a physics class, in English, to university students aiming to become high school teachers.  I, Erin, often take the boys out of the house during these mornings.  Last Tuesday was one such morning.  Caedmon, Whitman, and I rode a public bus, much like a large van, to a large soccer field.  Caedmon had been asking for weeks to go play soccer at this field.  Caedmon and I kicked the ball around while Whitman mostly just watched.  Afterwards we met John at the mall across the street to buy a cell phone as I had misplaced mine last weekend.  This mall is composed of 6 floors, each packed with stores.  The stores are more like small stands than actual rooms to enter.  Each floor seems to offer certain items.  The first floor has clothing, the second, cell phones and accessories, the third, computers and accessories, and so on.   It is a great place to buy used cell phones.  After visiting many ‘stands’ we bought a great phone, then headed to the top floor to eat lunch. 

After lunch the boys placed in a play place.  While John took Caedmon to the bathroom and I watched Whitman play, a guy came running around the corner saying, “3^rd floor, 3^rd floor,” on a walkie-talkie.  He was dressed nice but didn’t have specific indicators as to whether he was, or wasn’t, associated with the mall.  I was curious, wondering if there was a theft or injury, but just kept watching Whitman.  A few minutes later I noticed many people sitting around the area staring towards the corner of the room.  This corner was maybe 20 feet to our right, contained elevators and was composed of windows to the outside.  As I looked that direction I saw smoke slowly entering the area.  I began to more seriously question what was happening.  Though this building seemed pretty basic, I knew it had a fire alarm (I had actually seen the alarm for the first time this visit while looking for a phone) and PA system.  The alarm was not sounding, no announcements were heard over the PA system, and no other mall employees where providing information.  It took only a few more minutes for more smoke to collect.  I decided to pick up Whitman, calmly informing him it was time to go, and we went to find John.  We went to the top of the escalators to be in view of the bathrooms and also maintain a clear view of the smoke.  Announcements began on the PA system, but I couldn’t discern a word being said.  I decided to text John to maybe hurry him up, but of course my phone, newly purchased, didn’t have a charge.  We waited a minute or two more while I thought about what to do if we needed to leave separate from John and Caedmon.  At this time people, including all food court employees, began panicking, running to exits.  Thankfully John and Caedmon came out of the bathroom and quickly saw us.  There were multiple elevators, which one employee instructed John to take when he exited the bathroom, and two escalators.  Both these escalators went up and I had no idea where the stairs where.  Thankfully by the time John and Caedmon met up with us both escalators had been shut off so we could walk down them.  We were blessed with peace and clarity of mind as people were panicking, causing running and pushing.  This was our first experience in those situations you hear about where people panic and end up trampling others.  Please don’t worry, in was a weekday, lunch time and the crowds were not very big, exiting was quite easy and the panic was no where near extreme.  Even though we where on the top floor, we were able to exit out the front door quite quickly and easily, all the while calmly telling the boys a little about what was going on.  They too were calm and just observant. 

We were on the top floor near the round tower on the right

both pics borrowed from a local newspaper

Once outside we stole a couple looks toward the building, but quickly grabbed a taxi home.  As it turns out there was a fire in the basement, the cause is still uncertain, but nobody was hurt, aside from a few people fainting.  It was a pretty surreal experience.  At no time were we worried for our safety.  We were so thankful for previous teaching on fire safely and staying calm in emergency situations.  Even more so, we are so thankful for the provision of safety.  Definitely a new, and hopefully rare, experience for us here! 

Dance Exhibition #2

John and the boys attended another dance exhibition this week while I, Erin, went wedding shopping with friends (dear friends of ours recently got engaged).  Fortunately, this time they arrived in time to see our university friend dance.  Both Caedmon and John took pictures to share. 

Each region here has unique element in their traditional dance and costumes.  There are slight differences in the headdresses or hair adornment, the necklaces, and the style or shape of the costume worn (color was not necessarily unique to a region).  Speed and types of movements were also distinctions between regions.  All the performers are current university students majoring in art.  Many hope to become teachers themselves. 

 

 

our friend in the red shirt, center, and kneeling

 

 

 

 

Whitman making friends (each dancer represented a different region)

 

Dance Exhibition

A friend and current university student majoring in Art (covering local dance, theater, music, painting, and sculpting), invited us to a dance exhibition last Monday.   Unfortunately we arrived shortly after he performed, causing Caedmon to become quite unhappy.  This was compounded by people wanting to take Caedmon's picture and touch him.  Eventually, I, Erin, convinced him to take the camera and be in charge of the picture taking himself.  He liked this idea and it even helped him to become slightly social.  All of the following pictures, except the first, where taken by Caedmon, without any assistance. 

dancers waiting for their turn to perform

Caedmon made a friend

the guys' turn

every time a camera was raised, Caedmon raised his

Finally Caedmon consented to having his picture taken!

Celebrating a Year

We celebrated our One Year mark this past week by staying in a hotel.  Often our western friends will leave town for a vacation to refresh and revitalize themselves.  With two small boys, traveling far is not our idea of relaxation.  Therefore, we stayed in a hotel in town.  We thoroughly enjoyed the AC, the pool, cable TV (news, cartoons, and movie channels all in English!), a large bathtub, and I, Erin, did not have to cook! It was a wonderfully relaxing week.  Probably the most relaxing aspect was not having ANYTHING scheduled.  We did not have to be anywhere, or do anything; we simply enjoyed our time together as a family.  It was a real blessing to take some time off and relax. 

cartoon watching while cuddling under blankets

 

wrapped up in the AC

 

partial view of our city from the hotel

playing at the pool

enjoying the bath: even after swimming at the pool

We returned home on Saturday and I thought for sure the hardest part of returning home would be the heat as we do not have AC at home.  I was surprised by other aspects of real life that hit me.  First of all, it was nice to return to a place that was comfortable.  Our house really feels like ‘our’ home.  There is familiarity and comfort.  The boys can play without my constant watching, there are toys here, and we know the cleanliness of our bathrooms (a small struggle of mine when visiting other people’s homes).  As the day progressed, real life became more and more apparent.  First, as Caedmon was playing, he noticed a large pile of dirt under a couch.  There are super-ants here that some how dig up or dig out our grout and they left a very large pile under the couch. 

 

Next, some neighbors where burning garbage on their roof top.  The smoke came right down into our back yard and into our house.  This was compounded by the fact our two windows looking out into the back yard only have screens on them.  Next the city water stopped flowing for awhile and because we still do not have a tank, we were without water at bath time.  Thankfully we had a large bucket already full of water in the bathroom.  Lastly it rained and Whitman’s bed room roof has a significant leak.  There were already buckets strategically placed to catch the water, but at bath time I realized one of the buckets was the boys’ “bathtub.”  This tub is too large to fit through the bathroom door level and full of water.  So I slowly poured the water into the bathroom, through the door.  Not to worry, our whole bathroom is tiled and pretty much the same as a shower.  Unfortunately I poured a little too fast and ended up with a puddle on Whitman’s bedroom floor.  All these are aspects of our life here are not so uncommon for us, but all were little forgotten after a wonderfully relaxing week away. 



pile of dirt from ants

Caedmon cleaning up and finding the source

 

One Year!!!

I, Erin, cannot believe it has already been ONE WHOLE YEAR.  I remind myself that we each have celebrated a birthday here, experienced both Christmas and Easter here, and can actually carry on a conversation in the local language.  Yet, it is still hard to believe.  We are so grateful for all the provisions we’ve received and all the many ways we have adapted.  We are definately more than half way through our language and culture study.  We've had a couple of colds, but otherwise have remained healthy, even avoiding stomach sicknesses which are common here!  Amidst having a family, John and I have also been able to average over 40 and 25 hours of study, respectively, each week. 
I remember within our first few months in country I yearned for the one year mark, hoping I would be more comfortable and use to the culture.  Well, we have reached that one year mark and I can say we are more use to the culture.  Yet, at the same time it truly takes immersion into a new culture to realized just how deep our home culture runs.  These deep down aspects of our home culture, that are so ingrained in us, are still, after a year, occasional areas of tension.  Here are a few examples:

I did not realize how much I relied upon the changing of seasons to feel as if time has passed.  It truly is hard for me to believe it has been a year because the weather has barely changed.  Yes we have experienced an entire dry season and rainy season; but the weather has not turned cold, leaves have not changed colors and fallen, nor has my wardrobe seen any change.  I admit to being quite surprised as to how much my time orientation depended on the change of seasons. 

With two active boys it is really nice to get out of the house and let them run around.  I am still, at times, at a loss as to where to take them.  We live in a quiet complex so playing in the street in front of our house works well, but kicking or throwing a ball often ends with me fishing it out of the gutter and washing off the black slime.  This has caused me to rarely suggest taking balls out front.  A park or a play ground would be a wonderful destination for this type of activity, but they just don’t seem to exist here.  There are small play grounds associated with kindergartens, but these are difficult to use while school is in session. 

playground at a kindergarten

play place at the mall

The other alternative is play places in the mall.  We frequently visit these places as they provides a good place for active play, but they aren’t quite like play places I’m use.  Sometimes toys are broken and the carpets look rather dingy.  The hardest aspects of these play places are the other parents that want to take photos of our boys.  They insist on sitting their children down next to ours to snap a picture, all the while our boys just want to play. 

Another culture difference I am still adjusting to is friends who drop by unannounced.  This requires a large deal of flexibility.  A simple statement such as, “Oh we are about to sit down to eat,” doesn’t carry any of the meaning I am use to it carrying in my own culture.  I am still learning how to politely refuse.  Such as when we are the guests at a friend’s home, we are served tea and sometimes snacks and it is common for the hostess to keeping encouraging us to eat and drink.  My culture causes me to interpret this very differently, so to correctly understand their meaning I have to consciously remind myself they are being polite and making sure I am well served. 

We have adjusted to so many aspects of the culture that it is hard to remember many of them.  Yet we are still adjusting and learning how to become more and more like the locals.  It is very easy to compare all we experience here with what is ‘normal’ in our home culture, yet this isn't always helpful.  Therefore, I am frequently reminded by one who went before us who said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”

And so with that we enter into our second year of learning to communicate and live like locals!

The Immigration Office

Monday we visited the immigration office as the last step to getting our visas in hand.  We are so thankful for how it went.  When we arrived there were at least 15 people waiting outside and another 25 inside.  We used an agent to manage and collect all our paperwork.  So as soon as we met the agent, we were shown into a room to have our pictures taken and be finger printed.  Then we were free to go.  The boys where amazing.  Last year neither wanted their pictures taken and many tears were shed.  This year Caedmon wouldn’t even let me in the room with him, he wanted to do it all by himself.  He was also quite disappointed when they didn’t need his finger prints.

 

On another thankful note, we just renewed our rental contract on our house for another year.  We had been in negotiations with our landlords for a few weeks.  We had seen four houses in the mean time and found nothing as nice as our current house.  There was one small house which would have been very nice, but the size would have made it difficult to have visitors stay the night.  Our rent was raised slightly, but still within our budget and still a steal for the house, furniture, and location.  We are thanking Him!!!

On our way home, it had rained for ~24 hours

It is now April

Our visas expired on Sunday, March 31st, but THANKFULLY our new visas are in!  Thank you for lifting up the last couple of steps for our visas to be finalized!  What those last steps were I am still unclear about, but it did not necesitate a trip out of the country!  The four of us will visit the immigration office on Monday to get a set of pitures taken, sign the paperwork and leave with our visas in hand.  We couldn’t be happier about this seamless transition in obtaining official permission to study for a second year!