Lenses

We have been in the States for two weeks now!  I knew it would be a transition, but I didn't expect it would be quite so smooth.  Other than feeling rather cold every morning and not having quite enough long sleeves, we have comfortably transitioned.  We are blessed to be starting our state side stay in a place with others who are preparing to or have already worked overseas.  I'm sure this has cushioned the transition, resulting in us not seeming so weird or different.  Our boys are making friends left and right; starting conversations with others quicker than either John or I feel comfortable doing.  I'm sure Caedmon and Whitman know the names of more people living in this community than I do. 

Enjoying a basketball game. 

The stadium is soooo big.

Enjoying gardens and the weather!

 

Oh the selections are endless...

 

Thus far I feel like a kid in a candy shop.  There are so many great shops, grocery stores, and movie theaters!  The weather has been absolutely amazing; I haven't had sweat dripping from my body in the past two weeks, even when exercising! 

As I seem to be amazed with all I see, I've realized we have returned to our home culture and a lot of familiarity with very different lenses.  The lenses through which we now see and interpret the world around us have changed. 

For example, Whitman was quite disappointed with the rice that arrived with his Quesadilla at a Mexican restaurant.  He was expecting white rice when I told him, "It comes with rice."  I felt rather immodest last week when I wore shorts and a tank top, and I cannot believe how little the Maverick (basketball) Dancer's wear.  John and I have also been blown away by the number of obese individuals here.  The notable aspect to all of this is that it is not new.  Three years ago I wore shorts and tank tops regularly and I'm sure neither the Maverick Dancers nor the number of obesity individuals have changed that significantly in the past three years.  Though there have been many significant changes over the past three years...

...We have a 2 year old niece and nephew we've never met, three of our friends have gotten married, we've had 3 grandparents pass away, and at least 12 babies have been born to close friends or family members...,

But our lenses have significantly changed as well. 

I'm not so sure a clothes dryer is all that great any more, my clothes come out more wrinkled and I've already shrunk a pair of pants.  Homes, not to mention their respective yards, are sooo big.  It is so quiet outside, no chickens, geckos, or motorcycles revving their engines.  Everything seems so clean, to the point we've let the boys eat dropped food off the floor for the first time. 

Don't get me wrong, though things that were once normal we see very differently, we still have returned to a place that seems comfortable.  We know how to speak, mostly (be gracious if we slip up and ask questions that seem weird or sound funny in our word choices), we know how to maneuver through traffic, we know how to shop, interact with people, and we don't stand out!  We have really enjoyed gathering with people on Sundays and attending a Holy Book study during the week.  Thank you for thinking of us, it has been a fun and enjoyable transition back so far!

We Made It!

We arrived in Dallas last Tuesday the 7th and have been in the USA for one week! 

We are very excited to be here and thankful the actual trip of 3 flights went very well.  The boys slept well on the planes and watched multiple movies!  

We are pretty settled and have adjusted well to the time change, of 13 hours to be exact.  We knew there would be some adjusting and general transitioning for us as we returned, but so far returning to your home culture is MUCH easier than adjusting to a new host culture. 

Walking through an airport.

 

Resting the legs in the airport.

Waiting...with a GREAT attitude!

 

Most of our adjusting this past week, has sprung up in expected ways for me, enjoy the examples of what we are experiencing...

-I, Erin, am loving driving again.  It had been 3 years and though it is like riding a bicycle, a couple times I've had to remind myself to stay to the right when there are not any lines. 

-John and I have both reverted to the national language of our host culture when saying thank you at a store or restaurant where we heard Spanish or another language being used.

-I second guess myself every time I get water from the tap.  It actually took me a couple days to mentally be ok with drinking tap water again. 

-John and I both second guess ourselves when we use our left hands for eating or to hand something to someone.  The right hand is the only one used for those activities in our host culture. 

-I feel so rude when I walk in front of someone, regardless of whether they are seated or not.  In our host culture, out of politeness, you stretch your hand to your side and bend slightly forward whenever you walk in front of someone, even strangers in public places.

-I reach for an adaptor when I want to plug in my computer, which has a regular U.S. plug.  And I forget to grab the adaptor when I want to plug in my phone, which has a different prong set up. 

-Caedmon saw a pizza delivery car and said, "Look a taxi."

-Both boys asked, "What are graham crackers?" and "what are those?" when in the check out line I placed one of those sticks between my items and the next customer's items. 

-Once before bed Whitman said, "Mom, you forgot the lotion."  Referring to the nightly ritual of applying mosquito lotion before bed.

 

Naps...multiples time per day.
The first 3 days these boys would fall asleep just about anywhere. 

 

Thoroughly enjoying playgrounds!

Fun walks in nature.  
No mosquito lotion used here, though I did see mosquitos.

 

Farewell Party 2 and 3

On Sunday we held a farewell party specifically for the boys' and their friends from school.  We invited their individual classes to an indoor soccer arena for two hours, then ate lunch together.  Unfortunately the week prior to the planned party Whitman's class was on break and at least half of Caedmon's class did not attend.  All but three teaches traveled to another island for a continuing education type opportunity.  So, the more rowdy kids were asked to stay home and the preschool group was put on break.  We did not have addresses to mail invitations, much less names of the kids' parents.  Thankfully the teachers that remained provided us with cells phone numbers for many of the parents. 

On Sunday about 50 people, kids and their parents, came.  The kids mostly just kicked balls around for two hours.  At one point John tried to organize a small game, but it lasted only about 10 minutes.  Caedmon and Whitman, along with their classmates, thoroughly enjoyed the time!

 

The girls mostly just stood around holding balls

Moms taking pictures!

Classmates and Friends

Silly boys

Two of Whitman's classmates.

That same afternoon, we were thrown another farewell party.  Last year John taught an English class for a semester at a local college.  Many of his students have enrolled at the academic center in Barat to further their English abilities.  These students prepared food for a small party at the beach.  We ate, chatted, took pictures, and the boys and I went swimming.  It was a lovely afternoon. 

The student in the middle has become John's language helper over the last month.

All of the food was prepared by one student and her mom. 
Then they all brought it all on their motorcycles!

As people came to our first farewell party they brought traditional, hand woven, sarongs for us as souvenirs.  We have had at least 3 other friends, who were unable to attend, stop by our house to say good bye.  They also brought sarongs.  The funny part is we had already bought at least 8 ourselves.

The gifted sarongs.
The silk boxed patterned ones are traditional to this island.  Where as the blue one on the far left is batik traditional to the capital city island. 

Palm Sugar, wrapped candy, and the remaining cookie-crackers.
Clockwise from the top.

Along with the sarongs, so far we have been gifted 5kgs of palm sugar and 8kgs of wrapped palm sugar-coconut-rice candy by neighbors.  We already ate most of a package of cookie-crackers that taste like waffle cones as we didn't think they would make the trip.  We are also expecting durian spread and fried shallots from other neighbors.  I am often humbled by the customs and generosity of those around us here.  We are not sure if it will all make it through customs, but I am so touched everyone seems to make the effort and spend the money to send us back with a piece of Barat!

Farewell Party

On Sunday we threw ourselves a going-away party.  This was not at all considered odd as we live in a culture where YOU treat your friends to a meal on your birthday, instead of being treated yourself.   

About a week prior, I mentioned to our neighbors the desire to throw a party, which typically consists of inviting people over to eat.  We talked about when and what food I wanted to serve.  One neighbor even volunteered to help me cook.  The Thursday before, my neighbor gave me a list of ingredients to buy with the corresponding amounts: 1 kg of this, 1 Liter of that, 2 bunches of this, 2 packets of that.  Originally I had decided to order the wrapped rice, but after discussing the shopping list she said her and her husband would just make it themselves.  Then I asked how many coconuts to buy for the coconut milk we needed, to this she replied, "Oh no, don't worry, my husband is climbing coconut trees tomorrow.  He will get enough coconuts for you too.  At the same time he can gather palm fronds for the wrapped rice."  After trying to make certain this would not be too much for her to do, I agreeded.  I was doing the shopping, she was helping me to cook on the day of AND making 100 pastries AND 100 individually wrapped rice packets AND providing the coconuts.  

Saturday night prior to our party I slept rather well though I had no idea what to expect the next day.  I went to bed knowing we had invited more than 60 people, our couch can seat five squished together, floor space is limited, and I have 11 bowls (soup was on the menu), and 12 spoons.  On top of this John's substitute at the academic center was coming to town for one day, Sunday, to be oriented as his plans changed and he wouldn't make it to Barat before we leave.   

Sunday morning I was up in time to go for a run and buy pastries for my helpers; I knew two for sure would be coming. 

Pastries and cups ready for tea for my helpers.

My first helper arrived at about 8:30.  We got to work on peeling the 54 hard boiled eggs.  Then as my neighbor still had not showed up, we started peeling the 1/2 kg of shallots.  Afterwards, I went around back to my neighbor's house to 'call' for her.  Literally I stood in front of her house and yelled her name (not rude, just the common practice).  She came to the window with dough in her hand.  After a short conversation in which I clarified the party was at 1pm not 4pm, we moved all she had done to my house to get started on the soup. 

Hard Boiled Eggs & Shredded Chicken (from 4 chickens)

1/3 of the pastries waiting to be fried.
Filled with noodles, carrots, potatoes, and seasoning. 

Wrapped Rice

The Cook (in red)

Peeling and Slicing...on the floor of course. 

Shallots, lemon grass, garlic, and large chili peppers.

Blended Spices
I had to barrow a blender that morning, as mine had broken a few days before.

You know the joke people say when you have to wait awhile for meal at a restaurant..."Did they have to go out and kill the cow first?"  That is how I began to feel when it came time for the coconut milk.  After slicing the spices, I was told to blend them while the other ladies went out back to open the coconuts.  These coconuts were picked from the tree, then they were split open, the meat taken out,  and then shredded, all for coconut milk.  I've seen people hand shred coconuts before so I was expecting the next hour to be devoted to that.  I was wrong.  Instead we took the bowl of coconut meat down the street about 5 blocks.  There the lady had a machine to finely grate the meat.  Though it seemed weird to leave the house as there was still a lot to do, it was much easier than grating it by hand!

Taking off the husk/outer shell.

No pants!
We recently made a rule this little 2 year old can't come in without his pants on.

Taking the meat out of the hard shell.
Husks on the ground.

Coconut Meat
We used 5-6 coconuts.

Grating Coconut
This machine was in corner of the living room.

Upon returning from grating the coconut we were met by another neighbor wondering where we had gone.  She and another neighbor we all call 'grandma' joined us in the kitchen.  My 'cook' got to work on pressing out the coconut milk from the newly grated meat.  The rest of us took turns stirring the spices, slicing up all the wrapped rice, and cutting the eggs in half.  We used thread to slice the eggs in half as it creates a much smoother surface than a plain old knife (I'm pretty sure no one noticed).  At this point I made more tea and served the pastries I had bought earlier.

Cooking the Spices

Slicing wrapped rice.

Making the soup with the coconut milk and frying pastries. 
Grandma on the left.

Sometime during the process of cooking, bowls and small plates where brought over by my lovely neighbors.  About noon John came home from orientating his substitute, bring with him two boxes of water.  At 1pm our first 5 guests arrived.  I had not showered, but served them soup and pastries any way.  I felt very culturally appropriate as time is so flexible events rarely start on time and we have arrived at people's house right on time just to be met with, "Oh, I haven't showed yet," from the woman of the house.  All my helpers kept on working while I showered and changed.  Then the real craziness began.  All of the boy's teachers from their school arrived, about 14, along with at least 8 other guests.  We had benches set up outside, but it decided to start raining.  So at least 18 people crammed into our living room, other guests went across the street to sit in a neighbor's covered drive way, and the kitchen was full of 6 women cooking and making more pastries on the floor.  At some point I was asked if the washing machine could be moved to open the back door so dishes could be washed out back.  All I could think was that there was only dirt outside the back door and the kitchen floor was covered with food and people...how in the world could we moved it?  As soon as I said yes, everything was moved from the floor and a clear path was made. 

The washing machine moved. 
A sliver of the refrigerator can be seen far left; the washing machine is usually to the left of that.

Washing dishes out the back door. 

Another large wave of people came after all the teachers left and it continued to drizzle.  After the first wave of people we moved our coffee table outside to make more room for people to sit on the floor.  Aside from the craziness and the fact we probably looked a little ridiculous, it all went well.  I could not have done any of it without my neighbors.  The food was delicious, I had sufficient bowls, spoons, and dishes, and I had man power to make it happen.   Really more than anything my neighbors helped me pull it off in a culturally appropriate way.  The bowls of soup were served on top of small plates and brought out to our guests on a large tray.  They knew how to best tackle the piles of dishes, and keep up with serving guests, all by using their typical methods of washing dishes using large buckets of water.  And all of this, even moving the washing machine, didn't seem to phase them. 

Leftovers.
Coconut milk based soup, served with hard boiled eggs and chicken.



Fried leftover Pastries.

The funniest thing was that everyone thought we were leaving in the next day or two.  John was even asked, "So what time do you leave tonight?"  Everyone was surprised we would still be around for another 2 weeks.  We intentionally planned it on the early side; so in this we did not succeed in being culturally appropriate.  We learned these type of events are usually done right before someone leaves.   

 

Completely from Scratch

And by Hand.

With the many familiar western foods that we are not able to find here, I enjoy learning to make things from scratch.  This in reinforced by the availability of so many basic ingredients and spices.  Thanks to Martha Stewart, I came a across a recipe for Ricotta cheese.  In the western world we are so far removed from the process of how our food is made, I often forget that originally everything was made by hand.  The recipe made it sound rather easy, so I tried it!  Oh my goodness…it was easy and delicious!  Caedmon and Whitman are most familiar with mozzarella cheese as their exposure to cheese is limited to just that.  Consequently they were not impressed by my Ricotta. 

Ricotta Cheese
9 cups of milk resulted in about 2 cups of cheese

 After a few days of me being the only one eating the Ricotta, I began to worry it may all go to waste.  Then a friend suggested making lasagna, to which I replied, "We don't have lasagna noodles here."  Then she suggested making them.  So I got ambitious and made noodles.  Instead I decided to stuff the noodles turning them into ravioli.  Topped with a little meat marinara sauce, they were sooo good.  I admit I used canned tomato paste for the sauce and I did not have to grind my own beef, though getting ground beef is an experience worth another post!  But, I did have to pick some basil from my garden to season the cheese. 

Cheese Ravioli
Not beautiful, but the taste was wonderful!

 

My Little Garden
From the left: tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, and chili peppers. 
I'm afraid I won't get to enjoy the bell peppers before we return in April.

A few picture of the boys' recent fun.

Riding bicycles on our street. 
After friends showed up on bikes, Caedmon got his helmet and joined them.  A neighbor girl barrowed our pump for her bike and Whitman barrowed another neighbor's bike. 
Our street is rather narrow, so with six kids there were many near crashes and much laughter!

Our boys are a little weird as they are the only ones in helmets.
 

 Over the weekend I helped treat a burn on a six grade neighbor.  She was getting off her family's motorcycle when she got too close to the muffler.  She ended up with a 2" diameter burn on her lower leg.  I forced my services on her, knowing how sanitation is here compounded by the fact they believe every wound is best left open to dry.  In the frequent visits to my house, her siblings and our boys had fun playing.   

My patient's younger sister and Whitman

 

My patient's younger sister and brother with Caedmon

After three days treating her wound, she gave me the best compliment I've received since being here.  She said her mother said, "It turns out covering wounds is good." 

Maybe one day other things we share will be accepted as well!