"You need to buy a TV."

Took our evaluations yesterday for our unit we finished on Friday. The holiday got in the way of things and so we had 5 days between class and evaluations. Fortunately we've been so busy we didn't notice the time and were really thankful for the break it afforded from house work. Anyway, we both passed to the next unit. Jonathan starts 6 and I'll start 7. Fairly excited because this means I am in the last of 3 phases of language learning. That may lead you to believe some level of mastery but really don't let it fool you. Still get a little lost about everytime I'm out talking with folks. The lost bits are smaller but still. We've only been hear something like 8 months.

Funny advice to come out of my evaluation though. Unanimous decision of 2 of my teachers and I have had the suggestion of 2 others before, "You need to buy a TV and start watching TV." Is this the kind of advice you've ever had from your teachers before? I think not. They were also very specific to follow that up with "Don't get Satellite Cable." Except they used the local product name which I didn't know about. Anyway so we're thinking on buying a TV maybe this weekend. We've saved a bit of money for it because everything has to be bought in cash here. Thought we would wait until the end of the year when we were closer to finishing though. My teachers are concerned that I don't hear enough variety in speaking, thus a tv would help. Strange advice still.

On the List front:
- painted @ room with not great paint (we didn't know at the time it wasn't great, but it looks good on the wall)
- painted living room a very relaxing shade of lilac with good quality paint.
- cleaned out the fridge.
- washed laundry
- Jonathan fixed 2 water spigots (which seem to break all the time)
- Been cooking delicious meals for my family
- Took a family trip to the veg. market, still thinking on the coffee market but it may take another day.

** Did I mention we gave our houseworker the week off? When we are in school she is a lifesaver, there is no way we would survive without her. But with all of us out of school for a week we thought we could manage on our own. And we can, just fine. Hopefully she is enjoying some much deserved time off from our craziness.

About cold coffee

I've had requests (actually that should be singular) to hear about the cold coffee brewer. The coffee is good but I did run into problems. The directions say to use the super size cups that are free with large drinks at fast food restaurants. Well we don't have those here. Those cups would be ideal because they slide down inside of one another. Since I don't have that I had a significant amount of coffee not hold in the brewer all time. I put a piece of Glad press n seal around it and still by morning i had about a 1/2 cup leak through. Not a huge deal as it was still quite strong stuff. Also I had a hard time getting the recommended amount of coffee and water that the directions called for. It was my first go so I tried to stick to the directions. I think I could do with a little less coffee and still get a good concentrate. Those were my only real problems. I used a drill instead of the finger drill. My containers were a pretty sturdy plastic. I was surprised that the cardboard stand worked so well. I didn't wrap it in plastic but I think that wouldn't be a bad move.

But no lies, the coffee is a concentrate! You can say "Oh I like it strong" all you want, but the stuff looks like syrup when it comes out of the brewer. I let the brewer sit up for most of the morning and when I finally slid out the ground they were stiff. Its a good cup of coffee at a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 ratio. Hot or cold. I found that cold it seems to take more water.

I took the concentrate with me on our vacation last week. We were staying with friends who don't drink coffee and so going to there house hasn't been as much fun for me in the morning. I brought along a water bottle of coffee and my needs were met. Also I brought it for the hotel we were staying at. I hate that hotels here don't have real coffee pots, they give you instant. Who can drink that stuff? So I slid my bottle in the hotel fridge and sure enough next morning happy girl.

If you like your coffee brewing method at home as it is, stick with it, you don't need to go to the trouble. But if you work in an office that has nasty 10 hour bitter coffee (schools were awful about this), this is a good choice to bring and keep in the fridge. If you travel alot, and not by plane probably, this is a good choice. Truly though, its easy enough to put together you could bring the silly coffee maker with you and brew at your destination. I'm going to get heckled for that but truly its easy. Also if you really like fluffy coffee drinks, like iced coffee latte kind of things, this would make it easier. I have a great recipe for coffee date bread and this would be good for any recipe calling for strong coffee.

progress report

A little update on what I have managed to get done this break.

- printed 9 pages of pictures and cropped them
- made dessert for the church potluck, applesauce bread pudding, which was devoured.
- updated financials
- uploaded new music and downloaded all the updates (free internet at the hotel!)
- uploaded a few pics to the blog
- uploaded loads of pics to the snapfish and sent them to the family.
- ton of grocery shopping, book shopping was a flop
- took @ swimming
- reviewed texts for the next unit
- washed and dried 3 loads of laundry
- cold press coffee maker constructed and have enjoyed a full batch of cold coffee, making more tomorrow
- ordered christmas cards from a friend who is training women to make stationary from recycled fibers, very fair trade, very cool
- sat back and watched some movies with Jonathan
- had a pedicure (YAY!)
- read 20 pages or so of a book for fun
- scrapbooked 2 pages and then ran out of glue tape in the Scotch ATG
- made a not as complicated indian dish

yeah that is about it

We have a few days off after every unit of language. The idea is to give the head a little rest to catch up and let the language we have sink in and fall into use. During our breaks its like a mini school break when you were a kid, five million great plans that you want to accomplish. Problem is that instead of having 2 months we have 5 days. Inevitably I have a million great plans but only get to about 2 of them. The list for this unit:

- take a few days of vacation in 1 city
- go with Jonathan to look for jobs in the city on ocean where we are moving (this is non-negotiable and must be done)
- sleep in
- make big complicated Indian meals
- explore the market, buy some fruit I've never had before (there is lots of that here)
- post pictures
- find a few books in the local language online
- catch up on financials
- catch up on the inventory
- visit with friends at the new church we're going to
- make a cold brew coffee system (my friend jake makes his own shoes, I want to make my own coffee brewer)
- scrapbook the first 6 months of our time here (yeah, pathetic for someone who believes themselves to be "avid")
- print pics for said scrapbook project (to my credit, @'s mini book is way up to date)
- start calendars for christmas gifts, more picture printing
- begin making christmas cards
- watercolor (something I have found I really enjoy)
- finish reading the book of John in the local language (i'm on chapter 7 or 8)
- review the material for the next unit

That should about do it. I have 5 days off. How do you think the list is going to work out?

our break

Its been kind of a slow break for us. @ didn't seem to want us both at home at the same time for the first day or so. He was a bit of crab and we spent Wednesday and Thursday wondering what was going on that he was tantruming. Sigh... could it be culture shock. Could it be adjusting to new bedtimes, languages, daily schedules, food; all combined with being 2 1/2? Yeah, probably. We also have to factor in the sliding scale of discipline in our house. Jonathan and I are on the same page, sadly Ibu (our houseworker) is not. With her letting him do whatever whenever, we find ourselves in an uphill battle. @ wanted an Oreo an hour before lunch, yep, no problem. @ threw all of his toys and books, yep, she'll pick them up. My all time favorite, I walk into our room close the door and change clothes (2 minutes), @ has climbed into the bookshelf cabinet, with her help! When would any of these things be acceptable behavior? So I'm on the plan now of @ never leaves my sight to be with her alone. He knows that everything goes when Ibu is around so he tries everything. Can't blame him really for throwing a fit when he thought he had different sets of rules. Working with Ibu on saying "No" and "Stop".

Jonathan got to spend his break fixing more door knobs and fixing the gas hook up to our water heater. Everything in our house seems to be a few minutes or a twist and turn from breaking. Its hard on Jonathan but it does mean that he gets to use tools a lot.

Saturday we went swimming at a local hotel. They have a covered roof top pool. Very cool. Truly it was cold in the water but @ and Jonathan had a fun time splashing. We lounged and relaxed. Had the pool to ourselves for the most part. Really nice day and the payoff @ napped when we got home. Napping has also been in short supply for @. Genuinely nice Saturday. We had gotten our real kid back and not the moody one we had had during the week.

Presently our good boy is throwing his letter puzzle out of the rubbermaid to make way for his body. He loves playing in the rubbermaid containers and he can't get the lid snapped down so he's safe.

Have some commentary I've been thinking on about my "Extending the Table" cookbook, my sister Gretchen adopting kids, the ins and outs of language learning, and PBS/ Seasame Street but I think I'll save that for another post.