Of Rain and the 4th of July

It has been very hot and humid here this past week. I have been glad to see that it does get hot here and even sunny after the many months of cool and cloudy weather. It hasn't been all that fun though because of the humidity, something rather new to me. We have been blessed to have an air conditioner in one of the upstairs bedrooms and so by keeping doors closed and the bathroom door between the bedrooms open, Dennis and I have been able to be rather comfortable. (It's a good thing Alyna likes it a little warmer than the rest of us but even she has had to go in and cool off occasionally.)

On Friday, after their last test, Alyna and a few of her friends went to the beach that is at a lake that is between our house and the school. It was nice and sunny for a while and then suddenly a storm rolled in. It started raining and then pouring and then the hail started. It was a truly amazing sight and sound. The wind was blowing so hard that as the hail hit the house it was as if the whole house was being shot at with a bebe gun. The thunder would roll on for minutes at a time and then there was the occasional lightening bolt, one hitting the transformer or what ever it is called and knocked out our telephone/internet/TV service for the evening. I called Alyna in about the height of the storm to see if she had been able to find shelter someplace. She was at the bus stop and when she finally made it home she looked like she had just stepped out of the shower. I was just thankful she had made it safely home.


The plus side of the storm and no internet was that when we took Alyna up to drop her off in Arhnem for a "math class pizza party", Dennis and I went to lunch at a very nice restaurant. It was called Memories of Asia and the food was very good. It was interesting though because they don't have a menu. You just tell the host what kinds of things you do or don't like and they just bring out courses until you are full. We had a very mild fish, a very good shrimp and a very tender and delicious lamb.

Saturday was the 4th of July. We spent the morning helping work at the church cleaning the grounds. We were able to get a lot done and it looked much better afterward. It was kind of sad that only three of the "natives" came to help and the rest of the crew were us "foreigners".

Dennis got to wrestle with the trees and shrubs along the front of the building. It was a big job.Here is Gergona Demireva and her nieces (Bulgarian) and Mickey Vermillian (American).

The missinaries, Alyna and I rounded out the work crew.

The Bishop, Brother Baltason (in charge of the building and grounds) and Brother Stekkinger (always seems to get the loading of the trailer and taking it to the dump detail).

Afterward, Dennis, Alyna and I went to McDonalds for lunch which was about as Americanish as we could think of. There is the largest McD's that we have ever seen in Duiven. The day we moved here, or the next day we went to eat there because it is near IKEA and Makro were we bought all of our household goods. Alyna and I chatted a bit about how far we've come since those first few days when we arrived and everything was so overwhelming and difficult. The last few months we've begun to really feel comfortable with being here and appreciate the many experiences and opportunities we've had.

Sunday, we had dinner with Mickey and Emily. While Dennis helped fix her fan, Alyna straightened Emily's hair. Then they really looked like sisters. It's been fun for both of the girls to have each other and be almost like the sisters they never had - a little sister for Alyna and a older but closer to the same age sister for Emily.

It feels rather odd to be here and have it be such a "normal weekend" while we hear about fireworks and parades at home. I'm so grateful to be an American and for the freedoms and opportunities it affords us. I keep thinking that we need to be praying hard for our country, for our constitution now more than ever before. Our country has seen a lot of changes and challenges through it's brief history but it will see plenty more in the years to come. I just hope some of it is for the betterment of mankind and not for the destruction of a great nation. God Bless the USA!