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!

Easter Ruined by Rain

     The life we celebrate on Easter could never be spoiled, yet yesterday’s rain significantly impacted my (Erin’s) intended celebration.  It seems rainy season has finished, much to my dismay, as yesterday’s rain was the first in at least two weeks.  It was also the first time since arriving I wished it would stop. 

decorations made at the morning celebration

Our day began with a celebration at a local service.  After a simple lunch at home, John went out with a friend, while I studied and the boys rested.  After naps, John and our friend picked us up for a trip to the mall.  We spent a couple hours at the mall conversing with a family introduced to us by our friend.  This family wanted us to meet their 14 year son so he could practice his English and learn more about attending college in the States, he will graduate high school this year (much ahead of the average student).  In this culture relationships are a higher priority than time, so I didn’t really know when we’d return home.  Fortunately we returned home shortly after 5pm.  For a special dinner I planned hamburgers, watermelon, potato salad, and pie for dessert.  Not our traditional Easter meal by any means, but I was going for something special, relatively easy, and of which all the ingredients could be found.  When we arrived home I decided to forgo the pie and just focus on dinner.  I took out the hamburger to make patties, turned on the stove, and then heard the sound of our padlock knocking on our gate. 

When people stop by they either knock our padlock against the gate and say ‘good afternoon,’ or if it is another kid they will yell Caedmon’s name (even if they aren’t here to see Caedmon).  I was mentally not prepared to receive guests, nor appropriately dressed.  When we arrived home I quickly changed into a tank top, which didn’t match my skirt mind you.  The culture here is very modest in their dress.  Even those not of the majority religion usually wear pants or skirts down to their knees and keep their shoulders covered, even more so when going out.  Upon hearing there were guests at the gate I quickly found a shirt to put on and went out to meet them. 

When someone stops by it is polite to invite them in, regardless of what you are doing.  It is also polite to serve them tea and a small snack.  I really wanted to be making dinner, but we invited them in and thankfully had some cookies to offer them.  Shortly after arriving it started to rain, hard!  They rode a motorcycle to our house and were going to head on to another friends’ shortly, but the rain postponed their departure.  It is a struggle to remain flexible in these times.  My expectations for the evening of a special meal, maybe another conversation about Easter with the boys, and John and I relaxing together after putting the boys down where spoiled.  Now with guests in my house I was trying to stay calm, engage in conversation and figure out how to do what was best for two hungry boys who likely would turn into puddles of tears at 7pm.  At a lull in the conversation I went to the kitchen to butter a hamburger bun, peel some eggs and pour some milk for the boy’s dinner.  Afterwards John put the boys to bed and our guests decided to brave the rain at about 7:30p.  John and I then ate potato salad and watermelon for dinner while checking the college basketball tournament scores.  It was a great opportunity for practicing language and developing relationships, which is our main goal right now, but it wasn’t the Easter I expected!

Potato salad and watermelon for dinner, and not dressed for guests!

Fish Crackers

 

I (Erin) was very excited to find these crackers.  I thought they would be a great, not to mention, fun, snack for the boys, especially as many of the crackers here are rather sweet.  The boys too were very excited for fish crackers, though I’m pretty sure they don’t remember Goldfish from the States.  We brought them home and immediately opened them up. When I first tasted them I was a bit disappointed.  They tasted as if they were flavored with onion, but with a bit of a twist which I can’t quite explain.  I love sour cream and onion chips and onion in most anything, but these crackers where just different enough I did not like them.  The boys on the other hand love them and just keep eating them.    

Street side seller of durian, which you can smell as you pass by

 

Yesterday we found out they are durian flavored crackers.  It all makes sense now.  I recently had the opportunity to try durian fruit, for it is the height of durian season.  It had been made into a spread, but I would bet the flavor was the same regardless.  I explained to John it tasted like something sweet with an oniony or garlicky hint to it.  Remember the hint of onion in the fish crackers with a slight twist…durian, that was it!  Yes durian is a fruit and has a sweetness to it, yet there is another very different flavor.  People say you either love it or hate it, nothing in between.  Some public buildings, such as hotels and hospitals have rules against bringing the fruit in as it has a very strong odor (odor not fragrance) even with its thick peel on.  I will politely pass on any other offers of durian as it is a very strange flavor. 

I bought the fish crackers for the boys, so as long as they like them it doesn’t matter the flavor.  

Visas were approved!

Prior to arriving in country, we obtained permission to stay for a year as students.  At the end of the year, which is unbelievably only a month away (April 18th) we have to leave the country or have already obtained new visas.  We started the paperwork in January.  It mostly consists of forms to fill out, passport type photos to obtain, and a lot of waiting.  We just heard our visas, for another whole year as students, were approved!  Thank you for lifting us up!  Apparently we still have a few more steps until we have them in hand and are 100% legitimate; these consist of handing over all our passports and current visas to a gentleman who takes them to the immigration office with additional paperwork from the University, and later sets up a time for us to visit immigration as well.  Basically he does all the leg work for us!  As our new visas will be the same type and were approved prior to the expiration of our current visas, we do not have to leave the country to obtain them, as long as we still get them in hand prior to the end of our 'year'.  Thank you again for lifting us up!

No tank, but water!

After only two days with a very finicky, broken pump, our landlord obtained a replacement sensor.  Our pump is fixed and working very well.  We still do not have a new tank, but as long as the pump continues working we have water in all our pipes and coming out of all our facets, whenever they are turned on!

Our buckets are back to being make-shift sinks

SO THANKFUL...for water!

A few weeks ago our water tank began leaking profusely.  Our landlord first tried to patch the large cracks in the bottom, but soon found it was not possible.  Since then we have been without a water tank.  Thankfully this has not been much of a problem until yesterday. 

view from our second floor - across the street

      As you can see many roof tops possess water tanks.  These tanks are for storing water from the city which runs to most households and buildings.  (Side note: most homes outside cities use wells)  Not all households have these tanks.  If you have a tank you need a pump, which pumps water from the city into the tank.  The water pressure from the city is minimal, so people often have a pump even without a tank.  Those that don’t are at the mercy of the city water flow.  In our house for example the city water pressure is never enough to get water to our second floor.  There are times during the day when water pressure is so low it doesn’t even trickle out of our down stairs facets.  Therefore a pump is very helpful.  During the dry season there are water shortages that can limit water access as well.  Therefore a tank is also very helpful.     

Our water tank, next to its stand on our roof

Since our tank broke our pump has been directly connected to the water line, turning on when ever we turn on a facet, and then turning off again by itself.  Yesterday the pump didn’t turn on.  First we thought the water from the city was too low causing our pump not to be able to pump anything at all.  After a whole morning without water we began to wonder and contacted our landlord.  Twice throughout the day the pump kicked on, so we quicley filled up as many buckets as we could.  Throughout the rest of the day we washed dishes, flushed toilets and bathed using water from these buckets.  Today our landlord determined there is a problem with a sensor in the pump.  So until he can get a replacement part we go out back, hit the pump, jostling the sensor and it kicks on!

I am so thankful this didn’t happen earlier in our time here.  Though we are continuing to adjust to life here, I feel we have adjusted to certain areas that made our water issue yesterday much easier to deal with. 

our bathroom: no sink, no separate shower, but usually a regular flush toilet

Most bathrooms here are a tiled room without a sink or separate shower.  Often it is a squat toilet or non-flushing toilet.  So a large bucket full of water with a ‘dipper’ is a common sight This water is used for washing yourself after going to the bathroom (toilet paper is rare as well), flushing the toilet, and showering.  (modern bathrooms with automatic flush toilets usually have a sprayer next to the toilet, see picture above).  Since moving in we’ve used all the buckets more like sinks; catching our used water to be drained carefully and maintain a relatively dry floor.  Though not my preferred method, I wasn’t too bothered yesterday by flushing with a bucket or showering by the cupful.  It still caught me off guard every time I went to wash or even just rinse my hands…no water from the tap.  Through it all I was so thankful we still had water regardless of how we had to access it and amazed at how we have actually grown accustomed to some cultural aspects of life here. 

Do you have any pets?

     We were recently asked this question by a friend in the States.  No we do not have any pets, but we do have various other vermon with whom we share our residence.

First we have ants.  We have seen at least 5 different types.  There are red ones, black ones, big ones and small ones.  Some bite, others don’t.  Then there are some that are so tiny and move so quickley they seem to appear and disappear just like that.  If we miss a crumb on the floor, the ants quickley show us where we left it.  No matter how hard we try to keep things clean and no matter how much bug spray we use, there they are. 

Then there are the small gekos that inhabit our house.  These we see mostly at night or early in the morning.  These lizards are actually kind of cute; until I noticed they seem to leave small dropping on my kitchen counter, dishes in the drying rack, and even a book left out on the counter.  We have found out these small lizards help manage the cockroaches, which we see mostly after return home from a few nights away.  So I’m willing to put up with the lizards (and their little messes) if it helps keep the coackroaches at bay. 

lizard on our dinning room wall

    Outside there are many street cats.  I have yet to meet one person that actually owns a cat as a pet.  The boys are very interested in these cats.  Seeing where they sleep, scrounge for food, and their sickly appearance we have taught the boys to LOOK only.  I (Erin) have come see they too have a purpose: managing the rat population.  Yes, if we are out early or at night we occasionally see a small, gray creature return to the gutter. 
     Occassionally we have seen dogs as pets, but this is rare.  Dog meat on the otherhand is common about 200 miles north of us.  We have had the opportunity to try it.  Interesting, but kind of tough and wild.

In our front garden there are frogs and snails, which both seem harmless and fun to look at, so far anyways. 

snail shells from those common in our yard

one of many frogs in the front year

      In our backyard, again at night, there are bats that like to dive in and out of our yard.  They have a pretty loud squeeking that accompanies their flying.  We have gotten use to their noise and haven’t experienced any other negative effects from them. 

The most recent vermon in our lives are worms.  This is where it gets gross.  A friend suggested we take anti-worm medication every six months just because intestinal worms are easy to pick up here.  We decided to follow this advice after seeing small red worms in the boys bath water, after they finished bathing.  The medication is just a one dose administration, but after a week there were still worms in the bath water.  It turns out these worms were actually in our water tank.  Only after our water pump stopped working and we emptied our tank completely, did we notice that the worms and also mosquito larvae had been coming out of the bathroom facet.  A friend advised us this can happen if you don’t regularly empty your tank, which we hadn’t been doing.  Recently we discovered a large crack in our tank which may have allowed the initial entry of the worms. 

So, in summary, we do not have any pets, intentionally any way. 

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.