Yesterday I was given a precious gift - a tiny little Siamese kitten. This event started with a phone call about 2:00 in the afternoon. My friend that I am staying with called from a city about two hours a away. She said she was at the vet's office and they had cats there to give away. There were several options but I wanted a kitten and they had a Siamese male kitten there. He came home about 6:00 yesterday evening. He is seven weeks old and is a tiny little thing. I had big cats in America and though I know they were once this small, I don't remember them at this size. This afternoon we took a nap and he fit perfectly on my chest, his tail curled around himself, feeling my heartbeat. He has blue eyes and may end up being a seal point Siamese, which I am told is a rich chocolate brown color.
I have played with several names for him but I think I am going to go with Corban. It means 'sacrifice' or loosely, something dedicated to God. I have felt my Father's pleasure over this. In less than 24 hours God has reached deep and healed some of the pain of leaving behind everything familiar, including a beloved cat in America. There have been tears in this but they are tears of release, of finally beginning to accept this place as home. I am awed at Abba, who so beautifully meets my needs, even those I did not know I had.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving. For most of my family and friends in America, it is probably about 3:00 am. My day is mostly done but just for a momemt, let me ponder and be grateful for the priceless gift of ordinary days. Days filled with family and friends, days of good smells (like cloves and cinnamon), days of being able to follow the same routine every morning. Those kinds of things are the things we miss most when our lives are disrupted. I thank God this Thanksgiving that so far my transition to this new life has been relatively smooth. Today I especially thank God for pumpkin bread. I got in the kitchen this afternoon and made pumpkin bread - an old Amish recipe with roots deep in the life of simplicity that the Amish live. This is one of my fall traditions - something that I do every year. A simple thing - making pumpkin bread - but one that brings normalacy in this year of change. Frankly, the pumpkin bread didn't even turn out that great. But for me, it was the simple fact of doing something common and ordinary. For that, I give thanks.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Home
I finally got to see the place that my friends here have been talking about for a while - the place that they had picked for me to live before I even arrived in Central Asia. By the standards here, it is very nice - also by American standards too! The flat is above a local family There are five adult daughters and one son, plus father and mother in this family. They live on the bottom floor and I would have the second story.
It has its own separate staircase so I would have my own entrance in and out. There is a room coming up the stairs that could serve as a parlor. Actually, I think I would use it as a sitting room for me. It has a bathroom attached with a squatty potty - this is the traditional 'toilet' here. Next there is a large open area that would lend itself to toshaks and perhaps a dining table. I think I would keep this room for entertaining. It is a rectangular room with crown modeling on the ceiling and painted a nice yellow color. The windows are also trimmed with wood - almost European in its look. There are two bedrooms but one of them is being used for storage by the landlord. The other bedroom has a bathroom with a western style toilet. The bedroom is spacious and already has a wardrobe built into the wall. The kitchen is a little separate - it is just a few steps off the patio area. The kitchen has black marble counter tops, glass fronted cabinets, and some pretty tile work on the counter top backsplash. Here they do not supply the appliances so I would have to get a stove, refrigerator, and washing machine. I would also have to get heaters and window units. One neat thing about this place is that in every room there are triangular insets in the walls for gas heaters. There is an enclosed area on the roof where I can put the washing machine and a few chairs.
The thought of setting up a household from scratch is daunting. Fun but daunting. I will enjoy shopping and I have a generous setup allowance. However, there is no Wal-Mart here (don't laugh!) so it will require many trips to different places to make this an inviting home. And, that in the long run, is my goal. To make this an inviting and peaceful place to call home.
It has its own separate staircase so I would have my own entrance in and out. There is a room coming up the stairs that could serve as a parlor. Actually, I think I would use it as a sitting room for me. It has a bathroom attached with a squatty potty - this is the traditional 'toilet' here. Next there is a large open area that would lend itself to toshaks and perhaps a dining table. I think I would keep this room for entertaining. It is a rectangular room with crown modeling on the ceiling and painted a nice yellow color. The windows are also trimmed with wood - almost European in its look. There are two bedrooms but one of them is being used for storage by the landlord. The other bedroom has a bathroom with a western style toilet. The bedroom is spacious and already has a wardrobe built into the wall. The kitchen is a little separate - it is just a few steps off the patio area. The kitchen has black marble counter tops, glass fronted cabinets, and some pretty tile work on the counter top backsplash. Here they do not supply the appliances so I would have to get a stove, refrigerator, and washing machine. I would also have to get heaters and window units. One neat thing about this place is that in every room there are triangular insets in the walls for gas heaters. There is an enclosed area on the roof where I can put the washing machine and a few chairs.
The thought of setting up a household from scratch is daunting. Fun but daunting. I will enjoy shopping and I have a generous setup allowance. However, there is no Wal-Mart here (don't laugh!) so it will require many trips to different places to make this an inviting home. And, that in the long run, is my goal. To make this an inviting and peaceful place to call home.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Liminal Spaces
Liminal spaces. I first heard this term a few months ago and it stuck. What is a liminal space, you ask? It is an between place - like when you walk into a restaurant off the street and there is a sign that says 'please wait to be seated' You are not where you were (on the street) but not where you will be either (at your table). Profound concept in something so simple - a waiting place. In C.S. Lewis's 'The Magician's Nephew' the world between the woods is a liminal space. I found this quote that seemed to express it best:
"Psychologists call 'liminal space' "a place where boundaries dissolve a little and we stand there, on the threshold, getting ourselves ready to move across the limits of what we were into what we are to be."
That really describes where I am at in my life. In some ways, my whole life has been liminal space - waiting to get to the moment that I am now. Now that I am here, I am still waiting. Waiting to learn language, waiting to learn how act and dress, waiting (really waiting!) to get my own place. Perhaps for a few minutes, a few days, a few years, I felt the lessening liminal spaces and called a place home.
Today I am just really missing my apartment in Houston. For those of you that never visited me there, indulge me for a moment. My apartment was in a ordinary part of town - neither to rich or too poor. It was brick and second story. The neighborhood was quiet and safe and I never hesitated to walk there, even at night. I lived upstairs and a thousand times I climbed those stairs. I really miss my stairs. My stairs were another kind of liminal space - they meant I was almost home. When I reached my door, the key meant the liminal space had ended and I was where I was meant to be. Peace. And cats. My cats were always at home to greet me. Seeing my cats meant I was back in my space. I miss Tuesday so much. There was peace and order in that place and I thrived on that. There was an oak tree right outside my window and in the mornings the sun came through the front window and danced with light and shadow. The morning that I left my home forever, it was about about noon and the sun was peaking through my oak tree. I thanked God for a thousand days of splendor in this place... I like to think that no matter who lives there after me will feel the remnants of a lingering peace in that place.
As followers of the Way, our lives here in on Earth are liminal spaces. We are not what we were but we are not yet what we will become. We are waiting for that perfect home - a place with no sun because the Father's face is so bright. A place where the healing of the nations is found in the fruit of the tree of life. A place of no sorrow and no night. How I long for that place...what has come before are only the Shadowlands compared to what will be.
"Psychologists call 'liminal space' "a place where boundaries dissolve a little and we stand there, on the threshold, getting ourselves ready to move across the limits of what we were into what we are to be."
That really describes where I am at in my life. In some ways, my whole life has been liminal space - waiting to get to the moment that I am now. Now that I am here, I am still waiting. Waiting to learn language, waiting to learn how act and dress, waiting (really waiting!) to get my own place. Perhaps for a few minutes, a few days, a few years, I felt the lessening liminal spaces and called a place home.
Today I am just really missing my apartment in Houston. For those of you that never visited me there, indulge me for a moment. My apartment was in a ordinary part of town - neither to rich or too poor. It was brick and second story. The neighborhood was quiet and safe and I never hesitated to walk there, even at night. I lived upstairs and a thousand times I climbed those stairs. I really miss my stairs. My stairs were another kind of liminal space - they meant I was almost home. When I reached my door, the key meant the liminal space had ended and I was where I was meant to be. Peace. And cats. My cats were always at home to greet me. Seeing my cats meant I was back in my space. I miss Tuesday so much. There was peace and order in that place and I thrived on that. There was an oak tree right outside my window and in the mornings the sun came through the front window and danced with light and shadow. The morning that I left my home forever, it was about about noon and the sun was peaking through my oak tree. I thanked God for a thousand days of splendor in this place... I like to think that no matter who lives there after me will feel the remnants of a lingering peace in that place.
As followers of the Way, our lives here in on Earth are liminal spaces. We are not what we were but we are not yet what we will become. We are waiting for that perfect home - a place with no sun because the Father's face is so bright. A place where the healing of the nations is found in the fruit of the tree of life. A place of no sorrow and no night. How I long for that place...what has come before are only the Shadowlands compared to what will be.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Market
I got to go to the local grocery store today with our housekeeper, Zebba. She invited me - sort of an impulse on her part (and one I trust she didn't regret!). Anyway, we went in a rickshaw in one of the local markets. This was my first trip in a rickshaw. This is one of the very common ways to get around here. It is fairly cheap and many women choose this as public transportation. It is a little like riding in a very colorful golf cart. It has a driver front and two seats behind the driver. It has two small doors and a roof on either side but otherwise is open air. It has an advantage in that it is small and can maneuver easily in the crowded streets. I noticed was a small section in front of our seat with a mirror - about the size and width of a two by four. I was advised by my companion that the old(er) men were better drivers. Zebba had passed up a young man with a rickshaw and chosen one where the driver was probably 55 or 60 (it is hard to tell ages here as life is so hard).
When we arrived at Zebba's market of choice, we went first to a vegetable and fruit stand. The city is strewn with these. The produce at this one seemed fresh and well-displayed. After we finished the purchases at this place, we proceeded to a grocery store. This place was really no larger than an average size room in America. It, however, seemed to have everything one could need as far as dry goods. There were also a few fresh food items, including eggs. Eggs here are not boxed as a dozen like we have in the States. The eggs today were on a large square egg crate. You pick the number of eggs you want and then they put them in a thin plastic bag. This seems to work as I have not yet seen the eggs get broken.
There were shelves stacked with goods all the way to the ceiling. Several times the shopkeeper's helper pulled a bamboo ladder around and climbed to the top shelves to pull down items that were needed. There was an old fashioned counter that the shop keeper stood behind and that divided the store. There were three freezers in this small space. The shop keeper was an old friend of Zebba's and said he had known her for 20 years. It took about 30 minutes to complete the transactions as the shop keeper and his helper collected the items needed one by one and placed them on the counter. They also sent out for several items they apparently did not have in the store. All during the shopping, the shop keeper carefully wrote down the items we were buying and then the price. At the end he totaled them up with a simple hand calculator.
We returned home in rickshaw with our bundles around our feet, having purchased food and dry goods - enough to take us through at least the next few days.
When we arrived at Zebba's market of choice, we went first to a vegetable and fruit stand. The city is strewn with these. The produce at this one seemed fresh and well-displayed. After we finished the purchases at this place, we proceeded to a grocery store. This place was really no larger than an average size room in America. It, however, seemed to have everything one could need as far as dry goods. There were also a few fresh food items, including eggs. Eggs here are not boxed as a dozen like we have in the States. The eggs today were on a large square egg crate. You pick the number of eggs you want and then they put them in a thin plastic bag. This seems to work as I have not yet seen the eggs get broken.
There were shelves stacked with goods all the way to the ceiling. Several times the shopkeeper's helper pulled a bamboo ladder around and climbed to the top shelves to pull down items that were needed. There was an old fashioned counter that the shop keeper stood behind and that divided the store. There were three freezers in this small space. The shop keeper was an old friend of Zebba's and said he had known her for 20 years. It took about 30 minutes to complete the transactions as the shop keeper and his helper collected the items needed one by one and placed them on the counter. They also sent out for several items they apparently did not have in the store. All during the shopping, the shop keeper carefully wrote down the items we were buying and then the price. At the end he totaled them up with a simple hand calculator.
We returned home in rickshaw with our bundles around our feet, having purchased food and dry goods - enough to take us through at least the next few days.
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Baazar
I had my first trip to the bazaar yesterday. The bazaar is the local marketplace. You can obtain anything and everything there. There are several bazaars in my city and I went to one of the larger ones. I am told that most bazaars specialize in certain items - IE... household goods, etc. The one that I went to yesterday was called the Sutter Bazaar. There were tons and tons of fabric shops (and of course accessories to match). It was a little like being in New York but with men in turbans and women in all states of covering - some in full burkas, some veiled so only the eyes show, and others with only the hair covered. There were small narrow streets packed with people and little shops lining the streets. There were also street vendors and of course, the inevitable beggars.
The only problem I encountered was selecting fabric. There were tons of shops and endless choices. Once you have your fabric, elastic,and trim, then you go to a tailor. I got material for three outfits. One is a satiny orange that will have gold, black, and copper trim, another is an Irish green with gold weavings, and the third is a fallish looking brown paisley that will be matched with tan pants (shalwars). I also purchased three chuddars (head coverings). They are like huge scarfs - I am still fighting to learn how to wear one appropriately. I can put it on but it keeps slipping off. As a woman's hair is considered sexy here, this is not a good thing if your chaddar falls off out in public. One of the chuddars was a cream fabric with little gold rind stones, another was black with copper butterflies trimming, and the third was a more winter type of chuddar of paisley - black and reddish orange. I will post pictures once I have the outfits made up if I can figure out how to do that! I want to get a burka with full face covering and wear it to the bazaar. This may seem weird but I want to see the world from a woman's point of view at least once - through the mesh. I also think that it will allow me to observe the world around me in a broader way.
The sights and sounds in this place are incredible. The smells and dust are not so great! I am adjusting but missing the cleanliness of America. For most of my adult life I have taken cleanliness for granted - I walk down the street and the trash is picked up. The sideswalks are paved and sewer is only a word. I take it for granted that toilets flush and don't smell. I have had more dust on my hands and the bottoms of my feet in the last few days than I have had in years.
The only problem I encountered was selecting fabric. There were tons of shops and endless choices. Once you have your fabric, elastic,and trim, then you go to a tailor. I got material for three outfits. One is a satiny orange that will have gold, black, and copper trim, another is an Irish green with gold weavings, and the third is a fallish looking brown paisley that will be matched with tan pants (shalwars). I also purchased three chuddars (head coverings). They are like huge scarfs - I am still fighting to learn how to wear one appropriately. I can put it on but it keeps slipping off. As a woman's hair is considered sexy here, this is not a good thing if your chaddar falls off out in public. One of the chuddars was a cream fabric with little gold rind stones, another was black with copper butterflies trimming, and the third was a more winter type of chuddar of paisley - black and reddish orange. I will post pictures once I have the outfits made up if I can figure out how to do that! I want to get a burka with full face covering and wear it to the bazaar. This may seem weird but I want to see the world from a woman's point of view at least once - through the mesh. I also think that it will allow me to observe the world around me in a broader way.
The sights and sounds in this place are incredible. The smells and dust are not so great! I am adjusting but missing the cleanliness of America. For most of my adult life I have taken cleanliness for granted - I walk down the street and the trash is picked up. The sideswalks are paved and sewer is only a word. I take it for granted that toilets flush and don't smell. I have had more dust on my hands and the bottoms of my feet in the last few days than I have had in years.
Friday, November 2, 2007
I'm Here
All,
I have arrived safely in Central Asia, minus 3 pieces of luggage. Only one of my three pieces of checked luggage arrived. I will have to wait until Tuesday to find out if it comes in because the airline only flys to my city twice a week - Tuesday and Thursdays. Hopefully the luggage will arrive on Tuesday. So far I have gotten to see a little of the city. I did not bring the cat as I found the day before I left that it would be $3,000 (yes, in American money!). I will write more later. I am off to a barbecue to meet some of the other ex-pats here in my city.
I have arrived safely in Central Asia, minus 3 pieces of luggage. Only one of my three pieces of checked luggage arrived. I will have to wait until Tuesday to find out if it comes in because the airline only flys to my city twice a week - Tuesday and Thursdays. Hopefully the luggage will arrive on Tuesday. So far I have gotten to see a little of the city. I did not bring the cat as I found the day before I left that it would be $3,000 (yes, in American money!). I will write more later. I am off to a barbecue to meet some of the other ex-pats here in my city.
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