Kleenex and the Best Meal Ever!

KLEENEX - I love Puffs kleenex. When I was younger and had dreams of stardom, I thought about what products I would endorse. I wanted to endorse only products that I could personally recommend. I came up with Puffs and Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.

The kleenex here is hard and falls apart. Puffs is soft and strong! I had been using the kleenex here because it was easier to get to. Then I remembered that I had one box of Puffs packed in a ziploc (without the box). So Jerry got me one and it felt heavenly!!! Oh, my nose felt sooooo good! It's the simple pleasures....

THE BEST MEAL EVER - I went shopping with a friend who moved here from the US about 1.5 years ago. While we were shopping for clothes, she mentioned that she would loan us the hot plate she used when she first got here and had to live in a hotel for 3 weeks. I got so excited because we brought a bunch of packages of our favorite ramen with us. So then, I started looking for stuff to put in the ramen. We like egg, spinach and spam. Apparently, there is no frozen spinach here. So, I looked for eggs and spam. No eggs or spam at the first two places, but I scored on both counts at the gas station convenience store!! They had lots of eggs and ONE can of spam (for $5). It was worth it. Jerry made our dinner in the hotel room and we used plastic Baskin Robins containers as our bowls.

travel

We travelled to another city for several days and stayed at a beach resort for a regional meeting. Now before you get any Western ideas of what a beach resort is, let me say that it was kinda disappointing, but it did grow on me as the days progressed to where I was really enjoying my time there. One highlight was that our A/C stayed on even when we were not in the room. It never got freezing cold as it does in the States, but it was wonderful to come back to a cool room. At our hotel here, we walk in, hurry to put the key in the slot to turn on the electricity and then I stand in front of the A/C for about 15 minutes until the room gets semi-cool. We were in room 205 before we left and now we are in room 105. One of the best things about the new room is the toilet is more Western style. However, the shower has only a hand held thing that attaches to the wall at belly level. There are pros and cons to the room, but overall Jerry likes it better. It will be our home until Oct 17th or until we get our own place, which could take a month or more. I will have to dedicate an entire entry to the art of finding a flat.

There are so many things to write about every single day that the prospect of writing about everything is quite daunting.

THE AIRPORT
There are two airports here, one for international travel and one for domestic travel. They are side by side, but the domestic one is MUCH nicer; it has A/C! However, in both airports your only choice for toilets is squatty potty style, unless you go to the handicap restroom. But, they are pretty dirty. I am hoping for many visitors while I am here, and I wonder how they will take to the dirty conditions here, especially my mom. Anyhow, I am grateful for my times in China where I was able to perfect my squatty potty technique. Another thing about the airport, our luggage is fairly dirty now.

COWS
Cows are sacred here. We have been told that if a vehicle, whether a car, bicycle, etc hits a cow, the crowd will attack the driver. We see alot of cows along the side of the road. Sometimes, they block a lane of traffic, but no one tries to move them. Even during rush-hour! The city where we are is VERY poor. We noticed that the cows in the beach city were much fatter than the cows in our city. There is also a cow-trafficking problem here. They are trafficked for their beef. I am guessing that our city's skinny cows do not have much to fear.

More later...

Flood Day

It has been pouring rain here and in this area, when it rains, it floods. We left the office yesterday a little early before more flooding occurred. We still had to walk on these metal planks to get from the building steps to the car. And then we had to straddle to get to the hotel steps from the car. Crazy!

We had to order dinner from the hotel and wanted to get some local food. However, they told us that the cook left because of the flooding so all we could order was Chinese! And then this morning, the cook was still not back, so all we could order was an American breakfast - an omelette, toast, cereal, banana and papaya.

Chinese food is pretty prevalent. And it tastes pretty good! Not as good as authentic Chinese, but WAY better than American Chinese. And the Chinese noodles they have here are my favorite kind! Of course, there is no beef and if you order something with chicken, do not expect very much.

Today the office declared a flood day. The news said that it might be a record! Anyhow, we were stuck at the hotel. But it was good because it is forcing me to rest. My leg is getting better every day. And there is no internet at the hotel. We found out a few people came into the office, so a car came to pick us up to drive us the one block to get here. And then we walked the metal planks again. The flooding is just incredible. Many of the locals just pull up their pant legs and walk through the water. Jerry and I brought galoshes from home and we are the envy of several people.

Right now, Jerry is wading through the streets to go to an ATM and find us some lunch. Jerry commented last night that the food here is way cheap, but we seem to be eating less, probably because there is not junk food for us to eat here and it's not like we can hop in our car to dine out.

More later...

Day 1

We have arrived! So far, this city in South Asia reminds me a lot of China. Even though monsoon season is pretty much over, we came on a VERY rainy day. It was even raining in the airport (a leak), and we had to walk through a few puddles. It is a good thing we brought galoshes. Near our guesthouse it floods easily, so the rain boots were good to wade through ankle high water.

Our guesthouse is growing on me. I am not yet comfortable walking around without slippers. The bathroom leaves much to be desired, but it is rather spacious at least. It is one of those places where you place your key in this thing to turn on the electricity. So, no coming home to a nice, cool room. You've got to put the key in and then wait a while for the room to cool. We also have a fridge; can you imagine the effect that the electricity control has on it?

It has been a while since I have had to brush my teeth with bottled water. It is also strange to have a fear of opening your mouth in the shower so you do not ingest any water.

We met up with some friends and went to church, Grace Church at the Salvation Army. We knew all of the songs except one. The pastor is from Rochester, NY; he and his wife have been here for 19 years.

Shopping was exhausting. My arms and chest are too big for the clothes. While we waited for my clothes to be tailored, we went to a very western-style coffee shop. My leg did not fare very well with all of the shopping and walking. I am looking forward to LOTS of rest so my leg can heal in time for my trip to Spain.

We went to bed at 7pm. It is only 4:41pm right now, but I could go to sleep.

We are definitely not physically comfortable, but we've met some truly wonderful people already and are seeing how God is working here.

We are here!

We made it. The internet goes in and out. I will write more later.

at Heathrow airport right now

We did not make our 5:35 flight from Houston, but we caught a 7:25 flight that flew straight to London without stopping in Detroit. However, we had to fly into Gatwick, get all our luggage and then take a shuttle to Heathrow!! The shuttle ride was fun. We sat behind the driver for a better view and got to listen to some funny conversations. We also sat next to a Frank Sinatra fan who goes to Florida every year after Labor Day. Actually, all of the people we sat near go to Florida every year.

Right now I am at the Heathrow airport at Garfunkel's eating fish and chips. Jerry had the Great British Breakfast, an interesting assortment of breakfast food like sausage, bacon and eggs, along with pork and beans, sauteed mushrooms and half of a roasted tomato. I forgot to mention that my lunch came with some really strong mashed green peas.

My leg is not in constant pain, but I am still limping. You should see the two of us with all of our luggage. 4 suitcases, 2 footlockers, a guitar and 2 carryons. It's been crazy.

Well, time to go board our flight to South Asia. I think it is a 10 or 11 hours flight. Yikes! I had nausea on the last flight, but am okay now. However, my body feels like it is in constant motion, like after I have been on a boat.

Only 10 more minutes of the cool British accent.

It's been too long...

Hello Friends,

I know it has been forever since I have blogged. Once we arrive in South Asia, I hope to blog several times a week. Well, we leave 2 days. Just writing that gives me the willies. Today, our friend Katherine came over to tutor Jerry on the Mac and a friend Emma came over to help pack before she had to go to class. Later today my Mom is coming to do more packing and our friend Steve is bringing lunch. This evening a small group from church is coming to clean the house.

Part of me feels badly because these days all we seem to do is receive. But I have been reminded that soon, we will be mostly on the giving end.

I have so many other thoughts to share, but I need to get back to the task at hand - clearing out the bedrooms for our new lovely tenants.

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