OK, so it's been a while since you've heard from me. Sorry about that. Now there is so much catching up to do that I don't really know where to start.
Mike and the kiddos had a really good time in the States. They ate a lot of fast food and hugged a lot of family and friends! Sounds pretty great to me. Throw in a visit to the local Chinese restaurant and a good old Mexican restaurant and I'll be there! They did bring me back some special treats, but didn't have room to pack the family. :(
It was really quiet around the house with everybody gone. Another family in the neighborhood sort of took me in for those few weeks. Their kids climbed all over me, the Mom fed me (lots and lots and lots of rice), and they made me feel like a member of the family. The great part was I could say, "Well, I really need to go home now," when I had had enough!
We've started our local language learning this month. Nearly everyone here in the city speaks French, so our operating/ministry language will most often be French. Everyone in West Africa is required to learn a local language even if they won't use it for doing most of their ministry because with local languages comes much understanding of culture and why they do what they do. French is a language that was brought in from elsewhere, but when you are looking at their heart languages you are so part of what makes West Africans who they are. To diversify our language abilities and thereby cover more ground Mike and I are learning different languages.
Along with the local languages however comes local sounds for which my American tongue/brain has NO point of reference. I can't tell you how much time I've spent looking completely perplexed by some sort of sound that just came out of my friends mouth that I know I need to write down in my little notebook so that I can learn it, but have no idea where to even start with putting letters on a page! I also cannot tell you how many times my effort at mimicry was met with immediate peals of laughter because the sound that I managed to produced more closely resembled a completely different word. Some of my language faux pas from just this week are saying that I am a dog instead of I am sick, I am afraid as opposed to I am sweeping, and last but not least, I am tired rather than I saw. I said many other really stupid things, but those are the ones that actually formed a sentence that cause the listener to howl with laughter as opposed to looking at me as if I was crazy!
On another note Caleb and Karis would like to inform you of a very interesting piece of family news, at least they think it is interesting. They are looking forward to having a little sister or brother in late October. They think it's the best news ever right now. We'll see what they think when little britches has puked on, pooped on, screamed at and broken all that they hold dear. All joking aside, we are thrilled about this gift that God is blessing us with.
Well that was a lot of news and no pictures. I'll try to get some shots before my next update. We love and miss you all. Hope this finds you enjoying this week of the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior.
Love,
Heather
