First and Second Days of School

Blog Post About September 2021

September 5th, Keira started the fourth grade...for one day.

Then the internet for the country...the COUNTRY...was shut off for EIGHT mornings in a row so students who didn't pass the government exams last spring could try again. Because of the internet being off, no one went to school.

 (I don't understand the news. I just report it)

September 5, 2021

The government doesn't want cheating to take place, and since students all over the country are taking the test at the same time, they feel like cutting the internet off is the smart thing to do. BUT...they have to actually cut it off a few hours BEFORE the test starts because one year, when the test was posted, employees in the Ministry of EDUCATION copied the test and got it to certain students before they took it.

Corruption, anyone?

Aoife was ready for school, too, however, the second day of school didn't occur until NINE days later on September 14th!

Maybe Aoife wanted to go to school where they have days with full electricity. 

It looks like she's trying to get in front of our swamp coolers to get some air.

Two days before Keira went back to school for her second day, some rockets were targeted at the airport. 

You could tell Karis (17) has lived here awhile and dealt with situations unfamiliar to many, because when we were listening to the rockets going off, and she looks at me and says, "I'm going to bed."

All the adults in our fellowship were texting each other to make sure everyone was okay, and Karis calmly says she's checking out :) Granted, when we first moved here, they did in fact scare her.

The rockets started around 9:30pm, and they were aimed (poorly) at the U.S. base near the airport. Three of the 14 rockets hit the base, but the rest hit residential areas and civilian facilities near the airport. Thirteen people were injured, and two people were killed; one of them was an American. Rockets had not been fired at the airport since April 2021.

"Free" service / A surprise visitor

We came down from the mountain on the 4th, which was my birthday, so my family took me out to eat.  While we were eating, a friend of Doug's spotted us and came to the table.  He said a female friend of his was trying to build her clientele at her salon, so I should go and get my nails done for free.

Two days later, I was in the chair.

My nails are far from glamorous, so she had to "create" some nails so she would have something to work with.  I had never had this done before, and it was quite an interesting process.

What I learned along the way is that she wasn't just short on clientele, she was short on trained workers. 

I was put with a "trainee" who was learning the process of gel nails. 

She worked on me for over three hours!!

Something else that came along with this "free" service was the absence of my opinion.

They said, "What color?"  (I showed them)

They said, "What accent color?" (I told her I didn't want an accent color)

They said, "Oh yes you do! How about white?" (I repeated that I really didn't want an accent color)

They said, "What sticker would you like?" (I told her I didn't want a sticker)

They said, "Oh yes you do!  Look at these books." (I looked and then said I was really ok without a sticker).

They said, "OH! This one is pretty.  How about this one?" (I just smiled).

                                                                                                    

January 6, 2020

And that is how I got nails like I have never had before :)

Eleven days later there was a missile attack at our airport.  

We had a surprise guest for Karis flying in at the end of the month and now our airport was closed!

But somehow, God worked it out.

I told Karis I was spending one night in a hotel to have some study time, but I really flew to a nearby country and met up with her friend who flew in with her mom (who was on her way to another destination). We had a quick visit in the airport with her mom, and then Karis' friend and I slept in the airport waiting for our flight the next morning to go back and surprise Karis.

It worked!!

We have the sweetest video of Karis answering the door when she arrived :)

One of the first things on the agenda was taking her out for a national breakfast here.  

It was amazing!!

Anyone else want to come for a visit??

Our second grader (at the time) finally lost the tooth she blackened (at age 3) by hitting it on a table and killing the roots.

And guess what?

She misses her black tooth :)

January 23, 2020