Fairwell Party

While we were there for a month, many short term teams stopped by. Usually they stayed for only 3-4 days. As each group leaves, they perform songs and dances for them. We've been the longest visitors ever so on our last day, they surprised us with a "fairwell party"! They performed songs, dances, a fashion show and funny skits. Some of the skits were even in English and were stories about how we met and our future. We were so impressed and felt so loved!


We didn't know it was possible to grow so close to 30+ people in a month, but we did! It was such a hard goodbye. There were many tears shed from us(well, J) and the kids. But we were so happy that our Dad gave us this opportunity to be with such a special group of people. Even though we were there to teach them, we felt like we've learned even more from them. We can't wait to see how Dad uses them in the future!

They really want us to come back and visit. If we can, we definitely want to and next time we want to bring some of you. Want to come with us?!?!

Olympics

We got to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony. It was so awesome! All the kids were so proud.

Also, we had a few chances to catch some of the events. The guys were really looking forward to the game against the US basketball team. We couldn't get it on our TV but all things are possible with a little determination.

Yes, that is a video camera filming through our window to our neighbor's TV and being projected on the wall.

Interesting Facts

We leave here in 3 days for our next adventure. This past month has been such a joy. Amongst adjusting to the weather, bugs and food- we have had an amazing experience! We would not trade it for anything. We have already learned and experienced so much in one month that we can't wait for the next few months. But we have grown so close to everyone and we are so sad to say goodbye.

Interesting Facts about them:
- Most kids come from broken families. Either one or both parents have passed away or the dad is involved in illegal activities
- All kids came from rural villages where A/C and consistent electricity does not exist
- Before coming to the home, most only ate white rice and hot sauce. They didn't even know how to cook or what was soy sauce.
- None of them heard about Dad or knew anyone that knew about Dad
- Some of the college grads make about $130 USD a month and they have to provide for their wife and kid as well. In order to make more money, most have to work away from their families.
- Most people in their village cannot afford school so usually can only finish up to grade 4
- In their high school, the hours are from 7:30AM-11:00PM and every other weekend. They go home for meals and come back afterwards.
- Most of them have never seen the Olympics until this year

Some Quotes from them:
- What? You can't read?!?!
- Can you translate what P said?
- Take me home with you!
- Do you have to go? Can you live with us for a year? Or how about my whole life?
- I feel like you are my real mother when you play with me (She is 9 years old and her mom passed away when she was 2)
- I want to go back and share with my entire village

More Food

One night we cooked spaghetti and garlic bread one night for the kids. They finished it all! For some of them it was their first time to have spaghetti .
Our can opener here:

We also got to fill our craving at McDonald's. Its the only store with the best A/C and cleanest western bathrooms. Some of the foods have an Asian twist but it is very good!




One day a team brought us chicken and duck from the streets. The kids were thrilled with the chicken feet. J ate some duck and got food poisoning and ended up vomiting through the night. She has learned her lesson to not trust street food.


P's favorite are egg tarts. So every chance we get, we buy egg tarts for only 10cents(USD) each!

Survival Tactics

We are having a great time teaching and building close relationships. The people have been very receptive and they have been asking very good questions. We really feel a part of a huge family with 30+ brothers and sisters. It has been really good getting away from all the busyness back home and spending lots of time in thoughts, reading, and preparing talks. It has been a very rewarding time and I can't believe it has only been almost 3 weeks!

Thing have been great but a few comforts have made things even better:

Yummy...like we said before we eat a lot of vegetables compared to back home. Snacks, vitamins, and good old whey protein keeps us a little closer to the American diet.

A nightly ritual is standing in the corner of the room and killing the mosquitoes as they fly by before bed time with the electric "tennis racquet." Also a daily coating of OFF! has helped keep the little buggers from eating us alive. We used this can from home in about 1 1/2 weeks but luckily found a store that sells it here.

On our list of favorite people are the inventors of the fan and A/C. The climate is very close to home but no central A/C. The units get turned on and off during the day.

Food

So I bet you're wondering what we eat everyday...

Breakfast consists of last night's leftovers made into fried rice. Its actually pretty good. Lunch and dinner consists of soup and 4-5 dishes. The food is REALLY spicey. One thing we miss is MEAT! We get maybe an ounce a day of meat but its often suplemented with tofu.

We had a chance to make them an American breakfast. So we made banana pancakes! It was quite interesting buying the ingredients at the supermarket. We could not find any baking powder(since most people don't have ovens) so we used yeast. After a lot of experiementing we found a recipe that worked.

Cooking pancakes in a wok is actually pretty easy. They turn out perfectly circular.

In Country

We've made it safely. Here at the camp, everyday is packed with activities and we are still recovering from jet lag. Even though we've been here before there is still some culture shock.

The dreaded toilet/shower combo. P was dreading this! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it was just us but there are 35 people sharing two "showers".



Fresh vegetable storage



Our view from the kitchen



But in a lot of ways we feel right at home. The humidity and heat is just as high, we are sweating throughout the day, and the mosquitos are rampant but sadly the A/C doesn't work as well.

Despite these things, we are really enjoying our time here and learning to live simply. Yesterday we got to share about ourselves and why we are here. Afterwards, we got asked a lot of good questions about dating, marriage and sp life. We look forward to more conversations and teaching opportunities.