A Boring Post (Update: Now With Something Interesting, At No Extra Charge!)
So, I know we need to post a blog, but there's really not much to tell about. Jesse and I are still chugging along in language and trying to develop relationships with people, and it's tough to come up with an interesting post built on that.
One thing that could be of interest is that we might have a few opportunities to go with families to some of the various areas of T-land. Oh, and it's been a little crazy with the weather here. It will be real hot (38 C) and a storm will come in a it will be chilly (20 C) for the next few days.
Thankfully, we are all healthy. Unless, you consider poor Matthew who has a total of 120 mosquito bites on his body. Poor guy looks like he has a disease or something. The rest of us also have bites but only a few. I guess Matthew is just too sweet.
Yep, manly men have tea parties. And below, a look at poor Matthew's bites. We thought we were avoiding the mosquitoes when we decided to work here instead of in the jungle!
Part of having boys is stifling that cringing sensation you get ("You'll hurt yourself!") sometimes. As in, when they decide to climb the balcony ladder. Actually, Steven climbs like a monkey. It's Matthew that makes us nervous when he climbs up to the top.
You know the meat is top quality when it's more fat than actual hamburger, right? Right?
Just some souvenirs. I really have nothing else to post, sorry.
*Update* Bobbie asked me to spellcheck this and post it today, but then we were spontaneously invited by my language helper to go out to "Salt Lake." If you'll recall from last year, this is a nearby tourist attraction that, much like the Dead Sea, has an extremely high salt concentration. The locals go there to bathe in its healing waters; we just went so the boys could experience a beach!
Both Matthew and Steven thoroughly enjoyed the unlimited size of the "sandbox." They didn't like getting the salty water in their faces, but once they learned to avoid that they loved it.
This is my language helper, A, and the shashlik we fixed for dinner.
We posted a similar picture last year, but we duplicated it again today. The water is so salty, you float almost on top of it, so I took a newspaper out in the waves to catch up on my reading. I don't remember if I talked about this last year, but one of the things that fascinates me about the lake is the lens effect that the salt has on the water. What I mean is that there is so much salt in it, that it concentrates the sun's rays like a lens. It gets warmer the deeper you go, and about 5 feet down it is almost boiling! It's so bizarre to be standing in the water and to have your feet boiling hot, your waist comfortably warm, and your chest chilly.
The locals prize the mud for its curative powers. It must do something, because Bobbie tried it once a few months ago and said it did make her skin soft. I filled up a bottle with the mud for her before we left, so she could put some on here at home.
Steven and A's daughter having a grand time splashing and playing. It was so great to get the boys outside where they could just run and play wherever they wanted!
Right before we left, it started to rain and a storm looked to be brewing. As we drove across the steppe, we could look back and see the storm sweeping across the lake behind us.
