Corinth and monkeys... not co-mingling!!!

Not much has changed since last week, other than the fact that we successfully completed our first week of language learning. Most of what we're doing is vocabulary right now, which I love! Also, I can totally ask you if you would like a drink of water. :-) We're still waiting on things to get started in our flat- hopefully we see progress with that this week. Other than that, we're just living life! Here are some photos for you to enjoy!

playing

 

giving Mommy the bottle to pretend drink

 

So happy!

 

stylishly riding on the rickshaw with Daddy

 

working on standing and walking

 

Pretty eyes!

 

 

Mommy and Corinth

 

Oh yes, and this is the monkey on the porch! This week there is a monkey festival at the monkey temple. That means that they feed the monkeys WAY more than normal, which means that they (the monkeys) think everyone wants to feed them, which means they are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Ahh!!!

 

Our First Week in our New City

We have finally arrived in our new home city. It is very, VERY different than I expected. I hear “city of 3 million people” and think “a city.” Then, I arrived. I saw a “city of 3 million people” and thought “…village… dirty village.” The first day was rough mentally and emotionally. However, we have found some good things in the city already, and the weather has been unseasonably cool (only in the 90’s) so that was nice to have as we transition into life here.

We went looking for flats (apartments) the day after we got here, and the day after that we signed a lease. The flat is new construction and is not finished yet, so our friends are being so generous to allow us to live with them until our flat is complete. We will have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a living room, dining room, kitchen, and 2 porches. I’m hoping that we have nice, friendly neighbors- perhaps that speak English! J I’m also hoping that we find areas close to our home where Corinth can play (parks) and that she will have fun as she grows up here.

We miss our families and our friends. We love you all, and it’s hard to be away from you. Not having reliable internet makes it even more difficult, but we have hopefully gotten that figured out and can skype, email, call, and text you now! If you have a smart phone, download the free app Viber so we can call and text for free!

We started language learning yesterday. We each have tutoring sessions for 2 hours each day for 5 days of the week. Then, we are supposed to study what we’ve learned, as well as practice it in the community. On top of that, doing everything around the house (cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, getting to the stores, etc) takes so much more time. I’m a bit overwhelmed at how I’m going to do it all, but I know that many other people do it, so hopefully I can figure it out also. J

Love you all! Thanks for praying for us!

The Cow In the Road

Here are some more pictures from our first 2 weeks in Spesterra. This first picture is of the cow that comes every day to sit right in front of our building. He is in the middle of what would be a three lane each way road. I haven't seen him walk through the road yet, but I'd love to see the swerving. :-)

 

 
 This picture is of a popular tourist location here. This was in between times that we were mobbed by people wanting to hold Corinth. That'll take quite a while to get used to...

 

Our first family photo in Spesterra. We were at a place of worship that we visited. I like this picture!

 

 

We hope you're doing well! We'd love to hear from you all! Thank you to those of you that have sent us messages or contacted us via Skype. If you'd like to know how to get ahold of us, find me on Facebook! Love you all!

Here in Spesterra

We are here is Spesterra. That is Latin for 'land of hope.' I'm still throwing around the name, but I think that is what I will say when I refer to our country from now on! (If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!)

Our family on the long plane ride

We had a good 14 1/2 hour plane ride and have settled into our training center for 2 weeks. After those two weeks, we'll be off to our city! The time here has been good. Before we came, Kyle tried to prepare me for what Spesterra would be like by saying things like, "it will assault your senses" and "Spesterra is like a whole other world." So, in my mind, I prepared for... well, okay... honestly, I prepared for the worst. Well, that worked out in my favor, because it's not as bad as I expected! Really, it's a lot (to me) like Peru, which I spent a summer in and have a forever love for, so that is really good! We have had trainings in the morning, and then are free to go around town in the afternoons! Here are a few pictures from our first few days here! Thanks for reading, and please comment so we know we're not alone!

us on the roof of our building

my new clothes!

 

some girls my friend and I met yesterday

 

And We're Off!

(This was written before our flight, but the airport didn't have internet, so here it is a day later!) We are on our way off! A great way to spend Easter Sunday! That will be a good memory to have as the day we started this adventure! We will spend a week and a half in the city we land in, and then go on to ‘our city.’ We are currently sitting in the Newark airport (after our short 3 hour flight), awaiting our 14 ½ hour flight! It was really difficult to say goodbye to family, but we know that He is in control! Thank you for praying for us as we go! Talk to you soon- on the other side of the world!

(Corinth in her 'playpen' in the airport!)

 

Sick Baby Corinth

We had 10 days between the end of training and the big flight overseas. (I’m still working on a good ‘name’ for our country so that I can stop calling it ‘our country.’) During those 10 days, we spent 4 with my family (packing, hanging out, and celebrating my mom’s birthday!), 1 day visiting my Grandma and Grandpa while driving through Oklahoma, 4 days in Wichita, and 1 day back in Carrollton. During our time in Wichita, Corinth got really sick with: 103.8 fever, shaking, hands and lips turning blue, and gasping for air. As you can imagine, we headed to the hospital pretty quickly. They ran tests on her and got her temp down with meds, but wanted to monitor her overnight to make sure it didn’t happen again. At about midnight, her fever went up to about 104, so they put an IV in her, took blood to test, and gave her fluids to make sure she stayed hydrated. It was a rough night of needles, meds, poking, and prodding.

 

We took her home the next day at about 2pm, only to go back at about 8pm with another high fever and a bit of blueness. They gave her more meds and a steroid and sent us home again. That really only left us with one good day in Wichita, which we thankfully  enjoyed with family! We also had an early birthday party for her with all of her grandparents before we left. (She loved the ice-cream!)

We also had an Easter egg hunt at my parents' church. She was more interested in the concrete than the eggs, but looked super cute doing it!

Pray for baby Corinth as she is still on meds to fight off fever, an ear infection, tonsillitis, and possible strep throat. She’s a tough girl, but she (we!) can always use prayer! Thanks friends!