away...

I think we forgot to post this quick message in our last blog. We are currently doing a homstay with a local family here. It is a three week assignment where we are pushed in our language skills through total immersion. Right now were are halfway through, but I don't have much ability to post blogs, so for those that check in us often I plan on posting a series of blogs on this experience the first week of June, so check back at that time. Please be praying for us!

1000 Husbands, 2 Cousins

Recently we had the chance to do some exploring around the area. First, our teammates' cousin arrived for a visit and they took him all over the country. I, Scott, was able to join them for a trip to a place near our city, whose name, when translated, means 1000 Husbands. I'm not sure where the name comes from, but the place is beautiful. There are several caves lodged in a cliff near the top of a long mountain ridge, probably 4,000 feet in altitude. Rumors abound that 4000 years ago the caves were inhabited by ancient Babylonians. Whatever the truth is about that, we only saw evidence of human activity dating back 3 months from the 100's of picnics there.

Our teammates drove their little sedan on the trip with their cousin. My tutor came along and acted as a guide. Turns out his family owns several tracts of lands close to the caves. Anyway, our car only got us within a mile or so of the caves. The road was just too rough. We all got out and started on foot further up the road before having the bright idea that since we were on foot, we could cut the corners of the switchbacks by bushwhacking straight up the side of the mountain. After about 45 minutes of pressing through thickets of thorns, tall grass, and ankle-breaking rocks we found the entrance to the caves.
There are 3 caves worth seeing. One you have to crawl on your belly through a narrow opening to get in and out of, but is fairly deep. Another you can stand up in and goes back about 100m into a large cavern. The other isn't deep, but is very wide. The views of the city and countryside are spectacular! You start to question what country you are actually in! One thing we didn't count on were the bats, hundreds of them, in the caves. And another cave had lots of wasps and bees living in it, so needless to say, our fears got the best of us and we didn't fully explore the caves.
Then my cousin came for a visit just this weekend. In addition to exploring more of 1000 Husbands, we had another first experience: picking up hitch hikers. With three guys in the car, we didn't feel too intimidated to pick up an old farmer and a young man walking together. It is so nice to be able to speak the language and not just ask them their name and work. Anyhow, after they got to their destinations, we pressed on, this time with a borrowed 4WD SUV, making it to within 150m of the caves. We decided to first go up a ravine to get on top of the mountain, above the cave entrances. We totally underestimated the distance involved, but once we got to the top, the view was a 360-degree panorama of beauty. There was our city sprawled out in front of us, mountains and hills in every direction towering over valleys laden with farms. And to top it all off, everything is still green!

the adventure continues...

We are always trying to find unique ways to have fun around here and it seems that picnics are the easiest way to get people together as well as enjoy this beautiful spring weather! Everything is in full bloom and we try to spend as much time outside as possible.

Today we headed up to the base of one of the mountains that surrounds our city. Today we chose a place that had a great park for the kids to play at as well as level ground for us to set up our table and chairs. We had some guests from the States with us and gave them the full picnic experience, including a big meal, tea and dancing. It was alot of fun. We did our best with the dancing considering there weren't any local people with us to lead the way!



We've been trying to dive into life a little more lately and experience new things. The other night we went to a local amusement park. It was really something else! We had arrived kind of late, so the park was absolutely empty except for us, the workers and maybe one or two other groups. We started out going through this cheesy "ghost house" where you went through on a roller coaster type deal that took you through pitch black until you came to a robot that lit up and made scary noises. As lame as it was, it was a little scary because we had no idea what to expect. We went on to enjoy some fun with bumper cars. Some of us got banged up a little since when you would crash your knees would hit up against the dash board area and also because they went a little faster than they were probably supposed to run! Then we rode the ferris wheel and where able to look out over the city at night, which was very cool. The workers would follow us around to each ride and make us buy tickets each time instead of just charging us all at once. You gotta respect process, I suppose. We ended our evening with the most terrifying ride I"ve ever been on. It wasn't that the ride itself was all that bad, it was that the standard of safety isn't what I am used to. I realized that a fundimental difference between the general thrill seeking that I've always enjoyed in the past and the fear I experienced the other night is trust. You can have fun and get wrapped up in being scared when you don't really believe that your life is at risk! This ride was one where you sat on a row of chairs that circled a large pole. It then would swing from side to side and then start to spin at the same time. The first thing that concerned me was that the support poles that housed the whole unit were close enough that you could reach out and touch them as you swung by, or even catch them with your leg and subsiquently crush it! Then the creeking started as it swung back and forth...still, not the worst part. The worst part was as it swung up you were looking down at a large, dirt pit where this ancient-looking motor was running with all its might and with this view came the smell of burning rubber! I yelled "stop-stop" to the operators (in their OWN language) and all they did was laugh and run the ride longer, taxing the already worn system even more! It was absolutely horrifying! It took me sometime to quick shaking when it was all over with!

As you can see, life is quite the adventure, many of which we never could have anticipated. However, even when these adventures are awkward, frustrating or even scary we continue to trust God with our lives and try to live to the fullest that He intended! This really is the motto of our life and we are grateful for everything that God brings our way!


**this is a picture of zeke with his new haircut and enjoying his favorite afternoon snack of cheddar cheese [thanks auntie rachel:-)]!