Today is February 1st which means I’m starting a new little tradition on this blog. Last year my friend Amanda gave a recap of what her and her husband did each month and I really enjoyed reading that. Each month I kept thinking I wanted to do that but would forget. So this year I’m bound and determined to do this, especially since we live Aasia.
Ministry Updates:
Dave and I are finishing up giving physicals to all of the children.
We are each teaching our Bible classes and they are going well. We have loved being able to spend time with the kids teaching them The Bible.
Please pray for school as summer will be here soon! Pray that the teachers will utilize this time to really share the gospel with the kids.
Destinations:
A month or so back I stumbled upon a Lonely Planet Myanmar for a whole whopping $5! I snagged that thing up and Dave and I have been finding all kinds of things to do in our town. We never know if the taxi driver is going to understand where we want them to go or if we are even going to find the place by walking but eventually we usually find the place we are looking for. It’s always an adventure. I’m really glad we have been touring around because it has helped us see a different side of Myanmar and we are getting a better feel for the local culture.
Here are the places we went:
- Walking Tour of Downtown Yangoon
- National Museum
- Walked around Shwedagon
- 6th Largest Reclining Buddha
- White Elephant
- Largest Buddha carved from one piece of marble
- 90 Ft. Hand Carved Wooden backdrop behind a Buddha
- 2nd Grade Field trip to the WWII Memorial and The Monkey Village
- Aung Sung Su Kyii’s house
- Aung Sun Mausoleum
- Aung Sun's House
- People's Park
- Dave went to a gem museum with the 3rd graders
Favorite Destinations:
Monkey Village - I hope to post about this soon
Total Time Walking: Around 20.5 hours of walking to see all of these places. I love walking around!
Climbed 11 Flights of Stairs to our Apartment:
Dave: 30+
Beka: 5
Other Notable Events:
Our refrigerator quit working. I know, no big deal right? Just call a repair guy but seriously how do I do that in Myanmar? In fact our refrigerator went out, our gas ran out and there was a leak in our kitchen. It stressed me out! Thankfully God helped us get everything fixed and our kitchen is back up and running.
Dave went to a movie with all the guy teachers. He came home and reported that he sat his popcorn down and when he picked it back up it was “moving” because roaches got in it. He also thought the teacher next to him accidentally kept bumping his leg but he was incorrect: it was just rats that kept running over there feet.
While Dave went to a movie I stayed with Pam and Zak and Kyron ran a little ice cream shop. We gave them our order and then they came out with these big ice cream concoctions. It was really fun to see them work together and it was really fun to see what they would come up with.
I became a 2nd grade teacher for a week! It was fun and exhausting at the same time. I know all the boys names because it was so much work keeping them in line but I still don’t know all the girls names. I’m glad I got to fill in for a week and get to know some of the kids better.
We had winter! Winter here means it is in the upper 60’s during the evening and in the 80’s – 90’s during the day. People were even wearing coats, knitted hats, scarves and gloves for this cold winter we experienced.
Books Read:
Dave:
George Washington - An American Life
Amy Carmichael - Smuggler of Precious Gems
Alfred The Great
William The Conqueror
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Beka:
Adonirum Judson - Biography
These are the Generations - A true account of a Christian family who lived in North Korea
Brother Andrew - Biography
Top 5 Posts in January:
Never Have I Ever ... Until Myanmar
Bagan Ministries
Daily Prayer Topics
The Medical Clinic
Bagan Golden Palace
Coming up in February:
Monkey Village Recap
Bagan - The temples
A day in The Life of Dave and I
How was your January?
What was your favorite thing about the month?
Rats in the theater! Yikes, my skin was crawling just reading this! Looking forward to seeing pictures from your monkey village visit:)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! Call me a baby, but I think I would have run away from the theater screaming...so kudos to your hubby for not acting like me!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the month is that I have started blogging full-time. I have a lot to learn but I have enjoyed it thoroughly so far :)
XO Kristin
athisfeetdaily.blogspot.com / Lifestyle Blog
Okay, I LOVE monthly recaps, especially right now when life has been so busy I haven't had a chance to catch up on reading blogs as much as I did before. Everything sounds like an adventure, though I definitely wouldn't want that movie theater adventure, it's making me shudder and shiver over here, I am currently feeling the cockroaches crawl all over me . . .
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love the list of books you've read, great, great idea.
wow. what a packed month!! roaches in the popcorn... wow... that would freak me out! it's so cool that you guys are getting to tour around & discover new places!!
ReplyDeleteI think I would be avoiding the movies for the rest of your Myanmar stay!
ReplyDeleteI so wanted to do this monthly recap and of course, forgot. A few days late is probably totally fine, right? We had a lot of fun in January this year between delayed holiday parties, Super Bowl, and general life. I think my favorite part was taking my daughter to see Paddington and having the entire theater to ourselves. It was pretty cool!
Wow! Y'all have made it to SOO many places! How awesome!!! So glad you get to explore while you are there!!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteHi Friend! I'm so glad you love the monthly recaps. I understand not being able to read blogs as much because with limited internet here I miss it like crazy!
ReplyDeleteI also have LOVED seeing your family on IG and I love that you were able to add a member to your family. I will put you on prayer list and pray for you all as you go through this wonderful time!
Yeah, the movie theater was just gross. I wasn't completely surprised because lots of places here have roaches and rats but still ... it's nasty!
We did do a lot this month but it didn't feel overwhelming. We did most of the sightseeing on weekends, which gave us things to do here.
ReplyDeleteThe roaches freaked me out too. I thought it was gross!
Thanks, friend! We are thankful that there are lots of sights to see here. It's been neat to just seed a new side of this country.
ReplyDeleteha ha! Oddly enough I went to that movie theatre the next weekend. It wasn't the same room that had the most bugs but it definitely was gross. People eat sunflower seeds and spit the shell onto the floor so of course roaches are gonna come and eat! It's gross.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a good January! That's neat that you got to have that one on one time with your daughter! I don't watch football but I do like the food at the super bowl parties =)
I know! It was so gross. Dave was telling me all this in a calm manner and I just couldn't believe my ears?
ReplyDeleteI'm working on that monkey village post. Internet here is so inconsistent so sometimes it takes me longer than I hope to get stuff posted. =)
Yeah, Dave is a lot tougher than I am with roaches. I despise those nasty things. We went back to that theatre area and went to the theater next door to the one he was at. It was gross too! There was a big dead roach on the floor so I propped my legs up the whole time! People chew sunflower seeds and spit the shell on the floor so it's no surprise there are roaches.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are going to blog full time! It really is a great experience. If you have any questions about blogging feel free to ask me. I'm not a pro but I'll help where I can.
Thank you! You are very sweet. I appreciate it and just may take you up on that :)
ReplyDeleteI love the monthly update and, of course, all your gorgeous pictures!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! Your "January-in Review" picture is beautiful! I hope you write more about wherever that destination is. I love that bridge and it sounds like you had an awesome January.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite things this month were the baby shower that my mother-in-law threw for me and watching my husband assemble new baby gadgets all over the house. So cute!:)
Yay! What a fun recap. I love that last flower picture. So pretty. I am excited to read about the monkey village. You guys have done so much stuff! That story about Dave at the movies made me laugh.... and cry a little. Kind of gross. Did he keep eating the popcorn? ;) Good job climbing all those stairs! When you get back, your legs are going to look gooood. Which of course was the point of moving to Asia in the first place. ha! Miss you!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh this was so fun to read for so many reasons! First of all I cannot get over dave's movie and that rats and roaches- that gave me chills that I can't shake! Also, how awful about your kitchen- I can't imagine how much more stressful that is in a foreign country. I'm also impressed by all the places you went and you guys killed it on your books! Also, MAJOR props to you for keeping at the blogging thing even though it takes so long! I was thinking this morning how frustrated I get with blogging when I'm at my parents house with slow internet that is probably way faster than what you experience- I love reading everything though so I'm glad you're willing to put up with it :)
ReplyDeleteGetting appliances repaired in a foreign country is a whole new ball game, that's for sure! Pretty cool to be reading about Adoniram Judson while you guys are there. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, blogging here is a whole different story. It's a struggle for me to be content with the internet I have and to just let it go that sometimes it is soooo slow or not working at all. I need to take a picture of the internet cafes where I go to work on my blog. It's a one of a kind place.
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen thing was weird. I honestly think it was a spiritual attack. I know that sounds weird but being in a kitchen is a peaceful and renewing place for me and when it started breaking down I just about lost it. Thankfully we prayed and God took care of us. Our landlord also speaks English and is super helpful which I'm really thankful for.
I'm glad you understand the fixing appliance thing in a foreign country. It can be intense.
ReplyDeleteHave you read about Judson? I didn't know about him until right before I came here.
I can't remember if he ate the rest of the popcorn or not. I'll have to ask him. I hope not because that is gross.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, tone legs and weight loss is the whole point of Asia ;)
I'll try and write more about that picture or at least put some pictures up on FB. Basically that place is a big rare beautiful park here in Yangon. Pretty much everywhere here is crowded and packed with people. It's insane BUT our friends found this big huge park where there is lots of green grass and apparently really cool tree houses too.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you had a baby shower! That's fun. Are you getting lots of things that you registered for? Your due date isn't too far away!
I would be interested in seeing the cafe where you blog, I can't imagine what it's like! My brother is actually kind of over on the same side of the world (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and I think back to Thailand soon), and we don't hear from him a ton just because the internet is so poor.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see that kitchen thing being a spiritual attack- how wise of you to be able to see that! Satan hits us where we are most vulnerable doesn't he? So thankful that you were able to figure it out and that your landlord speaks english!
I don't think I've read the book you're reading, but my mom loved to read us stories of missionaries when we were growing up, and the stories about the Judson family really stuck in my memory.
ReplyDeleteYay for surviving January! I really liked this post... thank you for taking the (exhausting) time to upload it :) When I read the 20.5 hours spent walking around, I was like, "woah that's a long day!" then realized what you meant by it, haha. And I laughed at the 2nd grade boys & knowing their names... when I subbed 2nd graders, I knew all the boys' names by the end of the 1st day because I kept having to call them out and discipline! And of course I cringed at Dave's movie theatre experience... yikes!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I'm not the only one who can't remember all the girls names =)
ReplyDeleteDave's movie theatre was gross but thankfully there are some other theatres around here that aren't as gross.
Ok, I asked Dave and he said he doesn't think he kept eating it. He said once he figured out there were roaches in there he thinks he stopped but he doesn't know how long they were in there before he noticed. eeewwww!
ReplyDelete