Recent Events

We had a few recent events here in K-land that were a lot of fun.  First off, my US friends had a 4th of July party.  It was a blast.  We had:

cheeseburgers

(which was exciting, because meat in general can be expensive here, but especially beef),

grilled chicken,

baked beans (but no bacon flavor.  Oh well.),

Italian goulash soup,

tomato, cucumber, and onion salad,

deviled eggs (which I made and shared with K people beforehand and they liked them!),

plum pie,

peach crisp,

and ice cream. 

 The kids had fun with some party poppers (they were the closest thing we could find to fireworks):

We then finished up the day with a game of baseball.  I’ve no idea who won.  I just know that K managed to hit our “baseball” (tennis ball) with her “bat” (a piece of wood) out of our “field” (T and S’s garden), and it ended up in a drainage area in the street, which, believe me, it’s really nasty.  You don’t want to go sticking your hands in there.  Anyways, the game was a success, as was the overall party.

Look at that wind-up.  She's gonna be a pro!

On Thursday, we finished our English lessons at our institute, and are done until September.  But beforehand, we had dinner at a local restaurant with all the teachers, managers, bus drivers, and extra personnel we worked with this summer.

For my K family, they had an especially important event this summer.  Our oldest “sister,” Ellen, graduated from college.  She now has a degree in Forestry.  We went to her graduation a few weeks ago.  The graduation here in my city included not only her college but all the colleges in the entire city and neighboring suburbs.  It was held in a large soccer stadium.

Ellen's in green and black somewhere in that sea of people.

 It was here that I got to see some fire works!

The word for fireworks in K land is actually translated for them as “fire play” which I think is a better representation of what fireworks actually are.

The graduation was carried on for the most part like US graduations that I have attended, except that everyone in the stands talks, takes pictures, eats dinner, and then storms the field as soon as their graduate has walked across the stage, never mind the fact that there are 1000 other graduates behind her.  Then, once everyone has made it onto the field, you take even more pictures.

 Ellen, holding her diploma, is surrounded by her family members and a few good friends.

The night after Ellen’s graduation, the whole family went out for dinner.  We had rooster, which is a local delicacy.  To me, the only difference is that there’s more dark meat than light meat.

Ellen and her next oldest sister, Erin.

All in all, I’d say it’s been a very busy but a very good summer.

Up next, the month of fasting and feasting, but first, I’m gonna take a side trip to eastern Europe to visit my friend Cari.

I hope the month of August finds you all well.  Please remember my co-workers and my travels during the first half of that month, and remember the people here in K land that we leave behind while we travel, that they would be satisfied with us and without us.  And that, during their month long holiday, even though they hunger and thirst, that they would find satisfaction.

K land is Interesting!

I'd like to acquaint you all with some of the more interesting aspects of K land.  You already know about the food, but let's say that the food doesn't sit well with you one day.  This is where you would go:

Also, because the electricity comes and goes, sometimes we occasionally have to break out our headlamps:

Every visitor to K-land has to go get their blood tested.  While I sat outside the office at the health department waiting for the paper with my test results so that I could then take them to the residency office, I noticed a lovely cotton ball on the chair next to me.  It had a splash of red on it.  Then I looked next to the chair and this is what I saw:

 All of these cotton balls have been used for blood tests.  Bloodborne pathogens, what are those?  What makes this even more ironic is that not 6 feet from this photo is a poster talking about not smoking.

Wild animals roam free in K land.  Yes, our streets are full of the most fearsome creatures: Cats.

Actually, cats are about the only wild animals K land has, unless you go into the most remote areas or one of the couple of places where they have animal protection laws.  Other animals (non-wild) that they have include sheep, goats, donkeys, cows, and the occasional horse.  But if you count insects, we've got quite a bit that you've heard of and one in particular that I have yet to see: Scorpions.  (Incidentally, did you know that if a scorpion is surrounded by fire, it will kill itself rather than burn to death?)

Here is another interesting thing I've learned in K land: Kids are kids.  All over the world they are the same.  This is Belinda.  She's 4 years old and she lives at my house.  Looks like the sweetest child ever, huh?  If that smile doesn't give you a clue as to what she's thinking, just wait... 

That's MY bed!  She decided that it was time for a nap and my bed was the perfect place.  Actually, she was pretending.  Kids do that a lot, in all countries.  I constantly see little ones pretending to clean like mom does, following older people around, even between rooms in our house, just to be close to someone that they think is interesting or someone they want to be like.  They also like to dress like their moms and sisters.  The often wear the shoes of older siblings and even the head coverings:

Little Debbie loves to dress like her older sisters and mother.  She is not even 2 years old yet!  While standing on that carpet two pictures above, she was pretending to participate in traditions like her family does.

It is a struggle for me to decide how to interact with children here in K-land.  Daily, I have many children in my life and, although they can occasionally be mischievious and annoying, their love and smiles remind me of some of the things I read about them.

I like Mt 18:3 and Mt 11:25-26.  It reminds me that I and others need to be like a child sometimes.

I think, overall, it's important for my friends and acquaintances to be adults of respect and responsibility because I think they can make a bigger difference in life, but it is very clear to me that children are so loving and accepting of everyone.  And they love people with wisdom, they love to learn new things, they hope and aspire to be just like the ones that care for them, they seek to have the attention of their elders, and most of all, they just want to be near the ones that they admire.

I like to remember Mt 18:4 too because I am reminded that, compared to my Dad, I am so small, but, even as small as I am, He considers me valuable.  and I think He considers everyone that way, not just me.  But I don't think we can be useful until we humble ourselves and realize that we are all just children in need of someone else's wisdom.