Going Sightseeing

We had the opportunity this past Friday to do some sightseeing in a nearby town about an hour away. Just wanted to post some pictures!



This is the famous Chinese game that is played daily in many places. I spent 30 minutes trying to learn how to play being taught by 4 Deaf individuals. A little hard, I would say!



This is a famous food in this city where we were sightseeing. I agreed to taste it but probably won't ever eat it again, if I have a choice. It is crunchy chicken drenched in "lajiao" (hot peppers) and oil. And it tastes exactly how it sounds.



Part of lunch -- Baby Taros and Pork (I really liked it)



#2 part of lunch -- Another specialty: some kind of mushrooms (again, I liked)



#3, #4, and #5 part of lunch -- pig's feet (which all you eat is skin, better than I thought but will probably never eat it again), green tofu (pretty bland I thought -- I like my tofu stirfried), and spicy sour vegetables (I liked except they were too spicy for my liking)



Isn't this beautiful?! It looks so much better in real life though. So incredibly peaceful, I didn't want to leave and come back to the noisy city.



A picture of the streets, filled with stores full of amazing handmade clothes, jewelry, anything you can think of.



Just a neat picture.

MAFAN!!! (translation: TROUBLE!!!)

"Mafan" seems to be every foreigners favorite word. It means "trouble" as if you were saying "Oh, that is just so mafan". It's hard to go through a day without "mafan". Today, we have big mafan in our apartment. You see, we were lucky enough in our first city to have an apartment with two bathrooms, but not so lucky in this city, where we only have one bathroom. When we moved in, the bathroom had one toilet and a shower head, but of course, no shower walls. Just a shower head (which is very common here). We decided we didn't like the whole bathroom being wet after taking a shower, so we bought a bathtub and shower curtain. Well, while the man was installing our (plastic, yes, plastic, we are not in America) bathtub, we think he may have leaned too hard against our toilet and cracked the cement which attaches the toilet to the floor. This was about 2 days ago. At first, water only seeped out of the crack when we flushed. However, now, water is seeping out even before we flush! Sorry if this is TMI (too much info). So, our only toilet is no longer usable :*( However, two good things... 1) We are leaving for visa renewal purposes tomorrow and will be gone a week, so we won't have to worry about being toilet-less for a week, and 2) we just happen to have a public toilet station just down our alley, which today was the first time for me to use (not the cleanest if you can imagine...). Bad thing is once we get back, we're not really sure what to do about this, and we can only climb down 5 flights of stairs, walk to the toilet station, and walk up 5 flights of stairs for so long. One thing for sure, one day, when we finally have a place of our own back in America, we are having two bathrooms!

Be Grateful for American Plugs!

It may sound like a strange title, for I never thought I would be so jealous of American plugs, but it is true...I am green with envy. What is the big deal about American plugs, you ask? Well, you have one basic kind of plug and outlet. "C", on the other hand, thinks it is beneficial to have at least 3 different kinds of plugs and outlets. Let's name them "Frustration A, Frustration B, Frustration C (A, B, C for short)". For example, each room has one set of outlets (which may include room for 1-4 plugs). I think our apartment building was built when appliances were rare and people didn't need many plugs (it looks like it was built 100 years ago...). Our kitchen has 2 As, and 2 Bs, but only in one little corner, so all of our appliances can only be in that one corner, and tough luck if you have 3 appliances that needs to be plugged that needs an A outlet! In our living room, the only outlet is behind the TV. I mean, who wants to put a lamp in another corner, or maybe a electric fan since most people don't have AC's? Oh, and our one vanity area...has the infamous C plug, but goodness...the water heater is plugged in that one. We have tried extension cords but for some reason, they do not make extension cords for C plugs, so the water heater has to fit directly into the outlet. So, instead, if I need to plug something in for my hair, I do it in a different room. Anyways, next time you plug something in, be grateful. I guess I should be grateful to have any kind of plug -- I'll work on that :)

The trouble with locks...

Funny story, I think...N may not think so!

We had three guests stay with us last week for several days. We decided to go down to the open market to get some vegetables for dinner, while N went on home to do a few things. Well, at the market, I receive a phone call from N saying that the door lock is jammed and he can't get inside our apartment. So, I grab one of our guests, who is a carpenter, and we rush to the house to try to help. Well, our lock is a special kind of lock -- much like a locker -- in which you have to turn a knob using a certain combination of numbers for the key to fit in. Well, they tried for several minutes to open the door while I sat back and waited. We were just about to call a locksmith to break our lock...UNTIL...I just happened to watch Nate turn the dial and noticed that he was putting the two numbers in backwards. So I, the hero of the day, stepped up, reversed his numbers and TADA!...opened the door :) I asked N how long he had been trying to open the door and he said that I didn't want to know. I answered that I REALLY wanted to know, and he's response..."One hour"... Oh, it felt good ;)

Oh Happy Day....Finally!

Something recently happened to us that has just made our lives 10x easier. We were fortunate enough to get a dryer! Now, most of you probably wonder why I am so excited about a dryer. Well, here where we live, a dryer is a luxury. Most people, even foreigners, do not have a dryer because they are SO EXPENSIVE here (as well as hard to find, especially in the smaller cities). For a year now, we have had to hang-dry everything we have washed. We wouldn't dare to wash sheets until we knew we would be gone for severals days, so we knew they would have time to dry. Anyways, a foreign family (as in American) recently moved and had to sell all their things. They had a dryer (which had been shipped from another province), and we just happened to be the first ones to grab it. People were offering up to 3x what she was asking for it, but she had promised it to us already at a cheaper price. Anyways, the plan had been for N to go get it from her place. Without a car, you have to hire a truck to move things for you. So, the woman of the family had already called a truck to help with the move. The night before N was supposed to get it, the woman called to confirm with the truck driver -- but found out that he was busy but could do it the next day. So...N goes the next day at the scheduled time...waits...no driver...the woman calls the truck driver -- he is out of town and will not be in for several days! So, N had to hunt down another driver himself (plus someone who could carry a dryer down 3 flights of stairs as well as up 5 flights of stairs). Well, all turned out well and we have our dryer, which is currently in a guest bedroom since we don't have a laundry room or a bathroom big enough. Now, if only our bathtub, which is over one week late, would arrive...

Guess what will happen to these dogs... :(

One Year Here

So, on April 17, it was official -- I have been overseas for 1 year. In one way, the time has flown by, but as I think about my home, family, and friends in the States, it feels like it has been a lot longer since I have seen them. Reflecting on where I am now and where I was a little over a year ago, I want to share a list of things I miss about my home in the States and things I am grateful for here:

Things I miss about my home in America:
1) Of course, my family and friends...how could I not?!
2) Holidays -- I have never been much of a holiday person, but now that I live in a country that does not celebrate American holidays, I really miss it. And not being able to spend the holidays with my family is hard.
3) QUIET!!! I miss being able to sit at home, in the country, and hear the cows or ONE car drive past, sleeping at night and not hearing fireworks going off. Right now, I can hear the pigeon trainer that lives across from us blowing his whistle, people yelling outside in a language I don't understand, construction work, and traffic honking. It's just really hard to get away from the noise here.
4) Country...pastures...country roads...houses...and not buildings, city roads, stores, buildings, buildings, buildings! And of course the 3.5 million people that live in a too-small city.
5) Driving a car -- walking everywhere is a great way to stay in shape here, especially after eating the tasty, oily food here, but it's exhausting, so taking the bus (or taxi -- more expensive) is the only other alternative. But with the traffic situation here, you might as well just walk.
6) My former jobs -- working at camp and school. How I miss washing dishes, serving people, cleaning, helping in the office at camp, and my Deaf students at school that I spent 2 years teaching and interpreting for.
7) Being part of a fellowship, being together with like-minded people, learning about our wonderful Father and His Word in a SS class with others like me.
8) Blending in -- not being one of the 1 of 50 foreigners in a city of 3.5 million, not being stared at every time I leave my house.
9) Not having to wash my fruits and veggies with soap so we don't get giardia!
10) Clean water!!! Drinking the water here is a big no-no.

But, surprisingly as it may seem, there are things that I am grateful for here that I can't get in America:
1) Seeing with my eyes and experiencing life in a poor(er) country. Even though this country is booming, it still has some very poor areas, one in which I live in. Many people only see this stuff in magazines, but I get to experience it with my own eyes, everyday.
2) Buying fruits and vegetables penny on the dollar! They are so cheap here compared to back at home. And we can eat out at a tasty little fast food place for $2 (for both of us) as well as a nice restaurant for $10 or less (again, both of us)!
3) Learning to appreciate the good things in life. Coming to a realization of things I took for granted back at home and things I hope I never take for granted again.
4) Street foods!!! The safe kinds, of course :) Steamed breads, filled steamed breads (with sweet or veggie fillings), cooked sweet potatoes -- those are my three favorites. They make great snacks.
5) Lessons learned -- things I could never have learned back home. I have learned more about myself, good and bad. I've learned my limitations, my weaknesses, that I am NOT one that can live in a mud hut, and that learning a spoken language with tones is probably the hardest thing in the world for me to do! I've learned that living here can make my marriage stronger or fall apart miserable and that I am responsible for which one happens.

It may seem that the first list way outweighs the second, but I think learning more about myself and more about the world outweighs what I miss about home...at least for the time being. I know that when I return home, it will be the most amazing feeling, one that I would never have experienced if I didn't decide to be part of this journey. It's a difficult, but needed, journey.