An unforgettable homecoming...

We have been back home and settled in for about a week now. We had some pretty major jet lag to overcome, but with time and commitment to not letting ourselves sleep much during the day, we pulled through it around day 5. We are happy to be back home, in our own beds, and back with our friends here. We have started back up with our language studies and have hit the books with a renewed vigor! After saying all that, I wanted to share a bit about our process in getting back here last week.

We arrived at the Chicago airport during the evening only to find the unexpected...no lines! We walked right up to the counter and handed over all of our passports. Scott asked the guy who was helping us "I'm sure there aren't any more available, but if possible could we get a bulkhead seat..." When we tried to set this up in Jordan, the night BEFORE our flight left, we were basically laughed at. However, to our great surprise and joy he told us there was one available. Plus, our flight that could hold about 250 passengers was only bringing back around 80! We were thrilled that it would not be like our packed out flight coming. So, we got through security with relative ease and started making our way to the gate, with only about 30 minutes of our 3 hour wait having passed. As we made our way down the corridor we found the most wonderful thing....a little play area for kids! It was one of these areas that teaches kids about the dangers around them, but it had lots of things that he could touch and play with, plus it was a contained area, so we could just sit and watch him play. After a little while another little girl came with her mom and the two of them played together for a little bit while us parents talked.

Finally we boarded our very empty plane and settled into our wonderful bulkhead seats. After a nice chicken dinner they gave us a bassinet for Zeke to sleep in. He was too big for it so we put it on the floor and he settled into it with his legs hanging out the end. He likes to be contained, though, so it wasn't too long before he fell fast asleep. It was probably about midnight central time. Zeke stayed down for about 4 hours and when he was awake he was happy to sit with us or play on the floor. The time passed quickly and we even made it in half hour early!

So, after our wonderful flight we were getting our baggage when an airline employee came and asked us if we were transit. We told him yes and he promptly escorted us to a counter where we could recheck our bags for the next mornings flight AND escorted us to a shuttle that took us to the hotel that we would stay at overnight for free! The hotel was a little creepy, but clean enough and comfortable. Zeke and I were up most of the night, but survived on snacks and Thomas the tank engine videos. Our short flight the next morning was just as uneventful and we were greeted at our landing by our friends Darrell and Cheryl.

Our friends drove us home only to discover that someone had been in our house...doing all sorts of improvements! Our fearless leader, Darrell, had put his handy man skills to use while we were gone by installing towel bars, a lattice for our grape vine, and even covering up some ugly cement in our bathroom with nice white paint. There were several other wonderful things he did and it was a wonderful way to come home! We are very blessed to have such good friends here and it made us feel as though we were missed and they wanted us to come back!

The only small downside to our homecoming was the discovery of a new tenant in our home....a mouse! He came across the floor as we were cooking dinner and we have yet to track him down! However, he will be dealt with in good time. Overall we are thrilled to be back and have even had a few catch-up visits with a few friends, including one who just had a baby about a week ago. So, back to the grind of real life and looking forward to our next adventure...our next baby! Who, by the way....is a boy!

R&R in J

We just completed a week of rest and relaxation in the beautiful Petra, Jordan. It was a much needed break for our greater team (from 5 different areas we all gathered) and a good time of spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. We had friends from Lancaster, PA join us to bring the Word, encouragement as well as share their many talents with us, and we also had friends from Sheboygan, WI join us to help do a vbs for our kids and help with child care. The week would have been very different and definitely not as fulfilling if all these folks hadn't come, so thank you to all that came and those that supported them and made it possible!

We had a great time filled with laughter and tears, and many good memories were made. Each morning we would come together for fellowship and a message, then most afternoons were fun in the sun and for the evenings we would have activities like the talent/no talent night, survivor and other fun and games. I've included a picture of Scott dressed as a woman for a challenge in our survivor game! We also had a great time catching up with friends that we only see once a year. Overall it was a huge blessing. The kids all wore themselves out through play with each other and having lots of fun activities during their vbs time.


Last year we went to this same location and Zeke was terrified of the pool. This year we almost couldn't keep him out of it. He was still somewhat hesitant at times, but overall enjoyed splashing around and playing with the other kids in the pool.


Another funny experience was that Zeke was once again very comfortable with the local people. The funny part is that he thought they were the people from our area so he kept speaking our local language to them instead of arabic. They kept asking me what he was saying! Another interesting thing was that we discovered that Zeke has an amazing memory for names! He learned almost all of the kid's names and would use them whenever he saw one! Not bad for being just shy of 22 months! Zeke made friends with the man who ran the bar by the pool and was able to scam juice for not only himself, but for his little friend B as well!

I think a fun thing to do, when possible, is to go from one amazing time to another...and we get to do that be heading to the states! My brother is getting married so we will head back for that as well as some connecting with friends and family. It will be a packed time, but I am so glad that we had this first so that we aren't showing up to our families as completely wiped out people! I will try and blog once or twice while we are there, but I promise nothing! We will be back in action by mid-September, so if you don't check back here often plan on checking back in at that time and I'm sure we'll have lots to share!

loose ends...

We are currently trying to get ourselves organized and tie up all loose ends as we prepare to travel to Jordan for a week of relaxation and recuperation with our larger team before traveling on to the states for some time with family and friends. It was been a good, but long summer and we are definitely ready for some
get-away time. Zeke has been without some of his little buddies these past couple weeks and I think he is ready to have a whole hoard of
playmates as our team is inundated with children!


This summer has been full of busyness and adventure. We have had the pleasure of going on several picnics, we have connected with new friends, hosted events with our short term workers that were here for the summer, prepared our new center location and much much more! Oh,and we've studied some more language!







Our short termers were a great help as they pretty much ran the courses that we offered at our center and freed us up to study and just connect with this class of students. Coffee shop nights were packed out and laid back this summer, which made for fun Thursday nights. Zeke enjoyed running around all evening during them and getting his fill of cake and soda. We hosted our very first girls only event where we played games, ate yummy snacks and learned to make a bracelet. I think it was as much a blessing to us as it was to the women we invited. I have a hunch that there will be more events like this in the future! We also had a group of 3 men come from Oregon specifically to help with some minor construction on our new center. They have been a huge blessing and have prepared the way for our big move to the new building at the end of this week. We will have our first set of classes beginning at the end of Ramadan. We couldn't have done it without helpers like these!

Zeke made the most of the summer by running around as much as he could ( and getting as sweaty as he could in this heat ), playing in the water every chance he got, eating fun summer treats like ice cream and icees, playing on his horsy and getting as much attention as he possibly could from our neighbors and friends! One night at coffee shop when the eletricity went out he showed off his command of the language to everyone as he shouted out "karaba niya," which means "theres no electricy." Everyone got a good laugh out of it. Ah, what a kid!

So its been a full last few months for us, and we continue to be excited about what God is doing here. After we get back from the states we begin our last year of study and look forward to another full year here of building relationships, diving deeper into this crazy language and into 2010 welcoming a new addition to our family! Thats right...baby Wiggins #2 is expected in late February. So we have lots to look forward to as God leads us and shows us each step that He has for us as we do our best to walk in obedience to His will!

Finally...all about Zeke!

Wow...where does the time go? I can't believe that we are already into the month of July! As promised, I am finally getting around to the previously mentioned blog that will be all about Zeke and what he is up to these days. So, here we go!


Zeke has been a great fit for these people and this place. He goes just about everywhere we go and does everything that we do. He is such a trooper! He totally dives into the culture here, even if an all day picnic causes him to miss his afternoon nap! He is quick to bounce back and has proved to be the most flexible child I know!






Zeke also makes friends everywhere we go. He is definitely unique here with his blond hair and blue eyes, but his outgoing personality also sucks them in and makes it so that they remember HIS name even when they don't remember OURS! This picture is him with our neighbor, who routinely comes over with his brother to pick him up and bring them over to their house to play. Often while there he sneaks a sugar cube or two from them, which they think is hilarious.











One blessing that we have received while here is another American family who has a boy within two weeks of Zeke's age. Together they are learning about sharing and being kind to one another (a harder lesson for the other boy since Zeke is the bigger child!). Zeke has a blast with his friend and even seems to have a little crush on his older sister since he is constantly saying her name!





Zeke seems to love everything about summer. He loves playing out in the yard with the hose and playing in his little kiddie pool. He gets a real kick out of trying to get me and Scott as wet as he is and often turns our driveway into one big slip'n'slide. He is so into playing in the water these days that I can hardly put water into a bowl or pan for cooking without him wanting to splash in it or even put his little feet in!











He also loves that summer comes with eating ice cream cones out in the yard. When we first hand him the cone he always informs us that its cold, but then dives right in and enjoys every single bite! He seems to have quite the sweet tooth...hmm, wonder where he gets that from:-)








Zeke is also a great eater! We have very few struggles at meals because he is happy to dig in whether its American food or local cuisine! He has recently started tell us when he is "hungies" and wants a snack. Fortunately he likes both sweet and nutritional foods so we are able to get a balanced diet in him without much if a fight. He has also recently gotten into asking for "boose," (juice) and has discovered that I am adding water...when he catches me he is sure to let me know that he was asking for the real deal. He has also figured out how to open the fridge himself and routinely tries to help himself...this has resulted in spilled honey mustard and milk all over the kitchen floor!







Another thing Zeke loves to do is pretend to drive. It seems everyone here is happy to let him play in their car and push all the buttons. Here he is in the neighbors car having a great time. Anything that has buttons and produces some kind of sound or light is loads of fun for Zeke. We're having a hard time keeping him away from electrical sockets here which have a little switch that turns them on and off and has a little light...they're just too tempting for a little guy to stay away!











Zeke is also trying to help around the house. Here he is throwing all the clean, folded clothes all over the bedroom. He often will pull clothing out of the washing machine and also loves to help stir while I'm cooking!









Zeke has recently gotten more into videos. For a long time he was completely incapable of stopping long enough to watch something, but he seems to be lengthening his attention span these days to include videos and books. Here he is enjoying a baby einstein video which he managed to get through entirely that day...a much needed break for a tired mommy and daddy.






Zeke is also really getting into trying to be like us and do everything we do. Here he is wearing daddy's baseball cap. He loves to stroll around the house wearing our shoes and clothes and if he sees us doing something interesting he definitely wants in! His mimicry also includes tons of language and we are shocked sometimes at the things he is picking up even when he only hears it once or twice. He is also speaking a fair amount of the local language, much to people's delight! Its tough for us to understand at times because its hard enough understanding baby language in your own native tongue, but then you add two languages and it gets much more complicated. He is making two-word sentences (in both languages) and seems quite pleased with himself and his ability to get what he wants!





Here is Zeke in daddy's shirt, checking himself out in our bedroom mirror. He loves mirrors and often dances on our bed where he can see himself in the dresser mirror. He is such a funny little boy...he's always ready to make us laugh or to laugh with us!








I have mentioned before that Zeke has this little scam with the reality shop next to our house. He goes in, waves at the guys, says "ewe ta" which means "I want that one" while pointing at the candy dish and then sits with them for a few minutes before coming back outside to me or scott. I was thrilled to have the camera this day and catch him in the act. It has become a regular routine and they are always happy to invite him in, give him candy and water, and to send him on his way. We can barely get out of the house without having to make this stop!


As you can imagine, Zeke is quite the little character! He is such a joy in our lives! God gave us a little boy that couldn't be more perfect for our family. We still can't believe how he has gone from a tiny, little baby to the toddler we see running around our house and running our lives! We love to watch him learn and grow and can't wait to see what else God has in store for his life! We thank God everyday for our little Ezekiel...how Good is God!!!

free at last...continued!

We now have reached the two week mark from the completion of our home stay. This time has allowed us an opportunity to process what we learned while we were there and to remove some of the emotional aspect that had jaded our view of the experience for a time. So, now is a healthy time to express what we learned through our time with this family.

It is challenge, for most everyone in western culture, to stay for an extended period in someone else’s home. We had the advantage of having built an already somewhat deep relationship with the family that we stayed with. I believe that this pre-existing relationship allowed us to go deeper in a three week period then maybe even a years worth of visits might have done. I am going to categorize our lessons learned in four sections: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

The Physical Aspect: we went into our home stay somewhat exhausted from months of language study and a recent period of having many guests to entertain. We were excited to get started with our immersion experience and were in need of a break from our normal routine. We definitely got a physical break. We learned that as a culture these people have some physical tasks and then they spend the rest of the time socializing and doing as little work as possible. Some of the physical tasks included daily cleaning (these folks REALLY have something to teach us about house keeping!), cooking (which includes picking up the fresh supplies needed for that meal) and shopping. I include shopping on this list because if you ever get a chance to come out here and see our bazaar you will realize that maneuvering through all the ups and downs of that place leaves you quite exhausted! So we learned to do each of these tasks along side of the family. For me the most profitable thing was the cooking! I learned a ton of new dishes that are all fairly simple (although PACKED with oil and salt) that I can now use for my future guests. Also during our stay, we shared a room with Zeke and he would wake up earlier than usual each morning and the family would sleep in the living room until 10am, or so, so we were trying to entertain our busy toddler without waking everyone up, and after three weeks of that we were pretty tired and ready to go home!

The Mental Aspect: we knew before this time that spending time in this language is very mentally draining. Well, in a live-in situation that exhaustion was magnified. I would find myself starting to check-out, mentally, by early evening because I could hardly process any more! Also, we learned something about this family that we hadn’t picked up in previous visits and that was that they mix a TON of Arabic with the local language! All people do this to some extent, but this family did it more than any others we’ve met, so in some ways it felt like starting over with many new vocabulary words. They also come from a city a few hours away and therefore have a different accent, so I found it particularly challenging to understand them. I really had to humble myself and accept that they thought I knew nothing and remind myself that my value is not found in what they think about me!

The Emotional Aspect: this aspect was probably one of the toughest. One reason for this was that because of the mental and physical exhaustion we were more prone to attack in the emotional department. In this culture, if they think something about you there is no sugar-coating done in telling you about it, therefore you can undergo what feels like an attack on anything from your appearance to your intellect or even simply how you do something. Because we knew this family well I think they felt more free to let loose on us than maybe a family that we were just meeting would do. We received daily “suggestions” on how to be better parents, how to study and learn this language properly and much more. Because I am struggling to learn this language more than Scott is, I was told I was stupid and didn’t study enough and that I didn’t understand anything. Now, I have to say, the family didn’t mean to be insulting…these things are culturally acceptable and we have worked on toughening our skin against comments like these. However, hearing this day in and day out for three weeks did reduce us to tears a couple of times (when we were alone), but also gave us great insight into where people are coming from and what they have to deal with.

The Spiritual Aspect: this was a very interesting area for us. The family we stayed with had some very interesting views and we were able to have many amazing conversations with them. We discovered just how much superstition is wrapped around ever aspect of daily life here. Many of these practices don’t make any sense to us, logically, and we asked ourselves over and over “how can they believe this???” However, we kept coming back to a recurring theme throughout our time and that was that when one has a hope to hold onto, even when it is a small, hard to believe hope, they cling to it with all that they are. These people have only known one belief throughout their lives and don’t know that there is so much more for them. We learned so much about how they see God, what prayer is to them and about how they make daily decisions. We realized how much Zeke is observing what is around him because after a couple weeks we spotted him playing with water coming from a faucet and as he played he washed his feet, then his hands and then his head, which is the way these people ceremonially wash themselves before their daily prayers! We were reminded over and over of the strong hold on this place and also reminded over and over of why we were sent here.

An experience like ours is bound to have its positive and negative aspects. We were definitely ready for a break when it was all said and done, but we choose to take the good that we learned from it, leave the bad behind, and move forward with our life in this place. I know that God can use this experience in our life and I look forward to seeing what all He has planned for us! Coming up….I’ve decided to write a blog all about Zeke….he has changed so much in the last year (almost) that we’ve been here, so we want to do a highlight of the little man in our lives that has changed us forever! Watch for that to come soon!

free at last!!!

We have been home for a week now after staying in the home of a local family for three weeks. It was quite the experience! Scott and I would both say that it was probably one of the most challenging tasks that we've ever had to tackle. It was mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically exhausting. Because three weeks is a long period to cover, I am going to split this blog into two parts: 1) the details about what we did and 2) what we learned.



Today I will write about what we did. The whole purpose of this experience was to get us into a full-time language immersion setting. You might wonder "aren't they already immersed by living in the country?" That is an excellent question, and the answer is yes, but in order to have a healthy adjustment into a new home and culture it is important to create a "safe haven" for yourself and your family, and for us that is our home. We can escape from the frustrations and demands of our new culture every time we come home. It has been our way of having some of who we are, no matter where we are living. So, all that to say, we haven't been FULLY immersed except when we are out meeting with families, shopping or just doing life here. This immersion experience definitely showed us just how NOT immersed we've been!


Our day to day life was pretty simple. We started out by moving all of our gear into our new home for the month (traveling with a toddler requires ALOT of stuff!). We were blessed by having our own space in a bedroom upstairs and a private bathroom (well, a toilet..eastern style). We very easily could have been sleeping on the floor, adjacent to the family, so we were pleased to have a space to ourselves. Most days we hung out with our small family: a single mom with three teen-aged kids. Zeke made himself right at home, as he does everywhere he goes! We ate meals with the family and did everything they did throughout the day. Some of these tasks included cleaning the house (something done FAR more often than I would have thought necessary), going to the bazar, buying fresh fruit and veggies, picking up some sodas or snacks for the day, playing ball outside on the street and doing visits to the extended family. I even got to go to work with the mom one day. It was a real eye-openning experience. As we were driving she told me that the job her and her coworkers do could easily be done by one person. However, the government here seems to exist to provide jobs for the people, so they establish offices, hire dozens of people, and as I discovered, they sit around talking, eating, playing computer games and doing not a single ounce of work! It was great for me, because I got to talk with more people and hear many different accents.

We also got to try many new foods. We discovered that about 99% of the food here is cooked with oil or fried in it and doused with a TON of salt! Breakfast was generally bread, fruit, boiled eggs and tea. Then we would make a big lunch complete with salad and bread, and then for dinner we would have the left-overs. As one might imagine, we found ourselves sick on several different occasions! The food is very delicious, but its sort of a shock to the system!

We spent alot of our time having conversations both in English and the local language. We were supposed to be without English, but we found it more difficult to fight the familyon this point than we had originally intended. However, it was still very valuable for our language. This particular family has a unique accent and they mix alot more of their words with the larger, dominant language of this region. It was a challenge to understand, but good for us because they are not the only family out there that is like this.

So, that is the general run down on our activities for the three weeks we were there. As you can see, just sharing this part got very long, so in my next blog I will get into some of our thoughts and lessons learned from our experience. Until then...

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!