Things I See (Vol 11)

Welcome to "Things I See."  If you want to see the previous installments, you can click on:

 Volume 1 , Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, Volume 10

See anything?

This one building of MANY in the city where people line up daily trying to get visas to get out of the country. It might be for work, a trip, or for permanence, but it just causes me to be thankful for my passport country.

I know you can't see it, but the SAM Office Furniture building is NOT on the street.
(It's over by the green plastic playground equipment)

Twins!

I love that she tried.

At the salon where I get my hair cut, younger boys are hired to hold the hairdryer for the hairdressers, they also hold the foil for the hairdressers on ladies' heads who are getting their hair colored.

I thought this was unique, but maybe this same thing happens in America???  You'll have to let me know.  I'm not that familiar with salons in America.  I can count on one hand how the number of salons I've been to in my life.

This is in our old neighborhood.  

Your eyes are NOT deceiving you.

Yes, that is three lanes of traffic PARKED on our street, and our gate is down on the right where you can see a dark blob of people sitting. 

March 19, 2019

Our side-of-the-road grazers look a little different than they do in South Texas.

"Chevy Runs Deep," but what does SHEVY do?

Ahhh!  Breathe in that beautiful air!

Speaking of air...

It's pretty common for houses here not to be built to code. (*smile)

Doug put rubber on the bottom of all our doors when we moved in because there was at least a half-inch space for dirt and air to come through (and the elements are still successful sometimes).

This is our front door area.  You can see to the right of the door how it's not flush with the wall.

Here it is zoomed in.

March 28, 2019

You wanna know why these small things don't bother me?

The back door to my kitchen in Africa had a ONE INCH space down the right side of the door.

You could literally put your hand through the hole, so Doug filled it with classy trashbags ;)

I've searched and searched for the picture of it, but after going through three years of Africa pictures twice, I still couldn't find it, so you'll have to take my word for it.

A Mistake to Only Make Once

"I can breath where there is green.  Green grows hope.  

It keeps my heart beating and helps me remember who I am." 

- Courtney M. Privett, Faelost

While Doug and the girls were gone, an old gentleman knocked on our gate for work.  He told me he could cut our grass, and since we don't have a mower, I thought it would be a great gift for Doug on his return. 

I did not; however, know HOW he would cut the grass.

He kept asking me for a knife, but I didn't want him using my kitchen knives in the yard, and he wasn't satisfied with the one old one I brought out, so he turned and left, looking a little perturbed at me.

He returned about 10 minutes later with a shabby, short, sharp knife, and then he started "cutting."

Can you imagine cutting your yard like this???

Oh my goodness!

However, he cut it so close to the roots it ended up burning all the grass, and it died before summer even arrived.

April 5, 2019

Yep, that's a mistake I'll only make once.

He's come back three more times this year and tried to physically force his way into our gate, and we have to kind of push him out, declining as politely as we can at the same time.  🙅

I did manage to do some good things while they were gone, believe it or not.  Caleb (back left, behind the ball-handler) got to his soccer game and practices.

April 6, 2019

And I "inspired" Keira to clean her room,

April 9, 2019

so not a total loss, right?

(Merry Christmas, by the way!)

Travelling to Learn

"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Battuta

Doug and the two older girls traveled to southern Turkey at the beginning of April for a conference.  They went a few days early so that Doug could take them a couple of places, including the ancient city of Ephesus.

The quote above makes me smile, because it was true about this trip for them.

They had some breath-taking moments that left them speechless, 

But when they came home, they were full of stories, adventures, and funny happenings.

One funny thing was Doug's coffee cup labeled by a barista. 

We have a long-standing joke about all the names Doug has been called overseas (and in America), because people just can't seem to get it right.

He's been called Duck, Dog, Con (that's true), DuGlass, Duklas, Dugs, Duks, and now Doyc!

The girls had a great time exploring and seeing new things together, and they also loved the conference they attended and the people they got to meet.

I know they will miss each other next year when Kylie goes to college.

Reading Pauls' letter to the Ephesians in the place where he might have spoken to the crowds.

The façade of the ancient library at Ephesus.

My amazing husband who took them on this memorable journey.  Thank you, Doyc :)

Kids Doing Their Thing

Keira has a lot of life in her.  She bring so much energy and joy to our home.

I'm also thankful for friends who invite her over and let her bring her energy to their homes as well.

Keira has been to this girls' house (pictured below) about four times for "play dates," and her mother is so creative.  They make slime, crafts, cakes, play legos, play games, play with their turtle, play with their dog, etc.  She is about three years older than Keira, and she makes Keira feel special.

It's so much fun for Keira and I'm thankful for people who invest in my child's life.

March 27, 2019

Keira has worked hard since starting the French school.  You might not can read this report card, but all those green marks on the side, say she's doing well.

Her teacher wrote at the top of her report card:  "Excellent work during this second period. No one could guess that Keira joined the french school only a few months ago!  Congratulations!"

(At the time this was written, she had only been attending 5 months)

March 18, 2019

I took Keira on a date, and she took this picture of me

Then she took this picture of herself.

Love that girl!

 March 20, 2019

Caleb took a coding class at an education center last spring.  We came on the final night to see their presentations.

Since Caleb had a nice zig zag pattern on his face for the pictures,

They finally turned the projector off, but the lighting was terrible (and he had a cap on), so we'll just take what we can get.

The class and their families enjoyed the small celebration.

 March 25, 2019

Our three older ones crack me up, and they have as much energy as Keira, but since they're teenagers, you never know when the energy is coming OR going.

I love that they can all cram together on one bench, smile, enjoy each other's company, and make each other laugh.  They bring a smile to my face, and it is a privilege to have them home for school.

March 14, 2019

A Universal Experience leads to Issues

Well, this post and my last one seem appropriate for this time of year - 

talking about food and then how to lose the weight you gain.  Ugh!

Doug runs early in the morning when no one is out, and Kylie went to the gym to strengthen her leg, but usually we all work out at the house.  

When a new gym opened close to us and they had a "couple's discount" for February, Doug and I decided to do it.

It's pretty fancy.

The first day I went, the windows were open and clear when I was on the treadmill.

The next day, the windows were frosted at the bottom to hide the ladies from the street view.

One week later, they put in shades that are pulled down most of the way most of the time, but I don't have those pictures handy.

The treadmill view



I tried the bikes, but it was even worse because you couldn't even stare at buildings.




So I started bringing something on my phone to stare at while I walked so I wouldn't have to stare at the shades.

There are so many interesting things that happen at the gym.  Some are just fun cultural differences, and some are amusing because there have never been athletics or sports in school for kids here.  Girls, especially, are not taught how to run, exercise, lift weights, or take care of themselves.  So even though there is a trainer in the room, many women are trying to figure things out on their own, and even though I'm proud of every single one of them for being up there and trying, some things still bring a smile to my face.

The men have a gym on the other side of the wall.  I hear stories from Doug about things they have, and I think they've got some better amenities :)



I know they have a bigger pool, although I'm not complaining about the ladies' pool.  It's nice!

Even though many ladies like to get in the pool, very few know how to swim, so they do exercises in the shallow end, and the entire deep end is left empty for me to swim laps if I want.

March 18, 2019

My exercise schedule is sporadic at best.  I try to go three or four times a week after I drop Keira off at school and before language class starts, but let's be honest, it's really easy to find an excuse NOT to go.

*It's cold.
*I'm tired.
*I have work to do at home.
*I'll do it tomorrow.
*I didn't eat that much yesterday.

Oh, well.  Here's to another year of getting in better shape and a quick prayer that the gym offers another special in February so we can afford to renew our membership :)

A Universal Experience

Food translates very well.

Food is a common ground for all people.

It is very easy to connect with people over food, and it seems like we do a lot of that here.

And I'm not complaining!

These two ladies invited me for lunch one day, and I have eaten with them several times since.  They are a joy to be with, and I love praying for encouraging them 

March 5, 2019

One Saturday night we got together with a large group for a barbecue.  Each of the five families brought their own meat to grill, and the ladies worked on side dishes in the kitchen.

Kids played games, ran around, and had a good time.

The food was amazing, and afterward, the host got out his guitar to sing for us. 

He has a great love for music, and even though he grew up in Syria, he listened to the music of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and several others I hadn't even heard of.  I'm not very versed in music, so I'm sure you would have recognized way more than I did.

When we couldn't sing along to many of them, he asked us what kinds of songs we sang.  A friend of ours spoke up that most of the time she sings worship songs.

He asked to hear some, so Doug played the guitar for us, and those who knew the songs, sang along.

It was a really special time to share beautiful worship with friends who had never heard anything like that before.

 March 23, 2019

We also like to try out restaurants that have an interesting Middle Eastern look/feel so that we have all the good places picked out for when you come to visit us.

You know you're invited, right? 

Wouldn't you like to come and experience this culture?

It's beautiful in so many ways.

March 15, 2019

And we can have the universal experience of eating together.