Thailand and the end of summer (hopefully)

How many times did I think to myself, "I really need to update our blog" or "I should blog about this" but alas the opportune time never matched my intentions. So here's an update on the end of July until now-ish.
We were very busy at the end of July, both seeing off our friends and teammates who were going back to the states or elsewhere and preparing to leave for 4 weeks to Thailand ourselves. I hadn't anticipated how exhausting it would be to leave, I had only thought about how wonderful it would be to be in a more developed country where we could get some rest and perspective on our lives here. We managed to visit with (almost) everyone we wanted to see prior to leaving - thank God - it truly was a minor miracle, as well as get packed, get our house in order and all that kind of work. You can read the previous entry to hear about how our actual travelling went, suffice it to say it was memorable and if we manage to forget it someday - we may be better for it :)
We went to Chiang Mai, Thailand and our first week there we stayed at a wonderful resort for people in our line of work that was sooooo peaceful - a real mom's vacation too. They do all the cooking and meals are at designated times (no need to have to decide what to eat, when and where) and they also do all your laundry - aaaaaah (can you hear the angel chorus?). There were big toys for the kids, a great family pool, even an indoor play area right in the dining room so when the kids were done eating they could go play while the adults finished their meal. I'm telling you, these people have thought of everything! It was so encouraging for us to spend time with other people who are doing what we are doing all over the world and great for Hannah & Emmett to play with some kids who also speak English and who understand living in another country than their country of citizenship. We were blessed to spend time with a couple who had been working in Thailand for 45 yrs. Their stories and gentle wisdom were a great encouragement to us (here's to you, Alan & Maelynn!). It was so helpful to bounce ideas off other families in regards to parenting issues and such. We spent a lot of that first week just swimming and sleeping. We didn't realize how exhausted we were. Our second week we went to our company's conference at a different hotel in Chiang Mai and what a wonderful gift it was to be able to be at this conference! We were encouraged - emotionally, spiritually, intellectually as well as physically and came away with some great new friendships and an even greater sense of thankfulness for our company. The last day of our conference, we had a very special guest join us - Rees' mom, Nan (or Nanu to the grandkids). Hannah went with Rees to the airport to meet her and says that Nan cried she was so happy and that Hannah too was almost in tears she was so happy to see her Nanu. Even Emmett recognized her from our Skype calls and was super excited when he saw her. Our next 13 days were spent back at the first resort we stayed at, Nanu staying with us, and we had a fantastic time of sharing, laughing, crying and just all-around fun and rest. Rees and I got to spend some time together just the two of us - which was a welcome treat. We got to sit at a coffee shop and drink iced-coffees and talk - totally uninterrupted! We also got to go to a movie together and best of all - we got to go up into the rain forest and do a zip-line adventure together. I'll tell ya, letting all that adrenaline loose and laughing and screaming was good for our souls - highly recommend it. I think if Nan had not joined us, 4 weeks would have been just right to refresh us to come back to Tajikistan but since Nan was with us, the time felt too short. Of course, there may not have been any amount of time that would have seemed long enough :) Thanks so much for joining us, Nan!
There were many "normal" things we took advantage of while in Thailand and were so thankful for the professionalism and affordability. It was so nice to get to the dentist - Hannah even went for the first time and she did so well, have good medical facilities close by and be able to take the kids to a pediatrician, get some shopping done and just enjoy some "developed" things that we don't have access to here. On the top of my list were the rain storms in which our electricity didn't go out. Here, many times rain means no electricity and for us, no electricity means no running water either so this Pacific NW girl finds myself longing for rain and once it comes, wishing it would be over. I can't tell you how great it felt to be in such a temperate climate - rarely, if ever, getting over-heated. I feel like I live in a pretty consistent state of being overheated here (at least from May til September with a few sporadic days in March and April) and I felt so thankful every day to just feel pretty comfortable. Some other highlights were the Night Safari - beautiful grounds and we had never been so close to so many different animals and seen them so active. It was the most low-stress zoo-type thing we'd ever done and if you're ever in ChiangBuatong if anyone's familiar with the area - and played in the water and then climbed up the water falls. It wasn't as daring as it may sound, it was just fun. The falls were a nicely graded slope of limestone and the water originates from a spring that is apparently high in Magnesium. The Magnesium reacts with the limestone making the surface of the limestone more like a fine pummous rock so you don't slip and you crawl up. Thanks to the Hubers for taking us along on the adventure.

We arrived back in Tajikistan two weeks ago now and have been pleasantly surprised by the decently smooth transition back. The kids are adjusting better than ever and we are experiencing a lot of grace to get back in the rhythm of life (minus the ol' tummy troubles). It's great to reconnect with our neighbors and our Tajik family and friends as well as the other foreigners here. I feel more grace to just lower my expectations of myself for each day and take advantage of visits with neighbors as they are available instead of trying to make so much happen. Hannah and Emmett, though siblings they are, seem to be able to play with each other better these days as well as play with their toys for longer (I love legos! Even the cheapo low-end Chinese ones!). There's always so much to be thankful for and we are so thankful for the rest and refreshing we got to experience that seems to be making it a little easier to be here. Hope this entry can be a reminder to whoever is reading that even when you think you're doing well, make a point of taking a break and getting some rest and doing something refreshing. You may be surprised at how much better the "mundane" things of life are afterward.

Oh the places we'll go (and the ways we'll get there)

I thought I had posted this while we were in Thailand, but apparently not. My apologies. I must say that our return travel to Tajikistan went much better, though we still had to pick up all of our luggage at all 4 airports along the way. China Southern was a decent airline, it was just travelling through China in general that was the hassle - no offense to our dear Chinese friends :)


We are so happy to finally be in Thailand. It was a bit of a rough go getting here but as these things go, now that we’re here it doesn’t seem like it was that bad.  In Tajik, travel or journey is called “safar” cool huh? Sounds like safari. Our safar started Saturday night as a friend picked us up in Kurgonteppa and drove us up to his house in Dushanbe. We got to Dushanbe around 8:30pm and had dinner together and attempted to put the kids down to sleep for a bit. Emmett was the only one who slept (maybe 1 1/2 hrs) before we went to the airport at 11:30pm.  The Dushanbe airport is pretty small and bare bones. We went through a bunch of security lines and checking of our passports and all that before we reached the ticket counter and got our boarding passes. Everyone was pretty nice to us to that point but then the ticket counter guys told us we couldn’t gate check our stroller and insisted that we had to check it.  I asked them multiple times if our stroller would be waiting for us at our first stop (Urumqi, China). They insisted that yes it would be there. They also informed us that they could only check our luggage to Urumqi and that we’d have to pick it up there (boo for that).  We were disappointed by all of that but as things go in Tajikistan, there was nothing we could do about it. Then we went to another immigration control line (by this point Hannah and Emmett are starting to melt-down) and they asked us why we didn’t have the little piece of paper that we were given when we first entered the country. We asked them how we were supposed to know that we should have that paper and told them that the officials had only given us two papers for all four of us anyway. They said, “you’ll have to go back to KT and get your papers” (mind you this is completely unrealistic to do and actually get on our flight). At this point Hannah starts pulling down her pants and screaming that she has to go potty and she starts pulling off the “night time diaper” we’d put on her, screaming, “I don’t want a diaper! Take it off! Take it off!” This screaming wakes up Emmett who immediately starts screaming too. I looked at the official and asked what he wanted us to do and said that he knew that we couldn’t get to KT to get our papers and that we had to get to our flight. Rees effectively told them that this was not his mistake, that it was theirs’ to which they confidently responded, “no, it’s your problem.” H & E are still screaming and I’m trying to keep some clothes on Hannah. The officials are saying, “what should we do?” which is essentially asking for a bribe. Finally one of the guys, practically yelling over the kids’ screaming, tells me I can go through. Of course there’s another line with more security (real secure too, I didn’t have my passport or anything b/c Rees had it and I just told the guy, “you’ll know who my husband is when you see him. Can I take my daughter to the toilet?” to which he said, “fine.”) We actually made friends with another couple who were moving from Dushanbe to Cambodia. They had a baby and 3 yr old too and he was going to be a professor at a university there. Rees eventually paid the guys 20 sum (about $4) and they let him go.  This couple couldn’t believe that Rees had to pay the guys to let us through. Eventually we got on the plane and arranged for our seats to be together (since they weren’t ticketed that way) and took off around 1:30am – kids still screaming until they fell asleep for the last hr of our flight. Once we arrived in Urumqi our stroller, of course, was not there so we schlepped kids and bags to customs where we found that they expected us to have visas. Their website clearly says that a visa is not needed if you are only transiting through China and not leaving the airport and our travel agent had confirmed that but apparently they had a different idea. So we waited in all kinds of other lines and got taken back to some waiting area where people kept taking our passports and talking to other people. We don’t know Chinese or Russian so we were sort of out of luck as far as understanding what was happening or being able to communicate. Of course, Hannah didn’t have to use the potty when we got off the plane but waiting in that line she suddenly had to go so I begged someone to let us use a toilet. They led me to what appeared to be a staff bathroom and Hannah started yelling, “it’s stinky in here! I don’t want to go potty in here!” They were the squatty potties (which we also have in T-stan) but she decided she didn’t want to go in there but she’d told me 10 times that she really had to go. She started crying again and Emmett (strapped to me with our baby carrier) woke up and started crying.  I tried to help her so that she wouldn’t have to stand on the potty but she started screaming, flailing, kicking and insisting that she didn’t have to go anymore, all the while Emmett is screaming too and I want to join them but at the same time I’m thinking, “I wish I could laugh right now because I’m pretty sure I’ll laugh about this later.” I was a terrible mommy and looked at Hannah with desperation and said, “Hannah, you are making mommy go crazy! PLEASE go pee pee!” Didn’t work. We ended up back out in the waiting area, all the people who had just flown in from Dubai and Tehran, just watching us. Rees decided to just put a diaper on Hannah right then and there, which got a lot of funny looks but what were we to do? Eventually they gave us more papers to fill out and we went on to the next line where we encountered the same problem and ended up waiting again. It was another ticketing counter where we were re-checking our bags and poor Hannah just laid down on that linoleum floor, in the middle of swarms of people and started to fall asleep. There was not a single other blond-headed girl in the whole airport so she was quite the attraction. Eventually we ended up getting on our flight but all of our seats were separated from each other (even Hannah’s – how can a 3 yr old get ticketed for her own seat, away from her parents, on an international flight?). We ended up only being able to get seats together in the very last row, with the very least legroom, on the longest flight of our safar. The kids eventually fell asleep (after more screaming, of course) and Rees and I did the ol’ nodding off, head-bobbing trick. You know, the I’m-too-uncomfortable-to-actually-stay-asleep-but-I’m-too-tired-to-stay-awake deal. Fortunately, the kids stayed asleep through most of the flight and we ended up making it to Guangzhou where things started to turn around for us. They still expected us to have visas but they were much quicker to accept the papers and stamps that we’d gotten in Urumqi and while we were trying to work out getting people to trade seats with us so we could sit together (or at least so that Hannah would be sitting with one of us) a very kind flight attendant arranged for us to have a whole bulk-head row all to ourselves.  It was a world of difference from our previous flight. Hannah and Emmett fell asleep again and Rees and we had a pretty peaceful flight to Bangkok. Once in Bangkok we found our way to baggage claim to go through customs before our flight to Chiang Mai but alas, our bags didn’t make it to Bangkok. The friendly people from Thai Airways helped us and assured us that our bags would be found and sent to us in Chiang Mai and with an hour before we needed to board our flight we found ourselves sitting in Starbucks for the first time in 9 months. It was amazing. Hannah was still having a hard time not screaming but Rees’ and my attitudes (and headaches) changed for the better after a few cups of REAL coffee. Actually, I had an iced vanilla latte – wow! Couldn’t believe how good that tasted.  So at least Hannah was the only one throwing fits after that, instead of all 4 of us J Our flight to Chiang Mai was uneventful and we arrived at the Juniper Tree without further incident at 11pm and wonder-of-wonders, we all slept straight through the night and woke up to beautiful, peaceful tropical surroundings, warm, hospitable people who are in the same line of work we are, great food and super-duper family-friendly amenities. It’s nothing fancy for Western standards but for us coming from Central Asia, it’s a little piece of heaven.  So far we’ve been swimming every day, multiple times a day, reading, letting the kids play outside, taking naps and connecting to the great people who are also staying here. Although we enjoy talking about what we do, it’s so nice to be somewhere where we don’t have to explain why we are doing what we are doing because everyone here understands already. There are lots of little kids for Hannah & Emmett to play with and our baggage even made it to Chiang Mai the morning after we arrived. We still don’t have our stroller but 5 out of 6 isn’t too bad. So though I think I’d rather have a different travel plan if we come here again; we made it, we’re all doing great, we’re looking forward to our conference next week and seeing Nan the following weeks and we are pretty darn blessed. If you’ve made it to the end of this entry, I applaud you. This one was definitely mostly for me to rant but I appreciate you hanging in there with me. As with most things in life, in hindsight – it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. 

A Different Kind of Wealth

Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet Republics. I don’t know how that’s all worked out (whether that’s income per capita versus cost of living or employment rates or what) but I must say that it is rich in so many other areas that really are more important to quality of life. I’m thinking about this today because yesterday the electricity cut out for about 3 hours in the late afternoon/evening and it was HOT. Hannah and Emmett woke up from their naps just after Rees came home and they were sweaty and hot (no AC, no fans, no running water when the electricity is out and temps are well over 100 these days with humidity still in the air). Usually on Thursday evenings we eat an early dinner (or really late dinner) so that Hannah and I can go outside and visit with the women and children from about 6pm til dark (8:30 or 9). Rees stays home with Emmett because he goes to bed early. Because it was so hot in our apartment, Rees decided to go outside with us – which is a spectacle in and of itself since most of the men aren’t outside playing with children! Hannah and I found some neighbors who were cleaning up after canning about 30 jars of tomato sauce (which they had cooked outside over a fire – very typical). They welcomed us to their circle and we all talked about how hot it was and they told me about all they were canning and how it was better to can together and they wanted to make sure I understood that it’s a good time to can tomato sauce. All the while the little kids are happily running around playing, one of the women is nursing her baby, other neighbors are talking to us out their windows and we are all dripping sweat. After some laughs and making suggestions for what to make for dinner and where to get nectarines for the cheapest price, one of the women looked at me and said (more or less), “Tajikistan is naughty. No electricity, it’s hot, we’re sweating. America is better.” I answered this how I normally do, “yes, America almost always has electricity, but I think most Tajiks would be very sad there.” I went on to explain that most people live by themselves (with their own nuclear family if they have one) and there aren’t many women close by who sit outside taking a break from their work talking to each other. In fact, many neighbors don’t even know each other. They can’t even comprehend that it’s not unusual for neighbors to hardly say a word to each other in 20+ yrs of living next to each other. Here there is so much visiting, sharing and dividing work, “living off the land,” neighbor kids helping with smaller children, commitment to families, etc. It’s obviously no utopia here as dysfunction can be found on every front but I looked at this neighbor’s smiling, sweating face, looked at all her jars full of the spoils of summer to be eaten in winter, looked at the women around who had helped with the work and who were laughing with each other and I thought, “she probably doesn’t know how rich she really is.” I suppose that could be said of each of us.

Gaping Disparities

I am extremely happy to report that there is a public pool within a 5-minute walk (5 min w/ kids, stroller, towels, floaties, etc) of our apartment. It’s actually even a decent pool – good size, rectangle, water drained and pool cleaned once a week, fresh frigid mountain water added, even a little chlorine added for hygiene (at least I’m told there is a little chlorine in there – can’t smell it though). There’s no shallow area, but you can find different types of floaties pretty easily here (still haven’t found water wings). We can go swimming for the equivalent of 45 cents for our whole family (and I thought Portland Parks and Recreation was impressive!). Needless to say, we go to the pool often. It’s amazing that it can be somewhere in the range of 108 degrees and once we go swimming we get out and actually feel like it’s a pleasant temperature out. We are so thankful for this unexpected blessing of the pool close to our home.

The other day we were at the pool and I was struck by the disparity in expectations of modesty for men and women. There really aren’t any women who go swimming. It’s generally almost 100% men (until Hannah and I show up J). I always swim with huge shorts and t-shirt on over my swimsuit. Jenny says I look like a tomboy in my swim outfit. When I’m done swimming I very discretely put my kurta back on (the Tajik dress and pants we wear here) still over my swimsuit. Now the men on the other hand swim in their underwear and when they are done just strip naked on the side of the pool and get dressed. I also must mention that the pool isn’t walled in or anything, you can look in at it from the busy street. One of the main reasons that women don’t go swimming at the pool is that it’s not decent for them to do so. It’s only semi-permissible for me to go because I only go with my husband and kids, I wear this tom-boy swim outfit and I’m a foreigner so the expectations of me aren’t the exact same. But I’ll tell ya, some of these HOT days I think about how unfair it is that all these men just head to the pool and get cooled off and the women are stuck where they always are – at home working, sweating up a storm. I will confess that it has been satisfying to me to see the surprised look on some of these men’s faces when I step to the edge of the pool to jump in. I’m occasionally asked, with some degree of shock, if I’m able to swim. I love to point to Emmett and say, “Of course! I’ve been swimming since I was his age!” and then jump in. It compares to the looks we get when I’m with some of the other foreign women in a car with one of them driving (most women can’t drive).

I also want to not only lament the lot in life of most Tajik women, but also praise them for being absolutely AMAZING. Most 10 year-old girls here could probably teach what used to be home-ec in school.  Most women rise before the sun comes up, sweep their driveways, patios and yards, get breakfast started, often make dough for bread, serve their families breakfast, wash dishes, then sweep and clean every room of their home, including folding up the korpuchas they slept on. Most rooms in a Tajik home are spotless with very little inside. Seriously, a rug on the floor, maybe some sort of armoire or chest and possibly a TV. Then they start the mid-day meal, which is frequently hot, served with salad and bread and possibly fruit (candies, cookies and nuts and such if there are guests), do the dishes and clean that up and if they are lucky, they get to take a nap. I frequently see the women at this time of day cooking their bread in the tandoor or canning whatever is in season. They make jam, the equivalent of salsa, pickles, regular canned fruits, juice (or compote as they say) and whatever else they can think of (our Tajik family cans a lot of hot peppers). I also see them washing their family’s clothes either in the morning or at this after-lunch-time-of-day. Then they sweep outside again, make the evening meal (generally something simple), serve their families, clean up, put out their beds (korpuchas) get water heated up for their husbands (and once a week their kids) to take a bath and go to bed. Most of them also know how to sew and in the village they are also gardening, milking the cow and taking care of the chickens. Amazing. Now the men? If they are not working outside the home (the economy here stinks – if they heard our worst unemployment numbers in the states they would think we must have gotten our numbers mixed up – how could 12% unemployment be bad?). They get up when they feel like it, get served their breakfast, put on the clean clothes that are waiting for them, maybe do a few chores around the yard (fixing a roof, hoeing a portion of the garden, washing the car, etc), watch TV, eat lunch, take a nap, watch more TV, go out and hang out with their friends doing who-knows-what (Rees would have to fill in the blanks here) come back for dinner, sit around talking, maybe watch more TV, maybe go out with their friends again, take a bath and go to bed.

It’s for this reason that Rees is so intriguing and such an anomaly. He’s strong (i.e.: he doesn’t seem like a push-over, he’s a good soccer player and he can communicate with passion and conviction) but he also actually wants to help me with some household tasks, spend time with his kids, enable me to go out without the kids sometimes, and actually asks me what I think about certain things before he makes a decision. He even says thank you to me for everything I do for our family. I doubt that even 1% of Tajik women will ever be thanked by the men in their families for all the work they do in their lifetimes. If I pour Rees some coffee or tea he says thank you, most men here toss their cup to a woman and if they say anything, say, “pour me tea.” I’m so thankful for my husband and it’s amazing to me that he’s making a difference here just by treating me with respect and love.

Well, I’ve had this blog entry steeping in me for some time so there you have it. The next time you go swimming in a public swimming area – take a look at the ratio of men and women and think about us here in Tajikistan and the many other countries that are so similar (and even more conservative) all over the world.

Getting Out

We've now been here for 7 months - can you believe that? There have been some days that have gone by at a snail's pace (like our first two days living in the village - I remember thinking, "this month is going to feel like a year") but on the whole the last year or so has really zoomed by. Tomorrow will be Emmett's first birthday and I distinctly remember what we were doing the night before his birthday as if it was last month (we walked around Mt Tabor with the Readys and then went out to Lebanese food at YaHala). I remember asking Mother Mary (the nun in charge of bed control at Providence - remarkable lady) if she could honestly tell me that time seemed to slow down at some phase of life. She said, "if I were to be really honest, it only goes faster." I'm only in my early 30s and I'm already sensing the truth of that statement. All that to say that we're pretty well adjusted to the day-to-day aspects of life here in Tajikistan and have started to feel the desire to get out and explore a bit. Two weekends ago we, along w/ Jenny and Myles (since Troy is in the states) went up to Dushanbe (the capital city and truly "city-ish" too) for the weekend. We stayed in a guest house (well, apartment) that ended up being way nicer than we ever imagined it would be. There were beds, a kitchen, a real western-style bathroom, tables/chairs, sofas, a TV and the best thing of all was running water! I never imagined what a treat it would be to be able to predictably turn on the cold water knob of the faucet and have cold water come out and turn on the hot water knob and have hot water come out - Amazing. I was even taking a shower one evening when the electricity went out and the shower stayed on and the water stayed hot - I'm still mystified by that one. One of the highlights of being there was that our friends, Zack & Mary and their little girls, Hannah Renee and Nadiah (the same Hannah Renee that helped our Hannah color her wall) were also in town and we got to spend some wonderful time together. Rees & Zack watched all the kids Sat morning (they took them to the zoo, which sounds like a sad place to be an animal, but the kids liked it) while Jenny, Mary and I went out to coffee (yes, a real coffee place with lattes and cinnamon rolls and everything!). We got to talk and catch up and encourage each other for two whole, uninterrupted hours. It's amazing what good that does the heart of a woman. When we got back to the house all the kids were jumping on the beds and having a great time together. Jenny and I got to go shopping together while they were all taking naps. We even found a kids toy store that had toys, puzzles, games, craft supplies that were the kinds of things we'd enjoy giving our kids in the states. That was super encouraging as everything where we live is more reminiscent of those vending machines with the grabbers - China's lowest quality stuff I'm pretty sure. Rees and I got to have a date night while Jenny watched the kids which was such a gift. It's always nice to remember how much you like each other :) We went to a Middle Eastern restaurant and then out to cappuccinos (yes! real cappuccinos!) and then we got to walk all the way home, even stopping in the big city park. I think the highlight for the kids (minus Emmett b/c he was too small) was the SFC down the street (Southern Fried Chicken which oddly comes out of England). They have an indoor play area with a slide, trampoline and ball pit (you know, those colorful, plastic balls kids can jump in). You pay for your kids to play there (the equivalent of $2 or so for an hour) which keeps it from getting crowded. They even got to eat chicken nuggets and jojo fries (so did I and it's amazing how good fast food tastes when you haven't eaten it or anything like it for 7 months). We even had a few good rain storms, which for us Pacific NWesterners was heavenly.  All in all, we came back refreshed and really encouraged that we could do something like that a couple times a year or so. It was so nice to have some familiar comforts, not have any knocks on the door (don't get me wrong, we welcome the knocks, it's just nice to have a break), see our kids having such a great time and not having to fend off all the neighbor kids who want to pick them up all the time, and just get to connect with each other and our friends.

If that wasn't enough, the following weekend we got to go up to the mountains for 5 days. Rees is director of the English Club that operates under the NGO we are working with and he and the other teachers took 13 students from the 2yr US embassy sponsored program up to a camp for a 5 day "English Intensive" where they did all kinds of activities in English, both classroom studies and sports/games. For most of the girls, it was the first time they were allowed to do athletic activities and it was so fun to see their confidence grow in such a short period of time. We also took them on a hike and for many of them it was their first time ever doing anything like that. Even 2 of the 3 moms (chaperones) went. Hannah had a fantastic time. The reality is she'd probably have a fantastic time wherever the Wilbur family with their 5 kids were and Emmett is pretty much happy anywhere, so with the exception of a little tummy trouble, it was another wonderful weekend. We're looking forward to the next place we get to explore.

A spring-time update

Hannah just turned three on April 10^th and we think she’s got to be one of the funniest, cutest three year olds on the planet. Of course we realize that most other parents think the same thing about their children but we rejoice that God created us to really love our children and think these kinds of things. Sure helps with the rough times. It seems like she always has something funny to say: ie: she walked into the room a few days before her birthday with her elbows up to her ears and her hands hanging down and told me, “I’m a switch.” When I tried to flip the switch on I said, “Well then let’s see what happens when I turn this switch on.” She quickly said, “NO mommy! Don’t turn me one! I’m almost three years old!” If she’s not saying something funny she’s saying it in a funny way, maybe with overzealous enthusiasm, “We’ve got to be SOOOOOO careful when we’re cutting onions with a sharp knife or we might REALLY REALLY REALLY  hurt ourselves.” These kinds of comments help us know that at least some things we say are sinking in.  Other times it’s mixing Tajik with English, “are those onions tez-tezzie-tez-tez?” Tez means sharp, hot and fast here and we use it to describe onions that make your eyes water but of course just saying “tez” isn’t enough, it has to be “tez-tezzie-tez-tez.” When we can’t keep a straight face any longer she quickly reprimands us saying, “That is NOT funny! You do NOT laugh!” Which makes us laugh even harder as she stomps out of the room. We are so thankful for all the laughs and all the sweet and remarkable things about her. The difficult things are really difficult (that little will is really impressive) but we continue to try to keep things in perspective and tell her frequently that she’s a leader – don’t think she knows what that means but she will someday.

Emmett is 10 1/2 months now and I don’t know how he does it, but he’s just cuter and cuter all the time. After crawling backwards for 2 months he finally started going forward at 10 months. That same week he got his first tooth – both to which Hannah gave him a big cheer, “Way to go Em! You got a tooth! Good job!” His temperament is still super sweet and slightly particular. He’s really happy crawling around our apartment and I’m really thankful for the smaller space and the Tajik standard of frequently cleaning your floors because I don’t have to worry so much about him finding things on the floor he can choke on. It’s funny to think that at this age Hannah was pointing to anything sparkly or shiny and whispering, “pretty” while Em is crawling around the floor growling like a tiger. I love seeing the differences between them. Hannah was never really enthralled with one object for very long, whereas Emmett could spend all day examining the vacuum cleaner and still look forward to checking it out again tomorrow – even better if we moved it from room to room and allowed him to crawl around trying to find it.

They’ve both had their sicknesses but we are happy to report they are doing better now. Hannah had scarlet fever (thanks Andrew for helping us figure that one out!) and it took us a month to finally figure it out (what seemed to be different, un-related symptoms every week). She took antibiotics for the first time in her life and as soon as she was done with them, Emmett got sick with nasty chest and sinus congestion and a raging fever. Thankfully, they are doing great now. Em still has a little residual cough but they are both acting like themselves again.

Rees has been playing football with a very competitive team here and enjoys it most days. It’s a little complicated because we’re learning Tajik and the coach coaches in Russian so someone always has to translate into Tajik for him (and Troy is playing too) and they have to try to figure out what the Tajik means. He had a bummer of a day last week where he went to the field that another player had told him their practice game was at only to get there and find the field empty. By the time he got to the other field (which is outside the city – not convenient or quick to get to) he was late and the coach made him run 10 laps and then he didn’t get to play in the game. Of course, he would have been on time at the correct field if he had understood that. Fortunately, he has a great sense of humor so it became tragically funny pretty quick. He’s also working with the English club here – helping come up with a vision for how it should run and what should change. He’s already taught a few classes and enjoyed it and both of us are looking at teaching some more. He and Troy are also working on marketing (more or less) and fund-raising for the NGO (non-governmental-organization) we are working with here, Millennium Development Partners. Get ready, very soon you will be receiving a link to the revamped web-sight and you’ll be able to check out all the projects Millennium has going on both here and in other parts of the world.

I am staying busy with language lessons, visiting with neighbors (hospitality is HUGE here so there’s lots of visiting), taking care of my kids and the usual washing, cleaning, cooking, shopping – all of which take way more time here than they did in the states. I’m looking for a house-helper to help me with all of this but the process is a little slow. I should say it seems slow. I’ve been praying for the right house-helper for a year before we even came so I know there’s someone special out there for us. There are definite differences in how we raise children here so I’m looking for someone my kids will feel comfortable with and that won’t be trying to constantly give them chocolate or tell me to leave them alone, “they’re only playing” when Hannah is dragging Emmett around by the leg and he’s crying. I’ve used my skills as a nurse fairly regularly in conversations with neighbors and as they’ve asked me what I think they should do for various ailments. It seems that everyone has high blood pressure and it’s also really popular to give someone (even little babies) an IM injection of antibiotics when they’re sick so I’ve had lots of conversations about blood pressure and diet and proper use of antibiotics. I don’t think anyone has changed their practices because of a conversation they’ve had with me but I do hope that as they see how we live and treat illnesses, they’ll take note of what works for us. On the other side, there’s also a lot to learn from them about how to treat things. They are really adept at using mountain herbs for certain illnesses and many people try herbal remedies before anything else, trusting that our bodies are made to fend off illness and even get stronger after fighting a cold or something. I certainly don’t want to paint a picture that everyone is inept at healthcare, there’s just certain things that are astonishingly antiquated or wrong and other things that are impressively healthy.

So that’s the update for now. We just got our MagicJack working so if anyone is up for a phone call, let us know. From the states, morning and evening are better times as we are 10-12 hours ahead from most places.  I find myself wanting to call people but evening is the best time and I’m frequently so tired in the evening I feel like I couldn’t do a lot more talking, but I am hungry to just hear about life from everyone else. There’s at least three birth stories from friends I haven’t heard and I’m really looking forward to hearing them. Justine – I’d love to see some flamenco footage too if you have video uploaded somewhere. Signing out with lots of love to all of you who are reading this.

Finally a few pics

Here's a shout out to Nan for finding a great new camera for us and getting it to our friends from here who were visiting in Portland. They brought it back to Tajikistan to us and I'm so happy to finally be able to take some pictures again. Just a short update on the kids - Hannah is funnier than ever. How that happens, I don't know. She's doing great and picking up enough Tajik to be able to assert herself outside with the other kids. They think she's so cute and funny and subsequently want to pick her up and play with her all the time but she's almost three and in the "I can do it myself" mode and doesn't take kindly to this. The kids are (mostly) sweet and all the little girls are like mini-mommies already so they don't understand why she wouldn't want to be held and coddled. Needless to say, she picked up the Tajik equivalents of "NO!" "Don't!" and "that's not ok!" following closely behind these phrases are the words for "give it (to me)" "take it" "come here" and "candy." We haven't gotten any further with potty training and to be honest, I don't want to make it an issue so we're just waiting for her to show more interest. They really don't use diapers here so it's definitely an oddity for our almost three year old to still use them but that's one of the many reasons why I'm glad we came at this point in life because I care a lot less about what other people think about that and I'm not going to make her suffer for my embarrassment. Anyway, it seems that all the kids outside know Hannah and she's making friends. She had her first sleep over last month with the daughter of some friends of ours from Portland who live in another city here. Her name is also Hannah and they are 10 months apart and got along fantastic. They played and played. At one point we heard them laughing really hard in Hannah's room and our friend, Troy, said, "just watch, they're drawing all over the walls or something." We laughed then but that's exactly what they were doing. When confronted by the daddies, Hannah Renee (our Hannah is Hannah Joy) soberly told them that Hannah Joy had the red crayon and she had the purple one. Then her conscience got to her and she quickly confided, "but then we traded!" These friends just moved to a different city east of our city, up in the mountains, and we plan on visiting them there once they are settled and it gets hot here in our city. Emmett has been close to crawling for a month now (he's 9 months now). He goes backwards and sideways but not forward yet. Whether he's sitting or on all fours, he loves to rock and makes himself laugh doing that. He's eating solid food now, but is fairly particular in what he wants and makes it very clear when he doesn't like something - sealing his mouth shut and crossing his arms in front of his face while shaking his head "no." Applesauce tops his list and the neighbor girl, Farzona, who plays with Hannah during our Tajik lessons, comes every Saturday and helps me peel and chop fruits and veggies to make food for Emmett. Even though I made baby food in the states, I had a lot of freezer space (don't here) and could always use jarred food as a back-up. The jarred food was also nice when other fruits/veggies aren't in season. Anyway, enough about baby food - suffice it to say, it's a lot more work to feed a baby here but it's also super fresh too so it's probably good for him in the long run. He's making lots of sounds and continues to be a sweet, sweet baby and delights everyone he meets with his eager smile and how easy it is to make him laugh. As for Rees and I, we continue to plug away at the language but are encouraged by how much we are able to communicate and understand after being here for only four months. That say, we have a long way to go. Our Tajik family is doing well too. The new bride, Mauzuna, is pregnant and everyone is thrilled with this news. Dilafruz seems happier with her new baby now and even her husband, Hurshed, doesn't seem as disappointed to have a fifth daughter. She's beautiful, tiny and thriving. We've had various meals with different neighbors and I must say that if you have to be a stranger in a foreign land, this is a good one to be in. Our neighbors are super hospitable and most people are very patient with our Tajik. We may not have predictable electricity or water, but for now I think I'd rather be without some of these things (some times, at least :) and not be lonely than be in a home with reliable electricity and water, living far away from our loved ones, and not have any friends.