Adjusting

• I open the fridge to look for water. We don't keep water in the refrigerator here.
• I'm cold even though its 80 degrees outside.
• I glare at people as I go through the grocery store. I'm sorry.
• I don't know the characters on TV shows that my family has watched for years. I'm not sorry about this one.
  
• I miss my team--like a second family.
• I get to drink milk, eat deli turkey sandwiches, and granola.
• I miss my kids.
• I get to see my family every day.
• My brother took me out on a date today. We had Thai food.
• I went running yesterday. It felt good.
• I went out for coffee. Yay.
• I had a good talk with a friend. More yay.
• I went to a prayer group with people like me.
  
• America is EASY.
• America isn't perfect... it's missing some things.
  

Change

Recently in Kurdistan there has been a new list or party called Goran, which means change. The slogans sound something reminiscent of Obama and his call for change. Whether or not change is a good thing, I can't generally say. But one of the most interesting things for me as I return home is seeing how things have changed. There are big changes and small ones.

The big ones are things like my brother getting married and my family's new dog. The smaller changes are more interesting to me though. My mother changed where she keeps the baking powder and baking soda. It took me 5 minutes to discover the new location. The compost bowl is on the other side of the sink than it used to be. And the glasses are now nearly all stemware like the kind you find for water in nice restaurants.

These are only a fraction of the myriad changes in a home after six months. It isn't much to adjust to, but at least these things are things that have really changed. More things feel odd but really are very normal for here. More on those later.

Pool Party with Dr. Pepper

pool party with Dr. Pepper, originally uploaded by thebeloved.

We can make a party out of anything. Plus it was hot and we needed a way to cool off.

Girls ready for battle--in the house... =)

Girls ready for battle--in the house... =), originally uploaded by thebeloved.

We have had some wild crazy parties in our house.

Homecoming

So I finally made it back to my hometown, which remains yet a nearly changeless town. It's so peaceful and quiet here in the midst of the summer lull. A university town like this one is nearly ghostlike this time of year, especially on a Sunday afternoon.

I went for a walk in the rain with my brother. The rain made me happy and my brother made me happy and my family's dog waddled along in perfect oblivion to the lightning and thunder.

Here I am.

Happy Music

Well, this looks funky and I don't know how to fix it, but I like the music so much I'm going to leave it there... weirdness and all!

The bread of adversity

So, Mel's been showing me some verses in Isaiah. God gives the bread of adversity. He binds the wounds that he has inflicted.
How intensely joyous is it that God gives us difficulty to bring us to the point where he can bind our hurts and our sorrows. How wretched it would be if he were not willing to give us pain if it brought us ultimate joy.

Check out me and my awesome sister! Can you see us?

School schedules...

My mom just e-mailed me about my brother's school schedule. Not only do they have their final's schedule all worked out already...ok, ok... a week in advance doesn't seem that astonishing to most Americans... but they also have out their entire next year's calendar complete with holiday's and beginning and ending dates.

The admin was talking about changing the ending dates of our school this week. We still don't know even when school will start next fall. And if we asked about the holidays everyone would laugh... I would laugh. That's how long I've been here. I now laugh at the thought of knowing anything in advance. How sad.

Americans, you complain too much about your country and the systems that run it. They aren't perfect, but they could be so much worse.

Dinner at our neighbors

Our neighbors are funny people. They are quite hospitable, as most Kurds are. We had dinner with them on Tuesday. It was very typical of a dinner visit here. We were ushered into the formal living room. We chatted a few minutes, then the daughter brought in a glass of cold water, which we took one sip of and then returned to the tray which she took out.

Then after some more minutes we moved on into the other room where the food was laid out on a plastic "table cloth" or "sifra" on the floor. Many dishes all heaping with rice, soups, yaprax, chicken, and salads. I should have taken a picture. I made the mistake of loosing my plate to the mother of the house who filled it with more yaprax than I could possibly eat and I don't even like yaprax. It is rice and sour stuff wrapped in grape leaves or this other kind of leaf that we don't have in the U.S.

After eating as much as possible and even drinking mastau (a yogurt water that is reminiscent of cow--and which I think as much as I don't care for it, it helps with digestion), we moved into the living room where the TV was on. I don't think I've been in a Kurdish home without the TV on unless there was no electricity. We mostly ignored the extreme wrestling/boxing/whatever kind of fighting that was and talked some more. We drank tea, which was good, but it was late at night. And then we tried to leave... BUT! You can't leave without eating some fruit. So they hurried and brought out the fruit. Katie and I managed to split a banana and they didn't try to make us eat anymore, phew!Hopefully as we get to know them more they will treat us less like guests where we have to be forced to eat.