Princess

This is a picture on storybook day. I am Belle!

Bethany

Let's Pray

On the way to the safari we passed this place. Its a place for you to stop and pray if you are on the road and prayer time comes. The thing that is amazing to me is that this one is at a GAS STATION! They have places at almost every mall, restaurant, gas station, etc like that for you to wash up and pray. Although this is a bit nicer than most.

Yours vs. Ours

Oh...so you have a side-by-side refrigerator? Well WE have side-by-side REFRIGERATORS. But we aren't trying to brag or anything.

If we were bragging we'd tell you we actualy have THREE fridges. That is just how we roll. Chilly.

Drive through safari

Saturday we went to a drive through safari. It's about 3 hours or so drive from here. Suffice it to say that kind of driving is HARROWING! Cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians all over the place. People passing on curves and hills. WOW! It gets your adrenaline going. I'll probably never be able to drive the same again...and I was just riding yesterday.
We left about 8:30am and got home after 10pm.

On the side of the road as you approach the park people selling are carrots and bananas in bunches for you to feed the animals. I mean people every ten feet for half a mile standing in the road holding carrots out at you. I am not sure how good it is for the animals but they seem to like them! The bears sisn't seem to like carrots as much believe it or not.

We were literally feet from lions, tigers, hippos, and all kinds of animals were actually close enough to stick their heads in the car and scare Hudson half to death. The kids got to ride an elephant ($1 each) and ride some stuff. They had a number of shows, too, we saw the sea lion one.

All in all it was a great day, even given the fact we were discriminated against (there is a "foreigner" rate posted at the gate). We even got to enjoy their own version of the Rainforest Cafe. Sorry I didn't get a picture of SFC (Safari Fried Chicken).

Pretty cool for $1

This was probably our favorite part. Hanging out with a orangatun. It was $1 each to get your picture. These are a bit fuzzy, sorry. We are having trouble with some camera settings. By the way, Hudson was having NO part of it. He had no desire to be near him!!

Friday!!

We made it through our first week of language school. We went out this afternoon and met Bethany's friend's mother and our landlord. It turns out our back door opens into an alley shared by only him and is right across from his back door. The kids tried it and our door had been unlocked ever since we've been here. We got to come home that way since it started raining while we were out. This is a picture of Bethany's friend and our crew watching a video on Mom and Dad's bed. Yes...we know the headboard TOTALLY rocks! We are planning to cut it into pieces and take it with us when we leave because it is the best ever ;-)!



This is a shot from class just after the "bird sang" to tell us it was noon. The bird also sings at tea break and various shift times. The bird, however, sounds nothing like a bird. They told us to listen for the bird and when we heard it no one knew what it was! "That was the bird," they said. The man standing is one of our teachers. They are great and laugh at us when we do silly stuff. Like today...you see we repeat all the time..I mean ALL the time. So he said, "Repeat after me." And without thinking we all followed, "Repeat after me." "No, no. Wait and listen, then repeat." Oh, OK. Gotcha!



Here is the scene when we get home. We have a lady who comes and helps us and each day when we get in from school there is this great lunch actually waiting on the table for us. I feel like Craig #1 coming in to a hot meal like that! She actually makes enough that we have leftovers most evenings for dinner. I am not sure how we could do all the language stuff without her help. I'd tell you how much it costs us but then I'd have to tell her how much YOU make and you'd be embarrassed. We do pay for that ourselves, in case you are wondering. This is barbecue chicken, rice, mixed vegetables (carrots, cabbage, baby corn, red peppers, broccoli), and fruit (mango, papaya, honeydew, and watermelon). You know we are in Asia since last night I made mashed potatoes and when she sat down Angie said, "What? No rice?" She just had to make the best of it.

traffic shot!

Sorry this shot through the windshield doesn't allow you to see any oncoming traffic. This is all just in our "lane" maybe direction is a better word!

Whew!

This week has been much busier! We were ready for school to get started so we'd have something to do and BOY do we have stuff to do!! We are in class each day from 8-Noon but the expectation is that we would be in language work for eight hours a day. They say we study in class each morning and learn in the afternoon out in the community. After four days we can introduce ourselves, tell where we live, that we are married, how many kids we have and how old they are. We can say, "Thanks" and "Good morning/midday/afternoon/evening/night" "See you tomorrow" and know about 100 words. We are getting in the habit of stopping strangers in the supermarket and asking help finding things.

After lunch we go out and walk in the neighborhood near us. Today we got invited into a lady's house where we talked, ate apple pie (oh yeah, apple pie) and had tea. There were not nearly as many long uncomfortable pauses as you might imagine. People seem to like to hear you speak and then restate everything you said in the way in which you should have said it. They are more patient with me than I have been with foreigners somedays at Wal-Mart that is for sure.

It has started raining here and yesterday and the day before it rained most of the afternoon and evening. I learned something very interesting that I hadn't noticed before. Our vehicle doesn't have a defroster. Isn't that odd? I mean you really need a defroster. I have never been one of those people who appreciated other people wiping the inside of a windshield with their hand....what else can you do? I was at a loss and so we cranked up the A/C and people had to deal with it!

Sometime we'll try to get some good traffic pictures. Angie wants one of a family of five on one scooter with the two year old up front holding the handlebars and a 4 year old (asleep) in between the mom and dad and a baby in the mother's arms. I want one of a regular two lane road that has four lanes of traffic. And a few pedestrians. And a guy pushing a cart selling fried tofu. And maybe a few cats.

Earthquake?

We heard that there was an earthquake in "The Ring of Fire" this morning (Thurs) our time. Just wanted to let you know it was a long (long, long) way from us. We didn't know anything about it and couldn't find it on the SE Asia section of the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/default.stm) but did find something on cnn.com.

You'll likely get news like that before us (unless we feel the shaking) so please don't take no response from us as bad news. We haven't been checking e-mail before we leave for school since we are a bit rushed in the morning. Glad we checked today!Thanks for wondering and asking.

BONUS!

Here, as in most places, if you buy a bunch of something sometimes you get a bonus. "Buy two, get one free." You know the drill.

Well, we had been buying these eggs since we've been here but never realized the bonus with which they came. Can you see it at the bottom right? FREE SALMONELLA!!

Cleanliness is next to roachiness

Here is where the showdown happened between a screaming Angie and me armed with deadly bug spray versus a big ole flying roach!! Its the Master Bath, right next to our bedroom. Now if you care nothing about normal life this is not the post for you.

You see pictured here our shower and a bit of how we live. Starting on the far right is our shower head...very convenient for taking down and rinsing kids since we have no bathtub. It is attached to a little in-line water heater. Notice the one knob. That gives you the choice between off and on. Actually the heater has two controls one for temperature and one for water pressure. All the way down its pretty hot...maybe I am just adjusting.

The water heater is attached to our incoming water line and also to a bottle of LPG gas that is in the blue tile square. That square actually is a plastic tub of sorts. In normal houses you would fill that with whatever temperature water is in the tank outside and then pour the water over your body. They don't take showers like I do.

We have another tank in our second bath and one for the stove. Water at all the sinks (for dishes and handwashing) is the same temperature as the tank outside. The tanks exchange for $5.50. We changed one Saturday. I looked very cool saying, "Satu El-Pi-Gi" which is what they call it. LPG..El-Pi-Gi.

On the far left you see the mirror that sees me when I am in the shower. Before we left I heard Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio say, "Stand in front of a mirror naked and jump. If anything jiggles, you are out of shape." I didn't need his help then and I don't need that mirrors now.

The last word on donuts

This morning when we left for school Hudson was still asleep. So I was telling the lady he could have a donut for breakfast when he got up but that they were in the fridge and we had been heating them up on the stove. She looked at me like I was an idiot as if to say, "Of course. How else would you heat it up?"

What's Buggin Me

OK... I think I am doing good and then IT happens... I knew it would, but I was hoping it would not. A HUGE roach comes flying at me while I am finishing my shower! I start screaming, Craig starts spraying bug killer and the kids come running. Talk about a scene (remember I am finishing my shower!) OK said roach is dead, heart beat begins to return to normal. Not a happy beginning to my Sunday morning. I talked to some folks who have lived here much longer than we have to get some advice and guess what.. there is no good advice. It is a fact of life here. They come in through the drains. We went to a store to find draincovers, but no luck today, maybe tomorrow. Other than that and keeping food off the floor there just isn't much we can do. Those of you that know me understand how much I HATE bugs, and so does the enemy. Please keep remembering us as you talk to your Father. I CANNOT STAND ROACHES
Love ya
Angie

Behind the Donut Scenes

Here are some interesting extras about our donuts. First, you can't leave donuts out or they'll be covered in ants in 30 seconds. So we store them in the fridge. And we don't have a microwave (our house doesn't have enough electricity coming in to support one--the stove is bottled gas). So we reheat said donuts on the stove since necessity is the mother of invention. I actually never considered heating donuts at all...especially on the stove.

The next picture is the J. Co box. A major part of the just completed holiday is going around and visiting and asking forgiveness of the people in your life. Hence the "may we forgive each other" sentiment.

Lastly is our "milk" we buy. I say "milk" because its actually on the shelf when we buy it and the expiration date is a year way. This particular "milk" is "chocolate" just keep repeating that to yourself as you drink it. YUMMY ;-)!!

Oh, Man! Donuts!!

We had donuts for breakfast this morning. The place we have been to is called J. Donuts and they have a "blackjack" which is a glazed dunked in chocolate. Hudson is enjoying the sugar-covered glazed. Like they need to be sweeter (the donuts not the kids).

Live a Balanced Life

I want to start a place for odd stuff we see on signs. But usually I feel bad taking pictures of signs. Not tonight, though. You can't resisit a sign about pungent being a GOOD thing!!!

Louisville football!

How cool is this? As of 9am Sat morning local time the Louisville v/s U Conn football game is on our ESPN. If only I cared about Louisville football I would be really excited. That is interesting, though. I'll look for people I know in the stands.

Go Cards...I guess. I figure the game must be a day old or something.

Friends!

Bethany has a friend who lives next door or in the next neighborhood, depending on how you look at it. Its sort of hard to describe but our "laundry room" is actually outside in an courtyard (for lack of a better term) that has no access except through our computer lab. Bethany's friend lives in the building behind us. They are playing Uno in the girl's room and hanging out the window for the picture. Its at least convenient for yelling back and forth.

Did you know we like to eat out?

We had been looking forward to this restaurant since before coming. They had nice little bungalows out back where you sit on the floor around a small table, great fruit juice, and even a play place for Hudson.

The lady is Hudson's teacher. They started school today since we had our first day of language. We sang some songs "learned" the alphabet from Ah to Zet and got our books. Angie is going to do great.

Kecelakaan = Accident!

Well today it happened. I hit a motor scooter. First a mental picture for you--if you've ever gotten up in the morning and in a half-stupor went to the coffee pot and poured that first fantastic cup only to realize you cup was UPSIDE down and coffee was going everywhere--you can imagine the traffic here.

We had stopped behind a little van (which is a local bus). Now you can be almost alone on the road until you stop then you are overrun with motorcyles on both sides. Like the coffee flowing over the bottom of the cup, down the sides and all over the counter. Alone. Stop. Covered with motorcycles like ants on a cupcake at a picnic.

Well, we were stopped and so I was edging around the right side of the van and looked dutifully down the hill to make sure no traffic was coming up in the right lane. Only I just never looked over my right shoulder. Then BAM! I hit the scooter. At first I thought the guy was just going to keep on going....but reason came to him and he stopped.

We got out and my hubcap had hit his footpeg and bent it back. He couldn't shift right and he was unable to move it back into place. So I grabbed hold and got it almost back with my foot (outweighing the guy by at least 100 pounds, I think). But it wasn't perfect. More people came to the scene and conversation started. Then the thing I expected since I hit him happened. The lady with us said, "He is asking for money."

You see accidents here are settled on the spot. In cash. No lawyers. No insurance. Just show me the money. So I (while praying) said, "How much does he want?" To my surprise the response came, "Twenty thousand should be enough."

TWENTY THOUSAND?!? Are you SERIOUS? TWENTY THOUSAND!!! But I had no choice. I paid it. And I left the scene $2.21 poorer but much wiser.

Harder than it seems...

I was finally able to wear Angie down and get my first hair cut. She did the deed in our "computer lab" which doesn't have a computer at all. I think its a converted 1-car garage and our first day here Hudson called it the computer lab because there are some desks stacked in there. We decided to retain the name. We'll keep practicing and be ready for you when you come to visit.

Washer and dryer

We've had some questions about laundry. No we don't do it by hand. Not all of it. We have a washing machine that is (sort of) inside. The dryer is much more portable than our old one and for some reason works better when it's sunny...

Can you read this for me?

At times I am feeling totally helpless. Today we went and did some shopping. For the most part shopping is contextual and you can figure it out. Stack of Cokes with numbers on a sign? No problem (now figuring liters and changing money that's different). But at other times I am at a complete loss. For the past two days the kids have wanted to ride the quarter rides at the store. You know--stick in a quarter and get on the horse or in the car that kind of thing.

Except I don't know how anymore. The thing actually says in English "One Coin" it just never says WHICH coin. I guess I could just pump different ones in until it works. But there seems to always be a line. Someone waiting for this foreigner to figure out what he is trying to do.

I took Hudson to one today and couldn't figure it out. So we went to a train and a lady selling tickets. I asked, "Are these tickets for the train?" No response. I pointed to the tickets and pointed to the train. Then she held up five fingers. Now it was my turn...what does THAT mean? 500? 5,000? 5 tickets? I just shrugged and we went away.

Then upstairs I found a sign that seemed to say, "Shop at this store and get free parking." Now that is my language. I needed to know if I was entitled to something FREE. So I asked the lady helping us, "Can you read this for me?" There is no place for pride when FREE is on the line. Turns out you can park free IF you get the thing validated when you are in the store. Too late for today but not for next time.

Not knowing was such a sign of weakness back home. Here it is just par for the course. And its not so bad. There's less I don't know everyday.

What WHOA means

We went on our first real trip out alone Sunday afternoon. We drove to the grocery store and in the crowded parking lot are people who help you park. As I was backing into my spot (watching mirrors and not the man) I would ease back and hear WHOA. So I would stop and look at him to see he was waving me on. Ease back--WHOA! Stop, look, wave. Ease back. WHOA. I still had a way to go and nothing was back there. Go, WHOA! Until we decided that must be the local equivalent of "'Mon Back...'Mon Back."

Anyway, we made it out, bought groceries, used our credit card, drove home and unpacked all relatively unscathed. That was pretty exciting! Small victories are especially appreciated these days:-)

Saturday

Today we went for a walk, rode the little bus all by ourselves and got back to driving! We have a vehicle to use and today was my first chance to drive. Here you sit on the right and drive on the left. We went to McDonalds for lunch and by some friend's house. The kids were swimming and the ladies washing in water you wouldn't touch.

Last night the partying was better than we expected (i.e. it didn't last all night). One of the benefits of living around mainly foreigners is that there isn't a mosque next door, so we don't have a loud speaker. We can hear them fine from here and we did until WAY into the night but not all night. Then this was a big day for visiting. Everyone has new clothes and since we live in a kind of pass-through place we could see lots of fine looking people passing by.

The visiting continues tomorrow and through the next couple of weeks as people seek forgiveness from friends and family, visit, and eat. Its interesting how connected the communities here are.

The kids will start school on Monday morning. We have another week and we'll get to learn practical day-to-day stuff like where to pay bills, where to get bottled water, how to change out the LP gas tank for the stove. We do have orientation for school on Friday. They said today once we start we will be covered up (so enjoy all the updates now)!

Mall Trip

Today we went to the mall. We had lunch at a pizza place and took the kids to an indoor play thing. It was $2.50 per kid for an hour. The decorations (like the drums) you can see in the one picture are for the holiday this weekend. The people in the cage with Hudson are not people, really. At least not yet according to some people--for now they are only monkeys in the pet store. These monkeys were selling for $45 and "they don't bite" how about that for famous last words. It seems to me if you believe in evolution you must think owning monkeys is akin to slavery. I don't believe in evolution, though, I just think monkeys are dirty. Cute but dirty. (DISCLAIMER: only Craig thinks all this about monkeys...everyone else just wants to buy one).

Home Sweet Home

These are street views. The first is our house. The second is standing with our house to the right and the dead end behind you, looking down the hill. Its a quiet street!

Teeth crisis averted

As we were looking through the very last bag it occurred to us we were taking Caleb's word for the fact that his retainers weren't in his backpack. Ther were. So they once were "lost" but now they're found. Caleb was blind while looking for it. And he still is. Oh well. You can't have everything. But we did just have a banana salesman walk by. That is new.

Help!! Retainers missing

IF anyone who was with us on Sunday knows which luggage Caleb's retainers were put in please let us know. We have not found them and he needs to be wearing them. Randy, you are off the hook.. we know he had them after your house! They could have been left in Glasgow, so if anyone has seen them or know which bag they are in... let us know!! Thanks

Posting Baru

In one of those odd things--our Blog site now comes up only in a language we don't understand. Maybe it will help us learn. I am guessing based on the colors. It may cause difficulty adding pictures, but I'll try later and see. I got the McDelivery picture up so maybe I'll be OK.

This morning it is just after 5am Thursday and we are all up and rolling. Caleb has figured out more TV and the Yankees and Indians are on..isn't that series over now? Plus he found Disney channel and some more stuff.

The pictures are breakfast time. Cookie Crisp we got yesterday (we saw a box of Special K at the grocery store that was $20) and eggs since we have learned to light the stove. I tried to instill a healthy fear of the gas stove in Caleb by using the phrase "Blow up the house." I hope it worked...

A hut?

The ultimate answer to the "Will you be living in a hut?' question. McDonald's DELIVERS!! Now THAT is cool.

finaly!!

we are finaly here!! after 34 hours of migrains, constante flights and hudson sreaming about somethinge we are here.Bethany hudson and i are tired kinda smelly and are having bad hair days but we are still here. I (this is caleb) am going to bed here soon. it is only 7:00pm but it feels like i have been up 2 days strait

The count so far

Well, we were in plenty of time to catch our flight in Louisville and even with good weather it still left an hour late. So, we missed our flight out of Atlanta. They were able to get us on a packed last flight of the night out of Atlanta and that was good.

In Los Angeles we had to leave the secure area and walk down two terminals, then check in at the desk for boarding passes. Luckily, we got to go to the "No bags to check line". Unluckily it was slower than the "Bags to check" line. But it did save us having to take our bags to the unbelievably LONG TSA bag scan line. We made it to the gate on time and the 13.5 hour flight went much better than I expected.

The only two mishaps so far: I let Caleb go up the down escalator somewhere and he almost killed himself. Bad advice on my part. And then early in our long flight Bethany spilled her Sprite on the nice sleeping lady next to us. Surprisingly the lady woke right up. Even more surprisingly, she was quite nice as she pulled out the contents of her purse and dried them off. Her iPhone was OK. WHEW!!

Now we're ready to baord flight number 4. Then after getting out of the airport, we'll have have a 2-3 hour drive. We should really be ready to sleep tonight!!

Here is Hudson patiently waiting with his Leapster.