I’m beginning to realize more and more the truth of this
statement…you never know what you can do until you try. We are continuing to
adjust to our new home. Each day gets a little better. After being here for
nearly two weeks, we are consistently sleeping through the night. What a
difference sleep makes! We have tried just about every mode of transportation
here: taxi, auto-rickshaw, metro, and of course our feet. The metro is air-conditioned…which
makes it really nice. But, we are crazy enough to really enjoy cramming 6
people into a 2 person auto-rickshaw...not including the driver! We do quite a
bit of walking even though the heat is oppressive right now. Rae-Rae is
hilarious…the heat seems to put her to sleep within about 5 minutes nearly
every time we walk outside. I’m getting a good workout in carrying her around!
This past week we had an orientation to our new environment…how
to eat healthy and ward off illness. It was great information and we have all
been working hard to implement what we have learned. We are trying to eat
organic as much as possible and adding “superfoods” to our diet even in small
amounts to try to give our bodies the nutrients we need to stay healthy. The “superfoods”
we learned about are shitake mushrooms, seaweed, flaxseed, and bean sprouts. We
ground the mushrooms, seaweed and flaxseed up and sprinkle them in our food
when possible. And we sprouted our own beans that we are eating with our meals.
The biggest adjustment for me has been in the kitchen. In
the States, I was hard-pressed to spend an hour total in the kitchen each day…including
the time that I spent walking through it. Here, I am finding that I can easily
spend 4-6 hours in the kitchen each day. This is a little overwhelming for me
but I am actually enjoying it. Just to give you an example, this morning I made
pancakes from scratch. Mind you, I am the kind of person that wouldn’t even use
Bisquick in the States because it required too much effort. I thank God for
giving me the grace that I need to do what needs to be done and for giving me
joy while doing it!
Everyone is doing well and staying healthy. Thank you so
much for your prayers. We have explored our community quite a bit and are
feeling comfortable here. Delaney and Rae-Rae have met some girls in our
building to play with and Dylan has some boys in our language school his age to
hang out with. This afternoon, we went for a walk in a nearby park. We found
some professional kite flyers who gave the girls kites and let them fly them. Dylan and the boys joined in on a cricket
game. Enjoy the following pictures from this past week. We love you and
appreciate you!
The view from our rooftop.
The girls' new friend.
Our walk through a local park.
