things to love

There are a number of things I love about this country:

1. Addressing others as big sister, big brother, little brother, little sister, aunt or uncle. To me it creates a sense of belonging and familiarity even with strangers. And it's fun to see how it's the normal way of calling someone, even if that someone is your customer in the bank.

2. Seeing people wear pyjamas and fuzzy bunny slippers as their regular clothes and shoes.

3. The sense of community and the important role that the extended family plays. This has some downsides of course and many small family units are really struggling and are not healthy but falling apart but still I enjoy seeing the many rich relationships that people here have with neighbors and family members.

4. The beauty of nature and the abundance and diversity of fresh tropical fruits.

5. The smiles on people's faces.

6. Their enjoyment of simple things like just sitting in front of their houses for hours watching life pass by or joking around with their friends or the amusement it gives them to see us drive through a neighborhood with all four of us on a motorbike.

7. The way they are not shy about asking questions that might seem a bit personal to us coming from the West. E.g. Do you breastfeed? (Sometimes touching me right there for confirmation) Do you have a boyfriend? Did you deliver naturally? How long did you wait before you got pregnant with your second Baby? Just to mention a few...

There is a lot that is frustrating and annoying, too, but I want to leave this on a positive note. :)
In just 6 weeks we are heading to Germany and I'm very much looking forward to a change of scenery and food and people. And to meeting this little guy (yes, it's another guy! :)) who is very active and loves to kick and move around inside me.

Dylan has been doing better with Pre School but we are still so undecided about what to do next year, if it would be better to keep him home or not. Elliot would be able to join him at Pre School in May and it's so hard to know what the right decision is. But I am thankful that he is enjoying his mornings again. Still, the whole issue of friends seems to be on his mind a lot as he has been asking about some of the other families who have left or live in other parts of the country and it's hard to see how much he would like to see them at times. Having said this one of his friends is coming to see him in just a couple of weeks for just two short days. And as much as I look forward to this visit I am dreading it at the same time as it will be another goodbye for him and us to deal with.

But I guess this is just the way it is and will be for most of our lives. One reason I look forward to eternity! No more goodbyes...

On that positive note, I am thankful for a number of people who have joined us for the summer and are an encouragement and support to us. And I'm all the more thankful for four people who will come to work with us in September for 6 months to 2 years! How exciting! We will sadly miss their arrival here as we don't get back till the end of October but I'm sure they will be o.k. and coming back will be even better because of them.

So I'm thankful to be here in spite of everything that makes life here difficult.