Bath time with friends!

These are some of Lilia's friends. Vera (left) and Wendy Jane are sisters. Wendy is almost 4 and Vera is a year and a half, same as Lilia. Vera is adopted from Africa. They play well together and had fun in the bath.

The Park

First of all the last 2 days have been glorious weather wise! Very low humidity, temp in the 70's and blue skies to boot!!! Yesterday we went to Zhong Shan Park. It's a great park just around the corner. They have rides, a big blow up play area, fields, boat rides, bumper boats and walking trails. We took Lilia on the blow up thing and she loved it! She smiled away and bounced and fell and bounced and fell. We also watched the bumper boats for about 30 minutes. They have a "water mine" for lack of a better word. If you shoot your lazer gun at it you activate this thing. It shoots water straight up in the air. It looked like a lot of fun.

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut here is a fine dining experience. Who would have guessed? You walk into a nice restaurant and sit down. You look through a 9 piece menu. They don't serve just pizza, but rice, pasta and entrees as well. The pizza options are maybe half American, half Asian. You have the usual cheese, pepperoni and supreme. You also have some like seafood supreme, tuna, salmon and others. You can also order dessert. You can get great things like tiramisu, brownie, carrot cake and green tea ice cream cake. For some reason "green tea" as a dessert is very popular. You can buy green tea ice cream, blizzard and lots of other options. I haven't tried it yet. For some reason I'd rather drink my green tea than eat it!

Pamper me forever!

Oh my GOSH...this country knows how to pamper and relax you! I just got my hair washed, yes just washed and a shoulder rub. Wow, it was awesome. So they pump out shampoo and put it on your dry head then they take a squirt bottle and pour water on your head. You are sitting on a barbers chair with towels around you. Then she works the shampoo all around your head meanwhile massaging your entire scalp. Then after about 10 min of that they rinse your hair, still massaging. Then they take you to the chair and rub your shoulders, your arms, hands and back. Just a short massage, but very good. Then she dried my hair for me too. Oh you would think this kind of service would cost you an arm and a leg. Well not here my friends. $3!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

What's new...

Yesterday the weather was sweltering hot. My friend said it was 95 degrees, plus humidity. Lilia and I rode the bus to Carrefor and we could feel the heat. You just sweat within minutes here. Well today is a much different story. The temperature dropped drastically. It's in the 70's today and the wind is so strong you can hear it well. It's wonderful. It is a very nice change of pace. In fact I'm even wearing jeans! Lately it's been so hot it has felt like mid-August still.
We are all doing well. Lilia is sleeping better. Dave is getting into a routine too. He still enjoys class and all.
Yesterday I started tudoring. It was great. The guy who taught me is named Kevin and he's Asian. He helped me with sounds, promunciations and a coulple of sentences. It was great. Now I can maybe speak a little better out and about.

Lilia loves bath time!

Lilia & Popeye

Our really good friend Popeye (code name) came to have dinner with us Monday night. His love language to other people is gift giving. He always has something for us. He bought us all crocs. Lilia has a mouse and a shark as her little insert things. He got me butterflies. He bought us a back pack (school bag size) and he got me a bar of chocolate from Russia. It was great seeing him and hearing what he's been up to!

I hold up the camera and say, "Lilia smile," and this is what she does! It's so cute!

This is Lilia with Jenny from the pod cast (see the entry about Dave and the expat expo). I forgot to mention that it's two people, Jenny & Ken and they help teach the language in a very easy and practical way.

As you can see, Lilia's foot is BLACK with dirt from walking around on our balcony. It has a glass barrier so she's safe, but it's open to the dust and dirt. Oh and it's cleaned every Tuesday. It got this black by Saturday!!!

In the kitchen

I finally feel at home in the kitchen. Things are so different here. I only have a 2 burner stove. I own a toaster oven and that is my baking oven so the portions have to be a bit smaller. Plus you bake in degrees C instead of F and you measure things in milliliters and grams. I don't understand any of that stuff, I grew up in America! By the way, it's one of the only countries that doesn't use the metric system.
Saturday night I made mustard-crusted chicken, mashed potatoes (with a hand masher) and green beans. For dessert I made a chocolate chip cookie in a pie pan with m&m's instead of chocolate chips. It was really really delicious! It was a great taste of America!
It was a sweaty and hard experience because I only had two burners and I'm still not completely used to cooking the way I did in the states, but I"m getting there!

Dave's Highlight

Saturday Dave and Lilia went to an expat show in town. (Expat means ex-patriot.) He walked around for a couple of hours with her and saw all kinds of venders offering health insurance, child care programs, and all kinds of things. His highlight was meeting the stars of a podcast he listened to all summer. The stars are Jenny, a native to our city, and Ken who is fluent, but originally an English speaker. Well they liked Lilia and Dave so much that they invited us to their 1,000 podcast party. It's Friday night, Oct. 10th. Dave was so thrilled to be asked to an invite-only party! Better get my fancy dress on!

It's hitting me.

Reality is setting in, the newness is somewhat fading. I think I'm starting to get home sick. I miss our families, I miss our friends. I miss the ease of cooking, which I know will get easier the longer I"m here. I miss how clean America is and you constantly aren't telling your child, "Don't touch that." Here you have to be so much more cautious. This week has been a little bit hard. Just keep me in your thoughts! Thanks.

I'm am amazed at how much I am able to do without speaking the language yet. This week I went and got a massage by myself, I got copies made and I bought a toaster. Note: buying a toaster here at an electronics store is much different than in America. I couldn't ask questions about which one to get, I just had to go with instinct. Also, I had to go to a different floor and pay then come down and get my product. That's just the way they do things! Anyway, I was successful all around! My massage was for an hour and I only paid $8.50!!! Pretty good.

At a bar on a school night!

Dave and I went out tonight to this place called Bubba's. It's owned by a man from Austin, TX. We went there b/c they streamline sports, particularly the Eagles vs Cowboys from Monday night. You can call/email and find out what they are playing and when. We took Lilia because we had to. We were the only ones in the bar downstairs. The waiters and waitresses loved her. They guy behind the bar in the pic was practicing his tricks with a plastic bottle (shown in pic). At one point in the night he poured Lilia a glass of OJ for free. Dave got the most amazing pulled pork sandwich I've tasted. I wished that I got his dish insteadof quesadillas. Bummer of a score though! BOOO Cowboys!!

This is Dave sitting at Wagas in the mall.

Yesterday was mine and Dave's 6th year Anniversary. We got a babysitter, got all dressed up and went out on the town. We taxied to a nice "pub" restaurant called Malone's Dave got a roast beef sandwich with fries and I got pecan crusted chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was so delicious! We walked around this really expensive foreign part of town. The malls had every designer you could possibly think of. Gucci, Coach, AX and tons of other I didn't know. We walked into one store and there were jeans for $450...that's American!!! Who pays these ridiculious prices! Anyway, we had some really good dessert at Wagas and then taxied home. All in all it was a really nice evening. Lilia was asleep when we got home and we enjoyed a nice night out!

Convertable Mini Cooper!!!

We love this place! Think of it like Dick's Sporting Goods meets EMS or REI. It is awesome and huge. You can get tents, clothing, sporting goods, helmets, etc. It was maybe a 15 min bike ride away.
Oh, and next door is B & Q which is the Canadian version of Home Depot. Even the employees wear those orange aprons! We went it and it was AWESOME. I think it was so great because you exactly felt like you were in Home Depot. We even went over to the lumber section just to smell the wood. Ahh...America!

For my father...

This picture is dedicated to my dad, Bob Styles, who was a spliceman with Verizon for over 35 years. He would probably do much of the same things this Asian man is doing, but my dad would have to go by regulations and safety precautions. Also, he used a bucket, not a bamboo ladder!

We have street cleaners here, trucks that drive and wet and sweep the road at the same time. Nothing new. Well you know how ice cream trucks play a tune as they drive...well the street cleaning truck cleans the street to the tune of "Happy Birthday!"
Every time we hear we sing along, it's great!

You can see in this picture and the previous that the water is an odd color green. I'm not sure why or how it gets that color, but nothing is really "normal" here. Or at least what you think is normal.

Lilia is much like Dave, she needs to get out of the house. She doesn't like being in our place for more than about 2 hours after she gets up. Our mornings usually involve us going somewhere. This morning after playing with some of the other local kids in the complex we took a walk. We ventured to this cool side street that turns into a walking lane with small shops and a pond. It's great because there are stationary stores, clothes, bags, and fun stuff. Plus there is this one place that has like a slushie machine. The flavor is pineapple lemon and it hits the spot on hot days. The best part is that it's only 1 "dollar coin" which is like barely 25 cents. Lilia and I shared one and walked around a bit. It's nice getting out and experiencing different parts of the city.

I also wanted to paint a realistic picture for all of you readers. Everything isn't all rosey and wonderful. Lilia isn't sleeping well here. She wakes up almost every night. Plus the sun gets up early here, about 5:30 or so and that affects her. They don't do daylight savings time so it's light early and dark early. She gets up most days before 7. I'm not a big fan, especially when she's waking up in the night. Well that affects her overall mood because she's so tired. She is whiney and miserable for a good part of the day. We don't have a definite routine down as far as a standard nap and bed time. When she's miserable, I'm miserable and then Dave's miserable. It also causes tension in our marriage and so on. I just wanted all of you to have an accurate view of life here. To reassure myself I just keep saying this would happen in America too!

This morning Lilia and I went to music class with two other moms and their sons. It's a class taught by a British women. You can go for one class for free just to check it out. That's what I did. Lilia always gets hyped up around other kids. This was about 12 or so other moms with their kids also about 18 months. We sang songs, played instruments and played with a little parachute. (You know the ones you used to play with in elementary school gym class.) Lilia never really sat on my lap to do the songs. She almost always wanted to be in the middle of the circle jumping or spinning around and falling. We had a good time, but I think we'll save our money.

Lilia loves to ride the train (above ground metro). She refuses to sit on our laps for long. She wants to stand or hold on to the handles like the "big people" do.

This morning Lilia and I went to campus to get familiar with Dave's day to day surroundings. So I park the bike and take Lilia out of her seat and set her on the ground. I lock up the bike and walk a few yards. Lilia finds a large barrel laying on the ground and touches it. She walks away and her hand is covered in green paint. For some crazy reason there was fresh green paint on this barrel. We aren't even on campus for more than 3 minutes and already she's into trouble! So we sit on a small wall. I get out napkins and the purell and luckily that takes care of it.
Later we walk past a convience store on campus. Lilia points to it and says, "go, go, go," so we go in. The women workers there were already at the door to the store looking out. Once she pointed they waved us over. They hold her and show her things around the store. Everyone loves her here. So many people try to touch her hand and she pushes them away and give them a mean look.

Lilia loves her sticky rice!

Last night we went out to this one part of town with lots of malls. Then we found this awesome place for dinner. Thankfully the menu had pictures so I could order. (Dave left it up to me.) Some of the options were frog, lamb, mutton, eel. What you see in the picture is chopped beef with green onion and you eat it in a lettace leaf with phillo dough. I don't eat beef, but I had to try it because it looked amazing. Well it tasted as good as it looked!!!

This is Lilia's view from her bedroom. It's neat because both the bedrooms have a seating area that looks out the window!

This is mine and Dave's bedroom. We did have to buy sheets and a down comforter as well as a duvet cover at Ikea. There is a full wardrobe on the wall to the left. It's really nice to have so much closet space!

This is our dining room.

This is half of our kitchen. We also have a good size fridge for here, but then again you go shopping a few days a week so it doesn't matter. It's funny though because the counters are so low that my back really starts to hurt when I do dishes. It's so low that Lilia can reach onto the counter and she is 32 in. tall!

This is our living room. As you can see it it furnished nicely. We are renting it already furnished with is huge. We have a tv and Dave bought a DVD player.

Here are some pictures of our apartment. We're in a beautiful complex on the 9th floor. (This is a pic of an actual hotel, not where we live.)

This is how you buy eggs here. They either come already in a bag or else you pick them our yourself and bag them. Yes, some can break on you if you're not careful. Also they are kept at room temp and you refridgerate them at home.

Out & About

Dave went on campus this afternoon to play baseball. Lilia and I had to get out of the house so I decided to walk around locally. I went to my local hualian (small grocery store) and decided to explore some more. As I was walked down the street I saw a woman with what looked like a bag of sweet potatoe chips. I asked her what they were, but I knew I wouldn't understand her. Then she opened her bag and let me try one. I did and they were exactly what I thought they would be!!! I asked her where she got them and she pointed down this small street. So off we went to find sweet potatoe chips. As we walked there were people selling their vegetables on the sidewalks. There were also some chickens in small cages and blood mixed with water in the street. I just told my self just keep going, just keep going. Then on my left was a small alley with stores on either side. I thought this must be where she meant because there aren't any other options. So I ventured in and sure enough the 3rd or so store had them in a huge bag. I asked her for 2 bags worth and it was only $1.75!!! It was so awesome. I love finding stuff like that!

1st Day of class

Dave had his 1st day of class today. He is in a more intermediate level because he already knows some of the language. Class goes from 8:45-11:45 on campus. There are about 23 people in his class. He said his teacher is very good. He is 61 years old and has traveled the world. His English is very good as well. Dave said almost the entire class was in the heart language of the country. He said it was a bit overwhelming, but he will learn a lot. He could understand a good bit of it.
He won't have much time to study like the rest of the students so there is a good chance he will fall behind. He enjoyed it very much, but he's glad it's Friday!

We were at a really touristy area downtown and there was a crowd gathered. We walked up to see what it was. Well this old man was on roller skates and weaving between bottles, displaying his fans as he went. He quickly spotted Lilia with her blond hair and skated towards her. I took a picture, then he posed so I could get the three of them together. Lilia loved it!

There is a place out front of our complex where lots of little kids play. A lot of kids have this toy. The kids rest their feet and the parent pushes. Well Lilia loves anything she can push so she always goes over to other kids toys and tries to play with them. When I need to take her away she kicks and screams. I guess we need to get her one!

One awesome thing about this country is that most people have an "ai." It's pronounced "ie." It simply means auntie, which here is a helper. Your helper can do anything from clean your place, babysit or prepare dinner for you. My ai came yesterday afternoon and she cleaned the whole apartment. She did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, dusted, cleaned the porches and the floors. I love it, it's so wonderful. Then again, who wouldn't! The crazy part is that she goes for about $1.75 an hour. She will come every Tuesday afternoon. She is young and has a son of her own. I'm looking forward to interacting with her and her interacting with Lilia. I been told by other poeple here that it's really invaulable to your child's learning. Since I don't really know the language, I am going to try to learn one or two phrases that I can say/ask each week. Next week I'll ask her how old her son is and what his name is. I'll let you know how it goes!

I went to the grocery store all by myself on Saturday morning. It was great to be able to get out. This grocery store is more like the local food store we know. (ACME, Giant...) I found most of the things I needed and was excited to see that they carried so much stuff.
I had to buy some meat though, I was going to attempt to cook dinner. I couldn't tell if what was packaged was pork or chicken. I tapped a woman on the shoulder and waved her over. In the LITTLE bit of language I know I asked her what the meat was called. She pointed to the characters, which didn't help me. I asked her if it was pork or chicken. She replied, "pork" of course in the language, not English.
I was so excited, I was able to ask and understand someone in a language not my own. I was able to buy already prepared vegetables where they add the spices and sauce for you. It was great. It tasted pretty good too!