When the word feels like its crumbling in your own neighborhood, in your host country, and in your home country–just accentuate those positives. Big & small alike.
1. Smart fish. So, we went to a coffee shop outside of town last weekend. It was lovely in so many respects, and I posted pictures of us there in this post. However, THE FISH. They had a lake full of fish, with these nice little walkways across it where you had the option to buy fish food and feed them. I had no fish food with me, but the fish follow you! They followed our footsteps, hoping for food, as we walked and walked back and forth different directions. A whole host of them. I don’t have a great photo, but just take my word for it: those smart fish were very, very awesome.
2. Podcasts. This is my new favorite way to be involved in America and American culture. I still love the Instagram photos, but Facebook is wasting me away. And the news: oh, I simply can’t handle it. But, podcasts give me a taste of America from an admittedly biased, personal perspective that is at least palatable. My current favorites, of which I’ve found them all on iTunes, are: This American Life–always have loved and always will; I feel like Ira & I are friends. Persuasion–recommended by a friend and have loved it! Two American Christian ladies just chatting about some important and some not-so-important things. They are humble, not having all the answers but just chatting. Also one of the ladies is from Central Illinois and it feels oddly like home. Still Processing–another humble, we-don’t-have-all-the-answers podcast. This podcast often addresses racial issues and as of yet was my favorite perspective on Charlottesville–it was just honest and it challenged me and it broke me. I think that’s probably what we need most. Upside Down Podcast–more Christian women chatting about difficult things. These ladies all seem to live in similar communities to what we do. I feel like we’re already friends. Hey, girl.–American women from different backgrounds and races chatting about a variety of important and not-so-important things. The Red Couch–an interesting, personalized take on politics and society. Diverse, unique, and hilarious: a winner.
3. Reading aloud, currently Lord of the Rings. We’re always trying to find new ways to decompress in the evenings. While we still go through the occasional TV series or season, I have to say there isn’t that much I want to watch, particularly when you eliminate serious, scary dramas (i.e. police, crime) or too-life-like dramas (i.e. This is Us is out). It also has to be accessible to us here, which is a whole different issue. Anyway, we’re exploring other options. We’re trying podcasts together, currently listening through Serial in the evenings or the occasional This American Life. And, we’re reading together. We have been for years, and we’re currently nearing the end of Lord of the Rings trilogy. While I’ve always loved reading together, I’m really loving it now. I’m realizing how peaceful it is and is becoming one of my favorite things at the end of long days.
4. ကျွေးတယ် || To feed. This is likely one of my favorite aspects of Burmese childrearing. From a extremely early age, kids are taught to share their food. No matter what. Every bag of squid chips is shared with the whole group. Every pop-ice. Even every sucker. It may not always be the most sanitary activity, but I do love how the kids learn so quickly to share so freely. And it makes for adorable situations like this:
5. Sewing. This is my newest hobby! A team purchased two Singer machines for our little sewing project, and that means there is usually a machine available to me on evenings and weekends. I’m only tackling simple mending, curtains, pillowcases, and blankets for now (read: straight lines, easy to fix mistakes), but I am happy to be listening to a podcast & the hum of the machine.
6. Injuries that bring us together. There is always quite a bit of sickness during rainy season, but we also have had our fair share of major injuries. On Wednesday, we took one baby to be admitted at the clinic for potential H1N1, and then found ourselves at the orthopedic doctor with an eight-year-old with a broken tibia from playing football.
And just a few hours after that, we were called after a bicycle accident. Two people had collided on their bicycles just returning to the community from work. Stephen & I ended up at the ER with our friend San San, while they put twenty stitches into her leg. With other injuries in the mix, it was a long week. But I was thankful that we tackled them together.
Stephen helped carry the little boy in and out of x-rays; and he was there to help get San San into the ER. And we ate street food for dinner on a hospital bench, so–while it does get more romantic than that, I’m thankful for the fact that we do this together. He’s the best.
7. ဝတ်မှုန်း || Win Moun. Speaking of injuries, one of our favorite little girls is currently admitted to the local hospital. She has an infection on her tiny little finger that has gotten ridiculous, and they need to watch it for a few days and potentially lance it while she is sedated. But this girl–she has our hearts, and she is bringing a smile to our faces every day when she calls for us, Uncle Stephen & Aunt Kelli. She is very verbal, and held both arms out yesterday at the hospital–one having a hurt finger and one having just had blood taken–shouting, “It hurts! It hurts!” in her best pathetic tone. She also shouted to the doctor, “Don’t do that! DON’T DO THAT! It HURTS!”
8. New glasses. (Read: any happy-ending story.) It was a feat we’ve been tackling since June, but eight appointments later and a only a few tears, this beautiful little girl was able to get glasses! And adorable little pink ones to make it even better.
9. The Rock Game. We’ve been playing this for years, but I’m getting better at it now! It’s similar to jacks, but much harder and the kids play it from about two years old on up. So I’m way behind on learning. But we now have a little group playing it a few times a week during Playhouse–mostly teenage girls and young moms, and it brings a smile to my face. Especially if I can at least play on par with the ten-year-olds!
The world is probably still crumbling in broken stories. But the positives have been successfully accentuated. ✔️