Linguistic humor right there.  As you can tell, our laptop arrived, safe and sound, and no random shutting down so far!  It feels good to have it back, which makes me wince at the thought of being so codependent on a machine.  All along our trip, I kept thinking of things and sights and smells to blog about, and it felt like my hands were tied.  But I soon let go, and in all honesty, it was nice to have a short break forced upon me.  But now…  Ah.  I can blog and email and design and post photos again.  Life is good.

About one hour ago we just finished our first week of linguistics training.  I actually took this course about five years ago, and it was so great, we decided to go again as a family.  And oh my, what a great decision it has been.

First off, it’s so refreshing to be in like-minded company.  There are 29 adults here, going all over the world, and everyone here can nod in agreement when they hear tales of support raising, saying goodbyes, going through culture shock, botching up language, and dealing with the frustrating questions from people at home who just don’t get “it.”  We all have a long road of language learning ahead of us, and we all have a long road ahead of culture adaptation, setting up a new home, and being a foreigner.  Encouragement and fellowship is a blessing we don’t take for granted.

But this has also been great, great preparation for language.  I now remember where I got so many great tools to learn Albanian in Kosovo those years ago.  The head teachers here served in VietNam in the 60s, and pioneered the writing of a tribal language and translating the Book.  They have more experience and wisdom in their big toes than I do in my whole body.  I’m soaking up all their knowledge that I can.

And it’s also wonderful to FINALLY be in full-time preparation, with the end truly in sight.  It really seemed like it would never happen – and here we are.  Kabob quit his job three weeks ago today, and already it seems like another world.  There is such a freedom in devoting our whole selves to the task to which we’re called.  And after a week of phonetics training, our brains and mouths are FRIED.  We felt like Chickpea during most of our classes, chanting “aka apa ada aba” while a near-stranger looked into our mouths to make sure our tongues were in the right place.  You really lose your inhibitions early on here.

And of COURSE, it’s been sooooo great having family time.  The change in weather has been magnificent because we get to play outside for hours, and I humbly apologize to my fellow Texans.  (I uploaded some photos from our trip so far, and hopefully there’ll be more to come.)  Chickpea plays during the morning while Kabob and I are in class, and she takes her nap in the afternoon during our second classes.  Then by 4 p.m., we have quality family time until bedtime.  We have needed this so much.

So yep, that’s us right now.  We’ve got the weekend ahead of us, where we’ll probably go to Pike’s Peak, maybe explore Colorado Springs and the surrounding towns, and do who-knows-what-else.  Then we have another week of classes, and then it’s family vacation time in the Log House in the Middle of Nowhere.  So I rather doubt I’ll have internet access.  Either way…  You’ll be hearing from me again soon.  Thanks to the myriad of you who’ve supported us financially, prayerfully, and in relationship – we literally wouldn’t be here without you.

posted: 06 October 20
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