Family Memorization: Psalm 1

Hope you enjoy watching Ethan recite our family memory passage for September: Psalm 1.

Kids Pics

Last month, Ethan got to see some old friends in China.

While Ethan was away, Baxter got to see-saw with a little Turkish girl at the park.

Most of the time, Maranatha was happiest just sitting up next to Momma, watching Baxter run and play!
A common sight in our house (this is one distinct advantage to not having a TV!)

Daddy Goes to Class

Doug started language classes (in Turkish this go round, Doug's third language to begin studying in the last 18 months!) last week. So now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, the kids have a big sending-off ceremony, full of waves, kisses, hugs, "BYE"s, and blown kisses!

Grocery Shopping Without Language Skills

So, I thought I'd give you a little taste of something that happens every week for me. Grocery shopping with little to no language skills.... so here it is: the raw, uncut version of this weekly necessity. (All of what proceeds is entirely true.)

GETTING READY TO GO TO THE GROCERY STORE
I prepare my list carefully, looking at packages if I need to write anything down (brand names, sizes, etc.). Once my list is made, I make sure I have plenty of money. I don't -- I repeat DON'T -- want to get up to the counter without enough money. That would spell disaster.

Head out the door, certain to grab the pull cart for groceries and all four of our durable cloth bags for bringing our groceries home in the taxi. Usually, I have one or two of the kids in tow as well. For this example, we'll just say I brought Baxter and Maranatha with me, as has been the case while Doug & Ethan have been gone. With that in mind, I better run back inside the apartment and grab a snack or two and grab at least one water bottle. Oh, and "Baxter, you need to go potty before we leave." "I know you just went (2 hours ago), but you need to go ahead and try again now. Yes, ma'am?" "Yes, ma'am."

GETTING TO THE GROCERY STORE
Once we make it out our door, down the stairs, and out of our apartment complex to the taxi stand, I tell the taxi driver the name of the mall that the grocery store is located inside of. He looks at me strangely, because I didn't say it right, but he knows precisely where I'm talking about. We take off. Darting past the sheep salesman, the elderly pedestrians, and narrowly missing the small bus headed in the opposite direction, he honks at will.

We enter the parking lot, only to notice that they're doing *more* construction on this particular lot. He rolls down his window to get instructions on where to park (as he'll wait for another mall patron just outside the mall). I look in my wallet and realize, askance, that the smallest bill I've got is a 50 YTL bill, which is equivalent to $40 US. When I offer it to him, he throws his hands up in the air and, frustrated, mutters something, and goes to the back of the taxi to get my shopping cart out of the trunk for me. He keeps saying something in Turkish. "Pardon, Turkce bilmiyorum," I say, many times, which means, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Turkish." He keeps repeating the phrase. Finally he throws in a hand gesture, somewhat pointing in the direction of home. I ask, hesitantly in English, "oh, I...(point to myself)... give you money... (gesture as though I'm handing him money) at the taxi stand (a point in the same direction he pointed) later?" He nods and waves me off. Good riddance, he's probably thinking.

I feel terrible. But there are two children to deal with and a grocery list to be crossed off, so I plod on. We walk into the mall, where we go through a baggage check and x-ray machine, and Baxter smiles up at the "policeman" (aka, security guard woman) who totally isn't even concerned with the baggage screening any more, and smiles back at him.

We go over to where the carts are, and realize that the only carts that are at the back of the rows are ones without child seats. But I need one with a child seat in it, so I walk over to the cart attendant. I motion that I need a seat. He eventually gets what I'm talking about, asks me something in Turkish, and I catch something about "one", so I pull out a 1 YTL coin, hoping that's what he's asking for. Yes, it is. He takes it, and puts it into the back of a cart in the middle of a row, and dislodges it from all the others. (Yes, you have to pay a deposit for your shopping cart, and yes, they are all connected, so you can't just pull out the one you want. You have to pull from the back.) I tell him "thank you", and we're on our way.

SHOPPING
We enter the store, and I pull off to the side and pull out the bag of pretzels that I brought for a snack for the kids. "Baxter, here are the pretzels; you'll need to share with Mei-Mei. Please give her one after each one you eat. And here's a water bottle if you get thirsty. Now sit down on your bottom. Thank you."

And we're off! I skip the housewares section, and go for the food. The promotion aisle, which usually has lots of American products, has been taken over by spices and Turkish teen girls in green uniforms and funny, quirky little matching shoes, all of which are emblazoned with "Knorr", the brand of choice for spices and bouillon here in Turkey. They have a booth. They talk to every other shopper, but one look at my face, and they don't even bother. They know what I know: my Turkish isn't good enough to talk about spices and why Knorr is the best.

As I'm buying things I need, I try to limit the weight of what I'm buying. I normally like to buy in bulk, but having to carry heavy things over my shoulders after each trip to the grocery store has taught me to buy for need, rather than for "stocking up" purposes. (Not to mention that a very well-stocked kitchen was left for medical reasons last year, and I'm trying to learn my lesson.)

Sometimes I have to stop and try to discern any level of familiarity on a package, but at this point, 2 months into living here, I pretty much know what I need. I might buy a different brand of sugar, flour, or cookies, to try something new, but I know where things are (for the most part), and shopping itself isn't that difficult. Baxter is still faithfully handing Maranatha her pretzels (and her water cup if she gets thirsty), and I regularly tell him what a good job he's doing. "I a good helper, momma," he says. "Yes, you are!"

I should note here that a normal trip to the store, in a normal week, when the other two members of our family are here and I'm cooking for 5 rather than for 3, my cart ends up quite full. Which isn't strange to you. Because you're an American. But to these people, just as it was before when we lived overseas, a cart as full as ours just isn't seen very often at all. They buy enough for a few days and then come back. I don't want to do that. It costs me nearly $10, roundtrip, in taxi rides to go grocery shopping. I don't want to make that trip twice in a week. So I load up and buy a lot. We buy several packs of meat (chicken, beef, and chicken tenders, maybe). We buy several bags of pasta. We get a few snacks for the kids, and then I usually need at least some of the staples: sugar, flour, baking items, spices, oils, etc.

Then on to dairy... I get several varieties of cheeses, none of which are particularly like anything we think of as cheese, but some of which will suffice when mixed into a casserole or pasta dish. Their main cheese is a white cheese, kind of like provolone, only much less flavor. So it's a basic, almost flavorless, but sometimes bitter, and quite expensive alternative to the cheeses we're used to, but I'm willing to pay it, as it provides protein and thickens the sauces and casseroles that I make.

I buy yogurt (think of how big an American "cheese" section typically is. Double that, and that's how much space they give to yogurt- it's extremely popular here) and milk, which is unrefrigerated on shelves. They have more brand names of milk than you can imagine. It is long-life milk, which we've gotten used to, and so I buy several jugs of that (they only come in 1 liter or smaller containers, which is like one-fourth of a gallon). They come in thick plastic containers, so it's very heavy and cumbersome to even get the equivalent of one gallon. We actually don't drink that much milk now that we live overseas, but between cooking and cereals, it gets used up fairly quickly. So I get what we need and prepare myself for the checking out process.

CHECKING OUT
I wait in a long line. The belt where the groceries should be put is small, and so I have to wait until the person in front of me is almost ready to pay before I can begin unloading my cart. The clerk just starts right in scanning the groceries, and the LCD screen is never turned out, to where the customer can see. So I would have to be done unloading my cart and down where I could see the computer screen in order to tell if the prices are ringing up as advertised. Baxter helps hand me things from the cart ("what a little helper you are!"), and I finish as quickly as I can.

So now, you might be thinking, I can go and check up on prices, at least for the last half of my groceries purchase, right? But you would be wrong.

No, this is a bag-your-own groceries place. And because he's already halfway through my load, I am already halfway behind. I open up my grocery cart and begin loading the heaviest things (like the milk jugs) into the cart, since I can roll it behind me. Then I begin loading in all of the other groceries into my cloth bags. They do have plastic bags, but I use cloth bags for environmental and practical reasons. My fingers like to have circulation, which would not happen if I had a gazillion plastic bags hanging off of my hands while trying to pull the shopping cart and carry Maranatha. So I use my cloth bags, which I can sling over my shoulder much more easily.

I'm only halfway through bagging my groceries when I realize that the clerk just said something to me. I look up and realize that he's finished and ready for me to pay, and the people behind me (in any given shopping trip) are either (a) completely frustrated that they decided to get behind ME of all people, or (b) making googly eyes at my two American children. Thankfully this time, it's the latter.

I pay the money, which, even though I really cut back this week (cooking for 3 people, not "stocking up", etc.), I still spent over $100. "How did I even do that?!," I wonder. Well, no time for dwelling on that... I've got to bag up all of the rest of my groceries. That's right... the clerk won't lift a finger, even seeing my two little ones and how completely behind I am on bagging.

So I hurry up, throwing things into bags as quickly as possible while telling Baxter, "please don't push the cart over there... mommy needs to put these bags into it." Finally, I finish, just before the next customer in line (that's right, the person 2 people behind me in line) starts getting their items scanned.

GOING HOME
We whiz away, thrilled that we got out of the store so quickly and easily. Compared to previous trips, this shopping trip was a breeze! Thank you, Lord!

I get out to the taxi stand, with my full cart and two kids who are VERY ready for lunch at this point, and the taxi attendant begins unloading my cart. Baxter climbs into the back of the taxi, and I stand outside to make sure all my groceries make it into the trunk, placing fragile items like eggs and bread in the cab, to be held between me and Baxter. I notice, just as they're pulling my fully-loaded rolling cart out of the basket, that the tuna fish I had finally decided to buy this trip (I had delayed purchasing tuna for 2 months, because of how expensive it is-- $5 for 2 small cans!!!) had slid under the rolling cart and I hadn't paid for it. ACK!

While quickly debating myself, I realize several things:

1. My language skills are not anywhere NEAR where they would need to be to explain that I didn't pay for the tuna fish, but did not mean to steal it
2. Even if I could somehow manage to communicate what I needed to to the customer service representative, my son and all of my groceries are now loaded up into a taxi that is WAITING ON ME to quit debating myself and get inside, please.
3. I can call my friends who have been here longer and get one of them to write a note explaining the situation so that I can take it with me the next time I go shopping and pay for the tuna.

I settle on that last point, and get inside the taxi. We make it to the front door of our apartment building, and the taxi driver unloads my groceries while I get the right amount of money to pay for the taxi fare. Once we're all unloaded, I load up with as many bags as I can handle (three cloth bags) while still wrangling Maranatha in one arm. Baxter waits at the base of the stairs with the rolling cart and the remaining cloth bag, smiling at me nervously, even though he knows the gig and knows I really will be right back. We live on the first floor, so I run inside, drop my bags, and carry Maranatha back outside with me to get the rest.

Oh, praise the Lord- just as I'm loading up like a packhorse for the second round, a man walks up and offers to hoist up my rolling cart and carry it up the flight of stairs for me. Baxter runs up, I open up the door, and thank the man profusely. We get inside and I begin unloading groceries, placing the tuna fish can prominently at eye-level on the shelf over the sink, to remind me to get my friends to write that note so that I can pay for it at the next visit. And I stick a 10 YTL bill near the front door, so that I'll remember to pay the taxi driver (from the first ride) the next time we head out to go somewhere. Ah, life is good. I did all my shopping in less than two hours total.

But then it hits me, uh-oh- I needed to order water bottles to be delivered (think Ozarka, only these are not optional- it's necessary in order to have drinking water here)... and I have to do that in person at the shop nearby... "Baxter, buddy, better get your shoes back on..."


~written by Jess, who would testify in a court of law that all of this really happened last Thursday when she went shopping.

Oh yes, I did!

Mei-Mei wanted to get gussied up for Daddy & Ethan's return in 2 days!

Look at those squishy little toes!

Maranatha was so happy after getting her pretty toenails painted for the first time!
She kept coming back and showing them off! :)

Heard Around the House This Week

The two little Connell kids both started saying new things this week:

"Teh - Too" - Maranatha, 15 months
("thank you")

"nie nie" - Maranatha
("night night")

"When I say 'amen', that HAPPY to me." - Baxter, 3, every night after he prays


:) I love hearing that last one. It always catches me off-guard and makes me smile. We chose his middle name, Daniel, because Daniel was known among his people as a man of prayer. What a blessing that, all on his own, he is already showing affection for talking with God!

Old Apartment, New Apartment...

When we leased our apartment here, it was a lovely color of sun-faded light blue with cracking turquoise-ish trim for the exterior of the building. But the interior is nice, so we weren't altogether concerned with the exterior.

Little did we know that in a matter of weeks, they'd be painting all the buildings in our complex, including ours, a truly lovely combination of olive green and khaki.

The boys had SUCH a great time watching the men work and paint! They would literally sit at the windows throughout the apartment as the men worked their way around the building for an entire week. Free entertainment!!! :)

Here were some of the paint combinations they apparently tried...

I'm glad they didn't go with #7 or #8!

And here's the finished product. See the lovely difference?
Now we have a beautiful interior AND exterior!

Family Goodbyes

Getting Around Town

In the place we USED to live overseas, we lived within 10 miles of pretty much everything we needed or wanted. Bikes or taxis got us everywhere we needed to go, and for CHEAP! But in a city this big (15-18 million people, depending on which resource you read), we have a huge range of options to get anywhere. Here are the different ways that we get around town:


DRIVING OURSELVES: A family we know here has a car, and they will let us drive it to get to certain places where public transport doesn't go.

PUBLIC BUS: We can also get many places by bus, which is cheaper, but is less precise than a car or taxi.
TAKE A CAB: One of the easiest ways to get around here is by taxi. Baxter likes it! :)

RIDE A FERRY TO GET ACROSS TO THE EUROPEAN SIDE: Istanbul is the only city in the world that is on two continents: Europe and Asia. We live on the Asian side, so if we want to travel to the European side (which is where most of the "tourist" spots are), we have to take a ferry! And the boys LOVE it! (Frankly, we do too - the breeze always feels so nice!)We can also take the aboveground metro/tram (which I don't yet have a picture of), or walk. We are close enough to a few places to walk (mainly parks and grocery stores), which is nice.

Anyway, this is how we get around town here in Istanbul.

Basilica Cistern, built circa 500 A.D.

A couple weeks ago, we went to the Basilica Cistern, an old undergroung corridor that had been lost for over 1000 years when it was re-discovered in the 1920's. It had served the Palace by providing a clean, cool water source. There are over 300 marble columns in it, some plain, but many with beautiful, ornate carvings and decorations. They have now built walkways over the water, and lights at the base of each column. Nevertheless, it is a dark, cave-like place, even at the brightest part of the day, as it is approximately 2-3 stories underground.

There are two "Medusa" heads at the base of two different columns at the back. This is one of them, that is turned on its side. The other one is completely upside down. (As you can see, Baxter was a bit apprehensive about being so far underground in that dark place. He stayed VERY close to one of us the entire time.)

Then we went to the park, where we had a picnic and the kids had a blast playing.

Maranatha is such a lightweight that the breeze nearly toppled her! :)

On the way home, we passed a weaver's shop and stopped to watch as she worked on a small carpet. It's amazing how quickly they work and what beauty they can create from a bunch of string! So, that was our "last day on the town" before Doug and Ethan left for their 16 day trip!

A Day on the Town

Jess & the kiddos in the entrance to the famous Istanbul Spice Bazaar

After spending the last month pretty much doing nothing but shopping for furnishings and finding our bearings in a new place, we had a day out as a family yesterday. We took a ferry across the strait, saw two of the "big" touristy spots here, and had a picnic before heading home for naps.

Heard while picnicking in a nice little park:
"I could come here and rock climb every day, mom."

After our picnic lunch, we walked over to a place with a lovely view of the Blue Mosque. Built in the early 1600's, this structure is one of the most famous Ottomon constructs. Here's a picture of Doug, Ethan, Baxter, and Maranatha in front of the famous site:

The Boys' Favorite Part of Istanbul: PARKS

This city is FULL of parks. Literally full of them-- virtually every neighborhood has one, and there are three within 5 minutes' walk of our new apartment.

Wooden playgrounds
(Ethan's in the blue shirt and Baxter's in the light blue shirt)

Swinging:

Rocking:

And even Maranatha enjoys the parks... walking with Daddy:

... and she's over-the-top about swinging!

We Had a Stowaway (and didn't know it) !!!

Yes, we're expecting another little Connell baby, and we're absolutely thrilled!!!

Jess had her first appointment this afternoon, and everything's looking great. The baby is about 7 weeks along, and about 1 cm long (but the little heart is already beating strong-- AMAZING!) and we'll be expecting him/her on or around March 23rd of next year. Jess is feeling fine, with some minor morning (more like all day) sickness, and everyone's very excited. Ethan thinks the new baby will be a girl (and he wants to name her Rose) and Baxter insists he's getting a "brudder". But they've both smiled at the prospect of each other's predictions as well. Whether a boy or girl, we're so excited.

Wanted to share our happy news with you all!
Love, the Connells


P.S. - Oh yeah, as for how our new apartment and all is going, we're moved in, have the basics of furniture in place, and are trying to adjust to how expensive everything is here! Still haven't located the camera cable- once we do, there are pictures to share, and Red Road Report will be back in true form.

And Then She Was One

We had Maranatha's first birthday party in early June. It was such a fun day... the kids played, we ate pink cake and pink cookies, and admired our precious little one-year-old!

And NOW she's walking... take a look! Here's a couple pictures from 10 minutes ago:

Love Those Mavericks

We went to the Mavericks' Playoffs Pep-Rally. They're in a really good position to win it all! Things like this free pep rally are all perks of being back in Texas!

Bluebonnets, Baseball, and Other Texas Traditions

Here's our pretty little Maranatha, carefully inspecting a Texas bluebonnet.

She just took her first two steps last night!
Sadly, this was the best picture we got of the three of them, as the digital camera battery died just at the wrong moment. I wonder, could there BE a worse bluebonnet picture? :)

Baxter and Ethan love playing outside
(notice that it was warm enough for shorts-- this was several weeks ago)

The boys enjoyed an egg & candy hunt at Doug's Aunt MaryAnn's home on Easter Sunday.
(notice that they are wearing jackets- it had snowed the day before!)

Maranatha enjoyed the visit with Doug's family
(here, she's with his Great Aunt, who we call "Aunt Doc" because she's an MD)

We were glad to see Doug's youngest brother, Michael, who was in town for Spring Break

We signed Ethan up for a teeball league for however much longer we're here. He is loving it, and is by far the most alert kid on the field. No dirt digging by him- he is totally into baseball!

Maranatha has had a great time "watching" teeball with Papa (Jessica's dad).

We're thankful that the kids & grandparents in particular have had this special time together.