Exercise in Futility

Today, I had a plan.  Matt is out of town for the 2nd day, so I decided I would actually get up early and have some time with Jesus before my kids woke up.  Then I got them both changed and milked up and back in their beds (because that first wake up of theirs is crazy early!) and while they rested/slept, I got showered and dressed and so by about 9 am, things were rolling around here!  Kids were dressed, I was getting them fed and we had a plan!  The plan was to finish Nana's birthday cards (sorry for the spoiler Nana, but you may never get them, so this might spoil exactly nothing for you!), go to the post office and mail them, while also checking our P.O. box for any lovin' from the ole' US of A.  Simple, right?  Well, then I thought, "How cute if I take some pictures of the kids and get them printed and put them in the cards!"  So we took some pictures.  Selected our favorites, threw the jump drive in the diaper bag and we're off.  First we head down the elevator (we live on the 8th floor) to the car.  Usually when Matt is out of town we don't have a car, but this time he hitched a ride, so I was happy to have use of the car.  When we arrive at the car, Zain's carseat has been moved to the trunk.  Not sure why-I didn't drive the car last, but no big deal.  I figure out a semi safe place for him to sit while I get his carseat put back in place.  Then we head to the photo shop.  I am surprised and thrilled to find a parking place just down the hill from the shop.  Parking is EXTREMELY difficult here and streets are narrow and crowded, so I debated walking, but strapping my 20 lb kid onto my body while pushing my 2 1/2 year old in a stroller (cause trust me NO ONE has time to keep pace with the slowest walker on the planet) in this heat sounded awful (plus it's Ramadan so we couldn't drink any water outside while making this trek, which sealed the deal for me!  So we (and when I say we, I mean I) get both kids out of carseats (nearly being taken out by traffic driving very close to us and our parked car) and hike up the hill to the shop where we wait for a few minutes for someone to go get someone else, who tells me their machine is broken.  So I ask if they know any other places in the area.  Several nice patrons give me directions.  We walk back down the hill, get the carrier because now that we're officially exploring, I need Zain in his carrier.  We go in search of the other photo shop, which we walk right by without realizing it.  Then we ask at another shop.  And then we wait for 5 minutes while he yells at someone named Ahmed on the phone.  Then he sends us back the way we came.  (and I hope my child does not notice the porn sold openly at the magazine shop we have to pass going both ways)  Maya announces that she has to pee.  Although she is wearing a diaper, (because we have temporarily suspended all potty training efforts to prevent child abuse), I don't want to discourage her being aware and wanting to use the toilet, so I ask if she can hold it.  She can, so we proceed to photo shop #2 that we walked right by.  We arrive and he boots up his machine.  It strikes me as a bit ironic that it looks just like the machines in WalMart, where they have parking.  And baby changing tables.  And cold drinks.  Then he puts the jump drive in.  And there's nothing on it.  And I realize that I have a folder of cute pictures for Nana's birthday card sitting on my desktop, NOT on this jump drive.  I have to decide what to do now.  I contemplate mailing the cards without the pictures.  After all, we're already downtown, but with a 20 lb kid on my sweaty chest and the planet's slowest walking 2 1/2 year old, there is no way it's within walking distance from where we are parked.  At this point I remember that Maya needs to pee.  So we go into a coffee shop where I know there is a bathroom.  Why are all the bathrooms in this country in the basement or on the 2nd floor?!  So we (ever so slowly) make our way downstairs and she uses the potty and we get the diaper back on (while standing, mind you, because there is never a place to change kids here and this floor is DIRTY, so I'm not gonna lay her down on it).  I begin to have intestinal cramps and fear I will have diarrhea, but decide there's no way I can do that with my 20 lb kid strapped on my chest.  And I can't bear to put him down on this not so clean bathroom floor, so I just will myself well and we move on.  We climb back up the stairs, greet a few cute old men gawking at Maya, and hike back up the hill to the car.  As we get back in the car and I try to decide whether to go home, put the pictures on the jump drive, go back to the picture store, print the pictures, move the car to the post office, try to find parking (again), go up the stairs to the post office, wait in line forever. . . you're getting the point.  Plus Zain falls asleep the moment we are moving in the car again.  At this point, I decide we'd better just go home, eat lunch, take naps, and try the whole thing again tomorrow.  Wish me luck. . . And Nana?  Don't hold your breath. . .

An Extremely Long Post About a Very Short 24 Hours

I have a hangover.  Not the alcohol induced kind (we live under the law apparently), the vacation induced kind.  and although our "vacation" lasted all of 24 hours (it was actually a visa run, but i feel better when I call it something fun like vacation), it somehow has ended in the same effect (affect? I never know)--I can't seem to get my butt in gear and do anything (other than read blogs, of course).  Because I didn't feel like doing anything practical, Maya and I did a craft, but other than that, I've been pretty lazy all morning.  Teeth brushing?  Nope (Don't worry, matt left town before 7 this morning so it's ok that I've neither brushed my teeth or showered).  About 15 minutes ago I remembered that we have a bag of wet swim-clothes in our yet to be unpacked luggage from yesterday, so I managed to start a load of laundry-so yeah me.  Our kids have been sleeping off their hangover most of the morning so it's been a really nice quiet morning to myself (except for the one poop in her pants episode Maya had just after breakfast, just before our craft, in the 2 seconds while I stopped supervising her cute poopy little butt).

And speaking of that 24 hour vacation--it was awesome.  I'm not sure how 24 hours with so many hiccups could be considered awesome, outside of the grace of God.  And years of living in a kind of chaotic country dulling our sensitivity to chaos.  But it did and He is and it was.  We started off on shaky ground b/c our flight left Beirut after bedtime.  But we had a picnic dinner at our gate that included chemical filled cheeseballs and PB and J, so how could we not be happy?  The flight was a breeze (it's so short that they don't even have time to get out the beverage cart, so they pass out juice boxes before the plane even takes off).  The landing was a breeze.  The arrival was disorienting--why don't European teenagers wear any clothes?  And why do they say the F-word all the time?  Wow, we are in EUROPE!  A 20 minute flight, and we are worlds away!)  We landed in Cyprus without knowing a word of Greek (although after me making fun of him for having studied Greek in seminary and not remembering ANY of it, Matt came up with the word Oikos--useful honey, thank you!) we entered the Greek speaking island of Cyprus.

Thankfully Matt splurged on a guidebook of Cyprus in the Beirut airport, so we weren't completely ignorant.  Although we have flown into Cyprus quite a few times to renew our visas, this was our first time to actually leave the airport--and my what we have been missing!  It was cute!  It was quaint!  It was RURAL!  It reminded me of a mash up between a VanGogh painting, and Kansas countryside.  I got to explain hay bales to Maya!  Real live birds ate her crumbs at lunch on a veranda!  We saw camels!  Say WHAT?!  We left the middle east for Europe and ended up at a place that had camels?  Camel Park to be exact, but I'll tell you more about that later.  After we arrived in shocking Europe (I kept reminding myself that it's rude to stare in Europe.  I don't know that for a fact, but I decided it was a safe assumption.), we headed to the rental car area.  We got a car secured and two car seats, then we walked like a thousand miles in 200% humidiity with one big duffle, two carry on's, a diaper bag, 2 kids and 2 carseats.  When we finally found the car and figured out how to install Zain's carseat (in the dark b/c the lights inside the car didn't work), we took a moment to try to orient ourselves.  You see, Cypriots have some historical connection with the Britts, and therefore, many of them speak English, and all of them drive on the left side of the road. 

"Look to the right, stay to the left!"

If you have never experienced this, just trust me in that it is extremely disorienting.  Add to that that the car was a standard (NO problem for my awesome hubby though), with the shifter on the LEFT!  Someday I'll tell the story of our comical honeymoon in the Bahamas and driving a scooter on the left side, when I perfected my Brittish driving mantra, "Look to the right, stay to the left."  Once again this cheer came in handy as we nearly avoided collision on a number of occasions (we actually read in the guidebook that Cyprus has one (if not THE) highest rates of car accidents in all of Europe.  I'll tell you why.  Visitors.  They even have big signs as you leave the airport telling you to drive on the left.)  Now speaking of signs.  Much like the Lebanese, the Cypriots do not seem to put much stock in them.  Conveniently, the signs that they do have are in both Greek and English, but that somehow was not enough.  In our bewildered left side driving, getting in so late, feeling tired, trying to read the map in the dark car and find our hotel state-of-mind, we needed some reliable signage.  We ended up in driveways and on dead end roads and in the seeming middle of nowhere.  Several times.  Did I mention what time of night it is at this point?  I can't remember, but it was late.  Like maybe after 11 p.m.?  One man told us to drive toward the sea, but in the dark, a big field and the sea are pretty much identical.  Maya, from her booster seat in the backseat seemed to be keenly aware of the fact that we did not know where we were.  She was asking, almost constantly where we are and what we were doing.  I tried to stay extremely calm and upbeat, while feeling increasingly unsure and concerned on the inside.  Were it not for the wonderful Cypriot people themselves, we surely would have had no chance.  There are SO SO many similarities between our beloved Lebanese and the Cypriots.  One being that they all socialize out on their verandas late into the night b/c it's the coolest time of the day and it's cooler outside than inside.  That being the case, it was quite easy to just pull up alongside someones house and ask, "Do you speak English?" and always, someone did.  We got directions from a nice group of folks, tried to follow them, and ended up lost once again.  Then we drove around some more.  Then we got lost again.  Had it not been the pitch black of night, it would have been a very pleasant tour of all of the little villa-type homes, the beautiful flowers growing around each home, and the big open fields of hay and groves of olive trees.  We pulled over at a kebab restaurant, and asked directions again.  In broken English they gave us directions, but something got lost in translation, because after about 15 minutes, we were back at the same Kebab place! 

The Kebab Shack in the daylight

At this point, Zain threw up all over himself.  I jumped out of the car and went around to the back to get him out, and try to clean him up.  So at this point, Zain and I are sitting on the curb in front of Kebab stand, trying to clean up the vomit.  This precious lady who could have come right out of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" brings me a bottle of water and another brings me a glass and we give Zain some water and get us both mostly cleaned up.  We chat and she realizes this is our first day in Cyprus.  At that point, there is no way she is going to let anything else bad happen to us--she assigns her husband to jump in his car and lead us to our hotel.  And it's a good thing he did, because we were so far from getting there it's not even funny.  Maybe it was the difference between getting directions in meters/kilometers instead of yards or miles or whatever we do.  This wonderful man led us right to our hotel, but not without Zain puking on himself one more time.

We thanked him profusely and headed into the hotel.  We arrived in our room (which is nice and well decorated, so I am very happy).  Aren't the acid dyed concrete floors pretty? 

A man from India gets a pack n play all set up and goes to great trouble to turn the couch into a bed for Maya, we get the essentials unpacked and then realize the air is not working in our room.  Move rooms.  At this point, I think it must have been after midnight, which is no big deal, but when you are 9 months old, or 2 1/2, it's a real big deal.  We got settled in our new (cool) room and after a long time of struggling, the kids finally fell asleep.  And then the really cool Ipod docking station/alarm clock on my bedside table goes off and I swear we are sleeping in a fire station it is so loud!  I finally figure out how to turn it off.  And then I'm guessing about 15 minutes later, right after I've finally fallen asleep, it goes off again.  at that point I have the sense of mind to unplug the crazy thing!  (Do people do that on purpose?  Like a prank?  Mean.  So mean.)  Did I already mention that the bathroom has a window that looks into the bedroom?  So strange.  Also, when 2 children are sleeping in the room with you, so annoying, b/c if the light in the bathroom is on, it shines all over the bedroom.  We managed around it somehow.

the view from the balcony

The next morning we all woke up too early and decided we would head down to breakfast, and then take turns taking Maya to the pool and keeping Zain in the room (hopefully sleeping).  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9ish that night so we needed to kill appx. 12 hours in Cyprus.  We got a late check out of 2pm so Maya and I headed to the pool while Matt stayed with Zain for a nap.  Then after a while Matt came down to swim with Maya so I could go up and shower and pack up our stuff. 

Somewhere in the hand-off, Maya didn't get a 2nd application of sunblock and got a sunburn.  Ouch!  Zain took a very abbreviated nap, so after the swim, we still had a bit of time before we had to be out of the room so we put both kids back down for a nap, which Zain talked his way through and Maya fiddled and fidgeted and stalled until almost time to check out, at which time she fell fast asleep.  Ugh!  So we wake her up, get all the bags down to the car, and decide we will go back to the kebab folks to thank them for their help and to eat some lunch. 

It's after 2 by this point so we are getting HUNGRY!  We realize in the daylight just how beautiful it is, and just how clueless we were driving around lost the night before.  We find the restaurant, but apparently, because it's so hot, and they don't use much A/C, people here stay up very late, and don't do a whole lot in the morning (or early afternoon?).  So the kebab shop was closed.  Plan B: any place that was open that had A/C so we could keep our little lobster child and our very sweaty selves in from the heat.  About the first five places we found had all outdoor seating and no A/C.  Then we found a place with the doors closed, which we took to mean sit in the A/C-yeah!  So we parked, got kids all unloaded, walked in, and realized while they did in fact have A/C, the seating was OUTSIDE only!  You could buy your goods in the air conditioned glory, but you had to eat them in the sweltering humidity of a Cyprus 2 pm.  At this point, I give our family a speech about how bad running the A/C is for the environment, how so many in the world don't even have the choice to run it to escape from the heat, how the growing threat of global warming is real to these people because they feel it with their bodies, etc., etc., but all i really wanted?  Some d*** A/C.  And something to eat.  The hungry grumpies were all over me.  We got lost again at this point.  I'm serious.  We really did.  And passed quite a few cafes with tons of little old men sitting outside on the verandas, drinking what is called a frape.  I think this was the forerunner for the frappuccino.  It is a famous Cypriot cold coffee drink, and it is YUMMY! 


At this point, Matt approached one of these groups of old men (why didn't I get a picture of the groups of little old men, sitting outside the cafes, drinking their frapes (frape rhymes with cafe)?!  Anyway, he got directions.  Again.

At this point, Maya has asked for a snack about 10 times and we decided the next place we find, A/C or no, we will stop and eat.  That's when we end up at The Camel Park.  That's right, we have left the Middle East for Europe, only to eat lunch at a place that is decorated with camels and other Middle Eastern kitch, and is within smelling range of a camel farm/petting zoo. 

And there's no A/C.  We eat some yummy food (that is very similar to Lebanese food-they even use some of the same words-maybe these words come from Turkish and the Ottoman occupation?) and do a great deal of sweating.
We decide next that we should head into the city (where the airport is) make sure we can find the airport, then if we have time, try to find a Mexican restaurant that Matt read about in his guidebook.  Oh my word.  I think we asked directions 3 or 4 more times.  No kidding.  I finally took a picture just so I could document the thing we did the most while we were in Cyprus.

Also, just to keep us on our toes, Zain threw up another 2 or 3 times during this drive.

Daddy on clean up duty post another puke episode . . .

We finally found it-Nuevo Mexico.  It was literally on the road that we came in from the airport on.  We probably drove right by it, before driving around the city for at least an hour looking for it.  We unloaded the pukey kid, walked inside, then Matt noticed that the menu said "French".  Thankfully we were in the right place, just the wrong floor--the place we wanted was just upstairs from the French place. . .

Here's what we did at Nueva Mexico:

 . . . that and we had the best Chicken Enchiladas we've had in at least two years!  Corn tortillas, how we love you!!  Even here, there was no A/C, so we sat out on the veranda, devoured our Mexican, and sweated some more!  We quickly loaded up the car again, drove for the airport, got the car turned in, got the bags checked and made it to our gate with all kinds of time to spare.  And by all kinds of time, I mean our flight was an hour late taking off, which is, again, no big deal if you didn't start out with exhausted, hot, sunburned kids. . . ;)

Did I mention that Zain had an allergic reaction (mild) to the baby food I fed him on our picnic at the departure gate, or that Maya pooped her pants at the rental car counter while we were picking up the car? 

All in all, our 24 hours in Cyprus were great, and other than the porn sold openly in the duty free shops and thong wearing, topless sunbathers, it was good clean fun!!!  I even got to wear a sleeveless shirt and eat pork!  We will go to Cyprus again for sure!  It was awesome!

What'cha Been Up To?

Hello blog-reading friends.  We're still out here.  We've been busy doing all of this:

 We went on a little drive and after much searching, found this little spring that friends had told us about.  Sadly they had bull-dozed the nice grassy area around it we were planning to enjoy so our visit was short, but Maya had tons of fun playing in the cold water, throwing rocks, and generally getting dirty!

 This Syrian guy we met wanted to take Maya into this cave where the spring comes out of a rock or something.  Sometimes I'm amazed at the things involving my children that I allow to take place in this country (although I did shout at some children at the park two days ago, "Put her down, she's a person not a doll!"). 

 Having a good ole time gettin' dirty and wet.

We've been trying for months to get Zain to eat food.  In about the last week, he has FINALLY gotten the hang of it, but is still the slowest eater of all time, and seems to just tolerate it, not enjoy it (like his big sister did). 

I found a recipe for homemade puff paint and Maya and I had a lot of fun creating! 

 "Look at what I did!"

We are potty training right now, and the only words I have to describe how it is going might earn me the name potty-mouth, so we're just going to move right on to something happy . . .  

And how happy this makes me!  Zain and Daddy having some tickle time.  Zain is UBER ticklish and just loves to be cuddled, held, tickled, etc.  What a fun boy! 

 Speaking of fun--this was not.  These precious friends of ours left in June to to back to the States and boy do we miss them (Maya especially).

How could you leave this place?  We have sand we have sun, we have the sea!  On this trip to the sea, Zain, who has a super gag reflex got a bit of salt water in his mouth and puked.  He made up for it by eating sand the rest of the day.  Almost daily now, Maya wants to whisper this secret in my ear, "We're going to the beach with Isla!"

Speaking of Zain, doesn't he look like he is going to be extremely ornery?  His true colors are starting to shine and the boy has a temper when he doesn't get his way. . . what are we in for?!

For the 4th of July we had a crowd over to celebrate, swim, eat awesome food, etc.  I fixed these: BBQ chicken that was SO easy and SO good.  Homemade ice cream without a machine-I made cookies and cream, vanilla, Reese's pb cup and chocolate--and now I have a tire around my waist again!  It is SO simple, so easy, and so rich and creamy!  Try it!  I also made Baked S'Mores with some marshmallow cream hand carried from 'Merica, but I can't seem to find the conversation on facebook with the link to the recipe. . . We also had baked beans and amazing potato salad that friends brought.  It all tasted very American and yummy!  Maya took swimming VERY seriously (as you can see). 

 Zain and his buddy taking a dip--he really loves the water too.

Zain has started crawling!  Look out world (and mommy, say goodbye to showering). . .  

He has also sprouted two teeth!

I've been teaching an art class to some precious girls from about age 3 to 11!  It is an hour and a half of controlled chaos and I LOVE it!  I'll teach two more classes this summer, and I've been too busy at the two classes so far to take pictures, but we've done fabric yo-yo's and made them into hair barrettes, and we've started a canvas with recycled magazine pages and we're going to make it a mixed media piece with their names and a Bible verse of their choosing next week.  Still can't decide on what to do week four, any great ideas?  It has to be something that's not just on paper (that gets thrown away eventually).

Matt has been doing what we call a language push.  It's when we take a limited period of time and do something very intentional to push our language to a deeper level--his class is twice a week for 3 hours and it's all about controversial topics in society here!  I'll be taking the same class next month when I do a language push (and I'm REALLY nervous about the time commitment and the level of Arabic, but it will be GOOD for my very stagnant process (and I'm sure will humble me and challenge me spiritually). 

My friend's mom came for a visit to Lebanon and spent several hours with me and some girlfriends talking about parenting and it was really practical and encouraging.  The Lord really convicted my heart in regards to how I view Maya.  I haven't really been enjoying her for the last several months (maybe all the way back to when Matt broke his foot?  sidenote: I think that may be why I haven't blogged in forever--injured hubby for 3 months=busy stressed mommy!).  Anyway, I am trying to see her as a person again, rather than a project or a responsibility or a creater of greater messes and more responsibilities for me.  She is a fearfully and wonderfully made PERSON who needs me to try to know her and understand her as that.  Humbling.  So humbling. . .This parenting thing is hands down the hardest thing I have ever done.  But God continues to guide me and speak correction and conviction so even as I feel kind of at a loss as to how to do this (see this post), I continue to put my hope in Him and plead for His Spirit to guide me. 

I'm sure we've been doing other stuff, but right now, kids need fed, laundry needs done, Momma needs a shower, you know--the usual! ;)