DanandDalaina.com

Our electricity has become less and less efficient, resulting in only
an hour or two of light at night. We got tired of not having lights or
being able to use our electronics, so Dan and Scott thought up a way
that might be a good temporary solution: defrosting the freezer and
moving it closer to the batteries. Apparently its efficiency goes way
down when it is frosty and also efficiency is lost over the length of
cable from the battery to our fridge. So this morning we had a big
project. Dan got up entirely too early and had all of the defrosting
done before I even crawled out of bed (thanks, honey!). I had the job
of putting everything back in the freezer and getting the kitchen back
in order. Hopefully this will do the trick as I am not a big fan of
the candles and little boys combination. A nice bonus of moving the
freezer was that I got to shove the dining table against the wall, so
now I can move in the kitchen without getting bruises on my hips.

Well the rain has continued to pour for the past several days, and our
solar electricity has continued to dwindle. Two nights ago, our power
actually went out completely right at bedtime. We were surprised
because we had only used one light bulb for about 2 hours the whole
day (in addition to the freezer). It seems like our power is either
leaking out somehow or the controller is not collecting as much as it
is supposed to. It will be something that we are going to have to get
fixed with more panels or a new controller or something. Anyway, we
are using the third (empty) house's power to charge up our electronics
since that power is not being used for anything right now. We are very
glad to have our computer, dvd player, and ipod back! :)
We are sloooowly progressing in language learning, but at least there
is progress! I have had a couple of helpful language sessions with
Ken, and Dan has had one with a Caquinte man, Gregorio. He has also
been doing a lot of independent study with Ken's thesis. Fortunately
for him, he remembers all of that technical linguistics stuff. He is
able to learn the structure and grammatical rules of the language that
way. I don't remember much of anything so I am sticking with the “how
do you say this” technique for now. Thank goodness for flash cards!
Overall, I think we are doing well here. Dan always seems to be having
a good time, except for when he is stuck inside all day with bored
kids and a frustrated wife. I have had my ups and downs, but that is
pretty typical for me. Some days I feel very encouraged and think I am
learning Caquinte and making friends. Other days I am discouraged by
the inability to get time to study or just frustrated that I can't
really speak with people. Homesickness hit me pretty hard yesterday. I
think it was due, in part, to hormones, but I think the bigger issue
was realizing that December was here. I love Christmas season, so
being away from that is hard, especially since we are thinking of just
doing summer furloughs. That means who knows how long until we are
back home for Christmas. We are flying back on the 21st, but I am not
sure how much I will be able to do as far as decorating the house. We
have no Christmas decorations, and I understand that they are not as
easy to come by here as in the USA. Usually we have so much Christmas
junk on the wall that it looks bare when it finally comes down in
January. I will try to see what I can do...
Anyway, we are only about halfway through our time here, so worrying
about that is useless. For now I have to make a shopping list for our
teammate back home to send on our flight out. We have to pay for the
flight anyway, so it makes sense to use the weight to get as many
non-perishable items out as we can.

For the past three days it has been POURING pretty much constantly.
Our yard looks like a lake, and apparently you can't even get to the river
(not that we have tried) because the little stream you have to cross
on the way there swelled up to chest deep. So we have been cooped up
and trying to save electricity as best we can (I am typing with what
is left of the computer battery). It's especially frustrating for Dan
as he has been using the computer for language study.
We found a dead snake underneath the Welsh's house on Saturday. It was
not poisonous, but it still freaked me out because Moses likes to play
under there – although he is no longer allowed to do so. I know that
God can protect him, but I can't help but think that it really is a
dangerous place out here for him despite our efforts to keep him safe.
I mean that snake was not in the weeds or anywhere near water. It was
just under the house. I prayed for a long time for the boys that
night.
On Friday, I had a language session with Ken that went really well. He
helped me out with some conversational phrases and a little
linguistics stuff. I still feel like an idiot pretty much all the
time, but it was nice to have more to say than “what's you name” when
visitors came today (especially since I already knew their names!).
It's funny how one day I can be so discouraged thinking that I will
NEVER understand this language, and the next day I think I am making
progress.
Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving at Ken and Joy's house. It was
sooo good. We had a turkey brought in from Lima, stuffing, yams, rolls,
mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin cream cheese pie.
Then we got the kids to bed and played cards for awhile. I was quite thankful!

Today started with an early morning. Since it was Thursday, I got up
at 4:58 for the weekly women's devotional at church. It ended up being
an hour and a half instead of the usual 10 minutes because today is
the church's anniversary and there was a sunrise service/celebration
that no one knew about. Surprise!
At lunchtime, the congregation got together for a community meal.
Basically, everyone gathered at the church and sat around the
perimeter of the room. Each woman brought a dish and served everyone. I brought a
pot of black beans; Nichole brought rice mixed with canned ham; and
Joy brought a chicken noodle dish. Most everything else was yucca or
plantains though there was a little chicken and rice too. It was all
pretty good, and the meal was over quickly.
Since it was Thanksgiving, we decided to make a call to Dan's parents.
Moses has been asking to talk to them a lot lately, and we thought it
would be a good treat for everyone. I think he was as excited to talk
to them as they were to hear his voice. I enjoyed the chance to say
hello too.
Our own Thanksgiving dinner has been postponed until Saturday when
Nichole doesn't have to teach. I am already salivating in
anticipation!

This morning we asked Moses to tell us what he thanked Jesus for. Here
was his top ten in order:
1) Airplanes
2) Lima
3) Trick or Treat
4) clothes
5) spiderman
6) cheesy eggies
7) macaronii!!
8) the tires up there (our inner tubes that are hanging on the wall)
9) Bebe (the neighbor's dog)
10) more ham (we were eating ham & eggs, and Dan shared some of his)

Today Nichole decided that she really needed to get out more, so she
asked me if I wanted to go with her to visit some people. Dan agreed
to stay with the twins, and I took Moses with us to visit a family at
the end of the airstrip. The woman there is one of the oldest woman
in the village. She lives there with a husband, some grandkids she is
caring for, a daughter, and her granddaughter who is also her husband's
second wife. Yep, I know, it's pretty icky. Especially considering the
girl is only like 14, and they already have a child together. Anyhow,
it was a good visit. I think the lady, Juana, was pretty delighted to
get company. She presented me with two papayas before we left. I did
not understand much of the conversation, but I am thinking that
getting out like that is definitely the best way for me to hear the
language in its context.