Scottish Warrior Princess: AOIFE

Blog Post from March 2021

Caleb heard some "mewing" through his vents that connect to the roof, and when he went to investigate, he found this mama cat

and four new babies she'd given birth to in a tarp on our roof.

That was March 27, and Caleb kept making regular trips to the roof to feed the mama cat.

At one point, he realized that one of the kittens didn't make it.

The mama got nervous and took the remaining three somewhere else, and we couldn't find them.

On April 7th, Doug heard crying in an empty lot when he came home one evening.

One of the kittens was by herself, abandoned, with one of her eyes sealed shut from an infection, and she was just crying.

We brought her in, put her on a hot water bottle covered by a towel and let her sleep in a box.

This is the beginning of an ongoing story about a cat named Aoife.

Doug and Caleb went to a pet store and bought powdered milk and a bottle, and the feedings began.

April 8, 2021

Doug put Neosporin on her eye, and we waited for it to heal.

'

April 10, 2021

And the feeding continued...

April 12, 2021

April 17, 2021

And when no one was around, even I fed the cat.

I am not a fan of indoor cats, but I'm learning to adjust.

April 27, 2021

Kylie even got bonding time with the cat when she came home for her April/May break.

April 28, 2021

We decided to call her Aoife /E-fah/, which. means Scottish Warrior Princess, and we were hoping she would stay a loving, calm cat...

HA!

If you would like to follow her on instagram, she can be found at @aoifetaylorrr

Things I See (Vol 15)

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, Volume 11, Volume 12, Volume 13 (US Version), Volume 14

You would think that a perfectly good cinderblock building could be remodeled, but not here.

Anytime a new business wants to open, they tear down the present building all the way down to the foundation and start over.

This bulldozer is tearing down a building between a mall and another office building, and then they will haul away all the debris.

This happens often.

I'm actually excited about this particular building because we found out recently that our favorite hamburger joint that closed down last year is re-opening here!

This is a tahin machine. 

Inside that top funnel are sesame seeds.

They are ground down to a liquid the people here call tahin.

It's sometimes added to hummus, people dip bread in it, people add honey to it and use it as a dipping sauce, and the people here (including myself) must love it because these machines are in several major grocery stores around town, and they are constantly filling jars.

This is a major highway, and there are sheep grazing along the edge.

I don't know how the shepherds keep them all alive.

This is the entrance into our neighborhood. 

More sheep.

Some days we have a beautiful sun set view

But at least we don't have to see sheep looking like this going into our neighborhood all the time.

I see brains here, too, but what do you think that large mound is on the right???

And at least I don't have to eat "ser u pe" (head and foot) every day.  

To be honest, some people do eat this, but thankfully, I have not been offered this delicacy yet.

Easter and Toilets

Blog Post About April 2021

I know it's Thanksgiving for you in America, but I've just gotten to Easter last spring.

For Easter 2021, we got together with a large group of Americans and we all brought dishes to share.

The house that hosted grilled a lot of chicken tikka for us, and there was more than enough to feed everyone!

April 4, 2021

Keira and a few kids had an Easter egg hunt in the house and the courtyard. 

The weather was nice, and we enjoyed a long afternoon together.

I don't know why I am going to show you this, but I took a picture of it because at the time, I was thinking, "Does this ever happen in America?"

Maybe it does.

Maybe this is what a lot of gas station restrooms look like.

But for here, this is pretty common. 

This is a toilet at the local medical clinic I went to for a check-up.

Can you see all the water dripping all over it?

I'm pretty sure this was not from a recent cleaning.

All the water on the seat, on the floor, on the top, etc is from the previous user. 

This culture likes to use a spray hose when they finish going to the bathroom, most of the time in lieu of toilet paper. 

It's rough being the person that follows this act because you have to do a lot of wiping down before you can use the apparatus.

I just thought I'd share.

April 5, 2021

And instead of ending on that note, here is a picture I took of Keira off of instagram of her dancing last spring.

April 11, 2021

Too Much Food and Loud Noises

Blog Post About March 2021

A friend of mine wanted me to come over for lunch, and again, I realized what a horrible host I am in this culture. 

They make sure that they cover surfaces with all types of food. It might be something small, but I just wouldn't think of doing it.

Later that night, a couple invited Doug and I to eat with them at a hotel the man owns.

The food was incredible, and it JUST. KEPT. COMING! Our host said, "Do you want steak or seafood?" When we said it didn't matter to us, he ordered both plus SO many other things on the menu.

I basically consumed too much of that raw meat from Italy on the plate behind the nuts.

More of that story later.

Closer to midnight, our host told Doug and I to go sing with his lounge singer (think Kenny Rogers, John Denver).

My friend took videos that I grabbed these shots off of, but you can kind of see the guitar singer on the left, me in the middle, and Doug on the right.

Our host wanted to join in the fun so he went to the piano and played beautifully by ear, matching the guitar player. I think we sang 4 or 5 songs, and then I politely declined to sing anymore. 

Thankfully, only one couple was left in the restaurant that close to midnight!

When I got home, I did not feel so well. I got rid of most of what I had eaten that night (and I'll spare you the details) and I was sick for TWO days. Doug was also a little sluggish.

Every time I see them they say they want to go out again, but this time I will be a little more discretionary about what I eat :)

Three days after this dinner,  this is a message we received on our phones.

It made me smile that they were actually informing the city. 

We have heard bombs explode near the airport about 4 times this year, so I guess the powers that be know they need to let us know when a loud "pop" is actually supposed to happen.

Back in Business

Blog Post from March 2021

Now that we had cabinets (and more importantly, a sink), we could host people again!

On March 12, we had a good time having a group of people over for dinner and studying.

 

And Doug had more time to cut little-girl-hair since he was done re-hanging blinds and organizing workers delivering cabinets.

March 12, 2021

Counters, Part II & III

Blog Post About February/March 2021 

Three days later (February 28) a gentleman returned with the glass for the crooked window frames that we didn't pick out.

I could hear this horrible, grating noise out on the patio, and I wondered what he was doing.

It turns out that NOT ONE of the panels fit, so he had to break the edges around each "glass" piece.

Two days after the "glass" cutting incident and 43 days after we had ordered the cabinets, some more men came to put in the counter.

I know that a lot of you who have home projects going with a lack of supplies/lumber in America can relate. Sometimes things are just slow!

What you can't see in this picture is that our blinds would not raise above the new lip of the counter, so Doug had to move the blinds over and re-hang them.

This un-even joint had them stumped for a long time. They kept taking it out in the street, calling the boss, and shaving parts down so it would fit properly together.

In and out. In and out.

Then one of the gentlemen wanted to know which side I wanted my faucet on, and I chose the left.

He thought that was a bad idea, but I knew where I liked my washing bucket and where I liked to dry dishes, so he went along with it.

It's always interesting to me how a worker will ask you what you want, but then he wants to argue with you about your choice if it doesn't line up with his way of thinking.

But I digress.

March 2, 2021

And....then...they left.

So...Doug went out and bought a faucet and came back and hooked up water to our sink.

And THAT'S how you get a project done in a semi-developed country :)

On a side note, I found this friend polyurethaned into the counter...forever

Counters, Part I

Blog Post from February 2021

Doug set up some pretty decent counter space while we waited for our cabinets to be installed.

February 1, 2021

We ordered cabinets on January 18th.

And then February 24th arrived!

We got word that workers would be coming to install cabinets, and I got so excited!

Doug cleaned out the kitchen so they would have work space, and we waited...

They were unloaded on our porch outside.

Then brought in and laid out

Lookin' good.

February 24, 2021

And then the doors went on...

I'm pretty sure this is not what we asked for....

The handles were not right either.

It's not a huge thing except that "they" gave us their cheapest model of handle, and if you don't open directly in the center of the handle each time, you get a small cut on your hand.

No joke

And then guess what happened?

They left. 

No counter, no sink hook up, and we didn't get an answer of when they might return.

That's when I started washing dishes in the bathroom :)