Novrus

Today we celebrated the eve of Novrus, quite exciting and tiresome. We woke up really early and what we have learned so far, is that NO ONE wakes early, smart people I say. They are to bed late, and late to rise. Nothing is open and no one is on the street before 8am. Maybe we could learn from that.
We started with breakfast at our hotel. Then off to the internet, which I am sure you have seen. Then off to find the Gazette, finally successful. We get a lot of stares here, so we must really stick out. Emily and I are the most modestly dressed…funny huh considering the religion observed here. Hardly anyone covers their heads, (sometimes we do because it is cold) and they even serve alcohol in the stores and restaurants! So it is much different than we thought. I am pretty sure that the people here are just afraid of us as we are of them, because once the ice is broke, they are so kind and inviting.
After a mini tour and prayer walk, we were off to lunch at the park where the festivities would be held. It was so beautiful. God has painted such beautiful place for us to visit. We are right at the base of the mountain, so it is still cold, but not too bad. Again we had a great lunch with the exception of one kind of meat. We put it in our mouth, chewed a bit, and all of us wanted to eject it, but didn’t. I think it was like ground lamb liver and left over pieces with onions and some other things. It was the first NOT GOOD thing I have eaten.
We made a few friends by wishing them a happy holiday in their language, including the police officer. After lunch the girls headed to take a short nap. The boys headed to find the college professor that teaches English here. On the way, they ran into another an American looking man and asked, “Do you speak English”? They didn’t expect the American accent to answer back, “Yes!! I do.” It turns out the man was from Sweden and said that he was just passing through while touring all of Asia, mmm…….curious, I would say.
On the way to find the English teacher they stopped at the tourist info office which was closed. There was a door open near by so they decided to stop there not noticing it was the Ministry for the n*tion*l sec*rity office. Bry wanted to know what it would take to become English teachers here. They begin to question Bry heavily, what did he mean and why. Finally they realized that he was just saying that it was beautiful here and if he wanted to retire here, could he?? Once they figured out they thought they would call the chancellor to answer his questions, but Bry assured them he didn’t need to talk to them.
After all was said and done everyone was happy and Bry thinks that they were just trying to solve his problem. Lots of excitement.
After our nap, we went back to the park and waited for things to start. So many people came out to celebrate. Again we drew lots of attention. Children were especially curious. We met a cute little girl with C~2’s personality. She would stroll by, pretending she didn’t want anything, picking at the leaves in the grass. Finally we said hello to her and that was all she needed. She began to ask questions and soon, all sorts of family members were all around us. It was so cute. Once she said “I love you”. For about 2 hours we were surrounded by people and children, all wondering why we were here. We found that there are English teachers in the area that are with the P*ac* Cor*. They have taught some of their students very well. Sooner or later we were invited to our friend’s house for more celebration, hopefully we will go tomorrow.
Our brains are fried now, it is a lot of work trying to decipher all the words that are being thrown at you, but lots of fun at the same time.
So, my sweet friends, thank you for your comments, we love to hear from all of you. Thanks for your encouraging words. Thanks for caring for our kids. We love you sweet children. Can’t wait to be home with you soon.
Today’s Lesson: The whole earth is filled with His glory. We need to be a part of it!! Misconceptions of other nations are not good. They are just like you and I and in desperate need of being found!!
Love
The Thieles