More with the Grandparents

Jack and Melinda returned to the states the last week of June, but we had such a wonderful time with them here, I, Erin, wanted to post more of the things here that we were able to share with them!  Many of our friends were eager to meet our family; we therefore had people over all most everyday.  We managed to continue studying, because of the constant playmates grandparents are, and even take a trip outside the city, into some mountains.  Even after a year living here I, Erin, am still amazed at the significantly different cultures there are, just on this one island. 

This is a picture from our trip to another island where we met up with Jack and Melinda.  Check out the chain restaurant complete with its own alter for daily offerings (yellow shelf to the left of the logo). 

We hosted a birthday party for a friend, blue shirt on left.  He and his friends did all the cooking and cleaning!

We went out to lunch with this family.  John has spent multiple Sundays with the eldest son, middle back, speaking English.  He is a 15 year, who just graduated high school and desires to study in the states. 

This is a well known port, and tourist attraction apparently.  Our neighbors will go at 4 or 5am to buy shrimp.  We decided to forego going that early and this is about all we saw.

A favorite local meal of mine that we had to share with Jack and Melinda, we ate out, I have no idea how to make it.  Grilled rice and chicken, with very spicy salsa.  There are more ways to wrap and cook rice here than I ever imagined. 

We were blessed with a ‘date night,’ so we took the motorcycle, which was our first motorcycle ride together.



The motorcycle was running very poorly as we set out on our ‘date-night,’ so we stopped at a road side tire repair stand/gas station.  Usually the wooden rack off to the left is full of bottles of gas.  They were all empty when we arrived, but not to worry, they had gas.  The little boy just had to siphon it out of their motorcycle. 

A traditional cake we enjoyed while visiting our host family.  Made from bananas, coconut milk, nuts, sugar and maybe eggs.  Wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. 

 

the inside



Funeral event site in the mountain area we visited with Jack and Melinda. 



This mountain area is know for their funeral events.  People save, probably their whole life time, for money to buy a buffalo.  They may cost anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000.  The buffalo are killed on the day of the event, cooked and eaten by all the attendees. 



The deceased is placed in a coffin for burial only after all family members and friends have come to pay their respects, this could take months.  (Where exactly they keep the body I still have yet to learn) During the funeral event the coffin is put on display along with a statue made to look like the deceased and a photo.  We were able to witness this event taking place, nothing private about this service.  The deceased's coffin will later be placed in a cave.
In our city, the two major ethnic groups require their dead to be buried, under ground, within 24 hours.   There usually is a funeral event at the family's house, but the deceased's body is no longer there.  A meal is served, but it does not include buffalo.  The locals here usually save their money to pay a dowry or bride price rather than buy a buffalo.  Such significant differences within one province!







 

Unexpected beach stay

Last night we arrived home from the adventure of a life time.  Sunday we rented a car and left at 4am to visit friends on another Island.  Last year we met a group of university students from a nearby island, all studying here in our city.  They are currently all on summer break.  We have been invited many times to visit them and finally saw an opportunity to do so.  So, early Sunday morning we picked up two of them and one of their moms and drove 3 ½ hours to the ferry port at a famous beach town; last year this same drive took us almost 6 hours.  Upon arriving at 7:30am we learned the first ferry had just left.  So we waited 4 hours for its return.  Since we arrived so early we were the third car in line to board.  Unfortunately all trucks and busses have priority, so the second ferry at 11am quickly filled with trucks and busses leaving room for only two cars.  Though this was quite frustrating there was one more ferry that evening.  Our ticket and number in line was still good for the next ferry so we went to the beach.  The day was cloudy and quite drizzly, so we  mostly sat under cover.  The boys did play some in the sand!  After grabbing a bite to eat we went back down to the port to line up.  After waiting an hour, one bus boarded the ferry, then all traffic was stopped.  We shortly learned the ferry was cancelled because of bad weather.  It was to leave the next morning at 4am.  We headed back to the main drive and quickly found lodging.  One of our companions received a phone call from a family member working on the ferry, informing us, only the vehicles which were currently lined up at the port would be allowed on in the morning.  We decided to forgo a night of sleep in the car, especially with Caedmon and Whitman, making 7 of us in total.  This also meant skipping the early morning ferry.  No big deal we thought, there will be others!



Cars and motorcycles lined up and waiting for the ferry.

Trucks lined up for the ferry.  Only the one on the far right was in use.

Flexible boys, making good use of e-books, apps, and movies!

Two of our friends, accompanying us to their home!

 The next morning, Monday, before we even left for the port we found out the rest of the ferries were cancelled for the day because of bad weather.  Better weather was expect early morning Tuesday, so we agree to stay another night at the beach.  We found another place to stay closer to the port and just hung out.  Normally an unexpected stay at the beach would be wonderful, but the weather was so windy, cloudy, and rainy we mostly stayed in.  Whitman and John ventured down to the beach.  They briefly touched the water, went for a walk, then came back with Whitman’s lower lip quivering. 


Tuesday morning we headed to the port at 4am.  After a couple hours we learned, from our friend’s mom, currently on the island we desired to reach, all ferries were cancelled until July 6^th.  This whole time there were absolutely no port employees around to gain further information.  A little later we saw a posted note announcing all ferries were cancelled until the 4^th of July, or until the weather improved. 

Our breakfast stop after leaving the port for home.

Regardless of the restaurant, the options were: rice, chicken, fish, shrimp - fried or grilled.

By 9am we were on the road, heading home.  It was a trying trip, but we were able to continue building relationships with our friends and practice a lot of language.  We took a different route home, taking us through a mountain area, which made for a great outing at a tea garden.  It was not at all like we planned, but we couldn’t have imagined a more fixed ‘closed door,’ and through it all we were provided with patience, flexibility and attitudes we needed to endure. 

Next time we'll fly!

The Tea Garden

Tea Garden



Cassowary bird at a small zoo at the Tea Garden

our friend's mom, hoping to return home AND return to work

Very small zoo, but the setting among the garden was beautiful!

It was quite cool; Whitman's pj's were the only long sleeves and pants we brought

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!