A Month of Life - Day 30

These days have been quite tiring. I have joked, wondering if I have mono. The truth is that life overseas is just more tiring than life back in America due to everything being in a second language and culture. I think the stress of transition of the past month or so has worn on me more than I realized. I say all of this because I slept about 7 and a half hours last night. I woke up this morning and read some stuff online. I was still tired so I thought I would see if I could go back to sleep for a few more minutes. It took about two seconds for me to be out and I slept another 3 hours. I was shocked when I woke up. Then I was confused about what time it actually was since my phone said one thing and my ipad said another. My country decided to not participate in falling back this year. My phone was in the know but my ipad and computer were not.

I read some C.S. Lewis as I ate an early lunch. Then I picked out songs for our fellowship time. I saw something on Facebook last week asking how folks volunteer at their local fellowships. Since there are only 4 adults in mine, if one of us doesn’t do something, it doesn’t get done. In order to have a sermon, music, food, etc. we all have to do something. I took care of some laundry and gathered up some food to contribute to our weekly meal together. Then J and I walked over to H&L’s house to meet. 

After our worship time, we watched some heartwarming videos together. Then we all got ready to go to the park to meet up with the recent birthday boy’s friends. Since I was in my old neighborhood, I stopped by my old complex first to see if any of my favorite neighbors were at home. I knocked on 4 doors but found no one. Since no one was there I joined everyone at the park and grabbed a cup of seasoned corn to hold me over until we ate dinner. While the kids played at the park, L and I headed back to her house to start dinner. She was making chicken pot pie from scratch, because everything is made from scratch here. I was frying up some of the okra J and I had processed and frozen earlier this month. We added some cut up fruit and tomatoes to our mixture. The birthday boy’s two friends joined us for dinner. After dinner we had ice cream sundaes to celebrate. One of the boy’s parents came by to pick him up and we chatted with them for a while. 

Finally about 9pm, J and I walked back home. I ended up talking with my sister for an hour or so, to discuss her upcoming trip to see me in just a few short days. 

I walked a little over 2 miles today.

A Month of Life - Day 29

Since I only lacked thirty minutes to complete my language goals for the week, I decided to have a chill morning/afternoon. I read the Word, caught up on some writing, watched some tv, ate some food, and showered. In the early afternoon, J and I headed back to the mall to make furniture decisions. After looking at the furniture options again, we walked around and did a little shopping while she thought on which style she wanted. She was on a tight budget but due to us finding the bed so cheap, we were able to buy a better quality dresser and closet-like cabinet. I made arrangements with the worker for the pieces to be delivered and put together tonight. I marveled that my language has improved so much that I was able to handle that transaction. 

With that behind us, we road the bus back into the city center and got off at the place that I thought was closest to our next destination. It turns out I mis-navigated and we walked a bit out of the way. I’m thankful for Google maps and a smart phone to help us navigate back to where we needed to be a little faster. We stopped into the store that is going out of business to buy her some pillows. Then we carried our heavy purchases back towards our home. I needed to pick up a few things for dinner so I added to my heavy load. 

When we got home, I made some pizzas and cleaned up the kitchen. She worked on getting space in her room ready for the guy to put the furniture together. After dinner and cleanup, we started to watch another movie. I worked on putting together the last remaining cabinet for my bathroom. It took me most of the movie to accomplish this. I was pretty tired and went to bed on the early side. 

I walked about a two miles today.

A Month of Life - Day 28

I got up and showered. Then I had my lesson with my language helper. After that I spent time in the Word and prayer. While I was waiting for J to have some lunch after class I went and sat with Evi to catch up with her. Then I met up with J and we went to the furniture store. I wanted her to meet CFS but I also wanted to see if they had a cheap bed that would fit into J’s budget. There were lots of customers there so I wasn’t sure if I would even have time to ask about the bed. Eventually the crowds thinned out and I found out they had a bed in the ‘Scratch and Dent’ section for 75% less than their normal beds. It was at least 50% less than any other beds we had found. We were both pleased with this find.

From there I went to meet with my old landlord to get back my old deposit. He is a pretty well known lawyer and quite busy. I waited for him for about 45 minutes. We finished up our business and I met up with L to catch up and get some early dinner. After a good long conversation, we walked to get flowers from Sandra. From there I picked up a few things from the market. I didn’t necessarily need anything but since I was walking by I thought I would use my empty arms to stock up on some things. I typically buy more than I can carry so buying some heavy things I know I will need will hopefully lighten the next load. I doubt it though.

When I got home, I called my grandpa for his birthday. Then I had a free rental from VidAngel. VidAngel is an online site that essentially allows you to rent movies for $1 provided you "return it" within 24 hours. It also lets you choose filters to bleep out certain words, themes, or actions. It was a good find because there were a few movies that I wanted to see but hadn't been able to find a rentable option elsewhere on the internet. 

Anyway I picked out a movie I wanted to watch again and that J had not yet seen. While we watched the movie, I worked on sending out my update. In the midst of that, Mrs. Bennett called. If you remember she is the mom of my art teacher who spent 2 hours one day trying to convince me to marry her son. She is quite overbearing. She learned that we were now neighbors and had been messaging me. The messaging wasn’t enough. She called me and talked for 15 minutes. She scolded me for not coming to visit, for not liking anything she shares on Facebook, for leaving her lonely. She told me to come all day any day to her house and said she would come to mine. She told me I should just eat breakfast with them. The phone call felt like it lasted for ever. I finally told her she was welcome here and I would come visit her this coming week. She has a really thick accent so it is a miracle that I was able to hang on to the phone call for so long. After the movie, J and I stayed up a while talking. 

A Month of Life - Day 27

Between the tea last night and being wound up from the conversation, it took me until 2 am to fall asleep. Unfortunately evening/night tea does this to me often and is a regular part of my life. Today I woke up quite sleepy and spent time in the word and praying. I then took some time to do a few personal things that I had been putting off. I did a little research on language tools to help my roomie, bought tickets for my language intensive, listened to a local leader talk about the woman at the well, and had lunch. After that, Roomie and I headed to the mall. We stopped by to see Shelby. Then we spent some time price comparing things for her bedroom. We bought a bedding set, sheets, comforter, pillow case, etc for her room. 

We took a bus back into town and went back to some of the second hand stores to look again at the pieces they had. We were both hungry so we stopped into one of my favorite restaurants and had a local pizza-like dish. We took the bus back to my place to drop off our purchases. 

I had made some more of the cookies to take to CFS and the furniture store gang. We left to drop those off and see if she could give us a deal on a bed because we were not finding great options elsewhere. We walked in the drizzling rain only to discover the store had closed an hour earlier than I thought it would. No one was there. We came back to my place. I tried to listen to the woman at the well video again but fell asleep around 8pm. I woke up and listened again, did a few things, and then went back to bed. 

I walked about 1.5 miles today.

A Month of Life - Day 26

Today I started with a lesson with my language helper. We talked about my plans to come visit her for another language intensive. Then I told her the story of the woman at the well. She said I did a better job telling the story but still need a little work. After that I took some cookies from the freezer and popped them in the oven while I took a shower. Roomie and I were going to visit Di at their new food stand. My language helper said I should take them something and suggested a dessert. Di had already been saying she wanted some cookies so I thought I would just take those. I also saw that today was my friend Sandra’s birthday so I packaged up a few for her as well. 

Roomie and I left and headed toward the pazar area. She wanted to buy a soccer jersey for her brother so we went to a few stands. Then I made her buy some broccoli and tomatoes on her own. We found Di and sat down for some lunch. She had showed us the sheep head stew they were making while we were at their house the other night. We decided to give it a try. I could eat it if I didn’t know what it was. Di needed help again this week with her kids because she had failed to get info from the preschool. I had a happier heart about it this week but was frustrated that she hadn’t been responsible. I told her I could help out for an hour or two. 

I decided to take the kids with me to buy a few items at the pazar. Then we set off to try to find a park. I should have left my pazar cart with Di because it proved to be a burden. We also didn’t have a stroller for the two year old. These were things that I did not think through very well. We did not find a nearby park and ended up walking a lot. Finally I got them a cup of corn and we sat down for a snack. The two year old was getting sleepy and wanted her mommy. I ended up having to carry her back the ten minute walk. (Once again I was reminded that moms are superheroes.) I sat with Di a few minutes before heading out.

I still had a bit of pazar shopping to do. I managed to find one of the vendors from my old place. I think we were both thrilled to see each other. Then I stopped by to see the nut guy. I find that people from my old life (the one in my old neighborhood) make me feel so happy these days. It’s almost like seeing family. 

I then stopped by a blanket/bedding store that was going out of business. I found some pillows and a throw blanket. I decided to walk back a different street. I saw my friend H’s friend and his wife. I stopped to speak with them and they invited me in for some tea. After an hour and a half, good conversations, and two cups of tea I bowed myself out.

I then walked to Sandra’s shop to drop off some cookies. I didn’t intend to stay long but she offered for me to sit and talk to her and her friend. Her friend’s name means Stiff or Difficult and I think he is accurately named. After a long, weird, intense conversation, I was tense and politely left. By the time I got home, I was worn out and still reeling from the intense conversation. I decided to sing some Jesus-centered songs to detoxify myself. 

I was very hungry but had no brain power or energy left to make food. Roomie felt the same so we ordered Burger King. We have this cool website that lets us pick from restaurants and they deliver. While waiting on the food, I counted up my language hours. I’m supposed to get 30 every week. This was only day 4 in the week and I was already at 21. I ate my dinner and then put away pazar things while I talked to my old friend over Facetime. Talking, laughing, and hearing how the Lord was working in her life helped me to unwind a bit from the intenseness. I then talked to my mom for a bit about travel details. 

I walked about 3 miles today. 

A Month of Life - Day 25

I spent my usual time in the Word this morning, reading in English first, listening in T and then reading out loud in T. I then spent some time praying for folks in my city and in response to what I had read. After a shower, I went to drop a plate of lentil patties off to my neighbor, hoping to get some time with her. She wasn’t there so I left them with her son. I had been messaging some folks trying to meet up with them. Shelby finally wrote back and said she could meet early afternoon. 

In the meantime, I spent time writing out a sweet birthday card for my 9 year old little friend. Then I pulled out one of my workbooks and worked on some grammar. I left my house and picked something up at a pharmacy and then a birthday gift at a stationary store. I met Shelby at a cafe. We talked about life and how she was struggling. I shared some passages with her to encourage her. Afterward we walked to L’s house to celebrate the 9 year old little boy. We were there until after 9pm. 

I walked a little over a mile today. 

A Month of Life - Day 24

Today I woke up and caught up on a blog geared toward overseas women. Then my cleaning lady arrived and I got her started in her work. I spent time in the Word both listening and reading out loud in my second language. After that, I began making some lentil patties to take to neighbors and some chocolate chip cookies to put in my freezer to have on hand when needed. After that I worked on some work related emails and filling out reports. F, the cleaning lady was ready for a tea break so I poured some for her and we chatted for a few minutes. By this point, my roommate came home and she filled me in on her first day of class. 

After F left, I finished making the lentil patties and put a few on some plates to take to two of my neighbors. Neither were home. Bummer. J and I decided to go out and run some errands. We went to pay our electric bill. We were walking right in front of the furniture store so we went inside so she could meet some of those folks. It was CFS’s day off so she did not get to meet her. After a cup of coffee and some chatting, we moved on to other errands. I went to my bank to see why my water bill had not been automatically withdrawn. I also asked if I could also have my gas bill withdrawn. They said my water bill would be withdrawn that day but the gas bill would not start the automatic withdrawals until next month. I later checked my bank account and saw that actually the gas bill was withdrawn that day and the water bill had yet to be withdrawn. There must be a problem somewhere.

After the bank, I took J to the big park and shopping center near my old house. After walking her around and showing her the things I find beneficial at those places, we walked to Di’s house. She was so thrilled that we visited. We chatted with her for about 2 hours. Then we walked back to the shopping center to pick up a few items. Because of the road work, we had to walk an extra ten minutes out of the way. 

When I returned home, I rolled the cookie dough into balls to put in the freezer. Of course I baked a few for J and I to share to celebrate her first day of class. As she told me about how clueless she felt, I decided to go back and reread blogs from my first few months to remember just how painful and confusing those days are. 

I actually measured our walking today and discovered we walked over 3.5 miles. That’s a 5K folks. 

A Month of Life - Day 23

Today was my official day of rest. It had been almost a month since I had had a day with no commitments, no language, no agenda and just resting. I slept in again. I have been worn out from life so rest is always a gift to me. Actually life overseas is just more tiring. We are constantly overworking our brains to hear, understand and speak a foreign language. We are constantly learning new cultural things. This combined with late nights makes life exhausting.

For breakfast, I finished off the leftover waffles from yesterday. Then I looked back over my last week to evaluate how it went, do prep work to fill out language reports and other accountability reports, and to look ahead a bit to what needs to change in the coming week. I spent some time catching up on these daily writings.

I then spent some time in the Word and wrote about what I had read in a message to my local sisters. After that I spent some time blogging. Blogging is a way for me to process what is going on in my life. If I write about fun, hard, or stressful situations, it’s like the writing helps me move on. It had been a while since I had blogged so I spent several hours doing this. 

After blogging, I looked at vacation plans again for when my mom and sister come. I booked in-country flights for them as well as airport hotel stays. I then looked at travel destinations, hotel costs, and bus schedules. Not having a car makes travel a bit more difficult here. I am dependent on public transportation to get me where I need to go. I made something of a plan but have still not booked any hotels or bus tickets. Alas, this country is changing me into one of those last minute planners. I called my mom after this and ran some of this by her to see how it sounded. I finished up my phone call with her and all my hotel reserving around midnight. 

I did not leave my house again today and thus I did not walk.

A Month of Life - Day 22

I tend to take a relaxed approach to life on weekends. I slept in and then got up to make some waffles and bacon. Sweet friends have brought me bacon and maple syrup to make this a rare possibility. I caught up with J over our lovely breakfast. After that, L called to see if we could do fellowship that day. We usually do it on one of the weekend days according to which day we don’t have things going on with locals. Sometimes we make plans at the last minute. Sometimes we have our wits about us and make a plan ahead of time. This time was a last minute kind of plan. 

I did a little cleaning up. My vacuum cleaner had been out of commission for a few days after I realized the bag was filled to max capacity. Things like this are harder than in America. I had to find out where I could buy a new bag and then go find the place and make sure I had the model number in order to buy it. When I went to replace it, I learned that the filter was completely filthy and needed replaced. I didn’t know where to get a new filter so I washed it out instead. Then I had to wait on it to dry. After a week, the vacuum cleaner was put back together and I put it to use. 

After the quick cleaning and a shower, I got some time in the Word. Then I picked out some songs for us to sing at Fellowship. Again, sometimes we have our wits about us and do this well in advance. Sometimes we sit around and have “Request Sunday.” These past few weeks I have been a little more on top of things and have had stuff picked out before we got into crunch time. This is another aspect of life that is harder than it was back home. All of our fellowship time falls on the shoulders of the four of us. There is no one to help carry the weight. If we want music, one of the four of us has to be on top of that. 

We met at our house that day. Since H was out of town all week, we ended up watching a sermon. It’s nice to hear from outsiders from time to time. After fellowship, we had a service workday at my place. Again, our body consists of 4 adults so if one of us needs help, it falls to the other 3. They helped put some furniture together and make my bathroom more user friendly. We made dinner together. Sometimes we have it together and make a fun, big American meal. Sometimes we pool together our leftovers and make it easy. Today we made Asian food. I made sushi. They made fried rice. We had found some frozen spring rolls at an import store in the big city so we had those as well. It was delicious. 

After they left, I called my best friend. It had been a month since we had spoken. We usuallytry to play Yahtzee together over Facetime as a way to try to have a normal relationship over such a great distance. We’ve been keeping a record of when we have actually been able to play. It had been 3 months since we had made that happen. After the game, we caught up on life a bit. Then I had to turn in because it was late. 

I did not leave my house today and thus I did not walk. 

A Month of Life - Day 21

I spent some time learning the Woman at the Well before my language helper time. She helped me polish my phrases a bit. She also told me that my speaking is much better than my writing. When people first start learning their writing is usually better than their speaking but as they grow it begins to flip flop. She said that when my writing catches up with my speaking, I’ll be in a good place. After that lesson I spent some time sending emails and then had some time in the Word. I spent the next two hours doing laundry and cleaning. In the early afternoon, I ran some errands and then got a massage as an investment in my health. I get lots of headaches and the massage helps alleviate some of those. I also use my legs as transportation so my muscles get very tight. I have had several chances to share with the folks who work there so my visits there are a win win. 

I felt guilty for having not done much “working.” As a friend of mine pointed out, we have to flip our perspective of when a work day starts here. Our American mindset says we work from 8-5 but living here, we “work” when people are available and they are not available until early afternoon so a better workday is 3-11. Well Evi’s daughter asked to come over around 5. She stayed until 9:30. I spent time loving on her and doing what she wanted to do. After I took her home, I wrote out a weekly update, finishing around 11:30. 

I walked about a mile today.

A Month of Life - Day 20

I spent the first hour of my day praying. Yesterday had not went so well and I was acutely aware of my need to be filled by the Father. I’m ashamed to say that in the busyness of the past month, I was not spending focused time in prayer. It’s funny how starting the day with prayer unlocks doors so we can see the Father more clearly throughout the day. After that I read the Word. I’ve been working my way through the Old Testament but felt like I needed some Jesus. I read a chapter in Joshua in both languages before reading one in both Matthew and Luke in both languages. Even changing up my daily reading plan was good for me. 

J woke up and was not feeling well. I showed her what medicines and vitamins I had to try to help her feel better. Then I looked at some travel options for doing a language sprint in December. I left the house in time to take some leftover soup to CFS and the furniture store gang. I ate a light lunch with them before walking to meet L at a cafe. We were meeting to discuss a plan of action of walking through this doubting season with Evi. We ended up spending time catching up on life, confessing struggles and sins and holding one another accountable. This is vitally important when there is no one else in our lives doing any of these things. We spent some time praying about what was best. 

I find that making decisions about how to spend my time is a very hard part of living here. The ratio of those who have heard and believed to those who have not is overwhelming. My guess at a ratio would be 22,000:1. There are so many needs and so few laborers that it’s overwhelming. Is my time best spent sharing with those who are interested? What about the thousands, who live on my street alone, who I have never met? Would it be better to spend a day searching them out and sharing so they at least get one chance to hear? Is it better to go be with Di, to pour into her so she can go share? What about Evi? Should we give her some space? Do we need to double or triple up on our time with her since she is in a vulnerable state? Is she even interested in finding answers? What about Shelby? How do we work the puzzle that fits into all of our schedules to make sure we get good pouring in time with each person? For my married mom friend, if she is investing in locals, she feels like she is neglecting her family. When should she invest in family and when should she invest outside the family? I have J at home now. She is in the throes of culture shock. When do I need to focus on serving her and helping her adapt? When is that a help and when is it a hurt? When do I need to throw her out in the deep waters so she is forced to swim and when do I need to hold her hand? How do I balance all of this with taking care of myself, staying in touch with family members, keeping up with reports, cooking from scratch, cleaning up the mess after making things from scratch, walking everywhere, etc. One wise woman explained before coming that in overseas life, balance is a myth. I find it helpful to remind myself of this and realize that something will have to go. Sometimes I can easily identify the best use of my time. Other times, I feel the weight of all that needs done and have a hard time choosing which should be made a priority. 

So L and I took some time to stop and seek wisdom on how to spend our days. We did this with an ice cream cone because ice cream makes things much better. 

After that, I was planning to meet up with Shelby. She asked me to come to her house and I try my best to go to places that are most comfortable for locals rather than more comfortable for me. Unfortunately she found out that her dad was at home drunk and fighting with her mom. She asked if we could meet up over the weekend. This is yet another normal part of life. I pray and plan and then at the last minute my plan falls through. 

Since I was on the side of the road with the big supermarket, I decided to go there to pick up some things I can’t find elsewhere. Because of the roadwork, I had only been to the store once since I had moved to my new place. In fact, the roadwork makes things so much more of a hassle that I had hardly been in my old neighborhood at all. I realized the other day as I kept running into people who live on my new side of the road, how much the Father was making it clear that he has moved me to a new area to invest. He has even put in barriers (road work) to keep me from spending too much time in the old neighborhood. I’m not happy about this move but I am grateful He is helping shove me in the right direction. This all matters because when I walked into the big familiar store, I had a deep sigh of relief, a feeling of coming back to a place that felt like home for me. I knew all the workers and knew where everything was. I’m grateful that in just a year and a half of living here, a grocery store felt like home and it helped me rest just a tad. I have hopes that the new neighborhood will become my new home.

I walked back through the mess of road work to my house. I caught up with J before grabbing some dinner. After dinner, I did another language test to see what level I am at.  This is the last test before I have to do an interview and maybe one other thing. The grammar part had 40 questions and took me over an hour to finish. The listening part took another half an hour. I didn’t complete the speaking part because I need a little more information on how to do that. I’m supposed to record myself for 5-7 minutes talking off the cuff with a local about a topic of my choice. I’m not clear if it’s supposed to be a speech with a bit of their interaction or else just a conversation with them. I finished the test about 9:30pm and needed to veg out for a bit. I ended up watching a tv episode before falling asleep on the couch. I was in bed and asleep by 10:30. 

A Month of Life - Day 19

I went to bed late last night which meant I woke up late today. I had my time with my language helper. Then I spent about 30 minutes praying before I headed out to pick up Di’s kids. She asked me to watch them while she and her husband worked in their new food stand at the pazar. I had to walk almost a mile to pick them up and then we made our way back towards my house, stopping at a park near my house to let them play. Then I took them with me to 2 grocery stores to buy stuff for dinner. Between the grocery bags, the two kids, and the stroller, I was reminded again that moms are superheroes. 

We went back to my house and I made lunch. We watched a movie together in their language. The 2 year old was very sleepy. Her 8 year old brother rocked her to sleep. I thought that was very sweet. Afterwards, I worked on making chicken noodle soup for dinner while they watercolored some blank paper. 

After 5 hours, Di came to pick them up and I left to run a few more errands. I came home and finished the soup. J and I ate together and then cleaned up the kitchen. I then spent some time organizing the kitchen trying to use shelves to make my cabinets more user friendly. The loss of cabinets from my old apartment has been wearing on me. After that, I did some vacation research trying to get a plan in mind for my mom and sister’s arrival in two weeks. I didn’t figure much out. I had had an ugly heart all day so I spent some time processing my ugly heart and confessing sins and grieving. 

I walked about 3.5 miles today. 

A Month of Life - Day 18

I slept a little later this morning due to my late night. I spent time in the Word and messaging with Di. Then I took a shower. L called after that and we spent about 45 minutes catching up on life and sharing burdens. J and I ended up leaving the house about 12:30. We were looking for her some furniture. We were on a tight budget for her furniture. We stopped by a place on our street. The owner was fascinated with us and invited us to meet his family in the office. We talked with them for at least half an hour. They wanted us to stay longer but we had lots of ground to cover. 

We walked to the second hand shop area and got some lunch. After lunch we looked in the second hand places for cheap but good items. Locals like white, shiny, gaudy things, things Americans would never go for. Needless to say it was slim pickings. I did develop my vocabulary for bedroom furniture items. In one of the shops, the owner insisted over and over that we drink coffee. We finally gave in and did so. They thought J was about 13 and I was about 22. Try 22 and 34. Locals smoke a lot, drink a lot of tea, and get very little sleep. For these reasons, they age much faster than we do. They thought we were joking. 

We left there and looked at several more second hand places. I took her to show her where the Wednesday pazar usually meets. As we were walking through, I thought I saw a blonde haired little boy that looked like L’s youngest son. Realizing there are no blonde haired boys here, I knew it was him. He was with Di’s two kids. Di’s husband has decided to open up a food booth at the pazar. We chatted with Di and L for a little while. After that we hit up some of the cheaper furniture stores near there to get an idea of what new things would cost. After going into a couple places, both of our brains were wearing down. You can’t just go into a place and browse around. Usually a person escorts you around helping you find what you need. It’s exhausting. 

With an idea of how much certain things cost, we returned back to my house for a break. We both vegged out for half an hour before making dinner together. After dinner and cleanup, we took a pack-n-play to Evi, who is now a foster mom to a baby. We chatted with them, drinking tea, for over an hour before returning home. I called my old friend and caught up with her. After that, I caught up on writing about my life. Now I’m turning in. 

I would say J and I walked about 3 miles today. 

A Month of Life - Day 17

Today my new cleaning lady came. I helped her get started and spent time explaining how much I wanted done and how much I wanted to pay. We discovered my vacuum cleaner’s bag was full so together we emptied the thing. She told me where I could find a new one and put it back together hoping it would work. I’ve yet to check and see if our rig job worked. In between answering her questions, I caught up on some news, read the Word, had breakfast, and showered. 

After my shower, I made her and I a bite of lunch and we talked about life. Roomie had ventured out to the store on her own for the first time. She came back after an hour with about 6 things that were all the right items. It took her an hour to look up the words on the packages to make sure she knew what she was getting. Life is hard here, especially those first few weeks. 

After that I filled out a language report, showing roomie how to do that. We have to answer a variety of questions each week as a way of staying accountable and to evaluate what should change for the coming week in how we learn. By this point the cleaning lady was finished. I paid her and then roomie and I headed to the bank to pay for her language classes. This is done by depositing money into the language school’s bank account. On the way I ran into Mrs. Bennett. She scolded me for lots of things, not visiting her, not returning her calls, not liking her instagram posts, etc. We went to the correct bank and branch and took a number. I was surprised to see that particular branch so crowded. I ran into one of the ladies from my art class at the bank. We waited for half an hour, which is actually not a long wait time for banks. We still had another 15 minutes to wait when the security guard took our number and gave us the next number. I’m not sure how or why he did that but it helped us get out of there faster. 

At this point, I sent Roomie solo to the university to turn in her paperwork. I felt bad about making her go alone but also knew that she will never learn to survive if I help her with everything. While she was doing that, I ventured into a new stationary store to see what goodies they have. Then I went to a vacuum cleaner parts store to buy new bags. I walked right by where a friend of mine works so I went in to chat with her for a few. She had stepped out so I decided to browse around. I ran into the same lady from my art class again. I picked up a few items and as I was checking out, her boss began to ask me where I was from and how I like his city. I told him it was nice. He proceeded to tell me everything that is right with his country and wrong with mine. Then he began to ev me, trying to set me straight. When I realized the conversation was going nowhere, I paid for my items and got out of there. 

After that, I ran into a girl from my language classes. We talked for a few minutes, catching up on life. Then I went to get a haircut. I had been to this lady once before, about a year earlier. She remembered me and told me she could cut my hair after she finished a pedicure. While there, I began to chat with the other ladies. The hairdresser told me I was welcome to come and sit there whenever I was bored and that is how I would improve my language. 

After that I went into a new market. I heard someone shout my name. It was the tea lady from my art class. That was the third person associated with my art class I had bumped into today. We caught up and exchanged numbers. I then did some grocery shopping and of course bought more than I could carry. I huffed my way back home, arms tired from the groceries. I caught up with roomie as I ate dinner. 

After dinner and cleanup, I started working on an expense report. I finished that around 11pm and realized I needed to take care of some other financial business. I finally crashed around 12:30. I was grateful for the day of rest the previous day. I find that a day of rest makes me much more productive the rest of the week! 

I walked about a mile and a half today.

A Month of Life - Day 16

Today I spent some time in the Word in both languages. I ate a late breakfast and then showered. I took care of some logistical things online. Around 1, the roomie and I left the house. We picked up some strawberries and then walked to H&L’s house for fellowship. We discussed Matthew 25 and then sang some songs together. Afterwards, we had a project of painting and cutting out fall leaves and then writing things we were thankful for. We all worked together to clean up from the project, buy things for dinner, and then make dinner. We had a local lentil soup and some grilled cheese sandwiches.

Since there are no local fellowships, we meet in our homes. Our fellowship days usually consist of us sitting in one of our living rooms. Generally H prepares something for us to discuss. On really busy weeks or if we are in need of a fresh voice, we watch an online message. We usually pick out some songs on YouTube and sing together. We also pray together. After our worship time, we often play games, work on a project, watch a movie, etc. Then we eat dinner together. 

After dinner, I had a migraine so J and I headed home. At home, I needed to do some picking up before a new cleaning lady came the next day. I know this seems illogical but I had boxes and papers everywhere from new furniture items I was trying to put together. I knew my cleaning lady wouldn’t be able to get anything done with that kind of mess. They also tend to shove things in random places where I can't find them. I finally got everything somewhat orderly and then went to bed. 

I walked about a mile and a half today.

A Month of Life - Day 15

Today I had a long chill morning soaking in the Word. I also spent about 45 minutes trying to write an encouraging note with some Scripture to Evi. I had some breakfast and then listened to a sermon while I did some art. I try to have one day of resting each week but it had been at least 3 weeks since this had happened. I then took a shower and ordered some American goodies for my mom to bring to me in a few weeks. After that, I met L and her kids at the soccer stadium across from my house. J and I were going to watch the kids so H&L could get some stuff done. We played outside until the sun started setting then we walked back to my house. I ordered some dinner for us all and we watched a movie together. Afterward, I Skyped with my family for about an hour before heading to bed. 

I walked very little today.

A Month of Life - Day 14

Di invited several of us over for breakfast at her house. Breakfasts usually begin around 9:30-10:30. We had quite the spread and stayed for two and a half hours before we needed to move on to taking care of business. 

I went with my roomie to get a bank account set up for her. We had heard that she needed a tax number in order to get the bank account so we had been to the tax place to take care of that. The tax place said they needed a form filled out from the bank before they would give the tax number. The bank worker told us he needed a tax number in order to open a bank account. It seems as if we are caught in a catch 22. I didn’t have time to sort that out because Evi asked to come over within the hour. Since she is struggling I wanted to be available for her. J and I rushed home and did some speed cleaning since the living room and kitchen were not in great shape. Evi arrived right on time and we spent our time chatting and watching the movie Courageous. After the movie, she laid down on my couch for a nap. I wondered just how long she intended to stay. Then her daughter convinced her to just go home and nap so she left my place around 5.

I took some time to look at some things I want my mom and sister to bring me when they come in a few weeks. J and I ordered food, put a movie on and I basically spent the movie time ordering things for my mom to bring me and working on my update while listening to the movie. The busyness has prevented me from staying on top of everything so I have resorted to spending movie time working on my growing to do list. 

After the movie, J and I decided to process the 7 pounds of okra to freeze that we had bought while at the pazar. I’ve never cooked with okra and I quickly learned that I had no idea what I was doing. Why was it so slimy? Do I wash it first, chop it first, blanch it first? After three hours, we finally put away 5.5 pounds in the freezer. The rest was just way to slimy to handle and we were beat so we threw it in the trash. She went to bed and I finished my update and spent some time answering some debriefing questions from our vol group. I finished all of this around 1:30 am. 

I walked less than a mile today.

A Month of Life - Day 13

I slept in a bit today. After waking, I spent my time in the Word. Today I looked at the woman at the well, picking out the main points and trying to simplify the story. 

After a shower, I made a bulgur salad to take to my time with sisters. I was going to meet up with Evi and we were going to walk together to Di’s house. Evi texted at the last minute and said she wouldn’t be able to come. As I was on my way, Shelby also texted and said she would not be able to come. She has been having some struggles. That just left Di, myself, and L. Knowing that Evi was struggling and that I was walking by her house, I decided to just go see her first. After an hour with Evi, she had to leave.  I decided to go mail my absentee ballot since I was halfway to the post office already. 

After mailing the letter, I walked to Di’s house. We had an early dinner together and caught up on life. I filled her in on ways she could be lifting up our other sisters. I walked back home and met up with my roomie. She had spent the day doing things on her own for the first time. She filled me in on how it went.

That morning in the shower, our shower head burst. I had no idea that a shower head could burst. In order to replace it, roomie and I went out to the mall to buy a new one. I wanted to show her around out there anyway. We got back home around 9:30 and I crashed again, worn out from the stress and struggle of my sisters. I spent some more time praying for all of them. 

I walked about 2.5 miles today.

A Month of Life - Day 12

I did an hour of language with my language helper first thing this morning. We started on working through the story of the Woman at the Well. She helps me learn how to say the story simply and using correct words and grammar. 

After this, the roomie and I got on a bus and met our friends at a nice breakfast place. We finally got around to giving her some orientation to her new home. After several hours of sitting in a hot place, they left to take her to the university to see about her getting signed up for language classes. I took the bus back home and decided to just rest. It had been weeks since I had paused from language, moving, unpacking, hosting, cooking, putting furniture together, etc. I was spent and realized that in order to make it through the rest of the week sane, I needed to be still. I came home and looked into some new worship music for some fresh words of encouragement. I then spent some time blogging. Blogging helps me process my life here. Writing helps erase some of the stresses and grief and allows me to move on. 

After that, I spent time cleaning, putting away week old laundry, organizing my office, etc. I find that if I make time for rest in my life, I am much more productive. The evening ended productive as far as house errands but I am not doing great on getting language hours so far this week. Each week I am supposed to get 30 hours of language. These hours are broken down into 4 sections: Grammar or class time, working with a language helper, actual speaking hours, and personal study. The bulk of those hours are supposed fall in the speaking hour section. 

I walked very little today.

A Month of Life - Day 11

I woke up today and spent my usual time in the Word in two languages. I want to start learning stories about women too so I spent some time reading about the Woman at the Well and making notes as to how I would share the story. After some breakfast, my new roommate and I went to get her phone working. We then went on a hunt for a computer charger that would plug into the local outlets since we were having a hard time fitting hers into a variety of adaptors. After that we stopped in to get some lunch at a “Meat and Three” kind of place. I think our combined meal cost about $4. After lunch we stopped by Sandra’s to pick up some flowers for our home. We chatted with Sandra for a while and then she actually gave the flowers to my roommate as a welcome gift. 

All of that only took about 3 hours but we were both wiped out. She from jet lag, a new culture and language fatigue, me from weeks and weeks of non-stop life, too much people time, and new language terms. We each took a short nap before heading out again. We ventured over to a new pazar since the one I frequented shut down. I didn’t like the new one as much and I made a rookie mistake of going in the late afternoon. That time of day is when it is most crowded. It’s farther away too so by the time we walked there and back and fought the road construction that is seemingly happening on every corner, two hours had passed and we were both feeling very tired again. We ate some dinner together and then finished putting together the cabinet from the night before. 

After the cabinet, she worked on some administration type things and I figured out how to accurately send in an absentee ballot.I realized I needed a business size envelope. Buying an envelope and mailing the ballot will be on my to do list for tomorrow. 

I walked about 4 miles today.

A Month of Life - Day 10

For the first time in a while, I spent some extended time in the Word and prayer. It was good for my soul. My friends stopped by and we spent some time praying for a struggling Evi. I then regrouped my life and made out a to do list and a weekly schedule for the first time since I moved. 

J, my new roommate had woken feeling poorly but by afternoon she was feeling well enough to get out. I showed her some of the markets near our house and where she can find what things. We looked into getting her a tax number so she can get a bank account. The lady at the office was not very helpful so this task was unsuccessful. 

We visited an ATM so she could get some local currency. Then we went to buy her some toiletries. I learned some new words as we tried to figure out which face wash and moisturizer she needed. Then we bought some stuff to make dinner and proceeded to make that. Afterwards I started putting together my new Ikea pieces. She later joined in helping assemble the largest piece. We spent 3 hours working as a team and managed to get everything finished except the doors. Ikea is still wearing me out the next day. 

I walked about a mile today.

A Month of Life - Day 9

We all slept in a bit today. We headed back to Ikea and had breakfast there. We then spent the next several hours trying to finalize our decisions. Once the decisions were finalized, we fought with the Black Friday like crowds. It took an hour to check out and load up the van. We then hit the road for the 3 hour trip back to our city. We grabbed a bite of dinner before taking my roommate to her new home. 

I again walked a lot at IKEA.

A Month of Life - Day 8

My roommate was not due to arrive until 8pm. Both L and I were looking for new furniture options. I was looking for storage options for 3 rooms of my new house. My last place had so many cabinets, I did not even use them all. My new place was lacking cabinets. We decided to try the second hand furniture district first. We waited on our old friend to arrive since he knows our style. He was late getting to the store because he had some difficulties that morning. He didn’t have many pieces in his store but offered to take us to see some at his home we might like. Since we had worked with him before and there were two of us, we decided to go take a look. The man himself is quite the adventure but this trip was one for the books. We made it to a storage unit to look at a piece and as we were leaving, his car battery died. We were stuck in the van waiting for almost an hour. By the time he got the car working again, we were hungry. He took us back to his shop and fed us. My friend bought some furniture from him and after several cups of tea, we left there to go to Ikea. 

Ikea is quite an overwhelming place. The fact that I needed to buy multiple items for multiple rooms combined with the fact that Ikea has so many options, I was overwhelmed. After several soul searching hours trying to make some decisions, we both agreed that our bodies and minds were spent, we could not make the drive back home tonight and we would just come back the next day to finish buying things. The place was as crowded as the last Saturday before Christmas. We stood in the checkout lanes for half an hour. We finally left and went to pick up the new roommate. We got her and then went back to the mall to get her some food and let my friend finish her business there. We were all pretty wiped and went to bed on the earlier side.

I walked a lot at IKEA today but have no idea how much. 

A Month of Life - Day 7

Today I woke up and did some last minute cleaning to make the house seem a little less chaotic for my arriving roommate. My friend and I went with our guests, taking them back to the airport. We drove through the ancient city of Sardis and stopped to let them take some pictures. We then drove down to ancient Ephesus which was about a 4 hour drive for us. L and I caught up on life while the group toured. Both of us have been to Ephesus several times. When they finished, we drove them to the airport around 8:30 at night. 

After saying goodbye to the group, we went to a shopping mall. We have very few shopping options in our city so we wanted to pick up a few things. The problem was that we still had not had dinner. By the time we finished dinner, we had less than an hour before the mall closed to do any shopping. We were spending the night at a friend’s house. Due to the size of the city and bad navigation, it took us an hour to arrive at our friend’s house. 

I did a lot of riding today and very little walking.

A Month of Life - Day 6

This morning the group and I took a bus to a good breakfast place. We were able to eat a feast, feeding all 8 of us for about $45. Afterwards, the bulk of the group was teaching English again in the school next door. My friend and I also walked over for a tour of the school. We wandered around the halls alone and we didn't sign in or out of the school. These are two things that are unheard of in America. 

While the others were teaching English, my friend and I visited my friend D. She is one of my best friends here and I wanted my visiting friend to meet her. We weren’t able to stay long because she had to pick her son up from school. Because there aren’t enough classrooms for all the kids, he finishes at 12:30, making it a half day of school. 

She and I bussed back to my place so the baby could take a nap. I used the downtime to look at election stuff, figuring out who to vote for in the House and Congress. Living overseas, we have to mail in our ballot a good while before the election. I hadn't had a lot of time to do research on which representatives to choose. Before I could finish, the group came back and we debriefed a bit. 

After that, they wanted to babysit the kids, doing an early birthday party for two of them, and giving their parents a night out for the anniversary. I walked everyone over to the other home and helped to make sure they were set for dinner before returning home. I finished up and then walked to an ATM to get out some money and stopped by a market to pick up a few things. 

I was planning on doing some cleaning but forgot I had scheduled a lesson with my language helper over Skype. Usually we go through a lesson but we had both had busy weeks so this time we just caught up on our lives. She is good to correct me when I say wrong things or to tell me a better way to say it. 

My mom asked if I could talk for a few while I was talking to my helper so I called my mom after that. Before I could do any cleaning, my guests started showing back up. I started cleaning around 9:30 and worked on that until about 11:30. I miss my cleaning lady, she made my life so much easier. 

I walked about 2.5 miles today.