Introducing...

It's hard to explain the relational desperation that drives a person into terribly uncomfortable, but welcome situations nonetheless. The first weekend we were here, a local sister invited us along to house warming party for one of the families in the fellowship.


I told David as we were having dinner, I'd rather be here speaking a foreign language in this room full of strangers than inside our empty house by ourselves!

But the good thing is that the more you force yourself into uncomfortable situations, the more comfortable those situations gradually become, and the more familiar the people and places become, and eventually it all becomes an integral part of your life.

So I wanted to introduce you to our world of new and (some) uncomfortable but welcome situations, which are day by day becoming an integral part of our lives.
Here's our new city...

...with lots of new places to explore! This is what we call "Mud River". It's always this color!





We often see people fishing along the banks or from the bridges using these large nets--pretty cool.

These are gardens planted between the sidewalk and the road--something we see alot here.  I love how practical and industrious the people are!

Lots of places to have fun and meet people too.  This is a park downtown where we go about once a week or so and let the kids play. 

Of course we make a big splash when we go--not exaggerating, when we stop at an activity, we're surrounded by 15 or more people within 1 minute, with pretty much every other person within eyesight turned and watching as well!  We experienced that to some degree in our other city, but there are very few foreigners here, so the curiosity, staring, photo taking, and calling "Foreigner, foreigner!" as we pass is much moreso here.  No such thing as "blending in" for us!

Anyway, lots of new food too.  This is one of our absolute favorites...roasted chicken.  So good!  And the stand is just a block from the entrance our our neighborhood, so it's very convenient when we need to pick up dinner on the way home!





Also on our list of frequently visited places are this stir fried rice stand...

...and this Muslim noodle place on the corner.  Spicy noodle soup for breakfast is the way to go here!  It's in our blood now, I think.

Wonder of wonders, they have a Kentucky Fried Chicken here in our city!!! One of the 3 Western restaurants in town.  The menu has a few items that might not go over as well in the States...  (that's squid kabobs at the top of the poster there)     ...but the chicken, fries, and nuggets taste pretty much the same.   

Here's our new market. They don't sell meat or produce in the super-market, so this is where we buy most of our fresh food. 

The vegetables...

Pork...

 Fish...

Chickens, geese, and ducks... poor things!  I hate picking one out to kill. I've only done it once with an auntie who took me, and she picked it out and they did the whole bit back there to the right.  I took it home in a plastic bag with its legs sticking out, de-feathered and ready to cook.  I kept thinking about my grandmother and so many others just a generation or two older than me, to whom this was always just a normal part of life not so long ago.  But I can't quite get used to it. So I think I'll keep buying the already killed, cut up kind, instead of picking them out myself!  =)

Anyway, beans, nuts, and tofu...

...and eggs, rice, flour, dried mush rooms, garlic, nuts, peppers, and season ings.  Man, I can't even describe to you how totally awkward, uncom fortable, and out of place I felt the first time I went here.  I've been to the market plenty of times since I've lived in Asia, but there's something so terribly intimidating when you go somewhere you've never been before.  This place is so alive with culture...one to which I don't "belong".  I'm a foreigner, and the more natural the place, the more foreign I am in it!  But, you go, you do it, you smile, and you go again...and eventually they get used to you, you get used to them, they smile back, and it all gets easier... and even fun!

Here's David's new school, where he has language and culture classes each day.  It's the only college in the city, so there's looots of students!  We often go to the campus (we live 5 minutes away) to relax and be around people.  

This is at the back / top of the campus.  It's really peaceful and we all love the view. 

Caleb has a new school, too--a local preschool right at the entrance of our neighbor hood, where he attends 3 mornings a week.  (If you look really closely, you can see him about the middle of the photo-- this was his first day.)   It's pretty much a monolingual setting for him, but his language is coming along and he functions really well, with a few misunderstandings sprinkled in... Like the third day of class when he kept trying to tell the teacher he didn't want to eat the food because it was spicy, but accidentally said it was garbage!  (they sound alot alike!)   Over and over he told them it was garbage and he wouldn't eat it.  Ha!  So that night my neighbor whose grandson is in his class asked me what does he like to eat?  Does he not like to eat rice?  Lol!   =)  Anyway, he loves his school, is making friends, and we're incredibly thankful to see him happy and well-adjusted so soon after moving here.

Here's our new apartment building-- we live on the first floor on the left.

The living room as you walk in...











We brought our stuff from our first home, so thank fully this room's mostly furnished!

The dining room and kitchen are next...

Then Caleb and Susanna's room.

Emily's room is on the left, and there's also the kids' bathroom, a storage room, an office, our bedroom, and a balcony for hanging laundry, but they're not much to see. Everything is still the essentials until we get some shelves and such. Shelves and wardrobes were built in at our other apartment, so we already got wardrobes for here and will get shelves eventually. A house is always a work in progress, it seems!  Oh well, "Slowly come" as the people here say.

Here's our bathroom.  Like our nice big bathtub?  Just kidding.  This is Asian style--no tub, no curtain.  The water runs into a drain in the middle of the floor right in front of the toilet (can't see it in the photo--the one acutally under the shower faucet doesn't seem to work).  So I'm still getting used to the floor staying wet all day from morning showers!  Usually water drains into the toilet in the floor, but I asked to have a Western style toilet put in, and the landlords were reluctant but agreed.  The kids' bathroom is an Asian style "squatty potty" as we foreigners call it, but it works great for them--much easier to use. Dresses and the squatter worked like a charm for Susanna's potty training!

So that is our new place.  We found it through a local sister that David met back on one of his initial trips here during the summer, and we've really enjoyed it so far.  It is bigger than our last place yet much cheaper (one of the benefits of smaller city living!).  This last year has been full of so much transition for us--I must admit that after 7 months of temporary housing and moving 4 times, it is really, really good to put unpack the boxes, put away the suitcases and settle down for a while in a place that's our own!  This past summer on a weekend trip when we were out and about, Caleb began whining and said he wanted to go back "home."  I honestly had no idea what he meant--America?  our old apartment? The apartment we lived in when we came back from Thailand?  The apartment we were currently living in?  So I asked him, and he said, "Home! You know--the place where we slept last night!"  So, completely furnished or no, we're really thankful for our new "home."  =)
This is our new yard, right out our front door.  Ain't it beautiful!  Just concrete, but kids always find a way to have fun, even without grass!

Living on the first floor is great.  We just walk out our door and can immediately play or visit with neighbors. Seems like they are more willing to drop by or come in for a bit, too, with us being right there. Not to mention we don't have to climb stairs!  =) 

 And this is our new apartment complex.  It is up on a hill, at the top of a pretty large neighbor-hood, and next to a middle school.  Lots of people around!

Here's the common area where people come to relax and chat with neighbors.  Lots of fun places for the kids to explore--especially the rocks and trees! 

They're building several houses in our neighborhood right now--this one is being built across the road from us, so we can look out the kids' bedroom window and watch (and hear!) the construction.  It's been fun to see how they do things, what machines, they use, etc.

And this is the one we can see from our living room window. 








This is the neighborhood our complex is in.  Lots of nice houses and pretty areas--we always enjoy taking walks out and about. 

And we get our exercise-- our complex is at the top of a hill, so the kids love running down.  The climb back up is always the kicker, though!  This is at the back side of the neighborhood.

My favorite place is at the end of our street here. You can see we have a great view of the mountains!




Actually our whole city is surrounded by mountains.  Kind of reminds me of how we're Surrounded in other ways too... 


 I can hardly believe sometimes that we live near such a beautiful place, and so near to the whole other world that exists just across the fence...



New places, new people, new opportunities all around us...


The storeowner at the entrance of our complex, who runs a mahjong business out of their shop.  Every day there are 3-4 tables going... 
















The Muslim minority family who owns a restaurant at the entrance of our neighborhood...

Children in our complex...











and everywhere we go...

















The older ladies who sit and chat each afternoon in the shade of the trees...

The places are great, but it's the people who give color and meaning to our lives.  Often as we interact I wonder which of them are going to become friends, which ones we're going to remember and talk about and cry over when we leave. And it's amazing to think that whether they realize it or not, the ones who accept us and allow us into their lives are ultimately allowing Someone in who can change their life forever. May it be so...