Chillin' in Tete
No, the AC man didn't come and install our air conditioners yet, but we have had electricity for the past 48 hours! It came back Friday evening 9pm. We'd just prayed with the kids before bed. I went to get a spray bottle to mist them while they wait for that elusive breeze to hit them. As I squirted Katie, the power came back!
"Wow, Mom! God was really listening to that prayer!" We'd asked God to give the repair men good ideas about how to fix the power cut that lasted 29 hours. We also prayed that He'd give us restful sleep even if the power didn't come back. We got power and restful sleep, so say a little prayer of thanks with me! We advanced to the part of the nighttime ritual where we place the fan in just the right place so it almost hits all three kids in its oscillation.
Saturday was a dream... Mom's package arrived with presents for all. Most packages have been lost or so delayed that she has little incentive to send them. It worked this time and we got a box of fun stuff and new clothes and lots of underwear! My boys like American underwear :). The kids put on Saturday cartoons with a new DVD and functioning electricity. They charged the DS and tried out the new games. They colored and painted and left plastic wrappers and paper scraps all over the house, just like Christmas! It helped my homesickness, actually.Thanks Mom!
Chillin' in the title refers to my ice-cream adventure on Sunday. We didn't have ziploc bags for the freezing method on Wikihow. Thinking out loud as I always do, I analysed the problem with the kids. You need an inner sealed container. Ice cream needs to keep moving to have contact with the cold source. The cold source can be ice or a freezer... in a bucket or whatever, right? We came up with putting plastic peanut-butter jars filled with ice cream mix into a big NIDO (powdered milk) can with ice and salt. We'd seal it up with duct tape (thanks Kathy, still using it) and roll it around for half an hour.
It didn't really work. Good news is that it didn't leak. Bad news is that it is noisy and no one likes to be in charge of the can. We put the can in a basin to rock it, just in case. We also had a jar of ice-cream that wouldn't fit in the can so we stuck it in the freezer. It froze first. Of course. We had fun though and the anticipation and use of ingenuity was good for us. (Mikael wasn't into it... non-believer! He played computer chess while we battled it out with NIDO cans.)
After baths, everyone got a spoonful of the "leftover" ice-cream in that little jar in the freezer. By the time they were asleep, Mom and Dad checked the other jars... frosty enough to pour melted chocolate in and stir up for the chips. Back in the freezer with one more beating at midnight to prevent crystals. Today after school, we have a treat for everyone!
I suppose if I lived back home, I'd have nothing to do... we'd just buy ice-cream every week and take the air conditioning for granted. I'd be busy at work with kids in school learning about George Washington from their teacher. They'd have Children's church and Sunday school with friends. I'd go to ladies' Bible study with my friends. It could be nice to stay home long enough to feel normal there. But I think I'd miss something about being in a strange land and learning from the people I came to teach. I'd miss writing about thing that are strange to you from my perspective. I guess I'll just stay here for now.
"Wow, Mom! God was really listening to that prayer!" We'd asked God to give the repair men good ideas about how to fix the power cut that lasted 29 hours. We also prayed that He'd give us restful sleep even if the power didn't come back. We got power and restful sleep, so say a little prayer of thanks with me! We advanced to the part of the nighttime ritual where we place the fan in just the right place so it almost hits all three kids in its oscillation.
Saturday was a dream... Mom's package arrived with presents for all. Most packages have been lost or so delayed that she has little incentive to send them. It worked this time and we got a box of fun stuff and new clothes and lots of underwear! My boys like American underwear :). The kids put on Saturday cartoons with a new DVD and functioning electricity. They charged the DS and tried out the new games. They colored and painted and left plastic wrappers and paper scraps all over the house, just like Christmas! It helped my homesickness, actually.Thanks Mom!
Chillin' in the title refers to my ice-cream adventure on Sunday. We didn't have ziploc bags for the freezing method on Wikihow. Thinking out loud as I always do, I analysed the problem with the kids. You need an inner sealed container. Ice cream needs to keep moving to have contact with the cold source. The cold source can be ice or a freezer... in a bucket or whatever, right? We came up with putting plastic peanut-butter jars filled with ice cream mix into a big NIDO (powdered milk) can with ice and salt. We'd seal it up with duct tape (thanks Kathy, still using it) and roll it around for half an hour.
It didn't really work. Good news is that it didn't leak. Bad news is that it is noisy and no one likes to be in charge of the can. We put the can in a basin to rock it, just in case. We also had a jar of ice-cream that wouldn't fit in the can so we stuck it in the freezer. It froze first. Of course. We had fun though and the anticipation and use of ingenuity was good for us. (Mikael wasn't into it... non-believer! He played computer chess while we battled it out with NIDO cans.)
After baths, everyone got a spoonful of the "leftover" ice-cream in that little jar in the freezer. By the time they were asleep, Mom and Dad checked the other jars... frosty enough to pour melted chocolate in and stir up for the chips. Back in the freezer with one more beating at midnight to prevent crystals. Today after school, we have a treat for everyone!
I suppose if I lived back home, I'd have nothing to do... we'd just buy ice-cream every week and take the air conditioning for granted. I'd be busy at work with kids in school learning about George Washington from their teacher. They'd have Children's church and Sunday school with friends. I'd go to ladies' Bible study with my friends. It could be nice to stay home long enough to feel normal there. But I think I'd miss something about being in a strange land and learning from the people I came to teach. I'd miss writing about thing that are strange to you from my perspective. I guess I'll just stay here for now.
I would guess you are right where God wants you to be.
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