the Odd Kouple

Unless you have been under a rock and don’t watch any TV (or live in a country where you don’t get ABC) then you probably know that the finale of LOST aired May 23, 2010.  I am not going to offer any theories or anything like that.  Just a quick story with a video. 

Nikki and I have followed LOST since it aired on my birthday September 22, 2004.  We even used season one as material for a bible study.  Thinking that the finale was going to air on Tuesday the 25th, I scheduled to go with a friend rock climbing to Sand Rock, AL.  Once I realized that it was going to air while I was camping, well…I had to figured out a fun techie way to still watch it.  Check out the video. 

For those that know me, you will definitely get a good laugh out of this.  Enjoy!

Tags: abc, camping, Daniel Hardeman, droid, lost, slingbox, television, tivo

It has been a long road for us since Christmas and we have taken our time in posting something up to give us some healing time.  We still have our low days, but I know that for me, there is has been a lot of positive change.  More good days than bad I believe.  The love and support we felt from all of you before, during and after has been uplifting and indescribable.  So I wanted to share with you one of our good experiences we just had. 

Those who know what we did this past weekend are aware just how insane Nikki and I may actually be.  Friday through Sunday we spent out time in Sand Rock, AL camping out and going rock climbing with our 2 1/2 year old along with our close friends Jill and Rachel.  It was an amazing experience and not nearly as challenging as we thought it might be.  Natalie did AMAZING for her first camping trip.  When we got home she told Nikki that her favorite part was the dirt.  Shortly after that, she played dress up in a Cinderella outfit.  I guess you could say she is a well rounded child.   Sand Rock is one of my favorite rock climbing spots.  I used to teach climbing at Camp Widjiwagan in Antioch, TN (they called me Houdini).  It was one of my favorite jobs.  After 2 weeks of lessons on a ropes course and a large alpine climbing tower I would take my campers on an overnight stay to Sand Rock as a reward for their hard work. 

On this trip there were tons of people showing up for camping and climbing enjoying this area.  We almost didn’t get a good climbing spot.  But found a good starter climb for everyone.  Natalie didn’t make it far, but loved trying and swinging from the rope in her new harness.  The ladies did great on the first climb and seemed to be enjoying themselves.  For me, this was a nice healing time.  Getting back to some of my roots before I joined the corporate world and just got too busy with life. 

My worry before we went was that I had lost my touch, but I was glad to know that Papi still has it!  Over the past month or so I have tried to take steps to get healthier physically to help me get healthier mentally.  It was rewarding to see that pay off.  I was worried that my 31 yr old body wasn’t going to do more than one or two climbs…however, the extra prep time made me feel better than when I was 21 or 22 and did these climbs before. 

The first day of climbing I was able to scale the rocks, setup the climbs, give proper instructions, even help some strangers with their climbs…and even complete my climbs without hurting myself or feeling sore afterwards.  But the real challenge came the next day.  I decided to face a climb called “Pressure Sensitive” located right next to another route called “Midget Digits.”  Pressure Sensitive is considered a 5.10 climb.  It is about 90-100 feet high with a slight inverse overhang part way up with most of the hand holds requiring finger tip grips.  This was my test for the day.  Our prior climbs were roughly 5.7-5.8 climbs.  Those offer some challenges for beginners. 

But this was the day for me to face my mountain.  We had faced so many over the last 5 months, this was my time to step up and overcome feelings of defeat.  I felt inadequate in front of this massive obstacle.  After an hour or so of working my way through the first challenge, then the second, and so on all the way to the top, with several stops along the way to fight feelings of self doubt…I finally felt a sense of reward as I kissed the 2 carabineers that anchored the rope at the top.  I knew what the final reward was as I turned to enjoy it.  Behind me was a breathtaking view of the valley.  It is one thing to walk to the edge from the road and take in this view, but I can assure you that it is a whole different experience when you come from the bottom.

This is how I have felt lately.  Each day has been a challenge and each day I have to fight off feelings of doubt and sadness.  But each day that I overcome another challenge, I build that confidence to get past the next one.  I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures that accompany this post.  I am also including a video at the bottom of Natalie enjoying swinging under Pressure Sensitive.  Thank you all again for your continued support.  We love you all!

Click on the Photo Album to see more of our adventure.  And check out the video at the bottom of Natalie “Climbing.

Climbing and Camping

Daniel (aka Houdini)

Tags: alabama, Antioch, area, beginners, Behind, Camp, campers, christmas, Cinderella, confidence, Daniel, Daniel Hardeman, Digits, dirt, feet, High, Houdini, hour, instructions, jobs, ladies, lessons, life, Midget, mountain, Natalie, Nikki, Nikki Hardeman, obstacle, Papi, Points, Pressure, Rachel, road, Rock, rock climbing, Sand, sand rock, self, Sensitive, setup, starter, strangers, Thank, valley, Widjiwagan

With an almost two year old running around, there is a lot of potty talk around our house. We are beginning to enter the stage of potty training and little Natalie is always intrigued when someone has to go tee tee or poo poo.

As we traveled around the world, we learned that there are all sorts of ways that people use the bathroom. However, instead of merely describing this to you in words, I thought pictures would serve the purpose a little better.

At the top of the post, you see the western toilet. While we were in SE Asia, we got to use eastern toilets, or squatty potties, as we affectionately call them, on occasion.

Above is an example of the squatty potty. You place your feet on either side of the hole in the ground and you squat in order to “go”. It is quite an interesting feat to accomplish if you never have before. We carried our own TP, however, if you are from the area, you will simply use your left hand to splash your self clean. This is the reason for never using your left hand for anything else. If a sprayer is available, you may also use that to clean yourself. Upon standing, you will then pour water down the hole in order to flush your waste away.

In more remote villages, these squatty potties were located in outhouses. The little building on the right of the picture below is such an outhouse.

Below, the outhouse is the little blue building in the middle of the picture.

All these primitive bathrooms made me feel like I really live in the lap of luxury…that was, until I encountered the restrooms at the airport in Tokyo, Japan.

There were more gidgets and gizmos in this bathroom than I have ever seen.

There were some things for which I never quite figured out the purpose. If anyone can elaborate on some of these contraptions, please do. In the picture below, I never really figure out the purpose of this basin. It did have flushing capabilities.

But yes, I did try most of it out…

…and I pushed all of the buttons. What can I say, I’m curious.

The pictures on the buttons above are pretty self-explanatory and most of them did exactly what the look like they will do.

I hope you find this educational and entertaining. Have a lovely day.

Tags: Bathrooms, Untitled

On one of the last days of our trip, John asked all of us about our impressions. We all made several comments about the food and the work. Then I started thinking about the poverty that we had seen and I said to John, “I noticed that the people who live in the villages don’t seem to know how poor they really are.”

We primarily visited villages of people that lived right on the river’s edge. When the rainy season comes the river gets deeper and wider. For this reason, all of the houses are built on stilts, because for 3-4 month out of every year, their houses are in the river, not by the river. These houses are, for the most part, sturdy, though several of them have a slight to moderate lean to them. We got to go into several different houses and in each one, I could see right through the floor to the river below. Many of the houses had 1 to 2 rooms and were very simply furnished. The kitchen had a couple of gas stove eyes to cook on, a small sink for washing and some shelves for holding utensils. Some houses had refrigerators, some did not. There would be one bed, sometimes two, and a simple sitting area. Often the sitting area and the bedroom were two sections of the same room. Some homes would have a T.V., some would not. They would go to an outhouse (also on stilts) to use the bathroom. There were few children’s toys strewn about and a few decorations on the wall. There was no washer and dryer, no tivo, no air conditioning, no child-proofing, no car, no ovens, no dishwashers, no playground for the children to play at, no glass in the windows, no paint on the walls, no internet, They live incredibly simple lives, always trying to reuse and recycle different items to get as much use out of them as possible.

In addition to the things above, most of these people do not have access to clean drinking water until the water filters were brought into their communities and there are still several communities that don’t have the filters. Public school is not free in the area, so many children’s parents could not afford for them to go to school. Most villages did not have access to good medical care.

I find myself torn by the poverty that I saw. On the one hand, I believe that everyone has a right to clean water, good medical care, and education. These things are important and this is a lot of what social justice is all about. On the other hand, I find myself awed and maybe even a little envious of the simplicity of their lives. I think about how overwhelmed one of them might be if they came to stay at my home with me. I think about showing them my dishwasher and trying to teach them how to use my tivo. It makes me laugh a little and then I think “No! I shouldn’t try to push my own western consumerism on them and expect them to live with the same kind of excess I do.” I find true beauty in the simplicity of the lives that they lead.

I think that it is important for us to go and help others who do not have access to the things that are necessary for the human life. It is so important that we give to our neighbors all around the world out of what we have. I am reminded of the great hymn, “Because I have been given much, I too must give.”

At the same time, if I do not allow myself to be influenced and changed by the lives of the people I encounter, then my gifts to them are not worth very much. It is important for us to see what gifts the other has and how they can impact our lives as well.

I’ll be honest; Daniel and I struggle to live simple lives. With both of us working, we often find ourselves looking for what is convenient and what makes life easier. However, since we have been home, we have been trying to do little things to take on some of the simplicity we witnessed in SE Asia. We work harder to eat at home and to eat leftovers more often. We have been recycling for several years now, but sometimes get a little lax in our efforts. We are trying to be more conscientious about our recycling. For Natalie, we are striving to use cloth diapers a little more and disposables a little less. We are trying to “make do with” and “reuse” what we already have.

I don’t know how long the efforts will last. I hope a while. It is good for my own self, as well as the world around me, when I try to live a little more simply and a little less consumeristic-ally.

It felt like 100 degrees and humidity off the charts.  Although, the soak filled shirt that I was wearing was providing sort of a cooling affect for to my upper body.  As for my lower body, well, it felt like Niagara Falls flowing down the back of my…never mind, you don’t  need that visual.  Moving on.  Let’s just say, it was a hot day.  We had an incredible experience and Natalie even was a great sport about riding in a baby backpack for the first time.  So let me tell you about it. 

We were out with John this day to experience some villages almost 2hrs from the city to observe more of the water filtration systems that had been setup.  This area could only be reached by about an hour and a half to 2hr drive and then another 15-20 minute boat ride.  The strange thing that was explained to us is that most of the area that we travelled by boat would soon become land that would be covered with rice fields during the dry season.  Right now though, it was completely covered in water and hard to imagine how it would ever become land.  As we floated past some areas that had started to recede, we did notice heads popping up out of the water as people were starting to prepare their fields for planting.  It was a site to see.  I likened them to ninjas as many of them had their faces wrapped in clothe to protect them from the sun and they would pop up out of the water as if they were hiding.  So, the next time you eat a bowl of rice, just think, it might have been grown by ninjas!  Awesome!  

Well, our first docking point brought us to a little fishery that John had assisted with setting up.  There was a small man crouched on it crushing snails to feed to the fish through a small hole in the floor.  The whole thing looked like a small bamboo house floating in the water.  Netting and bamboo walls were attached to the bottom that stretched to the bed of the river to keep the fish in.  We docked and John immediately hopped out and greeted the man.  Then brought Natalie out so that the man could show her how he fed the fish with the insides of the snails.   Within a split second of the first handful of snails hitting the water, fish were jumping to the surface.  More than we could count.  Natalie immediately did the sign for fish and started grinning from ear to ear.  She was mesmerized for the next 5 minutes.  She stayed with John and enjoyed the show until there were no snails left to be eaten.  Of course it gave Papi plenty of time to take pictures and video of his little girl and her taking in this culture experience. 

From there, we were once again invited into a local’s home to eat the lunch we had brought ourselves.  Same meal as the last boat ride, white rice, jack fruit, beef marinated in a spicy roasted coconut sauce of some kind, and some some cucumbers all wrapped in a banana leaf.  This time however, we did not all have silverware, so we let Nani eat with the spoon and John, Nikki and I used our hands.  This was pretty customary anyways for this type of meal.  The three of us all had prior experience with this in the past and tried to teach Nani how to do it, but I think she was comfortable enough with the spoon.  Of course, Natalie had plenty of experience with her hands. 

  After lunch is when we got to trek through the village to see about 5 or so of the water filtration systems that John had built here.  It was a pretty long hike crossing over unsteady bridges and walking through muddy trails.  The people of the villages sat out on their patios and stairs watching us go by as they heard that we were coming.  This was their chance to see a group of Americans and catch a glimpse of Natalie and her curls.  She of course is always a huge attraction.  Nani killed her camera battery taking pictures of the local children and foliage, but couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.  It was a fun scene to watch.  Almost all the houses were built on stilts as we had seen before on our previous trip. 

It was amazing the amount of work that John had accomplished with the filtration systems during his time here.  As a father myself, I could also recognize the look of deep pride that was on Nani’s face as I watched her experience the impact that her son was making on the world.  You see, we all have questions about what our lives mean and what kind of impact we make before we leave.  Did we prepare enough to take care of our loved ones before we die?  Did we do enough to make an impact to the world?  To those around us?  Will we be remembered?  Or will the world go on and forget about us?  What kind of legacy do we carry on?  These and hundreds of other questions run through each of our minds.  They are difficult but valid.

As we continued to walk through this area and village, I noticed a new since of energy.  Even though we were hotter than we have ever been before, we all knew we were experiencing something special.  Nikki and I also knew that even though Natalie may be too young to remember anything, some of this would seep in to her subconscious.  The cultural experience would become part of who she would soon become as adult.  It happened to me.  I may not have realized it until I was an adult, but I did finally come to realize that each experience I had as a child through now has affected me in some way.  Even the ones I did not choose to experience myself.  But this experience was somehow different than some of the others. 

At each of the systems the villagers were proud to run to them, poor a sample of the water into a cup and show us what it looked like.  Crystal clear.  Then they would point out that it came from the same dark brown river we arrived on.  WOW!  I don’t think Houdini could pull off that magic trick.  Come to think of it, it might be likened to turning water to wine, but rather turning mud to bottled water.  John and Casey are definitely part of a larger vision. 

As we stood at the last filtration system we were invited in to the house of the boat captain.  We sat in there and all looked exhausted.  However, Natalie of course found the energy to run around and show off with the rest of the kids.  Me, I took pictures, but suddenly noticed something odd.  A foul stench in the air.  At first I dismissed it.  I figured it had to do with the fact that we were in a third world country, a house on stilts in the water and there was who knows what out here in the village that was causing the smell…maybe durian lurking around the corner haunting me. I raised the camera for another shot…there was the smell again.  It about knocked me off my feet.  Nope…not durian…but it was a familiar smell.  Me.  wow.  I know I put on my deodorant this morning.  But I think this full day trip finally got the better of me.  

We headed back in the boat and got back to the car.  As we climbed in I immediately apologized to everyone.  They said for what?  I told them that they would see.  Within seconds they noticed.  Then John started to realize that he didn’t smell so great either, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as me.  It was so bad that every time I moved, it was like a release valve for more smell that had not gotten away.  But we had a lot of fun laughing about it the whole way home as we all were sweating and smelly from this incredible trip. 

My point in telling you how much I smelled?  Well, some may be grossed out by it.  Some may not have been able to handle that type of heat to have seen past it and enjoyed that experience that we were on.  I have met those people.  That’s ok.  For us, we smelled like a cultural experience and loved every minute of it.  Because that cultural experience answered some of my earlier questions for us.  We got to see the impact John and Casey have made in the lives of the people where they work.  And it is HUGE!  They have met the needs of so many people.  And have touch so many souls in such a short period of time.  Through their work there, they have also touched the lives of all of us back home with their example.  As far as preparing there loved ones?  I don’t think that their family could ever be more proud of them.  And this doesn’t even include what they have done even before this trip.  We have been prepared.  We have been touched. 

To be able to say that I played even a small part in planting a seed for them to get back to SE Asia years ago helps me feel like I am a step closer to answering those questions for myself.  Have I done enough?  I don’t know yet.  But I will continue to try to smell like a cultural experience and be proud of it.  Yeah, I may be more of a glory hound than John is, but he has taught me a lot more about humility over the last few years and about being comfortable doing the Lord’s work without needing attention and recognition.  I still have some work to do in that area, but I’m getting there. 

John and Casey, as you read this know that we are all proud of you.  When you come out of this experience you are definitely going to smell a heck of a lot more than I did that day.  Culturally that is…I hope.  You have made more of an impact on those around you and those here at home than you will ever know.  Meeting the needs of the people comes first.  The Lord will touch their hearts.  You will always be remembered and we look forward to see what more you will do in the future.  If the things you have done so far is just the beginning, then I am speechless and awestruck, because there will be so much more to come. 

To everyone else, please feel free to add comments with the following:

1. Words of encouragement to John and Casey.**Please, no specifics about where they are, of course!**
2. When did you smell like a cultural experience?  Feel free to share funny or serious stories.  It’s all about community here! 

To finish this post, I give you a picture of Natalie at the end of the trip.  I captured this picture to sum up how tired we all were after the hike.  She was an incredible sport.  See below for explanations of the other pictures. 

(Explanation of pictures as they appear: 1. Natalie riding in the baby back pack for the first time. 2. The area behind me is the area that will eventually become rice fields.  3. The fishery mentioned in the story. 4. The old bridges that we had to cross. 5. Broad shot of the area we were hiking past. 6. Some of the water from the filtration system with the water from the river in the background that it came from. 7. Nikki and Nat with all the children that followed us to the boat captain’s house. 8. A lady from the village that is sure to benefit from the clean water. 9. Me telling Nat about our trip. 10. Nat holding John’s hand on the way home. 11. Nat worn out at the end of the trip.)

D. Hardeman

Even before the inception of this blog, I had begun to take an interest in writing.  Because of this, my best friend and creative writer, Jill, was helping me by giving me writing exercises to help me work out my writing muscles.  She’s a great teacher, even though I’m not a great student.  I have this little hope that one day I might write a little poetry.  Nothing amazing mind you, but something that Daniel will think is pretty cool.  I have always been fascinated by poets and how they can describe things both succinctly and thoroughly.  As I was talking with my friend about poetry, one thing she told me was  that I need to write about things that I feel passionately about–positive or negative passion. Well, if this is the case by which someone is choose topics to write poetry about, I’m convinced that entire volumes could be filled with poetry about the tropical fruit, Durian.

Durian

Durian is a fruit that you either love or absolutely despise.  My husband has already traveled the world and eaten all manner of strange things.  He has always prided himself on being able to do the culturally polite thing and eat anything that is put before him.  However, durian was the first thing that caused him to question his ability to do that.  He tried the fruit four times (he was promised that by the third time he would love it) in his travels to SE Asia and has never learned to like it.  In fact, he finds the fruit to be so foul that it nearly offends him.  My brother on the other hand is one of those odd people who has learned to really like the fruit and enjoys eating it. 

So, on this trip, I had my own opportunity to eat this strange and curious fruit.  I went with my brother one afternoon to pick it up, but we were told by Casey that we were not aloud to put it in the car.  So, we went and borrowed a pickup truck so that we did not stink up the inside of their vehicle.  (Yes, the odor is that strong and it will linger a long time.) We got to the store and John wasn’t sure that they would have it because it wasn’t exactly the right season for the fruit.  After hearing D complain about the fruit, I was keeping my fingers crossed that we wouldn’t find it. However, when we opened the doors to the little market, John got a big grin on his face and said, “Its here!”  He knew because he could smell it from across the room.  When I caught a whiff of it, I knew I was in trouble.  We bought the fruit, put it in the bed of the truck and headed back to pick up everyone else to go to a friends house for dinner.  The time came to open and partake of the durian.  Before I tell you my experience of the fruit, let me share with you some quotes that I found on wikepedia about the fruit. 

Alfred Russell Wallace, someone who seemed to enjoy the fruit described it this way. “The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. … as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.”

On the other side, Richard Sterling described it this way. “… its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.”

So, it was my turn to try this strange fruit. John brought the fruit into the living room.  He said you know its ripe when it gets soft and starts to crack at the bottom.  He didn’t even have to use a knife to break it open.  He found the soft spot and pulled in apart with his hands.  As soon as he did, the already foul odor became even stronger and it made my nose crinkle and my eyes water a little.  However, I was reserving judgement until I actually tasted it.  In our family, we have a rule–”Don’t say something is gross until you’ve tasted it, or you have to eat a whole serving.”  Next John pulled out one of the pods of the fruit and handed it to me.  

Texture: I thought for a long time about how to describe it.  It is gooey and stringy and mushy.  If you wanted to approximate the texture, take a piece of saran wrap, put a lot of mayonnaise or pudding and some hair on it.  Wrap it all up into a ball and mush it around.  That is what it felt like.  

Close Up

I took a minute to get over the smell and then I tasted it.  At first, the taste was not good, but it was bearable.  However, the taste of the fruit comes in stages.  About 4 second after I put it in my mouth, it felt like flavor crystals burst open and the taste became so much stronger, and different all at the same time.  There is really no way to describe the actual flavor.  It defies any description that I could come up with.  The above descriptions do as good of a job as any.  After I ate it, my hosts told me that I wasn’t really done with it.  Durian causes people to burp and the taste of the fruit comes with each burp.  This was true.  I tasted the fruit for the rest of the night.  

Durian is not a fruit I intend to eat any time soon or ever.  I was not one of those people who loved it and I am glad that I don’t have to eat it here in the states to be culturally polite.

Me poking at the Durian

Tags: Asia, Durian, Strange Eats, Travel

We’re glad to be home even if all of our luggage didn’t make it.  We are missing two pieces of luggage, one of which included the majority of Natalie’s wardrobe.  We’re crossing our fingers that they can find it.  The crazy part is, we know all of our luggage made it to Minneapolis because we had to check it through customs.  I don’t know how it got lost between there and Atlanta.  

As for today, we are fighting the jet lag, unpacking, washing clothes, and working to get back into a routine of some kind. However, you can expect more posts about our trip. There is so much to write about.  You can be looking forward to future posts that include topics like, “Durian, the Fruit that Could Inspire Poets,” “I Smell Like a Cultural Experience,” “Justice: Basics, not Excess,” and  ”Bathrooms Abroad.”  

We are already missing John and Casey.  It was so good to be with the two of them and see the wonderful work they do.  If you are interested in supporting them and their work to provide clean water to people who desperately need it, let me know and I’ll let you know how you can do that. 

For now, I’m off to putting our life back in order here.  Have a wonderful day .

Family is family wherever you go.  Whether they speak your language or not.  The other day we got the distinct pleasure of meeting one of Casey’s closest friends, Helen and her family.  Helen is extremely fun and has already mastered the use of the word “y’all” within only 5 minutes of practice.  (I’m so glad we can make a difference over here.)  She has an incredible grasp of the English language, but in our first meeting with her, she was nervous and talked at warp speed.  She was much calmer the second time around.  This is when we got to meet her family.  And this is also where the fun began.

We were invited to Helen’s brother’s “birthday party” (we’ll come back to this), but before this event we were supposed to stop by her mother’s house for her to meet Nancy.  Here it is an honor for Helen’s mother to get a chance to serve John and Casey’s mother in her home.  We arrived on the main road, parked, and then had to walk down a narrow street to get to a small house with a small wooden gate, 2 motorbikes parked in the front and kids sitting on the front bench waiting to greet us.  Natalie immediately pointed out the geese on the side of the house sitting under the banana tree and wanted to take off running. 

As we were ushered into the small room in the front of the house we felt like giants as Helen and her family stand no more than 5ft tall or so.  Or so it felt like.  Nikki seem to tower over the entire family the one time we had a group picture.  As we sat in the living room, we were served fried bananas and a vegetable fish fritter thing.  Along with extremely sweet tea.  Natalie seemed to take to the fried banana, but was quickly distracted by the fact that everyone wanted to squeeze her cheeks and touch her hair.  They loved the curls in her hair.

Something that I have to fill you in on.  The people here do not get their sweets from their food.  Their chocolate is not overly sweet.  Their other candy is not very sweet…but they do get it from there drinks instead!  Their coffees, teas and other drinks have truck loads of sugar in them.  Enough to make you have a sugar rush within minutes and last for a few hours.  I’m telling you,  your system has never had this much sugar in it.  But when you finally come down from the rush, I can assure you that you have never crashed…ahem…slept so well.  But that is how they get their sweets. 

So, back to the visit with Helen’s family.  We originally thought it would be a quick stop at this house, then another quick stop at the brother’s house then back home for dinner with another American family that works here with John and Casey.  Well, that’s what we get for thinking.  Right when Natalie was getting into everything and getting restless, and we were thinking about heading to our next stop, the heavens opened up the flood gates.  Enough rain poured down to solve Georgia’s drought problems in one day.  It sounded great on the small tin roof we were under, but we were assured that it should only last about 10 minutes.  People shouldn’t really say things like that.  At least 45 minutes or more later it was still pouring down hard.  Once we realized it wasn’t slowing down at all, we decided we had to make a move for the car. 

Nikki walked barefoot down the narrow street as it was now flooded above our ankles.  I carried Natalie through the flood waters.  Talk about a fun cultural experience.  We made it to the car and from there started driving to the brother’s house.  On the way there the streets of the city began flooding.  At one point the car stalled right in the middle of a flooded, busy street.  As we got honked at from many directions John and I started to hop out of the car to start to push.  Nikki hopped in the front to steer the van off the road.  When John opened his door his umbrella fell out and floated away.  Thinking it was gone John moaned allowed and said something about his umbrella.  As I got out on the other side of the van I noticed an opportunistic young teenager who had scooped up the umbrella from John’s side who was suddenly startled to see a second giant white man standing in front of him.  I reached my hand out halfway as water rushed past my legs, giving him a chance to either fess up and give me the umbrella or just walk away.  Frozen and pale faced as this giant confronted him, he handed the umbrella over quickly then took off.  I tossed it back in the vehicle and rushed back to help push.  Getting more startled looks from the little boys that were helping push in the rain and flood waters when 2 large white men surrounded them to push this car.  For them it was exciting and fun to see not only one, but 2!  Wow! 

Once we got back in the van, I was relieved to confirm that the umbrella that I had retrieved was in fact John’s.  For a split second I had realized that I never asked John before we drove off.  I was pretty sure it was ours, but in the middle of the insanity I was glad to know that I hadn’t just robbed a street kid. 

Once we arrived at Helen’s brother’s house we were greeted again at the front of the house and brought in to the front of the house where it was a small living room again.  There was no birthday party as we would think of in the USA.  Here the birthday party is done in a way where guests are invited over and then served.  Or if it is your birthday and you went out to eat, you would pay for all your friends and guests, not the other way around.  So here we were.  It was his birthday, but he was serving us dinner.  A soup with fish dumplings and noodles, topped with crispy shrimp chips and a sweet soy sauce.  And of course very sweet coffee.  I also was served what I would call “fish ‘n’ chips” that were chips with nuts and actually pieces of small dried pieces of fish in them.  It was a little salty, but not that bad really.  The soup was also pretty good.  

Natalie really made herself at home at this house.  She made her way back to one of the bedrooms here and the women of the house loved to watch her get up on the bed and jump.  This was one of the new games that she had learned at home and now was making her the most popular kid around.  It made her hair even more appealing as the curls bounce even more. 

This was an amazing family as in both homes even the men took to Natalie and loved to take her out and show her the rain.  They were so gentle with her and made us feel so comfortable letting her roam around and play in their homes.  The women were welcoming and constantly wanting to share their life with us.  The family was more open than we were expecting and willing to be free with us.  The joy in their stories and in their smiles brought such comfort and love to each visit that we didn’t feel like we were intruding on them even once.  This was an Islamic family embracing a Christian family as one of their own.  Taking them in and welcoming them in with open arms.  

What could we take from this?  Do we worry so much about our appearances and own comfort level that we forget to just open up ourselves and our own culture to those just outside our doorsteps?  This family had no idea what to expect of us.  They didn’t know if we would like their food yet they served us what they had, offering us their best with love and not being offended if there was something leftover when we were gone.  What seemed important to them was the honor of sharing their culture and the joy that came across our faces as we shared our time with them.  It was also important to them that we took the time to absorb their culture.  Can we do the same with others?  Even though Nikki and I are the Odd Kouple, she does try to absorb my gaming/geek culture as best she can.  She may not play my games or play with all the gadgets, but she tries to understand it all.  I may not attend all the conferences she goes to, but I love to absorb the knowledge and culture of her experience that she brings back to me from each of her experiences.  What can you do to enhance the lives of those around you just from absorbing their culture or sharing your own?  Think about it…leave your own suggestions in the comment field.  That is, if you were able to read this far into the post. 

D. Hardeman

One of my favorite things about traveling to other parts of the world is learning about different faith traditions and how they are practiced.  Yesterday, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit a mosque and a Buddhist temple.

Our day started out at the mosque.  This is a large mosque and hundreds of people come to it everyday for prayer.  It is capable of holding 7500 people at one time.  We were not allowed to go into the mosque because we are not Muslim, but we were allowed to walk around it and learn about it.  We saw where the people washed before they went in for prayers.  They wash their feet, hands, forearms, face, mouth, and the top of their heads and they wash each of these three times.  After they wash, they may go inside to pray.  There are different patterns for kneeling and bowing based on which time they are praying during the day and they go for prayers 5 times each day.  The mosque did not have the typical look of a mosque that you might see in the states or in the Middle East.  The people who built it in the 1700s used a collection of architectural design to represent the various cultures that live in the area.  One of my favorite things about learning about other faith traditions is the way that it gives me pause to consider my own.  I was struck by how “set apart” the Muslim tradition seems to be.  They do things that cause them to visibly demonstrate their faith: they pray 5 times a day, some of the women wear the head covering, they are specific about washing before entering the mosque, and only Muslims are allowed to enter.   Whatever I believe and feel about these practices put aside, I was struck by this.  There are not many things I do that would cause people to automatically know that I am Christian.  I occasionally wear a cross around my neck and I go to church on Sunday mornings.  Other than that, most of my expressions of faith are done in private with my family.  It caused me to wonder, is there value to allowing your faith to be more visible in the things that we do? Not in a pious kind of way, but in a “this is who I am” kind of way.  

The Maitreya Buddha

After visiting the Mosque, we went back to the house for lunch and a rest.  Then we went to the Buddhist temple.  I am always so curious about Buddhism.  I think because I have the hardest time understanding it.  There are many wonderful things about the Buddhist way of life.  They have a wonderful respect for life, they express compassion, and they seem concerned with justice and inclusivity.  At the same time, I struggle to understand their desire to reach enlightenment.  This particular temple honored the Maitreya Buddha, which is the Buddha of the future.  This Buddha is said to bring about ultimate peace, joy, and happiness on earth.  This particular temple promoted vegetarianism and believed that one of the ways we can save the world is through the practice of vegetarianism.  This belief was important because it demonstrated their respect for all life.  There were some lovely statues of the Buddha and you were encouraged to pray before these statues.  We got to eat at a restaurant sponsored by this temple and it was wonderful food with a Chinese flare to it. 

Natalie was a big hit at the temple.  They allowed her to run all over and everyone wanted to pick her up, touch her curls, and pinch her cheeks.  She was a wonderful sport about it all.  Everyone is surprised when they find out she is not even two yet because of her size.  They always say, “Her body is so big!”

John and Casey's Church

This morning, we had the wonderful opportunity to go to church with John and Casey for Easter. While I love learning about other faith traditions, there is nothing like coming home to your own even if it is in another language.  The entire service was in the local language, but some how the language of faith transcends actual language barriers.  As we sat there and tried to sing along to both familiar and unfamiliar tunes, I was truly moved by the emotion that was expressed by those in the room.  It all felt so familiar to me.  The pastor preached on the resurrection, and even though I did not understand his words, I understood the joy that came across when he expressed the truth of our faith-that even in the darkest of times, God’s love conquers all and carries us through. 

Natalie is so active and she had a hard time sitting through the service today. I am so grateful to a wonderful woman who works here with John and Casey.  She volunteered to watch Natalie while we experienced the service.  Her young daughter helped to keep her entertained.  It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy the service. 

I really have felt so moved and humbled and challenged by this trip.  I am reminded that my world is so small and there are so many more perspectives on life and faith and the world than my own. It is a joy to experience new ways of thinking and to be challenged to look at things in new ways.  

Tonight, we got to have Easter dinner with a family who John and Casey work with here.  The couple hid eggs so that Natalie and their children could have an Easter egg hunt.  It was fun to watch Natalie run around, picking up eggs, and enjoying herself.  

There is more to write about from today, but that will be another time.  For now, I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter day and find yourself strengthened and encouraged by the good news that “Jesus is Risen!”

The Easter Egg Hunt

Tags: Asia, Buddhism, Christianity, Faith, Islam, Mosque, Religion, Temple

(For those that may be new readers to our blog, please understand that we cannot mention specifically where we are.  This could potentially jeopardize the work that John and Casey do here.  This also keeps us from specifically naming some of the foods or locations within the country we are in.  This is why we can only say that we are in SE Asia.) 

If you have been following me on Twitter you would know that yesterday we made a trip to the main river here.  We had a chance to take a ride on a speed boat to visit several villages along the river.  Several of these villages are home to the water filtration systems that John and Casey have been a part of building since they have been here.  It was an incredible experience and wonderful time to see how they have spent their life here among the people. 

By the time we reached the port village the heat of the day was already making the A/C of the car work harder than it was designed for.  As soon as we pulled into the boat captain’s house where we were to leave the car, a crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of Natalie.  It seems that she has become an instant star with her curly hair.  The people here also find it fascinating that she is so large for age…and they are not shy to point it out.  But they love it. 

From here we got to tour a medical boat designed to go up and down the river.  It provides free dental and other general medical services to villages that are located on the banks of the river.  There is a small fee to register on a patient’s first visit, but after that there is no further charge as long as they bring there registration card.  The boat consists of two levels with the reception level on the first level along with the main medical clinic.  Upstairs are bedrooms, storage rooms and a kitchen.  It was a moving experience to see what could be done with so little. 

Even though the boat showed signs of wear throughout the floors and walls, it still radiated with the life and love that filled each room.  You could still find cups of teeth that had been pulled from the many dental visits where most patients waited too late to seek treatment.  The medical rooms were full of life even as they were currently empty while the boat was docked for maintenance.  As John and Casey walked us through each room and described the work that was done on this boat, we could not feel more proud to be present just to witness this work.

After the tour of the medical boat, we took off on a 15 foot speed boat to head out on our tour of the river.  Surrounded by views of villages filled with houses that were raised above the water by stilts.  Some made of wood, some of concrete.  Some houses standing firm, while others leaning and appearing to almost fall over…but all were occupied.  Some homes just floated on the water only supported by bamboo.  As one piece of bamboo would go bad, it would be replaced.  That brings a completely different meaning to the thought of “redoing our kitchen floors.”  Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Make Over would have had a hard time with these homes.  

Our main purpose of this river tour was for a chance to see the water filtration systems that John and Casey have been working on.  Originally, we had hoped to get a chance to work on some ourselves, but unfortunately, that will not work out due to several circumstances.  Yesterday though, we did get a chance to see 2 of the 12 systems located in places that seemed to be only reachable by boat. 

The systems consist of 6 water chambers.  The first holds the dirty water pumped in from the river.  Then the water is filtered through 2 chambers that are filled with rocks, followed by chambers filled with sand.  Finally, the water passes through a charcoal filter before it is stored in the final chamber where it is the cleanest.  The water goes from a “hot chocolate” brown color to completely clear.  The villagers are still told to boil the water, but some still drink it straight from the tap in this state and have not gotten sick from it. 

At the second location we had the chance to stop and spend time in the home of the village leader.  This was one of the houses raised above water by stilts, but also had the water filtration system attached next to it.  This experience was incredible as we had the opportunity to spend time with the family who allowed us to use their home as a place for us to spread our lunch out on their floor and eat in their home even though we did not bring anything for them and they were not eating with us.  It was a very humbling experience to have a picnic in the middle of someone else’s house.  Granted, there was no dry land outside for us to spread out on and eat either.  So, we didn’t have much of a choice.  Natalie made herself right at home and once again was the star of the show with her curly hair and curious personality.

So much more happened yesterday.  I can’t fit it all in right now.  But as I reflect back, I realize that this has been an incredible experience just to come back and see what John and Casey have done.  Even though we cannot show you their faces and give you more details about them or where they are, do know that they have made a footprint on the world.  The people here have been embraced and loved by John and Casey.  In the short time they have been here they have provided them with a gift that will last a lifetime and have filled us with a pride that will we cannot fully express.

As I sign off for the evening (mid day for all of you) I leave you with what else, but a cut picture of Natalie with the children of the village leader that we met.  Goodnight.  I hope the rest of you have a great day on the other side of the world. 

D. Hardeman

Tags: Natalie, Travel