Moving Again

I (Matt) have very few skill sets that I feel I am unquestionably talented at. I am a moderately good mountain bike rider, not too bad at language learning, a good reader and writer, I even am decent at acting, but in none of these areas do I feel like I am among "the best." There is one exception. I am nearly convinced that I am one of the finest packers in the world.

This is a skill built from nearly a lifetime of putting everything I own into boxes, bags, or suitcases and moving it all to a new place. My family first moved overseas when I was four and we lived in a very rural area, so several times a year our car was loaded to busting and we went to a capital city to restock. I watched my dad pack and unpack as far back as I can remember. I was 14 when I started this on my own, back and forth to boarding school with a couple of checked bags and everything else in storage for three terms and breaks a year. Three years in Nepal, living in Texas then North Carolina, moving from one apartment to another, then a move to Central Asia. Living here we pack up more often than I can say for short moves and have called two different houses home here (another in the US) until this year. Yeah, when it comes to packing, I am good.

I am not saying it comes stress free, it's a learned art form to put furniture, pictures, dishes, office supplies, kids' toys, winter and summer clothes (always remember to keep them separate for easy storage afterwards) all in their place, remember where they are, and put it all away in a somewhat organized state in the new location. It comes from years of practice, you just know how socks can keep a glass from breaking or how to layer shirts between pictures to keep them in one piece. You know how to use footlockers for breakables and keep extra clothes or jackets in duffel bags. You know you had better put the kitchen up last and get it out first if you want to eat, even if it's the hardest room to pack.

Life has once again called the Mitchell family to a move. We are back in the first town we lived in as I am taking the roll of director of our NGO. Like all moves, it comes with mourning as we leave friends behind, but as so often, that gets drowned in the particular stresses of packing and moving in this place. No moving companies to call, we asked around and got a dump truck for all our big items. I made four or five (they all blend together in memories) trips in to town on my own with a full car of stuff that wouldn't fit in the dump truck. The day we moved we weren't sure if we were even going to try at 9am, by 10:30 a truck was in our yard, it left at 12:30, not a lot of closure time there. Through it all Cindy had the fun of corralling a couple very active toddlers while I did most of the packing and unpacking along the way. It complicates things when the packing of toys has to take place at nap time so that someone isn't unpacking immediately.

We are now settled in our new home, with a foot of snow on the ground outside. The boys love the stairs (balls go down them really well) and the big kitchen where they can "help" mommy cook and rearrange spice containers. Mom and Dad are loving the luxurious new house with amazing features like a big heater, indoor toilet and shower, and (newly arrived from the capital) an automatic washing machine with a DRIER. Yeah, we are living the high life now. Now if we can just figure out where to put everything, we will be good.

Visiting a Baby

Today the boys and I set out on a local adventure without Matt, since that’s the culturally appropriate way to handle this. One of my friend’s younger sisters had her first child, a daughter, 10 days ago. She hadn’t gotten the chance to go visit so asked if I could help out. Ladies, especially with their firstborn, stay with their parents after giving birth so they can be taken care of and rest. Quite the system if you ask me!

Since the ladies rest, only close male family members are allowed, plus other women. Hence Matt not going. So Michael, Samuel, my friend, and I loaded up in the car with gifts (and an empty liter jar since my friend’s parents are our source for local milk…2 birds, 1 stone!) and picked up her mom and daughter along the way. I got complimented on my language ability (this was while having my friend re-say everything her mom said so that I could understand it) and played the creation story in their language in the background.

The house is just outside of town, so it’s not easy for my friend to get out there. Thus us having a vehicle is a bonus for her. And her parents are great! So it’s a pleasure to take the boys out there for an hour or so to visit.

The visit was mostly just sitting around while talking went on around us, especially since her parents and older brother were getting ready to go to a funeral a little over 2 hours away. But the highlights included Michael eating salt milk tea with butter, yogurt, and fried eggs (the only local foods he likes, and it was his first time trying the milk tea) and him getting to play with and watch a plethora of animals, including a kitten, rabbits, cows, goats, a turkey, and a renegade dog (Michael wasn’t afraid, but my friend was for him!). The lowlight was when Michael stepped on the 10-day-old girl. Yowsers! Talk about me panicking! They were super gracious and didn’t seem upset by it at all, and even invited us to come back again, but man, did I feel horrible!

So that was our outing! I told my friend on the way back about a difference between our cultures. In America, it’s not uncommon for someone visiting a new baby to hold the baby. But she didn’t hold her sister’s baby, and that’s not the first time I’ve seen the sister not hold the newborn. She said she didn’t know why it’s like that, but that if she finds out she’ll tell me. She then said that she’s afraid of holding the baby because she’s so small (I’m guessing this is the common reason, but that’s just a guess).

Oh, and I forgot my camera, though don't know if they would have been comfortable with me taking pictures anyway. And since my phone is a dumb phone, there wasn't even that for a backup. Oh well, maybe some other time.

 

Welcome Thumperl!

Um, wow...delay in blogging? Yes, this definitely falls in that category.

A lot has happened since October, and yet not much has happened all at the same time. We took a 3 week vacation to visit Matt's parents in Zambia (and my old stompin' ground after college). Then we went to a meeting in Turkey, where a doctor from the US was concerned about me going into labor early. So we ended up not going back to our country (well, Matt went for 3 days and was able to get some things in order) awaiting the arrival of Thumper.

So now we have another child. Very strange since we left the US 2 1/2 years ago as a couple, and now we  have two little boys. But we'll be back on that side of the ocean later this year to do introductions, and we're really looking forward to that!

"Every birth is different, or so I've been told. And this definitely seems to be the case. When hearing stories of other ladies who have given birth in Turkey, I had my hopes for a speedy, starting-on-its-own delivery."

 This quote is how I started the blog about Michael's delivery. Um, this is exactly what happened this time. And I didn't even remember writing this! Funny how Dad works. He did give me the desires of my heart...15 1/2 months later! :)

Thumper was due March 7. I had been going to checkups every 10 days because of the US doctor's concern about early delivery. At first my doctor didn't see these things, but she kept a close eye on me and did tell me when she saw things that could indicate an early delivery. So I tried to take it easy (between a fabulous husband and an excellent family we were sharing an apartment with, this actually was able to happen most of the time!). On Feb. 17, a Monday, I went in for a checkup. At this point I was past the concern mark and a delivery at any point would be fine and Thumper wouldn't have to go to NICU. My doctor said I wouldn't be making it to 40 weeks, so sometime in the next 2 weeks we would get to meet our 2nd child.

Stereotype? You betcha!

We then headed to the mall as a family of 3 (after going on a hunt for Coldstone Creamery near where we were staying...sadly, it hadn't opened up yet). We walked through the mall after grabbing lunch at the food court (hooray for Arby's!) where I even told Matt that I wasn't mentally prepped for having 2 kids yet. I know, 8 1/2 months of prep time and I hadn't gotten there. Just call me slow.

When going to bed that night, I told Matt that I thought something might be different. There was some mild pain in my lower belly, and it felt different than it had other nights. So I let the flatmates know (by this time there were two other families in the apartment...each family had a bedroom) and promptly fell asleep at 10:30. This was strange because for several nights prior I couldn't fall asleep until sometime after 11.

At 2 I made a bathroom run, then laid in bed for the next 30 minutes rocking myself through pains (at which point you say "Why didn't you call the doctor?" Again...slow.) I wasn't convinced they were real contractions instead of Braxton Hicks. So from 2:30-4:30am, I googled the differences online, timed them, and wrote a couple e-mails. At 4:30 I finally woke up Matt to ask about the cell phone. After a brief moment of tears brought on by nerves, I talked to my doctor who said to go to the hospital and have them check me out. We woke up a flatmate to ask her to keep Michael, and out the door we went (after fumbling around packing the hospital bag in the dark while trying not to wake up Michael...theme of the post: slow.)

She called ahead and apparently told the nurse she expected it to be false labor. After all, she had just seen me less than 24 hours ago! My final words before walking through the hospital doors were to tell Matt that I wanted an epidural. But when the nurse checks you at 5:20 and you're already at 8cm, that goes out the window really quickly.

My doctor got there at 5:40, found me at 9 cm, and broke my water to help hurry things up. Fine by me! Don't know when the pushing started, but it was less than 30 minutes. I kept digging my nails into Matt's hand saying "I don't like this! It hurts!" But at 6:18am, our newest addition completely arrived. Another boy! Matt was pumped because he and one of our flatmates were the only people throughout the entire pregnancy to guess boy. And it made my heart happy to know that Michael would be growing up with a brother close in age to play with.

Helloooooo Samuel!

That said, may we introduce you to Samuel Slayton Mitchell. He was born at 2.805 kg and 50 cm (that's 6 lbs. 3ish oz and about 19.7 in.). And for those of you wondering, Michael made the adjustment quite well and either ignores or tries to care for his younger brother. Couldn't have imagined that going as smoothly as it has.

Pardon Matt's crazy eyes...trying to keep a wiggly newly-walking little boy still for the self-photo was a real trick!

My heart melts every time looking at this picture.

3 Becomes 4

So obviously we're waaaaaaay behind on the blog posting thing. This is actually a trial run to see if it's even possible to post from home. Our internet isn't anything fabulous, but sometimes it surprises us at what it's capable of doing. I'll try to upload a picture as well, but if there's not one...well, then you know that didn't work out.

Our big news at the moment (though you probably already know this either via our updates or Facebook) is that there's another little Mitchell bun in the oven! Due early March, "Thumper" and Mikey will be about 16 months apart. Whether this one is a boy or a girl will hopefully be a surprise yet again, but either way, we're expecting these two kiddos to become good friends quickly.

We had a teammate who just had a baby in Turkey and they used a different hospital than we did, though the doctor was the same. From their initial tour of the hospital, it sounds like a better fit than the other one. Not that the other one was really bad or anything...just that this has some improvements on it. Like, for example, the labor and delivery area is not only on the same floor as the recovery area, but is NOT in the basement. Hooray for windows! It didn't bother me like I thought it would, but what a mental joy it will be to not be in the basement for that, plus quicker getting to the recovery room. Anywho, we're excited.

Life has gotten slower here (and we weren't sure that could happen initially). We not have jars of tomatoes, salsa, and pickles (dill, break & butter, and hot dog relish), so here's to hoping they were done well enough to still be good in a few months. But I can officially say that we've broken into the canning world. Now, don't get too impressed. I'm pretty sure that anyone in the western world would be appalled at the method and equipment we used, but we were taught the local way and that's all we know...and frankly all we're currently equipped to do.

Introducing Thumper! Can you find the head and the rather round belly?

A New Home

The living room, packed full of stuff.

The small bedroom, stuff all in it.

The river just below our house. It's also the border.

Our living room, cleaned up. We have a nice, big cabinet in it, some storage room that we really like having.

Looking to the right in the living room. The couches all came with the house.

Our kitchen. We also enjoy these cabinets, although we have less room than we used to. Things are a little tight in these cabinets, so we are thinking of getting some to add.

The kitchen sink and tables. We don't have any counter space yet.

Michael's room. We put our old couch/chair set in here, figured it would be easier to spread out in here and not worry about keeping it too clean.

Our hall. I am standing at the front door. The first door on the left is our bedroom. The second is Michael's, with a storage room behind it. Straight ahead is the living room. To the right, behind the fridge, is the door to the kitchen. There is a hall on my right to the bathroom.

The bathroom with our washing machine.

Our water heater and the rest of the bathroom. Note the lack of a toilet. Also note the bucket with a lid. 'Nuff said for now.

Our view from the kitchen window. This is our yard, the toilet is the small room on the far left of the picture, mud walls an a low roof. We do have a pretty decent view

We have a new home. I am sorry it took as long as it did to upload pictures, but life has been a combination of slow internet and extreme busy-ness. We have a good story about the moving process as well.
If you have been doing much keeping up with us lately, you will know that about 2 weeks ago, the Mitchells made a move to a new house and town. After a year and a half in the town we have called home, we packed up our stuff once again, and moved to the district headquarters of another area about 3 hours away. Don't let the term "district headquarters" fool you, it's a town of a little over 3,000 people with a tiny bazaar and four roads. Perhaps we felt like we weren't living remote enough. 
Moving in Central Asia is an experience in and of itself. We had to hire moving trucks on our own. One truck was too small, so we hired two "chinese pickups" and asked the drivers to be at our house at nine. One showed at 8:30, the driver and Matt loaded that car and got him on his way. The second showed at 11, but this driver had a severe limp, so we both loaded what we could, then we asked for our teammates to come help load the heavy stuff. Eventually it all made it, some of the chairs were scratched or missing legs, but all told it was a very successful move.
We are very happy  to be in our new home, settling in, meeting neighbors. We wanted to share a few pictures of where we live, hopefully we will post again soon about how life is different in our new place.

"Quick and Easy" Breakfast Sausage Ring

My mom sent this recipe that she found on Facebook (cool mom!) and it just looked delicious! Plus, it only calls for 3 easy ingredients:

--> 1 roll of bulk Jimmy Dean sausage (any flavor)
2 7.5 oz cans of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese



In the US, I would definitely buy the sausage and biscuits as it calls for (except maybe house brands) and go ahead and buy the cheese already shredded.


Here, however...well, it took a little longer to set up. But it was oh so worth it!


The sausage was purchased as a 3.5 kg hunk of imported boneless red meat, and we ground half of it. Then one lb had spices added to make it taste like sausage (and from the looks of what we made, I'm guessing that 1 roll of sausage is 1/2 lb, so we've got that much left for something else).


The biscuits were made from scratch with a recipe that Matt's mom gave us.


And while we (thankfully) didn't have to make our own cheese from scratch (this cheese-lover would just have to go without before she got into that boat!), it did have to be shredded...but that was the shortest step of all.


So for those of you living where you can get these ingredients, give it a try. And if you can't...well, see what you can come up with on your own.


And thanks Momma! This is delicious!

This was the photo that came with the recipe. But ours looked like it, only the biscuits were lighter colored.

RECIPE:
--> Preheat oven to 350. Brown sausage in frying pan, drain. Open one can of biscuits and flatten each biscuit into larger circle. Place in bottom of greased bundt cake pan, overlapping each biscuit so that it makes a ring around bottom of pan.

Top biscuits with 1 cup of shredded cheese, next place cooked sausage on top of cheese then top sausage with remaining 1 cup cheese. Open second can of biscuit dough and flatten out each biscuit, repeat placing dough around the top of bundt pan so it looks like a ring.

Cook for 25 min or until golden brown. Let sit in pan for 5-10 min before inverting onto a plate. Slice and serve.

Life With a Kid - Part 2

As you probably read earlier, bringing a kid into life here means you get to pick up on different aspects of culture. Below are some more observations:

• People spit around little ones in order to get rid of the "negative energy." While I appreciate the heart behind it, I wish they knew that it doesn't really do that.
• The other day at the bazaar, a bizarre thing happened. (Get that? Good, you're quick.) An older couple was leaving as Michael and I were coming in. We shared the normal greetings, including questions about his health, age, and gender. As I was looking around (since they are talking to him, after all), I hear the sound of a recorder. Just one note. I turn back to the couple and the man has opened his sports coat and has a recorder type thing inside. He blew that one note, got Michael's cheek again, then they went on. What just happened?!?! My guess is that it has the same effect as the spitting. But I've never met someone who just carried a recorder around inside his jacket.
• Our landlord and his family like Michael. A lot. And that is a major understatement. The other night, his wife came next door, asked about one question about me, then 3 about Michael, who was napping at the time. Once she realized that, she said goodbye and good night. So yesterday on her lunch break, she came over to get a plant and also to let me know that after work she would take him. And she did. And this isn't the first time. She'll take him for 1-2 hours at a time, so Matt and I get an evening alone at home. Not a bad deal in my book! Everyone is all smiles when this happens. :)

That's all for now, but who knows what we'll learn as he gets older. Oh, and when we move to a different town in our region, which will happen next month.  Woo-hoo!!