Maggie and Saw Etamu

It may be difficult to see Maggie in this picture, but she is behind the stroller. She loves to push her big stroller up and down the driveway. Saw Etamu, our gardener, is so sweet to help her and play with her. Here, he is supervising the stroller-pushing to make sure Maggie does not hurt herself. Also, Maggie is not as strong as she thinks she is. She thinks she can push the stroller by herself, but almost every time, Saw Etamu is standing behind her, helping.

On the bus

The ladies in the "English group" are so gracious to take me out and allow me to experience the culture of our country the way they do. On one of our outings, we took the bus.
This picture was taken while standing in the middle of public transportation in Yangon. The bus was actually relatively empty on this day! I really enjoyed riding the bus with them, because I was so glad they were there to tell me where the bus was going!

School yard games

These Burmese school children are having fun with a playground game. The kids link legs and jump around in circles. These kids kept showing us different games they play...the jump rope tricks were amazing! They kept inviting Chad and me to join them...as if we could do this!

PaO worship at Ketku

While up north, we also had the chance to attend a huge festival held by the PaO people. The traditional dress of the PaO is the long, black garment and brightly colored "gaung-baung" (headwrap) you see here. It was very interesting to see so many people in this traditional dress. The festival spanned at least three days, and at night we were able to see a talent show. Villagers from all over the Shan state had practiced traditional singing and dancing, and performed for all of their people. In the morning, worshippers visited this temple, often having traveled many miles with their offerings. The importance of the religious aspect of the festival shows the strong influence Buddhism has on the daily lives of the people. Thousands and thousands traveled to worship. It was a sobering sight to observe so many without the hope we have, speaking a language which so few of our brothers and sisters even understand. The frontier remains.

Hindu temple in Kalaw

While I (Alysia) traveled to Kalaw, a town north of our city, I was able to find out more about H people in our country. While in Kalaw, we visited a Hindu temple and learned about the number of Hindu people living in the area and how they worship. This is a picture of a Hindu temple we saw and the Hindu lady who lead us around and told us about her religion.

little big girl

This is Maggie in her sunglasses sent from home (thank you Mrs. Rita and Tara!). She loved wearing her glasses on the beach like a big girl.
She had so much fun playing on that beach!

The family

This is a picture of us on the beach one night with the sunset in the background. It was incredible!

Maggie at the beach

This is a photo from our trip to Ngapali beach. Ngapali is up to 15 hours from here by car (because of coastlines, bad roads, and mountains). But we took a flight that was only a little over an hour. We decided to make a quick trip there for a break from city life. It was wonderful! As you can see, the beach was absolutely beautiful. It was very secluded; there were only a few restaurants on the strip where we stayed. Maggie had a great time playing on the beach, and the waves were peaceful and the water was clear. Also, we had air conditioners in our hotel, which was like a vacation in and of itself! We had a great time. Here is Maggie running along the beach...one of her favorite activities. It was as if she was testing herself to see how close she could get to the water without being afraid.

Mohinga at home

This is us eating mohinga with our helpers. This is Sai Sai, our house helper. She is very sweet to Maggie. And Saw Etamou, our gardener, is sitting next to Chad. Sai Sai showed me how to make the mohinga. She also came to the market with me, showing me what to buy. She helped me pick out the fish right from the table! Mohinga is not expensive to make, but takes several steps. Maggie was so curious about what we were eating. She may have been the most adventurous of us all!

Tuk-tuk

This is a picture of us in a tuk-tuk in Thailand. The tuk-tuk was one of the main forms of transportation we used while we were in Chiang Mai. They are basically a lot like a covered three-wheeler (ATV). Maggie loved riding in them.

mohinga

This picture was taken at a New Year's Eve party we were fortunate to be able to attend. Alysia is holding a bowl of one of the favorite national foods, mohinga. It is basically a lot like a soup, and it is served over a bed of noodles. The base of mohinga is made by boiling a fish. It also includes a variety of local items, including ginger, garlic, onion, banana stem, "smelly gourd," and duck egg.

See if you can spot the redhead

In the back of this picture there is a little red-headed girl! When we go to the market, Maggie always attracts a lot of attention. People here are so kind to Maggie. We often leave the market with many "presents" people have given Maggie...ranging from a fan she has grabbed for, to a little orange, to even a tube of lipstick. So many people at the market have such soft hearts and are so delighted when anything Maggie is playing with makes her happy. When someone wants to hold her, Maggie holds out those chubby little arms and off she goes. Shop ladies whisk her into their shops, and many times a contest begins over who can make Maggie smile. In this picture, a crowd is gathered around Maggie while she is visiting inside a snack shop at the market. Maggie has a great time, and it warms Momma's heart to see people who are so sweet to her baby.

Our house

This is our house! We were so blessed to find it, and we were led to it so quickly! The window on the left is Maggie's room, and on the right is the window to our bedroom. These bedrooms are in kind of an upstairs...actually, our house is called "one and a half storey" here because of the small downstairs. From the great room, which is a living room and dining room, there are about eight stairs up to the area where the bedrooms are. Underneath the two bedrooms, the small window you see is the window to a little room Chad is using as an office. Right next to that is the garage, which we use mainly for washing and hanging out laundry to dry. We were also excited to find a house that has a small yard (it does not show in this picture). Any little patch of green is wonderful for Maggie's disposition! She has already spent some time in the yard digging and pulling up leaves to inspect.
We are located close to a main road, which is great for catching taxis. Our location is supposedly very good, which means that our power should be reliable. We have had several outages. You can thank Dad for us for our landlord...she has been very good to us, coming to help us promptly when needed. We even had a crew here just today working to fix a wall in the garage. Maggie enjoyed watching them work!

Curious about Christmas

This is a picture of our curious little Maggie digging around under our Christmas tree. The tree has been a real source of fascination for her. She really wants to play with the ornaments, or objects we are using as ornaments, even though she knows she isn't supposed to do that. The rattan balls you see on the tree are called chin lon balls...chin lon is a popular game men play here in our country. The men hike up their longyis by tying them up like a diaper, and then gather in circles to kick the balls around. The game is very similar to hackey sack. It is very common to see young men with their longyis tied up playing chin lon almost anywhere you go in this city. Chin lon balls come in all shapes and sizes.
Among the chin lon balls are other ornaments that take the form of ancient symbols of the hope we hold. We have been fortunate enough to use the symbols to share the hope we have with at least one Buddhist visitor to our home. You can remember our country this season by asking the Father that, like our children, many more during this time will be curious about Christmas!

At the Market

This is a shot of Chad and Maggie at a nearby market. We visit this market fairly regularly because it is so close to our home. The market is partly outdoors, as you may have pictured it, with flowers, vegetables, plastic wares, pharmacies, and a variety of other goods for sale. A large part of this market, however, is inside a two-story concrete building. Upstairs is mostly longyi fabric and seamstress shops, and downstairs is where the real prize is found...meat! In these shops, which are basically booths, there are chicken, fish, and all sorts of animal parts available. Here, Chad and Maggie are pictured next to a lovely display of chicken feet.

Family photo

Well, here we are! (Sorry Chad is not looking at the camera.:))Thank you so much for thinking of us. Please continue to remember our visas and our travel across the big pond...which is only a couple of weeks away now! Please also remember Maggie in our time of transition and travel back across the country! Of course, keep our friends in SE Aisa on your hearts and in your thoughts. We are so thankful for you...thank you again for remembering us!

Men of quad 3

This is a picture of Chad with some of the other guys who live with us in our quad. The quads are basically little buildings comprised of four apartments connected by a great room. We spend a lot of time with the people in our quad and do a lot of small group activities together. The men in this picture have each been so sweet and tender towards Maggie. They all have a special place in our hearts not only because of the great guys that they are, but because of the love they have poured out on Maggie. They truly treat her like they are all her uncles! They were so sweet to come celebrate her birthday with us. We have loved getting to know them!

Can I have some of that?

On Saturday, we celebrated Maggie's first birthday at Chick-fil-A. Even though we were sad to be far away from our family, we were surrounded with folks we have grown to LOVE here at orientation. Lots of friends here who love Maggie came to celebrate with her, and she had a great time. Here she is anticipating digging into her cake at her party.

Little Maggie growing up

Maggie has grown and changed so much since we have been here at orientation. She has a lot more hair...much to my delight, we can now put hairbows in it! She also loves to push a stroller around our quad, and she crawls very quickly. She has started standing by herself for short periods of time, and last week she took as many as five steps at once on her own. Of course, she only tries walking if there is something she really wants in front of her. Here she is standing by herself by the lake out here one afternoon.

Longyis

These shots are of us in the traditional dress of our region. These "skirts" are actually huge tubes of fabric that can be folded over and tucked (or tied for males, as Chad has done) to be worn in our hot climate. Chad and I both actually found them very comfortable and cool...a must for a tropical climate. We have also been told that they are VERY convenient for squatty potty users. The lady in the picture with me, Kim, will be serving in the country next door to us...the longyis belong to her and her family. They have been to the region before and have been so sweet to share insights with us!