And you thought you were silly...
Theo is trying to do “knock, knock” jokes. It is incredibly cute. It goes like this:
“Knock, Knock, mummy” (as he knocks on my head while we stare at each other on my pillow)
“Who’s there, Theo?”
“Dase” (meaning Faith)
“Faith who?”
“Dase, and Daddy!!!!!! Hah, hah, hah….!!!” (At which point we giggle and Faith overhears and says that he is silly)
The other evening Faith said that there was a “desperate creature” in our room. I thought she was talking about her brother. Instead, she was referring to the large, dirty moth that was on our bed. YUCK! The “desperate creature” then escaped under our bed and then who-knows where. I’ve also started to put large beetle-like creatures outside (I think they’re Stink Bugs) – 2 this evening. You can tell that it is starting to heat up outside since the bugs are starting to come into our house. All of us are starting to get bug bites too. It is very itchy (not chicken-pox though, although another little boy on the compound has those too).
Life is soooo exciting when you’re a Riegel.
Rob has decided that he could continue to be a stay-at-home dad indefinitely. He is enjoying this playing, gardening, puttering, visiting.... lifestyle. The only way we can continue this is if we live here; in Canada he makes too much money for us to switch roles this way. Someday maybe??
I still love teaching here. One of the girls said to me " I like you Ms. Kristy, cuz you're DRAMATIC" (this was declared after I acted out Galileo challenging the Vatican's position that the sun revolved around the earth). It is nice to be able to spend so much one-on-one time with each of the kids; they like it too. It is more like a family than a school. I guess that's why it's called a Tutorial Group and not a School.
Although I love the teaching I still don't love being stared at and am frustrated with not ever being able to fit into this culture (I just stand out, and over, these people). Apparently I am going through a phase of culture shock (the honeymoon phase has worn off) and if I can learn to EMBRACE this and work through all of my feelings about this then it will all be good. Man, culture shock sure is easier to READ about than to actually DO!!! Theo seems to have come through it alright - he is actually going up to Nepali people now and he kisses Sarda Didi goodnight when she leaves everyday (she bribes him with chocolate milk). Rob has made good friends here and daily enjoys the life that he has made here (ask him about the chicken, his bunny walks, gardening, and biking and he can go on and on). Faith has good and bad days; she desperately misses her friend Kendyl back in Airdire and asks all the time when she gets to go home and see her. She is excited that when we go back she'll be 5 like Kendyl (I haven't the heart to tell her that her friend will be 6 by that time and that Faith can never truly catch up in age!).
We are really blessed to be here though. It is incredibly beautiful, we have been pretty healthy, God has blessed us with a nice place to live and plenty of food to eat, we have a lady who daily helps us with our household (and also who mothers us), and we know that we have family and friends who love us and pray for us.
You can PRAISE God that this hospital has finally had some of the government agreements signed which says that a christian organization will continue to run the hospital (they've been working on getting the agreements signed for almost 2 years)! The hospital can now continue to give care and be run by Christian Nepalis. The work that is going on is amazing; a new ER, community health, Nepali doctor training, and other amazing projects. You can also praise God that the team issues that almost divided the people here seem to have been resolved.
Please pray for health. The chicken pox may go around the compound soon (someone brought it home from an international conference). Please pray for wisdom (it is a challenge working with so many cultural differences - even though we all speak english). Please pray that we will continue to hear God's voice and to follow it!
Thank you for keeping us close to your hearts!
We love you lots!
“Knock, Knock, mummy” (as he knocks on my head while we stare at each other on my pillow)
“Who’s there, Theo?”
“Dase” (meaning Faith)
“Faith who?”
“Dase, and Daddy!!!!!! Hah, hah, hah….!!!” (At which point we giggle and Faith overhears and says that he is silly)
The other evening Faith said that there was a “desperate creature” in our room. I thought she was talking about her brother. Instead, she was referring to the large, dirty moth that was on our bed. YUCK! The “desperate creature” then escaped under our bed and then who-knows where. I’ve also started to put large beetle-like creatures outside (I think they’re Stink Bugs) – 2 this evening. You can tell that it is starting to heat up outside since the bugs are starting to come into our house. All of us are starting to get bug bites too. It is very itchy (not chicken-pox though, although another little boy on the compound has those too).
Life is soooo exciting when you’re a Riegel.
Rob has decided that he could continue to be a stay-at-home dad indefinitely. He is enjoying this playing, gardening, puttering, visiting.... lifestyle. The only way we can continue this is if we live here; in Canada he makes too much money for us to switch roles this way. Someday maybe??
I still love teaching here. One of the girls said to me " I like you Ms. Kristy, cuz you're DRAMATIC" (this was declared after I acted out Galileo challenging the Vatican's position that the sun revolved around the earth). It is nice to be able to spend so much one-on-one time with each of the kids; they like it too. It is more like a family than a school. I guess that's why it's called a Tutorial Group and not a School.
Although I love the teaching I still don't love being stared at and am frustrated with not ever being able to fit into this culture (I just stand out, and over, these people). Apparently I am going through a phase of culture shock (the honeymoon phase has worn off) and if I can learn to EMBRACE this and work through all of my feelings about this then it will all be good. Man, culture shock sure is easier to READ about than to actually DO!!! Theo seems to have come through it alright - he is actually going up to Nepali people now and he kisses Sarda Didi goodnight when she leaves everyday (she bribes him with chocolate milk). Rob has made good friends here and daily enjoys the life that he has made here (ask him about the chicken, his bunny walks, gardening, and biking and he can go on and on). Faith has good and bad days; she desperately misses her friend Kendyl back in Airdire and asks all the time when she gets to go home and see her. She is excited that when we go back she'll be 5 like Kendyl (I haven't the heart to tell her that her friend will be 6 by that time and that Faith can never truly catch up in age!).
We are really blessed to be here though. It is incredibly beautiful, we have been pretty healthy, God has blessed us with a nice place to live and plenty of food to eat, we have a lady who daily helps us with our household (and also who mothers us), and we know that we have family and friends who love us and pray for us.
You can PRAISE God that this hospital has finally had some of the government agreements signed which says that a christian organization will continue to run the hospital (they've been working on getting the agreements signed for almost 2 years)! The hospital can now continue to give care and be run by Christian Nepalis. The work that is going on is amazing; a new ER, community health, Nepali doctor training, and other amazing projects. You can also praise God that the team issues that almost divided the people here seem to have been resolved.
Please pray for health. The chicken pox may go around the compound soon (someone brought it home from an international conference). Please pray for wisdom (it is a challenge working with so many cultural differences - even though we all speak english). Please pray that we will continue to hear God's voice and to follow it!
Thank you for keeping us close to your hearts!
We love you lots!
posted by The Riegels at 9:54 PM
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