Two Worlds

Blog Post About May 2021

Doug spent a lot of time with realtors looking for a place for his new co-worker to live when she arrived in country.

On the day she signed her contract, we headed over to a furniture store to buy her some bedroom furniture.

The show rooms here are like nothing I've ever seen.

Or maybe places like this exist in America and I just haven't seen them.

Meanwhile, back in our neighborhood, a completely different kind of world exists.

Keira went across the street to hang out with the neighbors' and their chickens

I told Keira not to be afraid, but I guess she should have been a little afraid.

The chicken pecked her toe and ended up drawing blood.

A Blast From the Past

Blog Post About May 2021

To help take Keira's mind off of Kylie leaving, she went swimming at some friends' house.

May 8, 2021

While Keira was swimming, Doug was discussing things with the neighborhood guys.

And soon enough, Kylie was back in Nashville, back to school, and back to babysitting.

May 11, 2021

This sweet, curly haired lady is the mom to the four children above. We met her in 2009 before we went to Africa. You can see how young Kylie is in this picture (7) when this lady babysat my three one night.

Now, we've come full circle. 

This lady lives in Nashville, and Kylie babysits her crew weekly.

I love how God connects us.

Caleb's team won a soccer tournament in May.

You can see that Caleb is one of the tallest guys out there.

May 15, 2021

And the cat (Aoife) continues to be a source of entertainment for the kids.

May 16, 2021

The Cat and a Sad Goodbye

Blog Post About May 2021

This cat gets in the strangest sleeping positions.

...But she IS cute...at least for now.

Her mom came by for a visit, but this picture is the only time we saw Aoife looking at the cat outside. The rest of the time, she acted like it wasn't even there.

Granola and smoothie bowls on the balcony

And just like that, May 7 came, and it was time to say "goodbye."

We stayed up late, past midnight, waiting to take her to her flight, 

which would leave around 3am on May 8.

Bye, Kylie. Thank you for visiting, and we look forward to seeing you at Christmas (which is now just around the corner)

 

Kylie: Home for a Visit

Blog Post About April 2021

Kylie came home for a visit for her 10-day break at the end of April.

We kept the surprise of her arrival from Keira, and when Kylie walked in, Keira sweetly burst into tears.

Kylie was busy while she was here. She met with a local businessman about increasing his instagram traffic.

April 25, 2021

She had lunch with her graphic designer friend and went to see her new office space.

April 27, 2021

She surprised quite a few people with her arrival, and we loved having her home, even if it was for a short while. 

April 28, 2021
 

It's now December 2021, and we anxiously await her arrival for Christmas in 15 days!!

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.