Our Turn to Host!

So you know how I posted about how incredible South Asians are at hospitality? Well, let's just say Danae and I need a little work (ok. I'll tell the truth, we need A LOT of work) at having South Asians in our home. It was a near disaster, but like all things that happen to me in this country, I walked away with abs exhausted and eyes wet with tears from all the laughing I did. What can I say? The Father is very gracious.

Danae and I have made friends with a family who live near our city. And I think to say friends is an understatement. I legitimately feel a part of their family when I am around them. The mom really treats us/takes care of us as daughters. It is a very special gift. Well, anyway, Danae and I normally visit them every week, and the last time we visited them, I invited them to visit our flat. Because they do a wonderful job of serving us, I was looking forward to the opportunity to serve them and show them the love of Christ in our home. They told us that they would visit sometime the next week. Sadly, they never came, but it wasn't completely surprising because here in South Asia, that's just how it goes. No problem.

So another week passed, and this past Saturday I got the long awaited phone call from the family. The younger son (who speaks English) informed me that the family was going to come visit us on Sunday at 4:00 pm. I excitedly told them that we would be waiting for them. Then, at the end of our conversation, he said, "We will come today or tomorrow" which kinda left me stumped. Were they coming today or tomorrow? But alas, I could not coax an answer out of him, so Danae and I prepared ourselves for either day. Well, Saturday came and went, and they did not show up. Then Sunday came, and Danae and I made cookies and cleaned and made sure everything was perfect for four o'clock. Well, once again, four o'clock came and went, and they didn't show up. Danae and I had determined that they simply weren't going to come when I got a text message saying that they would come at 6:00 pm. So we waited for them. And 6:00 came and went. And then at last, at 6:15, they called saying that they were at the boat jetti which is about 15 minutes from our flat. I told them to get an auto to come here, and they said ok. Well, thirty minutes passed and they still hadn't shown up yet. Danae and I were perplexed until they called asking us where we were. Panic hit me as I realized that there had been a big miscommunication between us regarding how they were getting to our flat. We grabbed our stuff and flew out of our apartment, both feeling terrible since it had been raining buckets outside all afternoon.

We hailed an auto to the boat jetti. The poor family was standing huddled under some umbrellas. But, thank goodness, our miscommunication didn't seem to bother them at all! We piled into two autos and drove the short distance to our flat. We took them up to our apartment where we gave them a taste of their own medicine. We insisted that they sit down as soon as they got inside and immediately gave them peanut butter cookies and popcorn. Although, the peanut butter cookies weren't the biggest hit, they devoured the popcorn. Danae got up to make chai, and the family insisted that we take pictures together. They pulled Danae away from the chai, and while we were posing for photo after photo, the chai got too hot and exploded all over the kitchen. It was quite a mess. The mom just laughed at us and helped us salvage what was left. As the family was drinking chai, I shared a pack of Poptarts with them, and they actually liked it!! I think they were shocked that we eat them for breakfast though :) We then tried to serve them water from the fridge, and they all immediately asked for water that wasn't so cold. So different from the States!

Before the night was over, I had laughed so much. The family made fun of Danae and I so badly because we use toilet paper instead of water when we use the restroom, and they laughed so hard at how much taller I am than everyone else. They also shared the incredible news that their oldest daughter (and one of my close friends) is pregnant! Before they left, I popped an extra bag of popcorn, and it was hilarious to watch the mom and daughter stand mesmerized in front of the microwave as the bag inflated. They had never seen that before! Go figure.

Finally, it was time for them to leave, and before they left, they said, "next time you come to our house." In other words, you are sweet to have us over, but next time, it will be best for you to come to us :) Oh, well. We tried, and I think they love us all the more for it. 

"Neat and Tidy" Snail Mail

So this post is going to be about snail mail....a system that I rarely used even in the States. But snail mail here is a totally different animal. Having read blog post's from other expats, I know that where I live definitely does not have the worst mail system ever, but it still doesn't cease to make me laugh :)

One of the best things in the world is the care package. I mean, think about the name! It has the word care in it, and man does it make me and Danae feel cared about. Our first care package arrived a few weeks after we got to our city. It was from my parents, and it contained some completely necessary ;) items like chocolate chips, homemade blueberry preserves, and some things I had accidentally left at home. A lady came to our door and delivered a slip saying that our package had arrived and was waiting for us at the post office. We just needed to come and collect it. However, she said that the "parcel" (they don't understand when I say package) was damaged. Although my heart rate increased a little at the word "damaged," I was still super excited to get to the post office to retrieve my parcel. Danae and I left promptly and walked to the post office which is only about a fifteen minute walk from our flat. When we arrived, we honestly had no idea where to go, but eventually after walking into a room and having a woman shake her head at us, we found where we needed to be, and the woman handed me the package. It looked like it had, at one time, been a beautiful brown box, but alas, had been broken into and it appeared that something had exploded inside of it. I only prayed that it was NOT the precious blueberry preserves. I grabbed my parcel that was only being held together with twine and left. When I got home. I was sooooo excited to open it. Even if everything was broken, it was still a taste of the United States that I just needed. I opened the parcel, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a mess. But no worries, Mom (I almost didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want you to freak) everything turned out just fine! The chocolate chips had melted and then somehow exploded, but they are currently chillaxing in the freezer to be ground up in the food processor and used in something yummy :) The blueberry preserves were completely perfect! The pretty glass jars were totally in tact. The corn flour also exploded a bit, but I washed off everything and put the corn flour in its own special container. So all in all, I would say it was a pretty successful care package :) Thanks mom and dad!

Since then, Whitney and Robin have also sent me a care package. Or should I say packages. I know, I know, I have the best friend in the world. This time, the packages were not damaged at all, and I had the best time going through all the goodies! I had forgotten the simple goodness of the Poptart. I mean seriously, they are so stinkin good. And the ease of cleaning with the Clorox Wipe. It's nice to know that 99.9% of germs are getting killed in my kitchen every time I whip one out :) Also, we have been blessed by lots of Danae's friends who have sent us care packages. We have gotten black beans, taco seasoning, and lots of other fun stuff!

So I decided that since so many people were sending me lovely gifts, I wanted to attempt to send something in the mail to America. I had heard that it was not very expensive, and I had found some cute presents for my favorite three children in the world (who I miss more than anything), so Danae and I made up our minds to try it out. Let's just say, it was an experience for sure.

Here is the problem in our neck of the woods with mail. A lack of boxes. It's not like you can walk into the post office and buy a box. They will look at you like you are crazy (even though they already look at us like we are crazy). So Danae and I used the only boxes we could find. Fortunately, she found a white box that our blender came in and packaged it up all nice. I, however, could only find a giant box that our doll house came in (we got it for language study). So I used it. I stuffed my goods inside, and taped it up really well to make sure that nothing would fall out. I even taped my sister's address on the front. I thought it looked nice enough.....well besides the creepy child on the front playing with dolls. But I figured, in SA, it would be fine. Well.....I was quite wrong.

So Danae and I took off for the post office once again. I noticed that people were looking at us a little funny so that made the walk all the more interesting. When we got to the post office, we went upstairs and waited in long line of people. We weren't even really sure we were in the right line, but we waited paitiently anyway. When we finally got up to the counter, the man took one look at my package and started gibbering off stuff that I couldn't understand. He gestured for me to scoot further down the counter toward a lady (who had quite a scowl on her face), and she continued to shake her head at my package. She got a different lady who spoke better English. This lady started smiling and laughing at me a little and explained that my parcel was  "not neat and tidy." I was a tad confused because, yes, the picture was obnoxious, but the parcel itself was not beat up or anything. She continued to explain that I had to cover my parcel in white fabric and get it stitched. What?! Cover a parcel in fabric? Stitch the fabric? Not gonna lie, I just had to shake my head and laugh at the ridiculousness.

I left the post office on a pursuit to find white fabric and a tailor. I found the white fabric, but unfortunately, no tailor. So Danae immediately whisked me to my American refuge, KFC. I downed my favorite drink, Mirinda (seriously, this stuff is the jam), and ate my favorite chicken wrap. It made me feel better, and I felt more ready to conquer the parcel problem. I went back to the fabric store, bought the fabric, and proceeded to the closest tailor. It ended up being quite fun! The ladies only charged me like 60 Rs. to do it, and while we waited, they let us practice our Malayalam.

So a few days later, Danae and I went back to the post office, and this time I was ready. My parcel was "neat and tidy," and I was determined to make the grumpy worker lady smile. I walked in and saw the same workers as the other day. The man weighed my parcel, and sent me to the lady to get her to ok it. And she did! AND she smiled back at me :) It was a successful day in my book. So Jenny, your "neat and tidy" parcel should be arriving in the mail in a couple weeks (hopefully). I know the kids will enjoy the toys, but you also have some surprises as well. Love you, sister!