Savannah's Birthday Celebration!

by Amy

So they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand words, and then some, for ya!

As you may remember from a previous post, Savannah threw up on the morning of her birthday. Therefore, we delayed celebrating...mostly. She was still able to open some gifts...


Here she's opening a DVD, Cinderella III from Peter. Then, she sat on the couch, on a blanket, with her brothers and watched her new movie.

Then, after a long afternoon nap, and keeping down some crackers and jello several times, we decided Savannah could eat a little of her birthday cake.

Clearly, her brothers were pretty excited about that decision!

So, after eatting some butterfly cake, and keeping it down, she opened up her last few gifts.

This little doll is from her Brad. Savannah decided to name her Jessica after Mrs. Bonura who is Savannah's birthday buddy!

Then, several days later, we woke up and got ready to head to a local lake. It's a really beautiful spot in our city. We had been once before, so Savannah asked if we could go back for her birthday. The weather could not have been better! Well, I guess it could have been cooler, but for a July day in this city, often refered to as an oven city, it was great. There was a nice breeze and even pretty clear blue skies.

Here Savannah is hugging her favorite baby, Amanda, as we wait to head to the lake.
Is she cute or what?!?!

Here are a few lake pics for your viewing enjoyment!

The main thing Savannah wanted to do at the lake was ride a boat, so that what we did!
This lake park also has several carnival rides, so we told Savannah she could pick two for our family to enjoy. She picked the farris wheel and a carrousel.

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After the fun park adventure, we came home and enjoyed a box of Kraft Mac'n Cheese (a rarity in our world) and some watermelon. Then, after naps, we walked to one of Savannah's favorite local restaurants. It's called Histro-Ring Pizza Book Store (in English.) It's a combo pizza restaurant and book store. After spending a bit of time trying to communicate we do not want spicy chili sauce on our pizza, Brad ordered for us and we had a delightful dinner! We topped it off with the last of the butterfly cake and ice cream. All and all, I'd say Savannah felt loved and celebrated, even though it was a few days later than originally planned!

Quick Follow-up

by Amy

I am happy to report that I have not had a headache since Tuesday! That was the first of my four-day treatment from the local back doctor. I went back to him on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by myself. (Brad stayed with the kids.) Each "massage" continued to hurt - a lot, but it was so worth it to be headache free! I also think my back feels better, but it is still sore from the intense massaging.

On another note, I am also super excited to let you know that my family had a wonderful dinner on Wednesday night. I finally got up the nerve to try Creamy Italian Chicken again! (That's the meal that was a disaster in my crockpot about a month ago.) I closely monitored it while it cooked and since I covered the hole in my lid, it worked beautifully! I also used a homemade Cream of Chicken Soup substitute. It was great. Cream of Chicken soup is hard to come by in my world and quite expensive if it is found. So, I'm thankful to find this yummy, easily made staple - in my home. (In America I would usually use 10-14 cans of cream of chicken soup a month!)

Scary Restaurant Experience

From Brad.

The other day my friend/language tutor came over to my house after our session. He and the friend with him wanted to take my family out that evening to have hot pot, a certain type of dining experience I’ll describe later. We’re not the most spontaneous group, but we decided this would be a neat experience and agreed.

At 5pm, we started walking to the restaurant which was “just right around the corner”. In 95 degree heat and 20 minutes later, we arrived at our restaurant. When we sat down, my friend tried to give me the seat which faced the door (which is the seat of honor). I declined b/c he invited me and the other seat had the a/c unit blowing directly on it. Of course the first thing he did was face the a/c vents in the other direction b/c direct exposure to cool air isn’t healthy…uggg! Okay, then the fun starts. The table is a square with a hole in the middle which has about a 12” diameter. About 6” under the hole is an electric burner. When the server first greets you, he brings a large, two compartment bowl which fits nicely on the burner. One side is spicy and the other side is not. After the order is placed, he turns on the burner and the water is brought to a small boil. Then the food comes (my friend handled the ordering…which is customary here) with the dipping sauce. This was our first experience with ‘hot pot’ so we really did not know what to expect.

My friend takes the first dish (thinly sliced lamb) and places it in the simmering water. Our kids are starting to get a little restless and play with the items on the table. My friend determines that the lamb is ready to be eaten so he and I dig in with the chopsticks. He grabs a piece, dips it in the yellow-brownish semi-thick sauce and eats it. I do the same and realize this is a peanut sauce. My first reaction…I love peanut sauce. Amy’s first reaction…my kids won’t make it out of here alive (due to peanut allergies…at least Alex and Savannah). Oh, I’ve got to grow up soon. Anyway, Amy also realizes we forgot to bring the epipen (a shot to give our kids in case of an extreme allergic reaction), something we rarely leave behind. We begin to discuss what to do and tons of thoughts begin rushing through my head (I don’t want to offend my friend, he’s already ordered food for all of us, maybe there’s a way to feed my kids without putting them in danger, etc.).

My friend had a hard time understanding our dilemma b/c apparently food allergies are extremely rare here. Pollen allergies are understood and not dangerous, but food allergies are a foreign concept. As we were discussing this, Alex must have dipped his finger in the peanut sauce (ever so slightly) and subsequently rubbed his eye. Amy notices that his eye is turning red and starting to swell a bit. We quickly come to the conclusion that there is no way we can allow our kids (at least Alex and Savannah) to stay here. The process of grabbing food with chopsticks, dipping in the peanut sauce, and back to the grabbing of food (with peanut sauce covered chopsticks) is not a good scenario for our kiddos. So Amy takes Alex and Savannah home while Peter and I stay. On the way home, Alex’s eye swells up a ton and at home Amy washes it out and gives him medicine (no shot necessary). All ended well there, especially b/c nothing was ingested, but what a disaster this could have been. We have asked many people to remember the safety of our children and I am convinced that these requests were answered at that moment.

I stay behind with Peter to try to save as much face as possible. My friend appeared unbothered by everything and we finished our dinner and had a decent time. Although, I’ve got to share with you some of the things he ordered.
• Sliced lamb…not bad
• Ham…is what he called it. It was actually little blobs (size of a credit card, about ½ inch thick) of pure pig fat. It ended up on my plate, under my napkin…I just couldn’t do it.
• Shrimp. Typically eaten, head, shell, eyeballs, everything. The girl with us was peeling hers so I got off easy.
• Bricks of duck blood. About the same size of the ‘ham’. I asked my friend if he wanted me to try some. He said, ‘of course!’ Well, I’ve had worse, but I didn’t go back for seconds. What is funny, is Peter (the boy who likes nothing but sweets) requested this item. He actually had seconds. The ‘brick’ sort-of looked like a brownie, so I think that’s why he asked for it. 
• Potatoes (whew…something to fill up on), lettuce (a little strange boiled), and a few other mild veggies.

Each day has a new experience. Thanks for your thoughts.

Restaurant Excitement

From Brad.

Although we've been here for more than 3 months, we are still experiencing new things all the time. On Sunday, we decided to visit a new restaurant. As we walked in, we were thrilled at how clean it was. It is a little bit on the nicer side and as a result, they have many aquariums in the lobby area. However, these aquariums were not for aesthetic purposes, but rather to give you, the customer, the ability to choose your lunch/dinner for the day. We have typically stayed far away from seafood in restaurants to this point, but today felt adventuresome and began to inquire. Regarding most of the things I saw, my knee-jerk reaction was, 'that's not food.' But alas, it is food for some (really many), as difficult as that is for me to understand (sting rays, anemones, eels, blob looking things, etc.). One tank even had a dead fish lying on the bottom if that happens to be your favorite.
Well, I figured out from my dictionary that they had trout. HEY! I recognize that, so I picked one out (heretofore to be called Flipper, or Flip for short) and tried to order it battered and deep-fried. Two guys (obviously rookies) grabbed a net and started fishing with all of us excitedly watching. They caught him in the net but had a little trouble getting him out. Finally, Flipper flopped out of their hands and directly onto the floor. These two guys looked like they were chasing a chicken with its head cut off. Peter & Alex have never been more excited, eagerly wishing to grab Flipper and take him home and make him their new bathtub buddy. I'm a little concerned and not sure if I should ask for a new one, and Amy is standing nearby, turning green. She's trying her best to be a local, but its killing her. All the while, I'm silently enjoying reading her body language, which wasn't terribly positive. Well, they finally corral the wild one and with a quick dip in the tank for cleansing purposes, off Flip goes to the kitchen to be our main course. How many restaurants in American can provide this much entertainment, and we haven't even taken a bite yet.

We sit down and enjoy the first two dishes, sweet and sour pork (chicken as Savannah insists) and another similar dish without sauce. Thankfully, the dishes were quite good and we even got a small bucket of ice to drink our Sprite with (a rarity here). Well, our friend Flipper still hadn't arrived so Amy and I were beginning to wonder what could have happened. Of course we speculated that the guys in the kitchen are searching all over for the crazy one who got away. But finally, out comes Flip. Here, when you order fish, you get the whole thing. I was thankful that when he was placed on the table, he was staring straight at Amy and I got the tail side. Amy now was more of a greenish-yellow color while I was wondering why Flip had no batter on him. In fact, they had cooked him in a pan with a little bit of oil, rather than deep-fry him with batter. But I took a few bites, Amy one small bite and Savannah, always the local, had to try it. But we all agreed it wasn't terrible, but not worth eating.

All in all, it provided us with a lot of laughs and we chalked it up as a learning experience. I had originally intended in this blog to describe our (somewhat scary) experience last night at a restaurant, but there's not time right now. The short of it is Alex dipped his finger ever so slightly in a peanut sauce and rubbed it in his eye (he's allergic). Bad news, a big swollen eye. Good news, nothing ingested and he is perfectly fine. Thank the Father, it could have been really bad. More later...

Our first trip to the hospital

By Amy.

Well, I am thankful to report that today, Brad and I had our first hospital experience in this country, and it went better than anticipated. I think we've mentioned before that my back has been hurting me and that I have been having frequent headaches. In America when I would begin to have headaches or back pain, I'd hop into my chiropractor's office, get a quick adjustment and feel great again for another 3-5 weeks. Well, chiropractors are non-existent in our city (I think there are only a handful in our whole country.) A couple of weeks ago Brad met a local Dr. who studied medicine in America for a year or two. So, after emailing him last night, he called us today and arranged for Brad and me to come to his hospital to be seen by a friend of his that is a back doctor.

So, after quickly calling a friend to come watch our kids, Brad and I hopped in a taxi and headed to the hospital. (I did not want my first experience to be without Brad!) And, to be honest, we both were a little skeptical as to the effectiveness of the treatment I would receive.... But actually, I was pleasantly surprised. After asking me a host of questions (that Brad's English-speaking friend translated for me) he laid me on a table and began "massaging" me. And there was nothing relaxing about it... It hurt so badly that I couldn't hold back the tears. He claimed he was working on a "slipped disk." Ugghh! Whatever he was doing, it hurt!! He also did several "moves" on me that my chiropractor used to do. I've been pretty sore all day, but am hopeful that this will bring the relief I've been looking for. He wants to see me three or four more times. We'll see how it goes. He says that if this doesn't work we can try acupuncture....

About halfway through my treatment, he asked us if we have three kids. As we asked him how he knew that, it clicked.... This is the man, Michael, that sat behind Savannah when we went rode the train to the big city we visited almost two months ago. He still had a picture of Savannah on his cell phone that he later showed us. Talk about a small world!

**We celebrated Savannah's brithday yesterday and had a GREAT day. We'll tell you all about it with pictures soon!

The best laid plans....

by Amy

Well, after much anticipation, Savannah's birthday is finally here, but it's going a little differently than expected.... After webcam-ing with Papa and Nana and eating a yummy birthday breakfast of eggs and bacon that her daddy fixed, while talking on the phone to the Kimbells, my daughter threw up. My poor girl... We had a fun day planned including going to a local lake, eating hot dogs for lunch and pizza for dinner followed by a butterfly birthday cake. Instead, Savannah is sitting on the couch, covered by a blanket, watching a movie (Cinderella III, a gift from Peter.)

I have to admit I have been a little concerned about this birthday. Last year, Savannah had a princess birthday party with several of her fiends, her grandma, and a castle cake. This year, I didn't plan a party, mainly because Savannah doesn't have any friends (besides a couple of American little girls--2 and 4 years younger than her-- that are out of town). To be honest, it breaks my heart. On several occasions, Savannah has tried to make frinds with other girls that live near us. She will say "Hello" in her new language and the girls often ignore her or laugh at her. I don't blame them... I'm sure she sounds funny to them, but it breaks this mama's heart. I've been afraid that Savannah would compare this birthday to her last one and feel sad, so, we planned lots of fun family events, hoping she would not feel something was lacking.... Oh well.... we'll have to pick up the celebration in a day or two.

I do want to mention that I am more worried about Savannah not having friends than she is. Brad and I were just discussing the other day how well she's been doing here. She's getting along great with her brothers and seems to have a very postive attitude towards this new culture. And, I know that getting Savannah in a school will give her the language skills and opportunities she needs to make friends her age. We've had a little problem finding a school that will allow foreigners to attend. Currently, our house-helper is looking into a school that's not too far away. If that one doesn't pan out, we have two others that are further away, but willing to take foreign kids that we'll pursue.

All that to say, in a day or two, we'll post birthday celebration pics....

Much Maligned Monarch Melts (see previous post)

I was outvoted by the family 4 to 1 (although Savannah did pull a sort-of Jedi mind trick on Peter to sway him..."Peter, you don't think we should wait till Thursday do you!?"). The comments flowing from America were devastating. The ‘gratify me now’ generation has won as this head of the home has lost all courage and strength. After allowing her to ride her bike approximately 1 hour after the post last night, I had a difficult time looking in the mirror. Savannah, in these pictures, is not so much excited about riding her bike as she is about triumphing over her father.



Peter and Alex were watching closely as they now have spotted an obvious weakness in their Dad that they plan to exploit in the not-so-distant future. I overheard them in bed last night discussing a plan to open Christmas gifts in October. Savannah was calculating that February wasn’t too early to open next year’s birthday presents. Even my wife was pondering the possibility of celebrating our anniversary on a monthly basis rather than a yearly basis. Yes, Pandora’s box has been opened and all I can do is watch helplessly as the masses chart the future and the Astros lose in 17 innings.

Minor Controversy

From Brad.

Well, a minor controversy has erupted in the Morello home over the past few hours. As the Morellos were shopping today, we landed upon the perfect birthday present for a sweet little girl who is about to exit the 'little' stage. She turns 5 on Thursday and so we bought her a bike today. However, should she be allowed to play with and ride her bike before Thursday? Do you open Christmas gifts on Dec. 19th? Certainly not...or do you? Mom has sided with Savannah and wants to grant permission immediately. Furthermore, Mom has informed Savannah that they are a team in this one and Daddy is the bad guy. Am I really that bad for wanting the day of her birthday to be the special day when she gets to actually ride on/play with her bike? I think not. In fact, I'm pretty well persuaded that Savannah will eventually see the wisdom in waiting and thank me for it later, despite how her Mom might seek to distort all that is sacred and holy. No, I'm sticking to my guns right now and doing the right thing. Way to go Dad. Way to lead in the face of tremendous opposition. Courage, bravery...any other adjectives come to mind?

4th of July Party

by Amy

My week has been fun! Our American friends that live in our city are out of town this week, so their house helper came to my house all week to teach my helper (Leigh) how to cook American food. They cooked our lunch and dinner everyday this week -- And we have eaten some great food, including chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy; chicken salad in fresh, homemade pita pockets, chicken fingers and mac 'n cheese, as well as many other fun things (chocolate chip cookies, muffins, and tortillas to name a few....). After spending so much time cooking American food, Leigh has been dreaming of cooking each night!

Yesterday Brad and I hosted a 4th of July party for some of our English-speaking college friends. The 7 people from Brad's twice-a-week English study were here as well as two of my girl friends that are graduate students. It was great! After everyone arrived, we passed our a 4th of July Trivia Quiz. It was a fun way to explain a little of America's history. The top four winners received a Good Book. We also ate hot dogs, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, and watermelon. (I didn't prepare any of it!) After that we played four on a couch and "the number game" from our Colorado days. It took them a little while for everyone to catch on, but it was fun. We spent a good part of the evening laughing. After having such a good time last night, we hope to have new friends in our home often!

(Don't miss Brad's post below. He posted right before I did!)

Teaching English

Brad here.

Well, I got roped into teaching a gaggle of high school kids this past Monday & Tuesday (gaggle right?). My friend had been applying a good bit of pressure and I figured this would be an easy way to say yes (and pay him back for some kindness he has paid to me) and be done with it. I hopped into a car at 7:30 Monday morning and 90 min. later, found myself walking into a large classroom of 125 high school students who promptly applauded for me (never remember those youth kids from Colorado doing such :). For the first 1.5 hours, I introduced myself, my family and practiced some English phrases with them. Then to fill the other 1.5 hours in the morning, I introduced them to the American fourth of July holiday. Then I repeated this for another 125 students in the afternoon. In the evening they watched the movie "Forest Gump" in English. The majority of the time, I was the only adult in the room...Wow! and there wasn't a problem (did I mention the room was around 85 degrees...and I was the only one who thought it was hot). The next day (Tuesday) was very similar so I explained some of the other American holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. It was really a wonderful time of sharing the origin of these holidays and their real meaning. The kids were mostly attentive and seemed to enjoy reading aloud the story as I would project it up on the screen via powerpoint.

Some of the more noteworthy moments of these two days are as follows:

• I was asked to sing an English song. When I politely declined (because I cannot sing well), they insisted. I offered to play a song from my laptop, but they would not have it. So, Rich Mullins, here we go, "step by step you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days." At the end, they clapped and cheered.
• At the end of each class, I was mobbed by students wanting autographs. I heard this doesn't happen to all foreign teachers, only the good-looking ones. :) jk
• I was served pig-intestines for lunch...didn't taste like chicken. :( It went great with the 'milk-apple juice' combo that was sitting on the warm countertop all morning.
• I had them read an article (in English) from their textbook on American students protesting a new dress code in a certain school district. The overwhelming consensus (among the students I was teaching) was that school is a place for learning, and not for looking at the opposite sex.
• In the aforementioned article, I was asked to define 'bra strap' by a 15 year old boy. I think 95% of the students blushed (as I'm sure I did also). All I could say is that boys don't wear these, and by their laughter, I think most of them knew what it was.

All in all, it was a great experience and I was thrilled with the ability to choose the topic of my choice. But it was tiring and I was happy to end my new experience after two days.