Do donut holes have calories?

We've discovered that the people here love bread and have almost any kind you want. This particular kind is called "simit." It's a little hard with sesame seeds all over it.

We often get them on the corner for breakfast in a pinch, but sometimes they carry them around on their heads.

IKEA!!

So if any of you ever come visit, this is probably what you will sleep on: a black "malm" from Ikea. It will eventually have an actual mattress on it.

If you don't like the bed, you can sleep on the floor...er...I mean one of our two couches or either of the pull out beds underneath them. Better yet, if you wanna be that way about the bed... :) :) :) :)

Street pic

This is a road near where we study.
Just liked the picture...

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

So Robyn and I have formally begun language study. We have 9 hours of "class" each week, plus 4-6 hours of tutoring. We must supplement that time with our own study and observation for a total of at least 30 hours a week. Besides just pounding the books, this could include listening to the radio or watching tv in the language or engaging in a conversation or even listening to a conversation.

This pile is what we have so far to help study: 1 dictionary, 1 picture dictionary, 3 textbooks, 1 textbook key, 2 notebooks, 1 notepad, 1 verb conjugation book, 1 recorder, 1 lexicarry, 5 text supplements, 1 word-bank booklet, kitchen sink, 300 vocab cards, 1 folder of work-related terms, 1 set of opposite word pictures,and of course, our computer...

There will be more, but as you see, we're off to a good start!

Angels Entertaining

Yesterday, we made a brief outing to get some needed supplies (TP) and other household goods. At some point in time, Robyn's phone fell out of her pocket. She only noticed this once we got home around 9, recognizing that there were several places that it could have fallen. We called the phone with no reply, so we basically wrote it off as an unfortunate loss.

Amazingly, we got a call from the phone around 11. A local lady found the phone and wanted to see if it belonged to us. (Luke's number was one of 2 stored on the phone).
She spoke about 10 words of English and Luke could only mutter a few locations and with that, we arranged a meeting. We planned on getting her info and thanking her properly, but she saw Luke walking along the road to the meeting place. She came up in a taxi, pointing at the phone! Luke offered her a reward, and she wouldn't take it, and before he knew it, she was gone. We didn't get to know her name or get her phone number, but we were very thankful that we got to meet her. It has increased our love and respect for the people here.

Sometimes we get to entertain angels, and sometimes, they get to entertain us...

Countdown to baby

Interested in pregnancy? Read about being

10 weeks pregnant, 20 weeks pregnant,

30 weeks pregnant and 40 weeks pregnant.

Tulips in Springtime

We've really enjoyed visiting the parks here. Some say that tulips originated here and were gifts to the Dutch hundreds of years ago.

Don't try this at home!

We went to a local bazaar down the street. There were great deals all around, but apparently, they don't take too kindly to shoplifting children. ;)

Our Apartment Building

A view of our apartment building from the road.

Our Apartment 4

Ok, so by now, you're probably tired of photos of the apartment, but I figured that you'd enjoy a quick comparison and a reminder that, yes, we do still live in Asia.
Exhibit A: Our Western-style bathroom.
Exhibit B: Our squatty-potty right next door.

Our Apartment 3

We're relatively certain that this will be our child's bedroom. We're not so certain that it will be pink. (Magic 8 Ball says, "Outlook not good.")
Here's a picture of the hallway just for good measure.

Our Apartment 2

An interesting addition to our bedroom is the little shower that is attached to it. There are no "facilities" with it, but it has hot water, so we're not complaining!

Our Apartment 1

Coming back to Asia, we really weren't sure of what to expect as far as housing. We were told to have low to no expectations, so we were very surprised and happy to find such a nice place to be able to call our home. What a difference a couple of thousand miles can make!
The top two pictures are of our bedroom. The bottom two are of our salon/living room.

Big News

Robyn's pregnant!! We found out in the middle of March that Robyn is, in fact, with child. After visiting the doctor and getting a sonogram, we have learned that the baby (notice: singular) is due on November 16.
We are definitely excited by this news as it is an answer to our requests.
To answer some of your questions: 1. We will have the baby in the city here, as there is an excellent doctor who speaks English and is highly recommended by the folks on the field. 2.We will not be shipping the baby home. We understand the concern that it may cause having a child in a new country, but oddly enough, we've come this far, so we'd like to keep our newborn child with us so we can be a family--it's all the rage.
This will be a challenge, although an amazing one, so please remember this when you think about us.

We're here

After the LONG wait, we're finally home! We arrived on April 9 and have been getting set up up to this day. We are very thankful to our Father who has helped us arrive and that we have arrived safely.