Birthday Party

I guess the English Teacher part of me never goes off duty during our time in this hot city. My birthday party being a good example of that. We played games like "telephone" and "simon says." (You know, now that I think about it, it sounds like I had a party with a bunch of 5th graders- where "simon says" and "telephone" would be very appropriate- and not with some twenty-something year olds ..... can someone sign me up for some social orientation upon our arrival back home?)

Anyway, the silly games were a hit. We played all the way until we had a winner- it's kind of tricky to get adults out in the game of simon says. The fried chicken tenders (along with sambal/ hot sauce) and birthday cake disappeared a lot faster than I thought they would and the room was reeeal crowded.

These pictures are of the groups during the games - yes, they are animals. To be specific, they are chickens, elephants, lions, and monkeys. I think everyone loves a chance to act like an idiot every once in a while, after all.

They bought me a t-shirt with a becak and all signed their names. What a clever idea and great friends God has given me!

Camping

Beautiful Country

English Class at home

The van-bike

The family vehicle/ mini-van looks a lot different in this country. It looks remarkably like a small motorcycle. We've seen families of 5 on one. It's pretty extraordinary how people get from point a to point b. (Any momma's absolutely freaking out thinking about your 9 month old hanging out like this? Or grandmas for that matter? hehe) I could never imagine our nephew Jayden not being secured with the 4 buckles in his "consumer reports approved, fireman recommended," carseat in the back of the four door car.

Wow. Nothing like this sweet family to make me realize how much we have. We read the story about a man who built bigger barns to fit all his stuff this past week. Are we building bigger barns or are we giving away our resources?

Who put shaopei in the freezer?

We had a great volunteer team come from OK and one funny thing they did while they were here was to strategically hide their extra copies of passport photos all over our house. I've found one in in a power outlet, the light box, the freezer, the trashcan, the bathroom wall, in between pages of books, in cabinets, and I'm told there are still more to come. It's been hilarious to find little faces smiling at us in the least expected places.

"Vols"

Volunteers, they rock our faces

They give away their time

They could be doing other things

Like saving up their dimes,

working on their education,

Vacations by the beach,

Hanging out with friends all summer

instead they came to reach.

They worked and taught and loved a lot

especially the food

they drove becaks on crowded streets

with a good attitude

the sweat just poured from 8 to 5

as they did their work

they culture exchanged and exchanged

they used a spoon instead of a fork.

The moment we hated the most

like the end of a great vacation

taking them to the place we had dreaded

the airport, the destination.

Saying goodbye and wishing well

i meant every sentence

when i said that i hope to see you again

in may of two thousand elevence.

So this is a jackfruit...

Who knew fruit grew from the actual trunk?