New Places

This week we were able to find many new places and practice our language all over the place. We decided to try to find this mall because we heard it was one of the largest in the world. Well, apparently, that is only in square footage. We (as in I) was a little dissappointed that there were no stores to shop in. I was really hoping to find some new stores. The kids, however, love this mall and want to go back. Why? Well, it turns out that this mall has not only a McDonalds, but an indoor amusement park. Yes. My kids begged the entire time to ride rides. We broke down and let them each ride one ride. (They were not tall enough for most of the rides) Katherine rode these little airplanes, Regan and Benjamin rode some Superman thing, and all of us did the water bumper boats. It turned out to be a good day even if there were no shops. The kids like these elephant statues, too, and we all thought of Auntie Em :)

The other thing this mall had was an awesome looking produce section! We had to take a picture. This was actually as close as we got because we were not prepare to buy food. We are still amazed at the size of this mall and how even the grocery store wasn't crowded. We thought it was a good picture anyway and Jonathan might venture back just for the produce one day ;)

I have to admit, that I have gotten used to the whole idea of carrying an umbrella on a sunny day. It really does keep you from getting so hot. I'm wondering why we don't do that in the States now. BUT, I have not and will not start wearing the umbrella on my head. That's a little too much for me. In case you are wondering, I think most people here would not wear it either. I have seen a few though and it makes me smile every time.

When we first moved here, we met a couple that helped us get back to the hotel where we were staying. They were so friendly. Well, they called us and invited us to go to a water park with their family. We had a great time! It started storming about an hour after we got there. I was a little nervous because there was bolt lightning all around and no one was leaving the pools! We moved to the indoor pools and the rest of the crowd stayed until the rain actually started falling.

They made Regan and I wear a cap to swim. It was a first for both of us :) We stayed at the pool until after our kids bedtimes (and no dinner yet....people here eat dinner much later than we are accustomed) When we decided it was time to head home, our friends said, "Yes. In 20 minutes." We had to go to these series of hot tubs "for our bodies health" before we left. Not everyone at the pool did this, but we were guests, so we just followed along. It was actually REALLY nice. You started with a warm one, moved to a warmer wone that was colored red (supposed to be good for us), and then to a really hot one with jets to massage your muscles, and then you left. Yeah, I can do that again :)

Here is a big girl! Katherine on her first day of school!! She successfully potty trained in 1 1/2 weeks, so that she could attend. She was not going to let us return her new uniform and backpack to the school. The kids paint, play with toys, do music and dance, and have an English lesson every day.

She had a great first week and is looking forward to going again this week. She told me on Friday that she had fun and had lots of friends. They were all telling her bye when we left. It was cute.

Regan and Benjamin also had their Open House to meet their teachers and see their rooms. They start school on the 30th and will be attending an international school (English speaking) but will take language classes to learn the local language here. Each class has their own mascot. Regan is a frog and Benjamin is a dolphin. Regan is already looking forward to next year when she will get to be a giraffe...her favorite animal.

Here, we do not wear our shoes in the house. Some people leave them outside their door, but most find it ok to have a shoe rack like this one as soon as you enter. This was one of the first things we bought beacuse we had quite the pile of shoes by the door.

Here is our sweet Ayi. She is the lady that helps us watch Lauren during the day. She also cooks lunch for us and helps us with laundry and cleaning. She has been a lifesaver! People here take a rest around 12:00-2:00. We knew this and tried to get her to rest on one of the beds or the couch. She still will not. Instead, she takes 4 of our dining room chairs (in picture above) and lines them up and lays down on them to rest. It does not look comfortable at all to me, but she seems to enjoy it. Oh, the other thing is she turns off all our fans and AC as soon as she gets to our place. We turn off the AC during the day to save money, but keep the fans running all the time, but hey, however she likes it is fine with me!

Since the older kids were not in school this week, they helped me study. They like playing a game with the cards. We would listen to the word and see who could find the picture the fastest. They are pretty good at it.

On Saturday, we wanted to go to a bigger city nearby. It only took about an hour. We had to take a taxi, a train, and a subway to get there, but we made it. This is the kids looking for the train to come. We actually missed our train the first time. We did not realize that it ws possible to buy a ticket for the train that was leaving in 30 seconds. Note to self: If everyone else is running, you should too!

We just got on the next train that was going to the city we were wanting to go to.

Once we got there, we found this mall. This was on my list of things to find because I heard that they had opened up a ToysRUs here and wanted to see for myself. (It is very difficult to find toys here, so I was excited about the possibilities) It was a great mall with lots of variety. I will definitely want to go back some day.

This made me laugh. I guess this is what western kids dress like....maybe in Hollywood. We passed so many stores at this mall with similar clothes, but I'm not sure who wears them. All the kids here (including mine) just wear normal shorts and T-shirts.

And yes...We found the ToysRUs! We bought Katherine a birthday present and managed to get it home without her realizing it. Next mission: to see if we can find some form of wrapping paper.
Wherever we go, people want to take pictures of or with our kids. They always ask first. I decided to take the advice of a friend this week....when they ask, we ask the kids if they want to. Most of the time they don't mind. However, when we were in ToysRUs, Benjamin said no every time. I don't blame him...it's TRU! :) Regan said yes every time :) I wish I had been thinking for one of the pictures and I would have taken it, too. This lady said that her brother thought Regan was very beautiful and wanted to have a picture with her. So, they stood next to each other, but he did not look thrilled at all! It was so funny! I think the big sister was the one wanting the picture NOT the little brother :)