Paul's Hood

We had one day in the middle of our conference for excursions. We chose to go visit one of the amazing ancient cities where Paul, as in the apostle, used to hang out! It was amazing to think of all of the Biblical accounts in this context! I mean... Paul was here... on the same street I was walking on! Simply amazing!! It was hotter than Hades, but it was worth it!!


These kids don't even know how awesome this is.



the first (smaller) ampitheatre



Noah in the ampitheatre.



Our family in one of the ampitheatre corridors.



Byzantine cross



Reconstructed wall carvings



Callie posing with some ruins.



Main Street



this guy is looking for his head



hill houses- built right into the hill, one on top of another



beautiful archway



intricate carved doorway



another carved doorway



Jennie and me on the potty



beautiful tile patio in the front of a house



This (and the next 3) is the current excavation project. They are unearthing the hilltop homes. They were built like townhomes- side to side, several stories high. The tilework, painted walls, and mosaics are beautiful. It was surprising how advanced the people were.









Jennie, the kids, and me on the steps of the library (from sort of far back).



the library



Inscription across the doorway.



This is the second, and larger, ampitheatre. Paul was nearly flogged on the same stage where I stood!



An Italian man sang "O Solo Mio..." center stage in the ampitheatre to demonstrate the acoustics. It was beautiful! The ampitheatre is huge.



This road led right to the sea. Now the water has receded a little, so it stops short of the sea. But many years ago it was the end of Main Street- where all the ships, traders, merchants, and seamen would come.



The Apostle Paul defended the God I love in this very spot before an angry mob. He was bold and courageous and full of faith. May I be the same!!


Touring this ancient city was one of the highlights of our conference. It is humbling to walk in the very places that you read about in the Bible. It is a little more than challenging to consider that Paul was just a regular guy, like you and me. Yet with great faith, he furthered the Kingdom of God. It is fun to think of the lives that were impacted since the early centuries- to picture them here in their environment. What's better still is knowing that God is still the same as He was then, and He is faithful and trustworthy!

Henna Party

Just after I wrote this post about celebrations my neighbor invited me to a henna party. It is sort of like a bachelorette party. The women really know how to let their hair down! There were no men in sight and the women- age 2 to 2002- were shakin' it out on the dance floor! It was a blast! They sure know how to move. Apparently belly dancing doesn't require the jeanie costume. It was so fun to watch them dance, and even more fun when they made me join in. I'm sure I looked like an idiot. I'm not a great dancer anyway, but they were moving parts I don't have!

Towards the end of the evening, the women gathered around the bride and put henna on her hands. They covered her head with a veil and paraded her around the room. Then they sat her in a chair in the middle of the room and sang a song around her. It was fantastic.

The funny thing is I don't even know the bride. No one I was with knew her, and we never did figure out her name!! I think her parents live in our apartment complex. I guess it doesn't matter what the occasion is, we're always up for a party!

Greetings from Lucy

Dance Party

GUEST POST FROM JENNIE!!!!

T was amazing! I had the best time. Elizabeth asked me to write about my trip and I am trying to figure out how to sum my trip up into a couple of sentences. The city is huge and the living space is minimal. The L’s live in one of the biggest cities in the whole world in a two bedroom flat. It was crazy to see how a family of 5 went from living in a 4-bedroom house with a great backyard and swing set to a 2 bedroom flat. I am totally impressed. I loved being there for first hand action.

Callie was always playing school (speaking only T-ish) by locking Lucy in their room. Callie would push the crib in front of the door so Lucy couldn't escape. But how can Callie resist? Lucy is her little playmate and she will play with Lucy whether Lucy likes it or not. Quote: Elizabeth: “Callie, don’t lock Lucy in the room with you, she is a human not a toy, and if she wants to get out you can’t keep her trapped” Callie: “But she can get out.” When I go back and look Callie has the smallest hole for Lucy to crawl out if she needs to get a way. Good luck Lucy!

Little Miss Lucy is way too cute for her own good and knows it. Then there is Noah playing soccer, baseball, or hockey in the salon (living room). The kids are so active and very busy you can’t hardly keep up. There is little space but the kids stake out their area and take it over and really get into what they are playing.

Elizabeth and I would just step around what they were doing and hang up the laundry, cook dinner or work on the computer. It was great to be so close you really get to know one another!!!

Not only were their tight spaces living wise but what about the tight spaces when riding the bus or the boat. They are so crowded you get the chance to really get close to your neighbor. They will let as many people on as will fit with out flattening the tires or sinking the boat.

I had a great time in T and I would not trade going there for anything in the world and I miss them greatly! I am so glad that I got a chance to go and I hope to go back soon. If I had to sum up Ist in a few words it would be “so big and yet so small.”

Ya Know What's Fun...

...water cuts when you are in the shower with shampoo in your hair.

...Lucy is in her "I'll just throw that away to be helpful" stage.

Regional

Our Regional Conference was wonderful. My favorite part, besides being able to speak english for an entire week, was getting to sing and worship corporately. I really miss that! The kids loved kids camp. They made friends quickly and ran wild together all week. It was a great time for them to be comfortable and hang out with kids just like them. Having Jennie there was awesome! In the afternoon we switched off who had nap duty with Lucy and pool duty with Noah and Callie. In the evenings Jennie took Lucy back to the room for bed so that Justin and I didn't have to miss any of the evening sessions. She was such a blessing!

The place we stayed was set up with little villas. It sort of looked like a campground. It was very spread out, with lots of green space, flowers, and trees. The sea was beautiful, of course, and the pool was great! It was the perfect place to relax. We loved being in nature. Because our group almost had the entire place, the kids got lots of freedom. They had a great playground and kids' club. That is where the kids had camp each day.

We did worship and workshops in the mornings and in the evenings we did worship and had a main speaker. The first part of the week our speaker spoke on discouragement. It was very helpful. The second part of the week the new international director of our company came to speak. He was great- humble, funny, and encouraging. My favorite thing that he said was not to believe the lie that we are causing suffering or hardship for our children because of this line of work. Rather we are modeling Christ followship and there is no better thing we can do for our children!


Callie and her friend Hope. They met the day we arrived and were attached at the hip the entire time. They ate every meal together, and spent every minute together.



Callie and Naomi. Sweet Naomi helped me convince Callie to swim with a t-shirt on early in the week because she was getting a little burned. They were "t-shirt" buddies. Callie adores the older girls.



Callie pausing for a quick pose.



Justin in an intense game of water polo with the men.


Going for the ball.



So cute! I was so excited to see that swim diapers have made it to our city!! Lucy loves shoes. She is always stealing someone's shoes and tromping around with them on.


Couldn't resist!


Isn't she the cutest thing you have ever seen!?! She'll hate me for this when she's older, but those cheeks.... those cheeks!!


All of the camp kids with their wonderful teachers! What a blessing they were!


Jennie and the girls on the beach.


The beach.


Daddy, Lucy and Noah exploring the beach.


A man selling fresh clams. He was walking up and down the beach with the tray balanced on his head! Now, that's good posture!


Lucy under the beach umbrella.


Lucy at the pool.


Callie the underwater princess.


Going...


going...


going...


gone! At the beginning of the week, Lucy cried when we put her in the pool. But by the end of the week she loved it! She got quite brave! Unfortunately she brought this skill home with her to the playground. She kept trying to jump off the top of the slide! Luckily we were always there to catch her.


Chilling out watching tv.

Sorry that there are hardly any pictures of Noah. He was so busy playing with his new friends that we hardly saw him!

It was hard to leave! It was the shot in the arm that we needed!

Celebrations

One of our favorite places in our area is a small mountain with a beautiful park and nice, inexpensive restaurant on top. On nice days, it is packed. It has a beautiful view of the city and particularly the two main bridges spanning the waterway.





We couldn't wait to take Jennie up there. While we were walking around it was fun to see several newlyweds. They just sort of walk around with their families. It seems a little strange, but at least they are getting some good use out of the dress and all that makeup!!

Weddings here consist of signing the marital contract and then a celebration. There is no religious ceremony. The groom's car is typically decorated with flowers and he comes to pick up his bride. They sign the contract in the Bride's home in front of their families. Then if they can afford it, they have a reception type celebration. Just like in the US it varies by family and financial status. I cannot wait to be invited to a wedding celebration. We've been told they are so fun- tons of dancing and food!! I don't know at what point in the activities they choose to go up to the park and walk around, but whatever.



A conservative bride.


A not so conservative bride.


The other huge celebration- well, at least the other one that you get a costume for- is a sünnet. The circumcision! This typically is done for boys between the ages of 6 and 10. I know... Yikes! Depending on the family it is done one of two ways. Sometimes the actual circumcision is done privately and then about two weeks later, once the boy can walk again, there is a big party. In fact, the government has special days at the local clinics for poor families to receive the doctor's services at a reduced rate. They just line 'em up and hack 'em off!! Sorry, couldn't resist!

The other way that they do it to include the circumcision at the party!! A special bed is prepared and the doctor does it right in front of everyone. Then the poor boy just lays back and cries. He does get lots of presents, if its any consolation. Oh.. and the awesome costume. It includes a scepter, and I think we can all agree that any outfit that includes a scepter is well worth it!


Noah wanted his picture with this little boy while we were up on the mountain with Jennie.


These next few were from a sünnet held at the hotel we were at for the conference. These people went all out. It was like a fancy outdoor wedding- beautiful decorations, sit down meal, live music, and the kid's name spelled with balloons. It does not get better than seeing your name in a lovely balloon arrangement!



They decorated a horse with tulle and paraded the boy around on it. They wouldn't let me get up there with him.



Everyone was dressed to the hilt.


TH people here know how to party. They love music and dancing. We are dying to go to a party. I was told that probably this year we'd be invited to some sünnets for boys in Noah's class. Hooray... sort of!

Its the Way I'm Wired... or is that Weird

So, I am behind on my posts. You can see this post for a wonderful list of excuses! Anyhow, I am a freak, but I have to go in order, and I very much prefer to include a picture. So it is going to take me awhile to get up to speed.

Let's get to work...

Jennie arrived on June 18th. The kids were crazy about having Jennie around. The cab ride from the airport consisted of Noah and Callie talking their heads off at the same time for an hour as loud as they could. Lucky Jennie! You couldn't wipe the smile off of their faces.

The day we picked Jennie up from the airport we also had a birthday party to attend. Justin went to work, and we left Jennie and Lucy to nap. Ilayda is a friend in our building. She turned 3! We love her family. They have adopted us! These are the pictures from her birthday party.


The birthday girl.


The kids staring at the food, begging to eat.


Callie shoving our present in the birthday girl's face. Makes you want to invite her to your party, huh?


An Aunt.


Some neighbors.


Another Aunt.

Official Complaint

My mom lodged an official complaint about my lack of posts. So I am going to try to get back on track. Here's what's been keeping us busy ( a short list with detailed posts and pictures to follow...some day!).

* Our very first guest came for three weeks! Jennie Wheeler started baby sitting Noah when he was tiny and quickly became a dearly loved part of our family. She came over to help us out at our regional conference and to help us get a jump start on home-schooling.

*Went went to our company's regional conference at a beach town south of here. It was fantastic.

*During said conference we got to tour an amazing Biblical town- including standing in the very spot where the Apostle Paul stood and defended his faith against his accusers. Wait till you see the pictures! But if I forget to tell you later, an Italian man sang "O solo mio..." (you know that song...) to demonstrate the acoustics. BEAUTIFUL!

*We had planned to rent a car following the conference and take a road trip back up to our city- seeing the city that Homer wrote about, other amazing ruins, battle sites, and the coast. Unfortunately, when Justin asked the man arranging for the car to double check that it would actually seat 6, he called us back to say no. Since we didn't want anyone to have to hold a child on their lap (very common here- even for drivers!!!) for a road trip, we bought plane tickets back. Disappointing!

*We took Jennie to some of the interesting places in our city.

*I began home-schooling Noah and Callie for the summer to keep them current on their English and Language Arts skills.

*I started language school. Unfortunately, they did not offer the level that I tested into at the time I needed so I had to start over at beginner level 1. Again, disappointing! But it will move quite fast, and at this point is easy, so it gives me a chance to get back in the groove of school. It has been a long time since I've been a student!!

*It is ridiculously hot. Today on the bus I was sure that my water broke (no, I am not pregnant) because sweat would not stop pouring down my legs. Yesterday when I got home from my class Callie said, "Mommy, you got water on your back!" No dear, sorry to disappoint you, but that is sweat. It's not even from doing any type of exercise, just from being alive. It is so stinking hot that I drink at least 80 oz of water a day and still don't have to pee! The temperature hardly drops at night making for a long hot night!

So, I have been absent. Sorry, Mom. I'll get it together!

Wishful Thinking

Ok, so you caught me. I haven't been at the beach for 3 weeks. But, boy do I wish I had! I get back to blogging regularly soon!