Keepin' It Real

So it looks like we are going to be moving. Matt and Rebecca have found a house. It's california meets asian. I am totally not looking forward to moving. I guess I see it as a necessary evil - as they say. It just figures that we'd be moving as soon as my drain was fixed. It was fixed yesterday. I am so thankful to have it fixed. It is such a relief to be able to use running water in my bathroom.

So I've been reading Lavonne's blog. She is so good at writing what is going on inside her head. She's inspired me to write more than the fun things that are going on but to also write what is going on inside my head...that's a scary place.

It is so much harder to live cross-culturally than I thought it would be. You are challenged everyday. I have come to realize how selfish I am. To be in full-time ministry you can't be a selfish person. There are so many times when I 've not wanted to do something that would be helpful because I simply don't feel like it. It's not what I want to be doing right then. I'll give you an example.

One day I was really stir crazy and I needed to get out of the house and do something. Rebecca was having a hard time with Micah because he was wide awake but she was dead tired. I was going to call Esther and ask if she wanted to do something. I was only concerned with the fact that I was stressed and needed to get out. Just as I was going to go and call Esther a little voice in my head said "and what about Rebecca?" I realized that I hadn't even thought about her difficulty that day. I felt horrible. Here I am thinking only of myself when one of my best friends was having a really rough day. So I decided to take Micah out for a walk. He loves it outside and then Rebecca could have a nap and catch up on her sleep. Both of us benefitted.

I realized that there are many times in my life that things like this happen and it really sickened me. That time it worked out so that we both benefitted even though I hadn't thought about it but how many times is that something that I consider in my life. What do I get out of it?

I think that this is one of the biggest lessons that I am learning right now. Service for God is not about me. Becoming more Christlike is not about me. Living in community is not about me. Asian cultures are very community oriented and I would have to say that I am struggling with it. It is very hard to put aside my individuality. I've really had to search out my motivations and repent of my sins.

Friends it really is just about Jesus. I know when we say that everyone thinks, "Oh that's such a pat answer." Yes it may be simple but it is the answer. I've been trying to do so many things on my own power since being here. It's something that I am constantly struggling with. I was reading over some of my old blog entries this morning and I came across one called "The Great Meltdown" in it I used the analogy of being stressed to the point of meltdown to an old RCA television. When life is so busy and we become so stressed that our light is growing smaller and dimmer just like when you shut off an old tv and the light on the screen slowly turns into a little pinpoint of light in the midddle of the screen before going out. As I read that the thought that went through my head was "yes because that light is running on your own power and not mine." If I keep my focus on Jesus, letting Him plan my agenda instead of me then I won't get worn out and stressed. It sounds so easy to me but I know that it is really hard. I've always been so independent. To rely on someone else is soooooo hard for me. So I guess that one of my struggles is letting God take control.

So I don't know if any of that made any sense at all. I do feel better for getting it out so thanks to all who actually read all of that.

Lego my Eggo

So Moses and I were playing lego one night and I was running out of ideas of what to build so I did a self portrait. I think that there is quite the likeness. Don't you?

my self portrait

Monkeying Around

So instead of trying to fit all the animal pics into my blog about our trip I thought that I would just give you a blog about the animals. Also for my little friends who read my blog it will be more interesting for them. So friends here are some of the animals we saw on our trip to Sigiriya, Pollonaruwa, Dambulla and Kandy...

Monkey in Pollonaruwa.
An amusing animal story...while we were in Pollonaruwa looking at the ruins and buddhas our driver stayed with the van. Jackie had left some cheese buttons (similar to mini ritz - but much better) on the dash of the van. A monkey jumped down from the tree, reached inside the van and stole our cheese buttons!!

monkey taking it easy

more monkeys in dambulla

Isaac with the monkeys in dambulla

water buffalo at Pollonaruwa Everybody's got a water buffalo. Mine is fast and yours is slow....I love Larry. We sang that song when we saw the water buffalo. Our driver thingks that we are nuts...oh wait ...we are!

The snake guy was at Sigiriya. He had a cobra and a python. He charmed the snake for us and we could have had the python put around our necks but I wasn't that brave. As I was going to pay the guy for letting us take pictures of the snakes (that's what you do here) the cobra got out of his basket and was heading right for Murray, Esther and Jackie, as well as the other people who were standing there!!! That was a little bit freaky. The dude was able to quickly put him back in the basket but it was still a little scary.

monitor lizard at Sig

Lizard in Kandy

turtle in Sigiriya

Moving...

Ok so moving to Sri Lanka was the 22 move that I've made in my life. I have only ever lived in one city where I didn't live in more than one house. I thought that I would be adding Nuwara Eliya to the list but unfortunately we are looking for a house to move to! The situation at home will never be great so we've decided to move. On one hand this sucks rocks but on the other I will have a bathroom that drains, so when do we start?

We've started looking for places already. We looked at a nice place today that would be perfect for us. Now it's just a matter of the landlord keeping his promise to give the money back that Matt and Rebecca have already paid and that it would be done in a timely fashion. Prayer for this would be great.

Youth Group

This is the youth group that Murray and I have started helping out with. Ruth is the Youth Leader (she is also the prinicipal of Beacon Hill Academy) This was an outing to Lover's Leap which is a waterfall where we were going to have a picnic and a bible study. Unfortunately a water fight broke out first and everyone ended up getting chased away by the watcher who was very angry because there is no playing in the water allowed apparently. I was not able to go that day because I was sick with the flu. We try to do an activity every POYA day (Buddhist holiday at every full moon) and we have bible studies three times a month after church.

Lady with a Load

People carry amazing loads on their heads here. Often you'll see loads of firewood or huge bags of rice or other foods. Sometimes it looks like a bush is walking down the road because their load is so big.

Beginner's English

During the first term of school I was teaching an after school beginner's english class. These were students that there was not room for in the regular program or their english was not quite good enough to come to the regular program. They were a great group. I enjoyed teaching them very much. They'll be coming back in the third term for more classes but I will be gone by then. I cried when they left on our last day of classes. I think that when I leave I am going to be a total wreck.

L-R: Pushpa, Kaushalya, Jayanthi, Miss Kempin, Dharshini, Nilukshi, Sepali, Asela, Azwar, Ranjith, Udayantha, Lasantha.
We had a party on the last day. We played games, listen to music, ate food, it was fun. They bought me a gift. It is a vase. It is probably two feet high! I don't think that I'll be able to bring it home! Maybe if I pretend that it is a baby and wrap it in a blanket! They all asked if I would sign their books so I did and wrote a little note to each of them. They were all very sad that I would not be there when they came back for the third term. I'm sad too. I wish that I could stay.

23 km/hr

So I've been doing some traveling lately and I've realized that Kandy is only 68km from Nuwara Eliya but it takes 3 hours to travel! Crazy!

Home On The Range

So I thought that I would give an update as to what has been going on at the home front.

Matt and Rebecca had a meeting with the landlords but this time they brought a friend who spoke Tamil. Tamil is the family's native tongue so communication would be clearer. The friend they brought is also our neighbor who has lived beside the family for a long time so it was someone that both parties respected.

Many things were straightened out that night. The father was unaware of many of the things that were going on. He was not very happy. He said that if we wanted to move out we could and he would refund Matt and Rebecca the rent money that they have already paid for the year but we were welcome to stay as well. He is a very reasonable man.

Since then things are much better. Our landing outside is nearing completion and that is exciting because then we will all be able to sit outside together. It'll be great when it is raining.

Thank you to every one that has been praying for this situation. We are still praying about whether or not to move. An opportunity for a house close to the school has opened up so Matt and Rebecca are considering it. We are asking for God's guidance. We would appreciate your continued prayers.

Horton Plains

Horton Plains is a park where you can go hiking, see the World's End and go for a dip in a wonderful waterfall. We went there on March 28th. We left early in the morning to beat the hot afternoon sun and the crowds. It is a beatiful park. It reminded me of Saskatchewan a lot. There are not many places in Sri Lanka that are without the jungle, Horton Plains is one of them. Because most of us have a resident visa we got in for 27 Rs. For tourists it was just over 1500Rs. It is incredible the difference in price. Tourists have to pay sooo much more. This picture is of the foreigners bathroom door. It made me laugh. I guess if they have to pay that much they should get their own bathroom.

This is the entrance gate where we start our journey. We started out early in the morning to beat the heat. The afternoon sun here is very strong and hot.

The first part of the hike was easy because there is a fairly wide trail to follow. Soon after we had started we came across the biggest catapillar I had ever seen. The foot in the picture is Rebecca's. She wears a size big...I can't remember exactly, something like an eight and a half I think. So the point is that it is not a child's foot!

These are some of the amazing rock formations along the path. The rock is granite but there is also a lot of quartz in the area. The path was often full of small sparkly pebbles. It was really neat. The granite had been worn smooth by the rain and being walked on for so long. In many places it was smooth bumps like you see in the picture below.

So no one told me that there were two World's Ends. There was a Mini World's End and a Greater World's End. When we were there the sky was clear and so was the valley below. Sometimes there is a mist in the valley that rises up the mountain until it looks like you are standing at the edge of the world, were it flat. I was kind of sad that we didn't get to see that. Maybe we can go another time.

This is R-L: Murray, Kyle, Blossom and Jackie at Mini World's End.

We then reached Greater World's End...I came, I conquered. It was an amazing view from up there. I noticed that there was another trail leading further up the mountain so I decided to follow it.

Murray followed me and we both went up to the very peak of the mountain. It was incredibly hot up there but an even better view of the towns below. This is our victory picture.

Nice sweat eh?

So you are probably wondering why they call it Horton Plains? Well here's the plains.

This little stream reminded me so much of Saskatchewan. When I look at it I get homesick. You'd never know that I took that picture in Sri Lanka. It was really trippy walking around looking at the plains, feeling the wind blowing gently. I almost felt like I was home.

The next stop on the trail was Baker Falls. This is where the trail became a little harder. Rebecca didn't come down to the falls because she was carrying Micah in the carrier and she didn't want to risk falling with him. It took me a long time because I was having a little sun stroke from climbing to the peak of the mountain before. Once I got down to the falls I felt better because it was cooler. We put our feet in the water, it was freezing cold.

The falls were very beautiful.


Esther and Blossom chilling on the rocks. Murray disappeared for a while (not unusual) so I thought that I would go look for him because he often has found something cool. Well I noticed a group of Sri Lankans looking down the rest of the falls so I went to check it out. Well I found Murray. He was at the bottom swimming and apparently the people watching found it entertaining to see a white man swimming in his underwear! Murray is the speck at the bottom of the falls inbetween the rocks.

This is all of us on the way home. We were pretty tired. We had been hiking for 5 hours. It was great fun though. I'd like to go back to Baker Falls to hang out and maybe see if we could see World's End with the mist. That would rock.

The Post-Tourist Blues

Well it's been awhile since I have blogged more than just pictures. Pictures might tell you some of the things that are going on but there is so much more.

It's been two months now that I have been away. On one hand it seems like I left yesterday but on the other it seems like forever. I no longer feel like a tourist. My mouth doesn't drop in awe and wonder so much anymore. I'm getting used to my surroundings. I can get around town on my own, go shopping by myself and communicate with most people ( I now speak Sringlish!).

Now what I notice are all the differences between cultures. I see things that I don't like or don't understand. Not everything makes sense to me and my way of thinking. Small problems irritate me more than usual and seem bigger than they are. In my head I understand these things but living them out is sooooo much harder. It like the difference between taking Cross-Cultural Communication and living cross-culturally. It's a whole different ball park! Practise is harder than theory.

We are having some difficulties with our landlords. At first we thought that our problems were about water -- not having any. Now we are beginning to see that is not the real problem. The real problem is miscommunication. It is really difficult to sort that out when we don't speak the same language as them. Their daughter speaks english but we can't tell if she is communicating clearly to her parents what we are saying. Sri Lankans do not like to rock the boat or even displease someone. If we explain ourselves a few times they rather say that they understand than ask us to explain it again. It is soooooooooooo frustrating because in our culture you ask until you understand.
Now this situation is not one of those little ones that seems big -- this is a serious situation.

An example of a little thing seeming big is my bathroom. In our house every bedroom has a bathroom. There isn't a bathroom that is accessible without going through a bedroom. My bathroom has some issues or at least I have some issues with it!

First is that if the main water line is on (the city water line) I can't get any water in my bathroom but if there is water in the tank I can get water in my bathroom. So basically if the tank is empty - no water. The second thing is that my bathroom doesn't drain. If I have a shower the water won't drain. This sucks on more than one level. Not only do I have dirty, stagnant water on my bathroom floor, it stinks! My bathroom always smells moldy. Oh ya, the tub doesn't drain either so no bubble baths for me!!! I should have known that it was too good to be true! The other issue I have with the nondraining bathroom is that the toilet is right by the drain so ever time that I wish to use the tiolet I either have to hold my pants up or take them off. I can't wear slippers or socks in my bathroom because they get wet. I'm not talking about the floor being slightly wet, it is usually 1-2 inches of water covering half the bathroom! Good thing everything is tiled.

Now in my head I know that this is not really a big deal. I can handle it. But it is really starting to get to me. It's been two months. Back home this would have been fixed weeks ago...days after the problem was discovered. These are the kinds of things that are starting to get to me. The inefficiency of how things are done.

So thus concludes my tirade. Sorry folks. I am really starting to miss people a lot. Before everything was new and took my mind off of home but now that things are becoming normal I am missing my friends and family. I keep thinking about all the things that I'm missing. Jenn and Dan's wedding, graduation, end of the year mission trip, birthdays, etc.

If you think to pray for me I would really appreciate it. I need God's grace to be sufficient in a very real way. I don't want to get stuck in this phase of adjustment. They tell me that it does get better but you do need to work these things through first.

Thanks friends. Miss you.

On the Way to Columbo...

On March 14th Rebecca, Micah and I left Nuwara Eliya to go to Columbo to pick up Jackie, a friend of Rebecca and Matt's who was coming to visit. On our way down we stopped for tea at St. Claire's. It is a tea plantation with a gift shop and small restaurant. We had stopped for tea but discovered that they served ice cream with fresh strawberries!! So of course we had to have some. Berries are not common in Sri Lanka so every chance that Rebecca gets to have them she takes it. Berries are her favorite fruit. There are also two waterfalls right by the St. Claire's tea shop. The picture below is of Devon Falls. The other one is called St. Claire's Falls. My picture of that waterfall didn't turn out...sorry folks.

Outside the tea shop there was this huge kettle type thingy. I'm not sure what it was used for in the past but it was cool and huge so I took a picture...(after some nudging from Rebecca).



Both Rebecca and I started feeling a little woozy on our trip down to Columbo so we stopped at a hotel (restaurant) to get some fresh are and to walk around. At the back of the restaurant there was a balcony and this is the view we had from there.



As you drive down the mountain the foilage gets more tropical as do the temperatures. We don't have any palm trees to speak of in Nuwara Eliya. It's too cold for them.

This is the hotel that we stay at when we come to pick someone up or drop someone off at the airport. It's called the Tamarind Tree.



The hotel rooms are like houses.


the pool


Jackfruit tree at our hotel. The fruit are the green blobs hanging off the tree. Jackfruit grows off the trunk of the tree not off the branches. They are green, prickly and huge.


some more scenery from the hotel

After we picked Jackie up from the airport the next day we headed back to Nuwara Eliya but we made a stop on the way to Pinnawala.

Pinnawala...the Elephant Orphanage

At Pinnawala we stopped to see the elephants. When we were on our way in we saw a guy that had porcupines along the side of the road. He made money by allowing people to take pictures of them.


When we got to the Orphanage we were just in time to see the feeding of the elephants. The baby elephant was so cute. He was missing an ear though. This was the first time that I had seen an elephant close up. I was amazed at how fleshy they are. When you see pictures of them they seem so tough and hard but they aren't.




The elephants that are feeding are young and they still get bottles of milk to drink.




This is me with the elephants. Their ears are really soft. They reminded me of birds when they were all together in a group because their ears are constantly flapping like birds wings. They flap to cool themselves and to keep the bugs off.

This is Jackie with a couple elephants.


This was the biggest elephant that I saw that day. It was old and blind. The guys guided it by yelling commands to it.

After seeing the elephants being fed we went to feed ourselves. We went for lunch at a restaurant along the river where we could watch the elephants bath.

Rebecca and Micah at the entrance to the restaurant.

The elephants were walked from the orphanage down the road to the river were they bathed.





This was the view from our table where we had lunch. It was an excellent view of the elephants. It was fun to watch them play in the water. And incase you are wondering ...
elephant poop floats...wouldn't want to be down stream from this place!!!