Bugs and More Bugs
We are all in shock with our house help and their attitudes toward bugs. Warsi, our maid, often steps on ants, spiders and other large bugs with her bare feet. The other day she was laughing at me because two large dragon flies were in our house and they scared the jeepers out of me so I jumped and screamed. She simply came over, picked them up with her bare hands and told me they make great toys for children and started to fly it around. WHAT?!! I’m sure we are rather comical to her.
I finally had an extermination company come out and spray in the house and fog outside. Although, the smell was horrendous (and we stayed away for a good three or four hours after) I see little difference. There aren’t as many ants about, but we still have the random bees that are somehow getting in the house. I’m hoping it’s an accumulation thing and we will see improvement each month.
Church
Our branch has really grown and the boys are happy to have other children in church as well. I have been called to be the 1st counselor in the primary, which means, since it’s just me and the president and two teachers for the entire staff, we’re doing everything: playing the piano, chorister, sharing time, singing time, scouts, activity days, writing the program and hall monitor. There is so much to do, but it’s fun to be with the kids.
Lizards and Goats
One afternoon, our driver came in holding a water bottle with something moving inside. I looked closer and noticed it was a pretty large lizard – 15 inches or more, including the tail. It basically looked like a small alligator. I called the boys down to look at it -- they were in awe. Our gardener had found the lizard by the river and shoved it in a bottle for the boys to see. Just one of many animals the boys are getting introduced to. As long as they aren’t the ones catching them and bringing them in the house, I’m okay. Grant did beg to keep it, but after my look of utter horror, he quickly withdrew the request. I already share this house with too many unwanted guests thank you very much.
Speaking of lizards, Creed noticed a lizard the other day that was painted half white. We figure he must have been relaxing on a fence somewhere when someone was painting it.
Creed also saw two men on a motorcycle, and the guy on the back held a goat on his lap – not sure if the goat was a pet or dinner. We often have contests to see who can spot the strangest thing on a motorcycle. I think Creed’s goat wins so far.
Bandung
A few weeks ago, the boys had a couple of days off from school so we decided to get out of the city and go on a little trip. We went to a town called Bandung, a couple of hours from here. It was beautiful when we got there. It’s up in the mountains and much cooler. We stayed at the Sheraton where the pool area looked like an oasis. We had fun swimming and just relaxing that evening. We did a little shopping at the outlets there the next day and went to a couple of volcanoes. It was interesting to be standing at the top of the crater of a volcano. The only disappointing thing was all the hawkers -- they just attacked us. It was really a bother. Most of them can only speak limited English, so we figure if we speak German to them next time, maybe they will leave us alone. The excitement of the trip was Luke announcing he was feeling carsick as we traveled up the winding roads to the volcano. The only problem was, his announcement was a little too late and you can guess what happened when he said, “I think I’m going to throw up.” I traveled the next few meters to the top with my head out the window trying to breathe fresh air and laughing at the situation. Fortunately, we were changing hotels that night so we happened to have our suitcases in the car. After getting Luke changed he looked down at the ground and said, “Hey, there’s my eggs.” Nice.
I Used to be Able to Make Good Bread
One day I was craving some of that braided bread I make. We were having lasagna for dinner so I thought it would go nicely. I put the yeast in the hot water and started whipping up everything else. When it was time to add the yeast, I noticed it hadn’t foamed like it normally does. I decided to add it anyway. Well, after cooking what I thought was bread, I realized I had baked some doorstops instead. They were as hard as rocks and didn’t rise at all. I couldn’t stop laughing and neither could our house help. They ate it anyway.
A few days later, I decided to try it again. This time the yeast foamed nicely, but the bread didn’t really rise. As I was kneading the dough, my driver looked in the kitchen window. I looked over and smiled and kept kneading. I baked the bread and it still didn’t turn out. I thought it was horrible. The funny thing was I noticed my driver telling some animated story to the gardener and our other maid and also the security guard. I wondered what he was saying so I asked Warsi. She started to smile and said he was talking about me kneading the bread. I peeked my head out the door and said, “Cartim, are you making fun of me?” We all started to laugh. Apparently, women don’t do that kind of muscular work around here. I should have known. They never let me lift anything or carry anything in from the car. I donated that bread to the house help as well.
Too Hot
Another cooking story. Did you know the plastic handles on crock pots melt off if plugged into a 220 volt outlet? I found this out the other morning when I accidentally plugged it into the wrong plug. Whoops.
After-School
The boys are involved in a variety of things after school. Nash started violin after school and we bought a very nice ½ size from the strings teacher. He is progressing right along and enjoys it. Nash is also taking a computer class and a “Mad Science” class after school, and Grant is in a ceramics class.
Wrap up
I’m sure you are all glad to see those words. We are enjoying life here. Nash had a wonderful birthday, inviting a friend to go to the waterslide and out to lunch. We celebrated his birthday all weekend. Thanks, everyone for the birthday wishes for him. He had a happy one.
The boys are all very happy in school and making great friends. They love swimming class at school and are learning to swim very well. Luke is learning to read and having a great time in school. Mallory is growing so much. She is officially crawling (not just the army crawl) and loves to go all over the house. Her shirts, knees and toes are often black from the floors. Even though they are mopped everyday, the pollution is so bad that here that it leaves dust on the floors. Mallory is also starting to copy words we say. She holds phones or anything that resembles a phone up to her ear and says her version of ‘Hello’. She has made me realize how often I say ‘Wow” because she repeats it to me when I say it. She loves to clap and will if anyone says, “good job” or ‘Yeah!”. She’s happy as ever.
Millers in Shanghai
