christmas here?

the interesting thing about our country is that they celebrate christmas, they just don't know it!! at the beginning of the month we went to ikea to buy our christmas tree. it is located in the most western looking shopping area that we have been to yet- complete with a gap, apple computer store, and popeye's fried chicken in the food court. it is an outdoor style mall. it was completely decorated for christmas complete with christmas music playing in english. some of the music mentioning the reason for the season! we were shocked! of course hardly anyone understands the words to the music or really seemed to notice it. but we felt like we were in america. they were installing a temporary outdoor ice skating rink and everything. all the decorations, the celebrating, and the gift giving (not nearly as much as in america) look exactly like american christmas minus anything spiritual- which is what american christmas has become. but, they celebrate it as new years- complete with a visit from santa on new year's eve. so interesting! this is a newer way to celebrate our friends tell us. it is catching on quickly. a few of our friends have new years trees in their homes, and our kids even received a little new years gift from our neighbors!





callie on the carosel


noah on the carousel

can't get enough of them

on the mountain

our family looking out over the city.



at the same mountain (see the post before) there is a wonderful assortment of snacks! the kids' favorite is this candy man. he spins several colors and flavors onto the stick and it sort of hardens into a yummy sucker. you can see callie with her nose pressed impatiently against the candy cart!

our city

this is a picture (on a misty day) of our city from the top of a small mountain between the water and our side of the city. if you can't tell from the picture, it is very beautiful. the water is fantastic!

noah and callie looking out over the city. it is so huge! i feel like i have only figured out maybe four blocks surrounding our home, and a few different bus routes! it will take years to get my bearings!!!

i took this picture of the kids to get the family in the background. they are ultra conservative. they dress like this to show their piety. although the clothing throws you off a little, i have found that even "high identity" believers like these are perfectly nice and open to a foreigner like me. it is hard to understand the women when they talk, though, because their mouthes are covered.

a new park

the other day justin had to help our teammates move their office. so, i took the kids to a big new park that i had seen on the bus. this was my first time taking all three on the bus by myself. they did great- they love the bus. the park actually has grass! it also has a turf on the futbol pitch (we used to call it a soccer field- although here most of them look like basketball courts). this picture is of noah and a few other "little guys" after they had been kicked off of the pitch. he is learning the pecking order early!


this is callie doing a show for lucy and i while noah watched the big kids play futbol! she has the best imagination!

night out

we finally convinced noah to get a haircut! he had decided to grow his hair out like his friend in georgia, caleb- much to my dislike!! (no offense caleb!) but, the young boys here are quite clean cut. so, we dragged him to the barber shop. once it was all said and done with, he was so happy. the barber fixed him up just like a t-ish teenager- spikes and all. so, noah thought he was hot stuff!


after the haircut, we were ready for a taste of the west. so, we piled onto the bus and headed for a big new mall not too far from our flat. the kids got mcdonald's sundaes, so they were thrilled. i had subway, so i was thrilled!!

there are quite a few different american fast food restaurants in the malls and more western areas of our city. some of the choices include mcdonald's, burger king, kfc, pizza hut, domino's, subway, starbucks, popeye's fried chicken, arby's, scholtzky's deli, and dunkin doughnuts. we rarely eat american fast food because it is about three times more expensive than any other restaurant! not only that, but few of them really taste the same. so it ends up being more of a disappointment than a taste of home. for example: the first time we went out to the mall, we were so excited to find a pizza hut. so, we order a meat pizza. of course, we know that the meat will be beef, as pork of any type is a strict no-no! when the pizza arrived the meat on it was like small pieces of beef bologna- yuck! i have never had a bologna pizza before... well, until then! it wasn't so bad, actually. it was just different.

so cute

here is our favorite picture of the kids!

illiteracy

i have heard quite a bit about illiteracy among adults in this part of the world. to this point i have never met an adult that cannot read or write- until thursday. i found out that my neighbor (who i wrote about in the next entry) cannot read or write, only speak. i kept forgetting and would show her a word in my translation dictionary. oops! at least its not such a taboo thing here- as hardly any woman over age 45 can read or write. so, she was not offended. i cannot imagine life without being able to read and write. my friend has three children. the oldest is 20 and the youngest is in first grade. why would she not learn along with one of the kids? it must be a mindset or something- a hurdle that feels like it cannot be overcome.

he met me

i am learning a new way to praise the lord. "praise the lord" is commanded more in the old testament than any other commandment. but what is praising the lord? is it just saying praise the lord? i think that is simply the command, no the act. a friend explained it with this story... "every year she makes a german chocolate cake for her husband. he loves it. after he savors the last crumb, he pushes back from the table and says... that was the best cake i have ever eaten, thank you so much for that cake. you are a wonderful cook! in my friend's opinion, that is thanks. praise is when her husband says you are a wonderful wife. you are wise and honest. you are full of integrity." basically the difference is that praise is lavishing on the character not the actions. this is a new thought to me. since it is such a predominant commandment, it must be important. so, i want to learn more! my friend suggested using scripture to praise god for who he is, not what he does.

so, with this new concept whirling around in my head, i decided to give it a try in my quiet time with the lord. lately the lord has really been ministering to me our of psalms 144-146. so i read this praise to him in prayer form, and elaborated on the character attributes mentioned. it was really neat. when you spend time praising this way,not only does it bolster your faith, but when you finally get to the point of bringing your requests before him, they seem so minor- like a drop in the bucket! not, the big deal that they were before!

yesterday, as i was getting ready for the day, a wave of sadness and loneliness overcame me! i decided not to waller in these feelings. instead i took it to the lord- using this praise method. again i used psalms 144-146- praying and praising the lord as i wept. it was amazing!! he really met me and comforted me! some of the psalm talks about praising him despite my circumstances and praising him with my dying breath. it ends up being such a blessing when you praise the lord even when you don't feel like it! feelings can be so deceiving! when i was done praising him, i felt like the negative feelings had been defeated, and i was completely comforted and content with my situation.

i asked the lord for comfort and a friend. this is how he answered before i even left our building to take the kids to school... as i was walking down our stairs i saw a neighbor who i have spent a tiny bit of time with. she invited me over for tea that afternoon! not only that, but as i walked past our mailbox, i saw mail! our first christmas card! it was amazing! i was so blessed and amazed at how quickly and thoroughly our father provided for my needs. after i dropped the kids at school lucy and i went to our neighbor's house. we spent the entire afternoon with them (my neighbor and her friend who is also a neighbor). we laughed and cooked and ate. it has been so long since i have gotten to laugh and joke around with girlfriends! thank you father for your loving kindness.

the LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

the LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
psalm 145-8-9

gypsies are real

did you know that gypsies are real? i didn't! i still don't know if they are a people group, a race, a sort of tribe, or even a lifestyle. anyhow, in our city this is how i know someone is a gypsy. in the 7th largest city in the world, that is completely modern, they are riding along in a cart pulled by the saddest looking horse you have ever seen! i think they collect large pieces of junk. it is still quite surprising to see the horse and cart round the corner!

making new friends

playing dress-up with the girls down stairs


noah digging in the dirt with the boys at the park


ok... so this is just us girls, but i love this picture!


this is noah and his best friend baran

making friends

this is noah with his teacher and her son at the school independance day celebration


this is at the park next to our complex. these girls live downstairs and they love lucy. they knock on our door and ask if they can bring her down to their place!



these are noah's tutor's kids. both kids go to callie's preschool. the boy is on callie's class. that is how we met them. their mom, my friend derya, is helping noah with his dictation.

thanksgiving

thanksgiving was quite different this year! on thursday, i made pizza! it wasn't mashed potatoes and gravy, but at least it was from scratch (no jars of pizza sauce here!). we did video chat with my family. it was fun, but wild. noah and callie and my niece and nephew just talked way too loud and acted crazy on the camera. it was so good to see everyone- almost like being there!

friday night we had thanksgiving dinner with our team leaders. she bought a turkey breast and had smuggled some honey baked ham into the country. boy was that an awesome surprise. i never thought that i'd be so happy about ham, but its been 3 long months... actually it ended up being quite a traditional meal minus the yeast rolls!

here is the best part of thanksgiving (even better that the ham). my mom had sent us a christmas package four weeks ago. the lady at the post office told her that it would only take 2 weeks, so mom has been stressed out! ... where is it, who has opened it, is it lost, have my grandbabies christmas presents been stolen... we had heard that it could take up to two months if it comes at all. then, we would get a slip in our mailbox that we had to take over to the big p.o. on the other side, and pay customs. all in all a huge hassle! anyhow, on thanksgiving morning our bell rings. who is it, but our mailman with mom's package!! it had a few things for now and most things to be put away for christmas. we flipped out! so, i know my mom has been so majorly stressed over it. but, i cannot help but praise the lord for his goodness. what a great day for it to get here!! the customs charge on it was tiny, it was delivered to our building, and it was unopened! can you imagine how excited we were? what a wonderful blessing!
"So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." matthew 7:11 we thought that we wanted the package as soon as possible. but how much better the father knows us. he knew how to time that package perfectly. what a good gift to have a taste of home on our first holiday away!! i tell you what... our god is good!