1.  In America, we wait in line for things.  Here, we wait in mobs.  Such is the case for public restrooms.  There’s this unspoken rule in the States that in a public restroom, we wait in a line a safe distance from the row of stalls.  Here, you wait in a “line” that hovers around all the stall doors, and it’s perfectly okay to walk past the person at the “front” of the line in order to stand in front of another door.  You essentially have to beeline it to the next available stall to claim it, even if you’re “next.”  This can be stressful if you really have to pee.  It can be more stressful when your 4-year-old really has to pee.

2.  A few nights ago, I had my first dream in the local language.  Sure, it was language a native toddler here could speak, but I was still really surprised.

3.  This morning at breakfast, Garbanzo sneezed about five times in a row.  Chickpea examined him closely and said, “Yep.  I think he’s homesick for America.”

4.  It’s officially summer now.  We’re starting to sleep with the A/C on.  Oh well…  it couldn’t last forever.  But I’m surprised at how much more tolerant I am of being sticky and hot than I was when we first moved here.  Granted, our first summer was unusually brutal, but I remember being obsessed with how hot it was, that it was all I could think of.  So far, it’s been a passing thought, even when everyone’s stinky with sweat on the bus.  I’m curious if I’ll feel that way in August.

BUSY has been the word of the month for us.  Last week we were at a conference in a nearby town, and the internet connection there was this side of horrible.  Then we left for a trip to the closest country in order to renew our visas, and while it’s fun, it’s not relaxing.  And then yesterday, we headed to the coast about an hour away to go to a baptism, which was extremely cool.

Not that I’m complaining.  We had a great time at the conference; it’s always fun to be around other English speakers and to get refreshed and renewed about our calling.  Chickpea LOVED being with kids all week–I felt like I barely saw her.  She sat at the kids table in the dining hall where we ate, and other than setting up her meal, she was fine eating on her own.  It was heaven.

But it’s funny, being at a conference like this–I soak up all the ammenities we don’t normally get (worship times, conversations with other English-speaking moms), but I leave reminded of how tough it is here sometimes.

I don’t want it to sound like I’m complaining.  Really.  We love what we do, and we know we’re called here.  But it’s just not easy to be so far from family and friends.  Sometimes when you go to get your batteries recharged, it’s not until the recharging that you find out how drained they are.

So we’re back now, slowly getting back to real life–we were both hurting this morning, feeling like we needed another three hours of sleep.  Garbanzo got about four naps the entire week we were gone, so he’s been exhausted.

I have a feeling this week will be a catch-up week.  Back to setting up the office, working on website stuff, climbing Mt. Laundry, cleaning the house that somehow got turned upside-down even though we weren’t here, and guessing how long we’ll last with the windows open and the AC off.

A few Chickisms — since it’s been awhile

At the conference hotel, they aren’t turning on the air conditioning until June 1 (par for the course in this country).  So we slept with the fans going and the windows open.  The only problem with this was the lounge singer that appeared from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. every night, right by the pool.  The pool was right outside our window.

And I’ll be frank.  He was NOT good.  He sang a trio of the local language, French, and English, and slurred most of the times.  I think he was drunk, and serenading fellow drunks.  It would be hilarious if we weren’t already so tired.  There’s only so many nights I can hear Dancing Queen.

The first night, Chick woke up crying.  She was sitting up in bed, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, “There’s a scary man in our room, and he’s singing to us, and it’s really bad, and I want him to stop.”

I wanted him to stop, too.

A few days later, the ferryboat to the nearby country was PACKED.  Packed with tourists, Europeans mostly, headed to their holidays.  Most Europeans speak English.  Most also smoke (or so it seems).

We were standing near an older woman who lit up, and Chick said, loudly, “Mom, that lady has a smoker.  She must want to die.”

She stepped away soon after.

And finally, last night over dinner, we were all quietly eating.  Out of nowhere, Chick said, “So.  It was a bummer that I wasn’t baptized today.”

We talked about it quite a bit that day, what it meant and why her friends were choosing to.  She kept saying she wanted to be baptized too, since she loves and follows Jesus.  But she still didn’t quite have that understanding.

But how do you say no to a little girl that really does love Jesus?  It was hard.  Thankfully, the ocean was calling her name, and she was out swimming five minutes later, happy as a clam.

Our household is plenty busy with all kinds of stuff.

Kabob is setting up an office. He and his coworkers now have a little place about a 15 minute’s walk from our apartment, where they can work, research, and plan sans kids. He’ll still be working from home quite a bit, but it’s really nice to have this separation from work and home life – the grownups get more done, and kids get more of the grownups when they’re on the clock as mom and dad, not as people who stare at a laptop.

Chickpea is reading three-letter words. We’ve taken a very laid-back approach to home schooling, just doing some here and there as we feel like it. It works well with our current schedule and life stage, but hopefully she won’t later translate school as something she does whenever she feels like it. We’ll see.

Garbanzo is finally walking – only took him 16 months. I’d venture to say he’s now walking more than he is crawling, but it’s a little premature. He goes back and forth between the two, depending on how tired he is. Walking really wipes him out – he’s been sleeping hard and eating like a maniac.

I’ve been busy – well, cleaning, for one. I’ve also always got my hand in some kind of web development, and I’m starting the book writing process. In case you don’t read the other blog, I’ve got a book deal with a publisher, and the manuscript is due January 2010.

We did think it was a hair close to this side of crazy to add one more thing to my plate – and writing a book, at that – but we figured it was better now than later. I’m sure I’ll get even busier once Chickpea’s in “real” home school. Plus, publishing a book is something I’ve wanted to do my entire life, and I just can’t imagine saying no to this opportunity – we really prayed about it, and sense that this is His leading.

So that’s us right now. Busy, as always. But good.

In other news….

About two days ago we woke up to SUMMER. It was like the sun got a memo that it was time to scorch the place, so one day it was gloriously cool, and the next day, we’re in the lovely stage of being continually sticky indoors. We haven’t turned on the ACs yet, and hope to wait as long as possible because they’re so expensive (we’ve got one in the living room, and one in the master bedroom).

Unfortunately, our room and the kids’ bedroom are the hottest rooms in the place, so we’ve already taken our comforter off the bed and are just sleeping with a sheet-thick blanket (basically, it’s our duvet cover minus the comforter inside). Soon, we’ll be sleeping on the mattress with no covers, and slightly damp from running through the shower just before hopping in bed.

We also haven’t used the dryer in over a month now. They also are very expensive to run, so we decided to perform a month-long experiment of seeing how our electric bill is affected by line drying a much as possible. I’m surprising myself by how much I enjoy line drying. It gives me a few minutes of solace to hang the clothes, and it really doesn’t take that much more time. Plus, it makes me feel all 1940s housewifey.

I’m also shocked by how much I love cloth diapers. Granted, I wouldn’t use them without certain features like flushable liners and a bidet already part of our toilets, but really, they’re not nearly as much work as I thought. And not as messy. For me, it’s really not much more than messing with poop in a disposable. It’s the poop that’s messy, not the diaper choice.

In a few weeks we’re heading a few hours south for a work conference, followed by a visa run to the next country over. Can’t believe it’s already been almost three months since we’ve returned. Visa runs are those things that are a total pain to plan, but once you’re there, you didn’t realize how much you needed a break from this country, even for an afternoon. We take a ferryboat over, hang out by the beach for a few hours, and take the evening ferryboat back. Now that we’ve done it enough times, and therefore know what we’re doing, it’s relaxing.

Kabob and I have been watching the mini series John Adams in the evening. SO good. Definitely worth seeing. It’s not little kid-friendly, but they really do make history come alive. I’m much more appreciative of the early days of America, and what all they went through to give us a country so focused on freedom.

Today we’re starting our family art project – the blank wall above the couch is driving me crazy, so we’re trying something out. All the art here is insanely expensive, not to mention not really our taste, so we found some free crates (a pile next to the dumpster) to disassemble, stain with watercolor, and reassemble via this patchwork art on sale for almost 400 times what we’re spending. We’ll see if it works out well, or if it resembles a 3rd grade craft project.

The family is waiting on me for the next step of the project, so over and out.