Thank you for thinking of me as I’ve settled into my new
home over these past few months. Please enjoy reading the latest happenings from
my side of the world. My love and thoughts are with you as you enter the new year!
Daily Life
Life in this place runs at an even slower pace than the
last! The streets are filled with meandering motorbikes, makeshift tractors,
and sellers rolling their carts of goods down the road. The streets are also
now accommodating cars and trucks, which are a recent commodity. People only
started driving them about five to seven years ago so you can imagine how
“organized” the traffic is. Even though the life around me is unhurried, my
days are anything but. I’m in full swing of teaching, language studies, culture
acquisition, and the daily learning that comes with living in a new country. Once
we got used to the fickle electricity, inconsistent Internet connection, and
the stray water buffaloes roaming into our yard and eating our plants, this
place has begun to feel like home. The area is beautiful. My town is situated
amidst rolling hills with green mountains towering in the distance and rice
paddies dotting the horizon. It’s a much different landscape than the previous
cement jungle I lived in. It’s a welcome change to say the least.
The people are very friendly and are bit taken aback when we
speak to them in their own language. Our previous language studies really
kicked-started our abilities here. Even though we are hardly fluent, they are
impressed that we can speak anything at all. There are less than twenty
foreigners who live in this province so they still find it fascinating to talk
with a tall blonde girl. Haha. In fact, I am only the ninth foreigner to buy
and register a motorbike in this province.
We’ve slowly been getting to know our neighbors, market
ladies, cooks at our favorite local restaurants, and other people in our
community. I’m so thankful for the different people He has given me to help me
adjust to yet another culture. His faithfulness is so evident in these small
yet significant things. Please be thinking of our relationships in this place.
As our language continues to improve we hope to go even deeper with our friends
and neighbors, but until that time we ask that they see His light in our lives
as we interact and share His love.
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| Moving into my new house |
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| Home sweet home |
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| The street outside my house |
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| View from my back door |
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| View from the side window of my house |
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| A visitor in the house |
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| We were invited to celebrate a local festival with some friends |
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| The fruit market |
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| Yep, he's got a pig in there |
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| Our pepper plant...they make some good salsa :) |
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| Fertilizer for the garden |
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| Some of the roads wash out in rainy season...this is one way to transport things |
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| Clearing a washed out road |
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| Some girls from a soccer team I helped with |
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| The soccer team |
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| Party with soccer girls |
Teaching
I just finished my first term of teaching. I taught one
adult class and one youth class, which each met three nights a week for 18
weeks. Teaching at such a well-known school gave me instant connections within
the community. The students are definitely the highlight of my time here. It
was fun getting to know them as the term progressed. I’ve had many
opportunities to spend time with them outside of the classroom as they’ve
invited me to weddings, to play badminton, to a new year’s celebration where,
yes, April and I were pulled onto the dance floor to learn some traditional
dances. We were no sooner on the dance floor when all the phones and cameras
started coming out to document these two white women dancing their customary dances.
In the days that followed our students and friends were all talking about it as
our photos were posted all over Facebook!
We’ve also had students to our home on several occasions. A
couple of weeks ago I had a few students over to make sugar cookies. They love
to learn how to bake and cook new things. Most people don’t have ovens so baked
goods are not common although everyone loves them. In fact, there is only one
shop in town that sells flour and they sell it by the 25-kilo bag. We have been
able to find butter and a few other things but we’ve had to stock up on most of
the ingredients when we are in the capital. The girls that came over to make
the cookies had such a good time. They wanted to do everything and know what everything
was. It was fun trying to explain what flour is and even had to show them a
picture of wheat. When we sat down to eat one of them said, “I am so happy
right now!” The other said, “Me too. I’m so happy.” I’m glad it was a special
time for them.
I look forward to the next term of teaching, meeting new
students, and hopefully keeping in touch with my old students. Remember these
students as they dedicate their time and money (both of which are often in
short supply) to study and make a better life and future for themselves and
their families.
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| Some of my youth students. They LOVE taking selfies! |
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| Some of my adult class students |
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| More selfies |
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| My youth class |
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| Celebrating a new year's celebration with some students |
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| Learning to dance :) |
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| It was a little embarrassing but so much fun! |
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| Making pizza with Sing and Papao |
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| First time to make cookies |
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| They loved the decorating part |
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| They were so proud of their cookies |
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| End of term party |
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| More selfies :) |
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| End of term party with youth class |
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| Gotta get a pic in front of the tree |
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| Winners of a class contest |
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| Fellow co-workers - left to right: Mo (secretary), Ning (computer teacher), Tong (librarian) |
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| Wedding of a "like minded" student |
Language and Culture
The Father has provided us with yet another great language
helper. She is the mother of one of the students at the school and is a very sweet
lady who loves to talk. Our first couple of lessons were a little overwhelming.
Our comprehension of the language is quite good as this language is very
similar to our previous language, but our speaking level is not as high. There
are still many differences between the two languages so I have a long road
ahead of me. Once we explained how our language learning program works, our
language helper was happy to adapt and has really been a joy to work with. We
call her “Maa Khu” which means “Mother Teacher.” She is also "like minded" so it
is a blessing to encourage one another in the Father when we are together. I am
very thankful for her! Please be lifting Maa Khu and her family up to Him. They
are some of the very few in this community who know the Son.
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| Maa Champa |
There are several different people groups in the area I
live. Each group brings with it its own unique culture and language. Having
lived together for many years, there is now considerable overlap of culture
among these groups. Yet, you can still see and hear the distinctiveness as you
interact with individuals from each of these groups. I’m looking forward to
learning and understanding more about these people I am privileged to live
alongside of in this diverse community. People who do not yet know of the
Father’s love for them.
