Darjeeling

We just got back from a wonderful break in the cool mountains of Darjeeling! Our city apparently had the hottest four days of the summer while we were away and we were not sad to miss them.

It was a wonderful time of hanging out as a family, seeing the sights, enjoying beautiful scenery, and getting perspective on our first six months here. We've come a long ways!

This time of the year the mist is pretty constant in Darjeeling (we literally walked in the clouds!) but on one of our last days it rolled back for a few minutes just enough for us to see the top of Kanjanjunga, the third highest peak in the world, and the surroundings mountains. It was an amazing sight! We were already at 7000 ft. but felt absolutely dwarfed by the peak over 21,000 ft. higher.

The statue the kids are posing by is of Tenzing Norgay, the sherpa who conquered Mt. Everst with Sir Edmund Hiliary (a New Zealander!). Steve's mum met Tenzing many years ago and Steve ran into Sir Edmund in an airport once before his death. We enjoyed seeing the museum in Darjeeling that documented the events of many Everest attempts.

The boys especially loved playing with the street dogs that hung around the city square (oval?). The animals were cared for by an NGO and were healthy and friendly, much different than the disease fill street animals where we live! The boys apparently drew the attention of others since pictures of them petting dogs came out in two different area newspapers!

Now it's back to school on Monday for the kids as they start their new school year. Heather's off to the States for a couple of weeks later today where she'll be doing a bit of speaking and attending a conference to communicate about FS. Back to work for Steve--as well as being Mr. Mom for the next couple of weeks!

Little Ants

Ants have been invading our kitchen and bathroom for the last few weeks. We're pretty used to ants since they found their way inside year round in Fiji, but they seem to be seasonal here.

The problem with them is this: they look like the ants in Fiji, they act like the ants in Fiji, but the normal drone ants in Fiji don't BITE! Some of the ants here are typical black ants that can be swiped away with your hand harmlessly but others..........well, it's not a pleasant experience for your skin to come in contact with them! Stinging pain and welts for a couple of days to remind you of the experience. And drying yourself after a shower only to find that there were these sorts of ants on your towel? Not fun! (Ask me how I know!)

Now I have to be honest that the biting ants are a tiny bit different on close inspection. Their heads are just slightly red but they still look like black ants for the most part. My eyes are 'past 40' so I can't be absolutely sure, but the kids agree that they don't look like typical fire ants.

What teeny, tiny little things do we allow to creep into our lives that look harmless at first but then turn around and bite us? They're not always easy to see clearly in a world where things appear to be shades of gray.

Incidents of major moral failure, for example, don't happen overnight. They start with a second glance at something the eyes should avoid, unchecked thoughts, not following our brother Joseph's example and fleeing the scene of a temptation. Like little ants.....

What should we do with the little ants in our lives whatever they happen to be?

Get rid of it and don't get bit!!! It's not worth it.

Short Update

Our last team of the 'season' has gone and we're amazed at the significant progress that's been made on our building! Still a ways to go, though, and we're not getting our hopes up as to when we'll be able to move into our own flat. But it will come eventually! There's a one bedroom flat below ours, however, that will be ready to house a new couple who will arrive in a few weeks.

For the next few months we'll get the chance to focus more intently on our language study, something we're both really keen to do. Plus we'll have a bit of family holiday time while the kids are on school break.

We've been here six months now!

Safe.....

There is always talk of threatening groups targeting different areas in the country. Right now the rumored potential target is our city. We've been getting emails from embassies, etc, saying to be careful in places where foreigners frequent. We only occasionally go to those places anyway and when we do we keep our eyes open. Very seldom does something actually happen, but these groups enjoy the control that terror brings.

Yesterday I dropped the girls off at their friend's apartment next to a big shopping mall. (It always amazes me at how entirely possible and tempting it would be to live life here without really seeing how the majority of the city lives--but that's a different topic!)

Security was quite tight at the mall. There were guards visible on every floor with one even looking down and walking the perimeter of the glass roof. It was nice to see that they were taking the threats seriously and were doing their best to protect the shoppers.

It made me remember that the BEST security in our lives is that which is Unseen. How even when we feel totally alone in the face of a threat that there is a He*venly Host guided by an an omnipotent Father available to guard and protect us.

Just like it was nice to see extra guards at the mall doing their best for the masses, isn't it gracious that our unseen Guard gives us encouragement in dangerous times as well? I would like to always be satisfied with just the knowledge of the Invisible, but many times when I've needed it He's given me tangible comfort; a person to lean on, an email or call saying someone had been 'thinking' of me, or even just an unexplainable sense of peace.

Recently, I heard a woman tell how she was in a foreign land during a time of turmoil and waiting alone in a less than 'secure' airport. A dog ran up, sat down beside her and stayed! She eventually had to leave her 'guard' to go through Customs, but the creature found her on the other side and sat with her until she boarded the plane. She is convinced that that tangible presence was sent by the He*venly one to remind her that she was never out of His care.

Isn't it good to know that we are ALWAYS in His hands?

Language Study

I should be doing language study. Does it count if I write about it instead?

It's coming along well, it really is! I know heaps more than when I started. I've got to remember that we've only seriously been at this for a few months. However, the more I know the more I realize how MUCH more I have to learn. Motivation can be hard sometimes when the 'end' is such a long ways ahead...out of sight...around a bend in the road...through a looong black tunnel...under a bridge...through a brick wall..............

Here are a few things I've learned about language study so far:

-There are lots of things that just can't be translated straight from English so you have to open your mind to not saying EXACTLY what you're looking for, a close enough meaning will have to do.

-You CAN become jealous of the progress of your much loved spouse when everyone points out (even strangers on the street) how much more fluidly they're speaking than you are.

-It's really hard.

-If you try to go to sleep thinking of how to say certain things you will be up half the night.

-Every word you've ever learned in any other language that has been asleep in your sub-conscious for years will suddenly float to the front of your brain blocking the free flow of the words in the language that you WANT to speak.

-Did I mention that it's hard?

-Ever left a situation where you walk away and think, "Oh man, I SHOULD have said _______________"? This happens multiple times a day, every day in language study!

-People laugh at you. A lot.

-You may have to resist the urge to hit your spouse when they go on and on about how 'fun' language study is.

-You will most likely become very animated with your hands to try to make up for your lack of verbal skills.

-Even though you're a mature adult with loads of experience under your belt you may find yourself figuratively wagging your tail like a puppy when someone compliments your language skills or accent.

-Lots of housework or writing of blogs may occur to avoid the hard work of study.

-When you say something that sounds like gibberish to your ears but understanding lights the eyes of the person your talking to........WOW, it's really, really COOL!

-An uncomprehending stare back because you've failed to communicate? Not so fun!

Bottom line: The people I desperately want to communicate with are worth all of this bother. So I need to not even try to see the road ahead, take it one day at a time, and just get on with it!

----------------I guess I'd better go study now!

A bit of slime.....

We're having problems with algae in our water pipes.

The water in the area comes on for a couple of hours morning and evening. We plug in a pump during those times that pumps the water to a tank in the roof so we have water all day. Clear plastic hoses run three stories up to the roof, across, and back down two stories to our kitchen and bathroom. It's temporary but it works!

But this algae is a problem. Our tank can be completely full but when clumps of algae come through it blocks up all of our taps, shower, toilet, washing machine, etc. There are days when we clean the filters on all of them numerous times!

Sometimes it's a noticeable amount and sometimes it's just a tiny bit, but even that tiny bit is enough to block the big source of water behind it.

Sometimes our lives are like blocked faucets/taps. We've got a huge Source behind us but there's a bit of unlovely slime blocking the connection and keeping the water from flowing through us. If we're wondering why we're not producing what we should, maybe it's time to check our connection with the Source!

Not for Sale

Someone gave me this poem today that beautifully illustrates why we're here:

Stop the Traffic.

I am a person

not a potato to be picked and packaged

and sent to market

to be sliced and diced

chopped up and ketchupped

on the other side of the world.

I am human and I am not for sale.

I am a living conscience, not a cargo.

I travel passenger not freight.

I am not cattle

not contraband,

not a catalogued commodity.

I’m not the bottom line

for those who trade in tragedy

and profit from perversity.

I am not a can to be recycled.

I am human and I am not for sale.

I am a thinking individual, not a rare exotic bird.

I am your sister, not an inmate for your zoo.

I am not merchandise,

not meat,

not a meal ticket.

I was mothered,

not manufactured,

begotten, not created.

I am human and I am not for sale.

Its time to end this trade

in human tragedy,

to terminate this travesty

of a global economy.

Let the red lights

of your cities

be put to better use

to stop the traffic.

Write it in lights across your seared conscience:

I am human and I am not for sale.

-Gerard Kelly

And even more importantly human in the image of our Creator!