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| Rug shopping with a friend who works for Kevin's company--the shopping was down the stairs in the underground tunnel behind us in the picture. They make use of space here for sure! |
The past two Sunday mornings have been a blessing to me amidst this transition period. I've either heard about or discussed with friends the hope that we to look forward to--that at the end of time there will be a restoration of ALL things. The resurrection of one Man 2000 years ago has ensured this. And as I look around at my surroundings, and as I honestly feel the weight of loss of the comforts from "home" that I so enjoy, it refreshes my heart to know that these losses are really not so. There will be a day that the things I feel are sacrifices--the loss of time as I struggle to accomplish simple tasks in a place where "simple" just never seems to pan out; the loss of identity as I am entering a new place where I am unknown and not yet understood by others; the loss of personal freedom as I need to dress more conservatively than I'm accustomed to and need to avert my eyes when I pass men on the road; the loss of personal time as my kids desperately need my attention as they too struggle in transition to a new place; the loss of my favorite food items that I never dreamed I would crave as much as I do; the loss of physical comfort as the water dries out my skin and my back aches daily as a result of lots of dishes being washed in a sink that is placed on a counter top too low for my American (5'7") frame; the loss of space as all 6 of us cram into our 1500 square foot apartment and struggle to share one bathroom--are redeemed and restored. And I rejoice at the thought of that Day!
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| Egg hunt at a park |
But even as I feel the weight of things that seem to be losses, I can't help but see little things at every turn that bring encouragement. Besides one hairline crack in the basin, our toilet is great! It's not gross or old, and it's western style, so more than just a whole in the ground. We've discovered a local pizza place just around the corner from our apartment and the pizza is delicious--and relatively cheap! We've even convinced them to let us order plain cheese pizza, even thought it's not on the menu (most of the options include lots of corn and seafood). The Khazak yogurt is delicious and easy to find, so if I can add some fruit and granola, we have at least one quick and easy breakfast food option. The people we have met have been incredibly kind and warm, not giving us the sense at all that we are unwelcome or threatening in any way.
In fact, Noah has found a new best friend. While the kids were waiting in our courtyard for me to return from buying vegetables at the store right outside our apartment gate a few days ago, a local boy who is 6 came up and started play punching Noah in the face! The boys weren't sure how to respond, and thankfully restrained themselves from returning the fake punches until I returned. Once I showed up as translator, we were able to discuss just exactly what we were trying to accomplish with the fake punches to the face, talk about the risk of a misplaced fake punch, and agree to continue to wrestling match in the grass. An hour later, Noah had a friend for life. I figure they speak the same love language--wrestling. The boys have played together the last few days, and this little guy has stolen my heart, I must confess. He's around a lot, as he doesn't go to school, so we have a ready playmate whenever we finish our school day and can escape outside with the soccer ball.
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| The haircut place we discovered for the boys. |
Our excitement this week was when one wall of our kitchen was covered in about 2 feet of flames. We didn't have a stovetop when we moved in, so after purchasing one, it was finally delivered and installed this past week. Evidently the guy installing it wasn't the most adept at his job, and didn't connect the gas hose very securely. While I was boiling potatoes on the stove, the gas tube came off and the whole area ignited. Kevin and I were standing right outside the kitchen in the breakfast room area and heard a boom. We both flew to the kitchen, planning to look out the window where we feared an explosion had taken place outside in our complex somewhere, when instead we saw the flames. Kevin has super quick reactions and was able to turn off the emergency valve for the gas, and the flames died down pretty quickly after that (but it seemed like minutes). Would you believe that nothing was damaged or destroyed, only the tile on the wall was charred. Kevin went to the local hardware store where he's struck up a friendship with the owner, and before we knew it, a "repairman" came to our door with a new tube and a better attachment to switch out with the old one. And we had mashed potatoes to go with our chicken on the dinner table, only about 30 minutes after I'd planned on eating anyway! Thankful for the hedge of protection that is obviously around us...
And thankful for getting to walk so much! We are usually all wiped out by the end of the day, as just getting out on a small errand means that we're regularly walking MUCH further than what was considered the Dallas "normal." While I was making a trip to the local import store (haha, it's actually more of a closet!), Kevin had to go to an office with the kids. He gave them the option of either taking a taxi, or letting the 4 kids split the 10 kuai (about $1.50) amongst the 4 of them to add to their allowance. They picked the money. I'm not sure if they realize the exchange rate means that they endured a 20 minute walk for a mere $.40, and I'm not sure if we should feel guilty over possibly taking advantage of that naivety???! While we were out exploring this weekend, we found this chicken place. I've been asking Kevin to keep his eye out for rotisserie chickens somewhere; we used to get them a lot at one specific place in our old city and it was one of the few quick, healthy meal options I came up with. So Kevin found this place instead; no rotisserie chickens, but for only 18 kuai ($3), you can pick your chicken and have it butchered and cleaned right in front of you. Karis strongly requested that we wait until she was NOT present before we became customers of this establishment, but with how difficult it's been to find fresh chicken, we might be trying it out before long....
