Resurrection Weekend

(I know this blog is a week late, but Easter weekend in Duhok was worth documenting!)

We started our weekend celebration on Good Friday with worship with our Church.  Our church meets weekly and consists of about 15ish other believers.  This Sunday was special because we had a "band" that led us in worship.  Andy on the guitar, a guy on the clarinet, gal on the recorder, and Mary on the piano.  It was great.  We also were able to partake in the Lord's supper together, and listen to a message prepared by one of the members.  During this time, another member led children's time and did resurrection eggs with the 7 children that attend.  It takes everyone to contribute on a week to week basis,  taking turns to lead different things.  A great picture of the body!  We ended our time with a oh-so-yummy potluck!  The Bishops be lovin' them a potluck!  I forgot my camera so sorry I don't have any pictures :o(.

The next day we invited our neighbors over to color eggs (I found food coloring here!) They were first timers to color Easter Eggs, and got to talk with them about the meaning of Easter as well. 

 Zander sorta did one egg. He did a little bit of coloring, then I helped him dip the egg. But mostly he just sat in his high chair eating a couple of eggs that had cracked.  I still think he was having fun!   

 We went shopping a couple days before, and I felt like we scored big-time when we found a few children's books in English! We also put a few pieces of candy, and some of the Easter eggs in Z man's basket.  He was excited to see that these were for him!

 This picture totally cracks me up.  Can you tell Andy and I were trying to get him to pose?  His sweet little hands holding that egg so gently :)

 While we were waiting for the egg bake to cook, Andy read him his new books.  The thing that looks ginormious in the foreground of this picture is my version of "Casey's Raspberry Cheese Flip" Have you had them?... Oh they are OH SO SO SO YUMMY! Very low in calories :) or... not.

After breakfast we took an Easter basket to our friends that had a picture Zander colored, a couple books in it, candy, cookies, eggs, and small toys.  It was fun sharing with them. 

 We took little baskets to our other 2 closest neighbors that just had cookies and eggs in them.  But enjoyed a long visit with our Assysian (basically Catholic) Christian neighbors. They don't speak much English so they had to show us what their tradition for Easter was. Pacha.  I was a bit surprised when they had the largest pot I have ever seen, FULL of cow intestines and pieces of the stomach sewed together with rice stuffed inside.  I tried to avoid trying it, but I did take one bite. Andy on the other hand felt like he should eat a HUGE bowl of it.  He still feels ok.

Later that afternoon we had the neighbor kids over for a game of volleyball.  Always a fun event :)

 We ended our day at the ZOO! This was the first time we were there. Zander loved it.  Especially the monkey's.  

They also had some slides and swings there. That are not regulation incline! If you go full speed down these suckers, you may die. You need to slow yourself down by gripping your feet a little bit on the edges. Zander couldn't go down this one by himself, but then we wouldn't have gotten the privilege to see Andy go down it.  :)

It was a fun weekend! :)

Kurdish Wedding Time!

Look at this sweet little love boy!

 Doesn't he look spify...We borrowed our friends traditional shal u shapik, and got all ready to go to a Kurdish Wedding.

I got the traditional Kurdish dress this year, but Andy still has yet to get the garb :) Next year Honey!  Just so you know.... Yes, that's a FULL sequence jacket from neck to toe! Pink too! That's right, I couldn't believe it either. The shinier and brighter, the better!

We stopped over to our neighbors house before the wedding to show off Zander to his girl, Lara.  She thought he was smokin' cute!

The wedding was for the brother of our dear friend Zach.

Bummer that sometimes people are trying to get the rowdy 2 year old to look at the camera, but then the adults aren't looking :) and Zander looks extremely uncomfortable. 

This is "Nicole", Zach's sister.  I would love to get to know her better. We have had good talks on a couple occasions, and she is always so sweet! Although she looks beautiful in this picture, you should have seen her dress! I wish I took a picture.  It was amazing and she totally rocked it!

The wedding was at a restaurant in town with a "hall" connected to it.  It was great because as soon as we    got there, waiters came to our table with salads, olives, and soup. We then got to order what we wanted. Sweet huh! No waiting for the bride and groom to arrive, or the best man speech and thinking "Dude, I'm hungry, get on with it"  Don't get me wrong, I do love the traditions of American weddings and they are special and memorable. Because, sad to say, I didn't get even one picture of the bride and groom.  (Who sit on this couch the entire time and people come up to them for pictures, which no one smiles in) I did get this short video though. (which I just tried to upload but it wouldn't with our slow internet.. sorry) After everyone else eats, the bride and groom go behind this screen to eat themselves, while the music gets set up.  Then people line up at the screen and dance and shake this cloth-cymbal thing around and lead everyone up to dance in this ginormous circle. 

Once again- it's always funny for us to see pictures of Andy next to Kurds.  Do you think we get starred at much here? The tallest couple in Duhok (1/2 million people).... by far!

It was a fun experience and a great way to see Zach and his family celebrate such an important day in their lives.  

Blueberry

I didn't take this picture. Petr Kratochvil did.
This is a blueberry. 

I like blueberries.

We can't get them here. Not even the blueberry muffin mix. 

I will pack some of that mix when we come back here. 

There is something else about blueberries that's interesting.

 I have something in me that's the size of a blueberry this week!

That's right... that something is actually beginning to be someone.

A blueberry.... just two weeks ago it was a poppyseed.

Seriously?!?.... I'm amazed at God's workmanship!

Slowly, carefully, intricately beginning to form. 

Meanwhile.... Zander has NO CLUE! But when I hold the 1-year old girl from across the street, he gives me evil eyes that imply "What do you think your doing?"  He will have to start getting used to not being the baby of the family anymore!!!

Sorry I didn't have Zander wearing a "Big Bro" T-shirt. But then all you had to do was look at the picture. That's normally my style, but..... not today. Today I wanted to talk about blueberries.

March Madness- Day 3

Some of the best times come unexpected. We were expecting to rest today as Kurdish picnics wear you out! After spending the morning baking, I was still in my t-shirt and sweatpants when our neighbor came over and asked us if we wanted to go on a picnic with their family in 10 mins!

Lucky for us they were running on Kurdish time and we had 30 mins to get ready plus their niece who I have really been able to connect with (also speaks flawless English) came over and helped me do my hair :)

We found our spot! Gelly Cort (Short Valley) It was a popular place.

This family has been our closest friends while we have been here, and have told us we are like family to them. This has at times seemed more like a polite way to welcome us into their home. It wasn't until today that I actually felt like they meant it because they asked me to help prepare the meal! Coming from a culture of hospitality, this was a first for me while here. So this meant alot. So I got to work chopping the veggies for the salads.

It's chow time! They even had grilled hot dogs because some of them were at our house a couple days ago (see Day 1 of this madness) and liked them so much they wanted to have them again. The simple treasures!

Andy of course lovin' the Chicken Tikka and some quality time with Neighbor and Zander's girlfriend.

So don't judge. Zander drank a pop and had about 100 cookies that were given to him by Kurds. I look at it kinda like grandparents spoiling him. If it only happens every so often it's ok. Right?!?!

All the Ladies (+ Zander)Just the guys!

Ok- Now the real party starts. Get your pinkies warmed up because they will get tugged on for the next hour! Time for some Kurdish Dancing.

Zander didn't quite make it home awake. He had to take a quick power nap while we finished dancing. I know buddy, it's been a long day! But quite memorable!

March Madness- Day 2

Our student "David" asked us to go with his family to a picnic today. So we left at 9am ready to go fully equipped with our badminton rackets, coloring books, coats, diapers.....Not quite knowing what to expect!

2 1/2 hours later it looked like we found our picnic spot. Looked similar to the spots an hour back, but they wanted to take us to the "perfect" spot. Andy enjoyed some kite flying with his student while there is still no rain.

Meanwhile, everyone else gets to work unloading the vehicles and preparing the food.

These aren't the typical pack some cold meat sandwhiches and chips picnic. They bring their little grills, make kabobs, salads, and dolma (rice stuffed cabbage leaves basically)

Ladies here.....Men overthere.....

Just when everyone finished eating and we poured our cup of chai it started sprinkling. Zander was just starting to make friends

But we decided to pack up after it starting raining pretty good. So started making our way back to Duhok. Where both lanes of traffic were going same way. Normal? Only in Kurdistan!

Amidst the tired drive home. David asked about Baptism. Andy feel asleep. So I was talking to him about the difference between infant and believers baptism. He had a puzzled look on his face. "No like what they do in the hospital when a baby BOY is born." OHHHHHHH..... that's not called baptism. That's called circumcision. Slight difference! David is always a good question asker though!