A real fall

I'm just so thrilled that it actually seems like we may have fall this year! If I open our windows in the morning I have to put a sweatshirt on to stay warm! Midday is still in the mid-80s, lower 90s, but it starts to cool down again before the sun is even set. Last year it was still in the 90s throughout the first half of October. I remember the first day that I actually wore a sweatshirt the whole day was Oct. 31st. We had two rain showers from Sept - early Jan. That's a whole lot of hot and dry for this Pacific NW girl! So, though we haven't had any rain yet, I'm actually hopeful we may have some this year.
We had a WONDERFUL time in Germany and Austria in August. Every part of our break exceeded our expectations. We returned to Tajikistan refreshed and healthy (though sad that we had to say goodbye to our lovely family there). I'll post pics next month probably as our internet plan got all wacky this month and we don't have a lot of megabytes (and uploading pics take lots more MB than just typing words does). I felt really at home in Germany and Austria. I never expected I'd feel that way in a European country. I don't know if it's just because it had been a while since I'd been in a country that you could drink the tap water and throw your toilet paper in the toilet and turn a light switch on and have it predictably turn a light on. I'd visited Spain back in 2003 and though it was a lovely country and very fun to visit, I remember thinking, "I could never live here." I know that's funny coming from a gal who lives in a developing country, who's home would be condemned if it were in the states, but what can I say - life is surprising.  They hardly eat any breakfast in Spain and then don't eat a meal until around 2pm. Then they eat dinner really late and it's not unusual to see families out taking walks at 1am. I'm just not a night person and breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me. Everyone was really dressed up all the time too. I loved Germany, though. We ate granola and yogurt or grainy bread with seeds in it for breakfast. People were, on the whole, so pragmatic and things were done so methodically. There were parks for children to play in every block or two and the children were dressed in actual play clothes, getting dirty and no one telling them to be careful not to get dirty. I loved it! I also wonder if it helped that it was the first time in two years that I was somewhere that no one gave me a second glance. I fit in. I looked like everyone else. I loved that. I had a moment of realizing how my mind has assimilated to being here in Tajikistan. Our last full day in Austria, I wanted to go for a last swim in the mountain lake that was only 1km from our little apartment. It was probably only 68 degrees, but warm enough not to deter me. I walked the path to the lake with my head down, not wanting to make eye contact with the passersby who certainly thought I was headed to my death - you know, cold water kills you, at least that's what they think here. I most certainly didn't want to make eye contact with any men - that would invite even more negative attention. I headed straight for the lake, thinking of what I would say to the people who would certainly be telling me that I would get sick swimming in a cold lake when it's "cold" outside, only to find other families who looked much like me already hanging out by the lake, some of their children already swimming. No one gave me a second glance as I swam to my heart's content. It was so refreshing in every way. I could go on and on about how much we loved Germany and Austria but I must say that much of what made our visit extra wonderful was getting to spend time with family. Rees' dad's cousin, Luci, and her husband, Uli, along with their grown-up kids, Andre and Danielle, hosted us at the beginning and end (and came to Austria with us) and Rees' mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, sister and brother-in-law as well as Luci's sister, Kim, all came. It was such a blast. We didn't sleep any more or any better than we do here in T-stan, but we had so much more energy! What a gift.
We have been back in Tajikistan for about 2 1/2 weeks now and returned to two rounds of guests from America. It was so fun to get to just keep visiting with people that we know and love from our "other life." We also immediately had various goings-on with neighbors and our friends here and Rees started right back up with planning new English classes for the fall. All in all, it's been a smooth transition back to our home here - thank you, Lord. I'm typing this with a second or third degree burn on my finger, two days after Rees passed some kidney stones, but those two things aside - things are really looking up :)