Moving Time

 Welcome to our new home is Barat!

The view of our house from the dead end road on which it sits.

     As you can see, the house is not quite move in ready.  A few more cosmetic details need to be finished, such as sanding and staining the floors.  Trim and baseboards have to be installed.  Doors need to be hung, along with painting of the kitchen, bathroom and third bedroom.  Then there are a couple more major details to enable us to really live there.  The kitchen cabinets, which are finished, have to be installed and the last bit of plumbing needs to be connected.  
    When I just look around, the house really seems almost finished!  Aside from the few last details, moving time is nearly here.  We have been dreaming of, planning, and trying to execute this move for sometime now.  It will bring us into much more regular and consistent language and culture exposure.  It is also a very needy community, making it a fitting location for John's foundation work, and especially eternal work.  On the other hand it will also be a big adjustment.
     The community we will be moving into is very poor in comparison to where we live now.  The majority of the men are fishermen or laborers, like those working on our house.   Most women do not work outside the home.  Those that do sell fish, pastries, other homemade food, or incidentals.  None of our neighbors to be have running water in their homes.   The women all do their laundry by hand.  Kids are left to play, wander, and roam freely, even those as young as 2 years old.  Education is not a priority and parents do not spend much time intentionally teaching their children.  Personal property and private space is not a value in the community as we might hold.  If our builders had not hung the front door, where there are stairs, kids would just wander in and play freely with whatever they found inside the house. 
    Our different ways and values have been obvious living here in Barat, but they will be even more highlighted once we are living there within this new community.  Every time we have moved it has taken both us and the community around us time to adjust.  Thankfully our mornings and schooling of the boys there will help ease this transition.   Yet, I ask that you will all be thinking of us during this time.  Our boundaries, though they might be different than theirs, such as kids and adults alike dropping by at any hour and freely coming right into the house, or peering in windows if doors are shut, will take time for us all to learn and adjust to. 
     The actual move itself is an area of concern for us too.  We seem to average a move every few years so the actual labor of it is not too daunting.  The Barat people are very community and relationally oriented.  This results in people just hanging around and the givving of a great deal of help.  Thus, we expect many helping hands when it comes to actually moving in.  Help is a huge blessing, but what concerns us is the difference in personal property, space, and taboos.  From previous experience, we foresee many eyes examining our things as they are moved and then followed with questions about how much did that cost, or what is that, or comments about the great quantity of stuff we have.  Not to mention we will be moving a washing machine, an oven range, and individual beds and dressers for our children, none of which our neighbors have.  There have also been times when we have had people over to our current house for a meal or a visit and they freely wander around opening doors and looking around.  Thus, we find ourselves in this funny situation of wanting to avoid the uncomfortable aspects of people being around as we move, yet they are offering help which would be an immense blessing.
    The fact that this move and new home is even possible is because of the partnership of so many of you and the great blessings He has given us.  We desire wisdom, patience, thick skins, and the ability to focus on the positive as we under take this move.  Thank for lifting up this next step!

We spent an hour at the house on Sunday.

Caedmon and Evangeline under the house playing with a chicken.  

Name Calling

      People, in our home culture, often talk about how meaningful it is when someone remembers your name and uses it.  Other times words can be very meaningful when we refer to another by positive characteristics they possess, such as talented, loving, or faithful.  Living in Barat we have learned many different forms names take and words used to refer to others.  Much of what we have learned has come from being called one or the other. 

When out and about, people who we do not yet know, will often call us "White Person" in the national language, or "Mister" in English.  Men, women, teenagers, and children, from across the street, from a motorcycle, or when walking up to greet us may use either of these terms.  Yes, I, Erin frequently get called Mister (in English).  Occasionally, we may come across a middle or high school student that has learned the terms sir and mam, but mam often comes out as mom, and both are used with names. 

When meeting a person for the first time you might learn their name, but more likely you will learn their eldest child’s name and refer to them as so-and-so’s mom or dad.  I am most often referred to as Caedmon’s Mom.  If you are married but do not yet have kids, you may be called by your husband’s name, so I would be John’s Wife.  If you are fortunate enough to learn a person’s actual name, which occurs most often when exchanging phone numbers, you probably will only get their ‘nickname.’  Their nickname often is a shortened portion of their full name, but with less connection than Chris has to Christopher.  We have multiple neighbors who go by Ani because their full name ends in –ani, but each has a very different full name. 

The saddest examples of name calling we’ve seen is when children are called stupid.  Frequently when children disobey or just do something a child might do, such as knock over a glass of milk or throw their clothes on the floor, their parents may call them stupid or naughty.  When our children have cried in the company of others because we have told them no, the locals will often call them spoiled.  This is a term often used for small children that cry when told no.  Whitman recently has avoided hair cuts as long as possible because when he arrives at school with shortened hair, a nice short crew cut, the other children often call him the equivalent of 'baldy.'  

All of these words or methods of referring to people carry a great deal of culture.  We have our own personal reactions to hearing them, but we still are learning how they are really interpreted or meant by the locals that use them.  

Christmas Celebrations

We were blessed by a visit from my, Erin's, parents for Christmas.  My younger brother is also currently out of the country, serving with the US Air Force in Japan.  Instead of spending Christmas alone, we convinced my parents to meet us on another island for a tropical holiday.  

We stayed near the beach for the first few nights, then inland among rice fields.  It was a wonderful break from Barat and a blessing for all of use to spend the time with my parents.  

Whitman in a traditional hat, playing a traditional instrument.

A few festive items I brought along to decorate the second place we stayed.

Whitman and Caedmon working a couple models with Papa J.

Enjoying tadpoles in a pond.

Enjoying the pool.

It currently is raining season, so between heavy rain storms, we were out as much as possible.

Whitman and Caedmon with Grammie and Papa J

We ventured to the Monkey Forest.  This is an area of land set aside for the protection and conservation of Macau Monkeys.   

Evangeline and Caedmon

The Monkey Forest has paths to wander along through the forest.  Monkeys roam freely everywhere.  They are not afraid of all the human visitors and very bold, taking any food or bottle of water from your hand.  

While standing close to a handrail full of monkeys, John became an escape for one of two quarreling monkeys.  

A minute or two later, the monkey departed from John's shoulder.

Taking in the many statues and temples within the forest.

Caedmon was brave enough to feed a monkey.

Celebrating the BIRTHday!

Our baby is getting a little big for sink bathing.

The only snow we saw was the festive decoration in the airport.  

 One of my favorite traditions John and I started, about 8 years ago, is retelling specific times we experienced the Father's provision or grace.  I have made an ornament for each experience, which we pull out of stockings on the morning of and take turns reading the accompanying synopsis or retelling from memory.   Our ornaments range from the birth of our three children, healthy and whole, finding my wedding ring in a small grass covered stream bed, paying off $80,000 of student loans, to the grace shown to John by a game warden when he shot a deer prior to the opening weekend of hunting season.  These are just a few examples, we are blessed to have many more.  We can easily remember so many of these events, but sad to say, we often forget the small details that left us in awe.

Our season-changing tree curtain.

I hung our ornament us upon returning from our time with grandparents.  They are such a great reminder of the many blessing, though often small, we have received out of His complete grace towards us.  

While we were away, John spent much of his time trying to manage our house building over the phone.  This also included transferring money to enable the builders to buy additional supplies.  We were again blessed, in an unforeseen way, when we were able to stop, on the way to the airport, to deposit money at a bank.  This proved to be very beneficial the following day because when we tried to catch a night bus after arriving back in the big city we failed.  Every night bus returning to Barat, or the next city, was full.  We were forced to spend the night in the big city.  This turned out to be a blessing as we were able to sleep in beds, instead of the night bus, and thankfully, found a car to ride home in instead of waiting for another night bus.  On top of a more comfortable ride home, John had the money in the bank to transfer wages to the builders as they were expecting it on Wednesday, but our return had been delayed a day.  

We hope this Holiday Season finds you remembers the many ways we all have been blessed beyond measure!

Miscellaneous Happenings

The Holiday Season must be in full swing in the States.  Here in Barat, the temperature remains the same though it is rainy season, mangoes are in season, and life is progressing as normal with language study, schooling, and house building.

Mangoes on the bus I rode home from the Barat market, on their way to be sold elsewhere.

 
We were blessed to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday in the big city.  We did some house shopping and eating out!  The highlight was sharing the holiday with friends over a mostly traditional meal.  Together with friends from the States, the UK, Germany, and Australia, we enjoyed chicken instead of turkey, rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, watermelon, sparkling cider, and pumpkin pie. 

One of the many home improvement stores we visited while in the big city. 

This store had the nicest and most visible display of tile.  Other stores had to move and shuffle tiles to be looked at.

    We spent an afternoon looking for tile to be used in our new home.  This proved to be more difficult than expected.  I, Erin, already had an idea of what I wanted.  On top of my desires, the tiles on display are not always available.  Some tiles have to be ordered, others are just out of stock, while others are available but have to be fetched from a nearby storage building.  After visiting at least 10 different stores, thankfully all on the same street, and dragging along worn out children, we decided on two different tiles.  One was immediately available, but the other was in a storage building which had already closed for the evening.  Fortunately the tile was able to be sent on the next truck to Barat.

Our hotel in the big city.

Most people go crazy over seeing our kids with their lighter skin and 'big' noses.

Evangeline was quite obliging to the staff at the hotel.  

New Menu Item - Spicy Chocolate Chicken

We enjoy eating at KFC while in the big city, but the menu items are not what you find in the States.  

Here they do not serve mashed potatoes, coleslaw, nor biscuits.  The menu mostly consists of chicken, rice, and French fries.  

A New Flavor

Have you seen these at your local store? 

We can buy these and seaweed flavored Lay's at our local convenience-mart.  

We also enjoy eating at McDonalds and Pizza Hut.  They are shoe-ins for tastes from home.

Though many of the menu items at McDonalds are similar, the boys often still order chicken and rice.

Back in Barat we attended a wedding of a friend's younger brother.  Though you may not know the bride and groom, the more guests the better!

Evangeline and I

Waiting for the Bride and Groom

The ceremony takes place in the home, while the majority of guests wait in a decorated tent outside the house.  Often the ceremony can be heard through a sound system.

I have begun my traditional holiday baking. 

I aim for a different cookie each week!
So far peppermint swirls, gingerbread men, nutmeg logs, and ribbon cookies.  

We celebrated Whitman's birthday.  

Though it fell on a Friday this year, it turned out to coincide with a national holiday!

Cake in a Cone

Our version of these flower decorated cupcakes Whitman saw in a magazine.

Neighborhood kids lining up for the Piñata.  

Whitman taking a few swings.  

The roof and floor are finished!

The building on our house is coming along, never quite as fast expected though.  Thankfully this week the floor was finished and the second level to the brick bathroom (as seem in the lower left of the above picture) was started.  

The silver roof of our house is seen to the right and happens to be the tallest.

Our house sits on the right at the end of this road.

Neighbors' houses in front of our house.

One neighbor and open land behind our house.

The space under our house, seen in the above picture, will be used for activities associated with the foundation John works for.  We envision literacy programs and afterschool study times to name a couple.  

   We've also have had a few new 'animal' experiences.  It is typical for cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks to roam free throughout our neighborhood.  The cats are often given scraps and may even wander in and out of people's homes, though rather skinny and sickly looking.  Dogs are wild and very skittish.  Chickens and ducks are raised by neighbors.  They always seem to return to their cages by evening.  There was a time we considered the cats good for managing the rat population.  After a friend told us, jokingly, that the cats and rats were in cahoots, we began to wonder.  Seeing how the dogs seem to be scared away by anything, even other animals, we are not sure that there is any benefit to all the wandering animals, especially as they frequently get into our garbage.

Evangeline and Caedmon in our current front yard with a duck in the background.

   There have been many times we've heard thumping above our ceiling, in the attic space.  Until recently, we were not sure if the sound was from cats or chickens, as we've seen both on roofs.  In the boys' bedroom last week we heard the cries of newly born kittens.  They were no where to be seen outside and were definitely most easily heard in their bedroom.
   

Five Dried Fish

   Yesterday, our soon to be neighbors graciously bestowed on me a bag of dried fish.  Apparently these particular fish are in season and most people really enjoy them dried instead of fresh.  To eat these fish, they usually are soaked momentarily in water, then fried.  I forgot the soaking part and used a great deal less oil than most.  It was pretty good, but very, very salty, probably due to the lack of soaking.

Ready to be consumed, though not very appetizing to me.

This has been a brief picture of our lives recently!

W.E.I.R.D

It is difficult to see just how deep our culture penetrates all aspects of our life until you spend time in another culture.  The differences in culture have been one of the most difficult aspects for me, Erin, in living overseas.  So much of what we do, how we think, and how we talk, even though it is in the national and even local languages, appears 'weird' to the people we live among because it is so very different.    

When I first considered working overseas I thought about my interest in trying new foods and learning about different cultures.  After living overseas for almost 5 years, I am still surprised at where cultural differences pop up. 

A difference in what we do appears when I cook with other women.  They often comment about how my method of chopping vegetables is very strange.  Since people here rarely use cutting boards, they will hold the carrot, for example, in one hand and the knife in the other, with the blade pointing down.  I will hold my knife with the sharp blade pointing up and use my thumb on the same hand to press on the carrot. 

A difference in how we think was seen yesterday when a student of John's told how he was banned from his high school biology class because he wrote an article that appeared in the newspaper which described his biology class.  Apparently the description was not honoring toward his teacher resulting in the teacher's anger and subsequent banning of the student.  This occurrence is difficult for us to understand because our culture values freedom, where the local culture here values honor above individual freedom.  

Lastly, a difference in how we talk, though in the local language, is seen in the phrases used.  When people here want to travel north to another area they will say, "I'm going down to..."  Then when they travel south they say, "I'm going up to..."  This has been so difficult for us to get use to as so much of our language is connected to our culture.  I want to say, "I'm going down to the big city," but I would sound weird as it is south of us.  Another example is seen in the excuses given for being late or missing an appointment.  We might say we were busy.  To them that is not a response that carries any weight, as they might subsequently ask, "With what?"  In contrast, the teacher might give the excuse, "It was raining," when he shows up late to school.  To us this seems completely absurd, but to them it is accepted as a worthy excuse.  

I recently read an article which stated Americans are W.E.I.R.D.  It was referencing physiological studies in which the sample populations were mostly western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic, and American.  As I thought about myself and the list, I had to agree, it is true, I'm W.E.I.R.D.  It is not a bad thing, for the most part, it is just different.  The difficultly arises when we live within another culture and try to relate to people.  I often feel weird as people stare (which is not rude), frequently ask to take pictures together (without ever introducing themselves), and walk somewhere a few blocks away (they would  ride a motorcycle 99% of the time).  When discussing life our weirdness comes out in the fact that we don't take afternoon naps (resulting in early bedtimes and the limiting of our attendance at evening activities), and freely shower at night (considered dangerous for your health).    Don't get me wrong, many of these aspects have become new normals, but it highlights how deep our culture runs and the difficulty of living overseas. 

Enjoy a few recent pictures from our weird life overseas.

Evangeline and I recently met up with some dear friends in Singapore!

exploring the Botanical Gardens together

It was an incredible time of fellowship and not feeling weird!

Evangeline loves her milk and drinks with a straw no problem.

She slept on the plane like a champ. 

The night bus back to Barat was a different story.

Evangeline walking with current neighbors.

She is very happy to walk while holding on to something, but not brave enough to walk by herself, though she has taken a few steps by herself.  

The house is ready for roofing and the floor to be put in!

Kids will often come over to play with our toys, not our boys.  Yesterday Caedmon and Whitman found an activity for all of them, fake mustaches.  There was a great deal of laughing.  

The other day as I looked out at the sea, I thought of how much goes on below the surface we do not see and was reminded of how much the Father does behind the scenes that we do now know about.

It also served as a reminder to me to focus on the positive (the beauty) not the negative (the differences).