A Village Visit

Shortly after Ramadan, an American friend of mine asked if I would like to go out to the village to see my old neighbor and her family.  Kylie and I jumped at the chance, and we all made plans to block out an evening.

When we got there, we sat and visited with all the kids for awhile because the mom, older daughter, and daughter-in-law were in the kitchen.

We drank Pepsi and ate sunflower seeds, which is pretty typical for many house visits.

In the background below, you can see one of the twins who got married last fall.  I wrote about her three weddings here, here, and here.

I was under the impression that since she and her husband now lived about 40 minutes away from her mother that they would never see her, but I was mistaken.  Apparently, the couple makes the journey several days a week, if not every day to see her mother, and here they sit on their phones...

After Pepsi, we were served hot tea and then some more hot tea.

The sunflower seeds always leave everything looking so nice :)

The vacuum cleaner came out shortly, and when the carpet had been cleaned, we started setting up for dinner.

And it kept coming.

White rice, red rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, chicken, and onions

We finally got a chance to visit with all of the ladies after dinner was cleaned up.   Between my friend and me tag teaming in language, we understood almost everything they said, and we were able to communicate fairly well.

I knew they had been driving back to our neighborhood every day to let their girls finish up the year at the schools where they attended, but I rarely saw them.

The father had sold his fruit stand, and he was now a taxi driver.  He drove them all to town every morning, about a 25 minute drive, and after dropping the girls at school, he dropped his wife at his daughter-in-law's, where the wife would help watch her grandson all day, while her husband drove around the city.

It was so good to see them, but it also made me miss having really good neighbors.  There are sweet people on my street, but I don't feel like I can just drop in on any of them at any time like I could with this family.

Interestingly enough, as soon as this family left, another family on the street started bringing us food often, so I wonder if it was an understood rule that we were already taken care of when the other family lived across the street from us.  I don't know how those things work.

This new family that brings us food usually send their daughter, who is a little older than Keira.  She is so sweet and greets us every time she sees us outside.  I don't know the mother well, but the father is very fond of Doug.  They have exchanged numbers, and they also talk often outside when they see each other.

God is always providing for us.

A Rice Dilemma

In America, buying rice was never a "dilemma, but here, I can't seem to figure out the differences between all of my choices.

Have you ever seen rice options like this where you live?

It's a bit overwhelming for me.  

My dad is not a rice connoisseur, but he really likes rice, and I'm sure even he would be confused on this aisle.

AND most of the rice comes in huge bags.  I have to really search to find a small one.

Didn't I tell you the story of my neighbor coming over to teach me how to make rice like they make it?  She brought 4 cups of rice and wondered if it would be enough for my family!!

They eat a LOT of rice here.

Two things I see most people buying in bulk here are rice and oil. 

When oil is on sale, "one" of a couple's grocery carts will be full of BOXES of oil. 

I can't even imagine.

Our country tries so hard not to use too much oil in our cooking, so when I see this, I'm flabbergasted.

What I didn't tell you about the rice she came to make at my house was how she finished it off and why it is so good!

When the rice is almost done, they drain it, and then add salt and a boiling 1/2 cup or more of hot oil, cooking it for a few more minutes.

Now you know the secret for not getting your rice to stick.  Just add a cup of oil or lard substitute that you have on hand, and you're good to go.


As a former teacher, I was awed by this field trip I saw taking place at the grocery store.  There were several teachers with different groups of kids walking around writing notes down on their clip boards.

Here, two groups were merging.

It looks rather organized and calm, but it wasn't.  I even spoke to the male teacher who looked rather stressed, and he said it was "quite the day."  They were loud, and the children didn't always stay with their teacher.

Imagine!

Anyway, the grocery store had just opened, which is the best time for me to go and be able to think, so I also got a picture of what the yogurt looks like in the deli before it's been scooped out.

Pretty, huh?

Most people do their shopping in the evening, and it's mostly men.  In fact, one day when I went to the store, I couldn't find a female anywhere.  The cashiers were men, the baggers were men, the shoppers were men, the deli workers were men, the bakers were men, etc. 

This is VERY normal. 

I was glad when Doug finished his shopping at the digital store and came back to join me.  I figured out my rice dilemma; we checked out; and went home, enjoying the fact that we did not have a group of elementary kids shopping at the mall with us that morning.