Road Trip

I recently had the opportunity to take four guys from Missouri around the southern part of our country. We were able to see some places rich in history and culture. As far as sightseeing goes, the highlight of the trip was going to Harran, where Abraham lived before moving to Palestine. There's no disputing that it is the ancient city that is spoken of in Genesis. Today, instead of being a major city located on a major trade route, it looks more like a village. Many of the people living there still live in "beehive" shaped houses that help keep the homes cool in the extremely hot summer.

As for the four guys in the picture below, each are over 50 years old, but they made me feel like the old guy in the group. While strolling through a park in a city called Urfa around 10:30 at night, one asked if we should climb a steep walkway to the castle overlooking the city. My answer was that we would have time in the morning. But, someone else quickly replied, "We might as well do it now." About an hour later we got back to the hotel and I had my best night's sleep of the whole trip.

Here's the crew at Mt. Nemrut standing beside Hercules and Apollos.

This place is literally called "Fishy Lake" or "Lake with Fish."
Whatever you call it, it looked like a fish pond to me.
Some people believe the fish in this pond are holy.

Women feeding the holy carp.

A local man lounges in the shade at a family park.
The purple headscarf that he's wearing is exclusive to the area around Urfa.
Both men and women wear them.

A scene from the famous Urfa Bazaar.

The "beehive" homes in Harran.

The museum in Harran that allows you to see inside the homes.

The sitting room where guests would be entertained.

A local woman prepares the family bed for the evening.
Because the temperatures are so hot, everyone sleeps outside.

Some say it was the first university in the world,
others say it was the second. Regardless it's pretty old.

Good News!!!

Based on the ultrasound, Baby Boy Blan doesn't have the Blan nose! We can't get too excited yet. Pictures of Stephen as a child showed no indication of having the "famous" shnaz. But we all know that changed.

It's A...

...Boy!! Or so we think. The doctor is 90% sure our child is a boy. So far every report on Baby Boy Blan (we are considering this as his name) has been good. The doctor has said more than once that he is "hareketli." That means he has ADD and won't sit still. Actually, it just means active, but if you ask Sarah at 10 pm every night, she'll tell you he has ADD or he's just trying to get some early practice in for his elementary school kickball team.

Mom is doing well. Even though she knows she's supposed to gain weight she's not gaining it happily. Now that the weather is beginning to warm up here, she's been able to get out and take walks, which is a nice stress reliever...for all of us.

The plan at the moment is to travel to Istanbul around the beginning of July. Baby Boy Blan's expected arrival date is August 13. If all goes well, we'll stay there for a month after he's born and then head back to our city. The facilities and doctors here aren't the best. So after considering having the baby here and talking with our leadership, we thought it would be best to go to Istanbul.

Hopefully soon we'll get a picture of Baby Boy Blan on the blog. Sarah will be going to Istanbul at the end of the month and get a 4D ultrasound. We'll try to put it on as well.

Feel free to send all the parenting advice you want. We don't know what the heck we're doing.

Does my face look fat to you?

The fun of being pregnant in a tactless culture began today
when I received my first pregnancy compliment:
"Your face looks fat. How much weight have you gained?"

Here's some other helpful "advice" I've received since being pregnant. Those of you who know the culture know why I said "advice".

• Don’t do anything that might qualify as work or exercise. It's harmful for the baby.
  
• Drink as much tea as possible. It turns straight into milk for the baby.
• Sit on the floor. It’s more comfortable for the baby.
• Don’t use your cell phone. It’ll give the baby cancer.
• Don't drink cold water. The baby will get cold.
  
• Don’t drive over any bumps on the road. It’s dangerous for the baby. (An impossible task here.)
• Don't wear blue jeans. They squash the baby . . .

I have no doubt that many, many more will follow.

Sarah: 15 weeks

My husband pushed me against the wall and made me take this picture.
He assured me I'll be glad later. I don't believe him.

Baby Shower

We recently traveled to another city for a few days of training. While there our incredibly wonderful teammates gave Sarah and fellow pregnant friend, Sheryl, a baby shower. As you can see from the pictures it was quite fun and most importantly we got lots of stuff. Wahooo! The shower wouldn't have taken as long as it did if we wouldn't have had to stop and explain what everything was to Stephen. He'll learn soon enough.

10 bucks says Sarah sleeps with the bear more than the baby does.

Realizing Stephen knows nothing about babies,
our friends gave him a "Dad's Essential Tool Kit"

Guess which local candy bar is melted in the diaper.

Jack eating the candy bar.
There's a reason why boys aren't invited to Baby Showers.

Unto us a Blan will be born

Some of you have heard from excited grandparents, aunts, and uncles-to-be. But for those who haven’t heard, we’re pregnant. Well, Sarah is. As of a couple weeks ago Baby Blan is doing well and was spotted relaxing and apparently sleeping on the sonogram.

Sarah is around 14 weeks and is beginning to gain her strength after a nap-filled first trimester. We’re very excited and look forward to learning the baby’s gender. Yes, we will be telling the gender. Sarah’s due date is around the middle of August.

Please remember Sarah and Baby Blan.

Does two lines mean what I think it means?

Like you, we're hoping our child looks like Sarah.

A nice getaway

Recently, we enjoyed spending a little over a week in the big city. Our company put on a retreat to help us recharge and refocus. The added bonus for us was that our fellowship in Texas helped facilitate the retreat. We were able to see several of our friends and three of them even traveled back to our city for a few days afterwards. Shane, his wife, Sylvia, and Carol stayed with us for about 48 hours before returning to the States. The last picture is us with "the Amy Nobles." We knew her before she was on iTunes.
Our time consisted of shopping in real malls, drinking Starbucks, eating fast food, speaking English, meetings with teammates, more shopping, seeing friends from Texas, and going to the movies. It was a great time and it will hopefully help us get through the long upcoming winter.

Scenes from the Spice Bazaar

One of our favorite things to do when we go to the big city
is to stroll through the Spice Bazaar and take in the rich
blend of smells while tasting free samples of "delightful" candy.

Eight bucks for crap cakes!?!

They were much better than you would have expected.
(Click on the picture if you have a hard time reading the joke.)

Turkey Day

Below is a small collage of our first Thanksgiving overseas. Many of you jokingly asked if there were turkeys here. Well, yes there are. And when you buy one you get the neck thrown in for free. We spent the day eating, chatting and playing games with another American family and a mutual local friend. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Cat Nappin'

After working all morning on language, Sarah was able to enjoy a short nap with her favorite IKEA blanket and floor pillows. But, then her husband got hungry and made her get up and fix him lunch. Before you send me hate emails, I'm just joking. These pictures were taken one Saturday afternoon. She sure is cute, isn't she?

Christmas Wish List

It’s time once again for the hap-happiest season of all and many of our friends and family have been asking what they can send us for Christmas. So, we decided to post our “Christmas Wish List” so that anyone who’s been dying to get us a Christmas gift can begin the process of sending it here.

Here it is:

• A three-way and cheese coney from Skyline Chili
• A McCallister’s Club Wrap from McCallister’s Deli
• Enchiladas from Joe T. Garcia’s
• Boneless buffalo wings from Applebees
• Mom’s homemade caramel popcorn and Christmas cookies
• Soup in a bread bowl from Panera
• Banana nut muffie from Panera
• Cinnamon Crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese from Panera
• Pepperoni Rolls from Chicago Pizza
• Day after Thanksgiving shopping
• Bengals to make it to the playoffs
• Christmas lights and nativity scenes
• Sand volleyball, or girls’ sports of any kind . . .

Okay, so maybe you can’t send these things. But we can wish.

We won’t be completely selfish. Here are some things we’d like to send you for Christmas:

• The best baklava you’ve ever had
• Our view of the snow-capped mountains
• The feeling you have when 100 people stare at you every time you leave the house
• Fresh produce
• Mercimek lentil soup (sounded gross to Steve too, but it's the best soup you'll ever taste)
  
• The most beautiful carpets in the world
  
• The feeling you have when 100 people stare at you every time you drive a car (for women only)

Fruits & Veggies

In America we can buy any kind of produce any time of year – apples and pears in the summer or cantaloupe and watermelon in the winter. Before moving overseas I didn’t know which fruit or vegetable grew in which season (besides tomatoes of course). There everything can either be imported or grown in a hot house. Well, they don’t do much importing here, and I’m not sure about the hot houses. One thing I’ve enjoyed during my first year here is learning which fruits and vegetables are winter, spring, summer, or fall fruits and vegetables.

I was sad when I couldn’t find broccoli anymore last spring, but it made me that much happier when it returned last month. I missed apples all summer, but now I can’t get my fill. Apples were replaced by the juiciest peaches I’ve ever tasted during the late summer and early fall. Watermelon never tasted as good as it did in the evenings after those hot summer days. I’ve learned how to cook and puree my own pumpkin since it arrived in stores a few weeks ago. Soon our refrigerator will be filled with grapefruit and oranges as we head into the winter.

Pumpkin Puree

Since we can’t get much ready-made food here, I’ve been pureeing my own pumpkin – my most recent successful food experiment. I’d always heard that real pumpkin tastes better than the canned stuff, and it really does! If you’re up for the adventure it’s not difficult at all, and your pie, bread, muffins, or whatever you’re baking, will taste better and fresher than ever before. Below are the instructions.

1. Buy precut and seeded pumpkin if possible. If not, cut pumpkin in half, remove the stringy fibers by scraping the insides with a metal spoon.
2. Place the pumpkin pieces, or two halves, cut side down in a baking dish, cover with lid or tin foil and bake at 350°F until tender (probably an hour or more depending on how thick your slices are).
3. Put them in a blender with just enough water to blend smooth.
4. Let cool and put pumpkin puree in plastic sacks of two cups each (or however much you want), label, and freeze. Many pumpkin recipes call for two cups of pumpkin puree.

Where are all the costumes?

Sunday was the last day of Ramadan and throughout the world Muslims are celebrating a three-day holiday. In our country, the holiday is a mixture of Halloween and Christmas known as Sugar Holiday. School is out and most stores and shops are closed while people spend the first day visiting family and the other days with friends and neighbors. It’s common to give gifts to family and close friends.

As for the kids, it’s basically three days of Halloween without the costumes and masks. The unspoken rule in the states on Halloween is that you only go to each house once, unless, of course, you received raisins or some other healthy alternative to candy. Then you would return with your own version of healthy food in the form of eggs. However, we found out before lunch on the first day that there is no such rule here. The kids in our neighborhood run up the stairs attempting to get to each door as fast as they can. Then they run outside and show each other all the candy they received, commence with trading, and then stuffing it in their mouths.

As soon as they're finished, it all happens again.

Little Drummer Boy

Ask the numerous guests that have stayed with us at least one night over the last thirty days and they’ll all have the same story. You don’t need an alarm clock when visiting the Blans during Ramadan. Around 3 o’clock in the morning, every morning, a guy comes around beating a drum in an Energizer Bunny’esk rhythm.

Though most mornings it seemed as though he was right outside the window (we live on the fourth floor) or standing beside your bed, he was actually out on the street walking up and down in a slow fingernails-on-the-chalk-board pace.

I wouldn’t even have mentioned this on the blog, but today on the first day of the Sugar Holiday our sickly pet bird, a.k.a the doorbell, rang. I grabbed the bowl of candy and opened the door thinking it was the group of boys who have already rang our bird-bell too many times. To my surprise it was our little drummer boy (who was actually not very little) and his friend. He held his drum proudly and said “Happy Holidays,” with a big smile. Instead of busting the drum over his head like I wanted to, I handed his friend some candy. His friend then said, “money.”

If our friends who have lived here for a few years had not warned us beforehand I might have actually been upset, but I knew it was coming. I smiled and said, “I’m sorry, we aren’t Muslims.” My answer satisfied drummer boy, but left his friend with far less than a smile on his face.

First Flight

My parents recently got up enough courage to get on a plane for the first time and come visit us. They must think we're real special to go and do something like that. But I guess when you compare me to my older brother it's pretty easy to be special.

"We're not in Lewisport anymore."

Dad's big head is covering up Mt. Ararat.

This cute, young couple was spotted having
a romantic moment at the local pier.

A visit from mom

The last week or so we’ve been showing Sarah’s mom what our life looks like here. She’s drunk tea and eaten lots of treats with our neighbors and friends. In her short time here she’s done a great job of learning some language and customs. If only she could remember to take her shoes off in the house. It’s been a great visit for us and it seems to be for her.

We smell gooooood!

Apparently it's that time again. This morning we woke up to no water running from our faucets. After talking with neighbors, friends, and the guy at the corner market we found out the city has turned it off for repairs. The expected date of turning the water back on is Monday, giving us four days without water.

The guy at the market was shocked we didn't know. "It was on the news last night, didn't you see it on the news?" Well, we don't have a TV at the moment, so no, we didn't see it on the news.

Ahhhhh, this should be fun.

Vacation Pics

For vacation, we traveled to Rome and Barcelona. Pictures, especially these, can't do either place justice. We haven't been everywhere, but we've been to a lot of cities, and in our opinion Rome is the greatest in the world. It has something for everybody - history, art, architecture, shopping, great food, great nightlife, and fabulous gelato. If you ever want to go, call us and we'll go with you.

Everywhere you turn in Rome you'll find fountains.
Trevi Fountain is the most famous.

View from the top of the Spanish Steps at sunset.

The most famous monument in the greatest city in the world.
Sorry Lewisport, you're a close second.

Needless to say, this woman was stared at a lot.

A scene from the facade of the
weirdest church building we've ever seen.

On the roof of the coolest apartment building in the world.

View of the Barcelona Pavilion at night.

Good looking couple, don't you think?

Grandma

While we were away on vacation my grandma finally went to be with the Lord. I say finally because for the past few years my grandma has suffered from severe dementia. Now, instead of remembering her as she was in her last ungraceful years, I can remember the grandma of my childhood. The grandma who went sled-riding with us down her monstrous hill and played wiffle-ball with us in her front yard. Who I could count on to take me up the road to get a child's 3-way and coney from Gold Star Chili when I spent the day at her house, and who would pretend to faint every time she smelled my feet. Who tirelessly played “Old Maid” with me and kept me supplied with pudding pops. Who sang “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” to me long before I understood what the words of the song meant. I’m so thankful that she truly has turned her eyes upon Him now, and for the joy she must have in His presence.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggidy Jog

Yes, we made it back home and are way behind on our posts, so please be patient with us. Vacation gave us the rest and relaxation we needed to be able to get on the plane back here. We got back just in time for a volunteer team to arrive in our city, and we traveled around with them for a few days. Now we’re doing our best to get settled into our new place. We’ll post pictures soon!

Vacation

We have decided to take a break from our very slow moving into a new apartment and go on VACATION!!! In case you didn’t get the hint from the uppercase letters and three exclamation marks after the word vacation, we’re excited. Vacation comes at a great time for us for of a number of reasons. We are able to use it as a marker to say goodbye to our old neighbors and start fresh when we return to begin building relationships with new friends. But probably the biggest reason is because we are exhausted.

For the last six or 7 weeks we’ve been living alone here while the other family has been in a bigger city having a baby. Of course, we’ve been fine, but it left a little more work and no crutch to lean on when we needed to get something done (like buy every household item you can think of) or when we simply had a question. It has been great for our language, but our brains have finally had enough.

Our brains are exhausted. Our energy is spent. Our patience (with culture, each other…) is just about gone. We’ll be away for about two weeks and hope to return relaxed and energized. I think a few days of wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops alone will be more than enough.

To Do Lists

Few people in the world gain more satisfaction than my wife in crossing something off her to do list, maybe no one. Even though I’m not a planner I realize things have to get done. Since my wife says I have the world’s worst memory I’ve conceded to making weekly to do lists. But in contrast to the joy of crossing something off is the utter frustration of not being able to cross anything off.

Before coming overseas we were told that if you get one thing accomplished in a day, consider it a success. They say that because outside of the fast paced, microwaved western world, life is lived at a much slower pace. And the city we’re living in is definitely no exception.

For example: when they say they will drop your water heater off between 9 and 12, they really mean “You’ll be lucky to get it today, but if by some unforeseen reason you do it’ll probably be around 8:30 tonight. Oh, and of course, if you’re not there when we bring it you’ll need to come back by the store and set up another time for us to bring it to you. Have a nice day. Thank you for giving us your money.”

Unfortunately, being the full-blooded American that I am, I still haven’t gotten used to the slowness of this culture. Some of my most frustrating days have been because of my failure to be patient.

Now if I can just get my internet to run a little faster I could post this on the blog before the electricity goes out … again.

Grillin' Out

A volunteer and I cook up some kebabs for the rest of the team on a
recent trip. We cooked them a little long to get the bird flu out.

Brownies on a rainy day

It rained today. I never thought I’d miss rainy days. Basements getting wet. Walking across campus getting soaked. Running to shelter only to find that the bottoms of my pants are soaked up to my knees. Hydroplaning into the car in front of you. Dealing with restless students (for some reason they were always more rowdy on rainy days). And worst of all, having to deal with frizzy, I mean curly, hair.

But in our city we don’t have rainy days very often and I do miss them. The freshness that it brought to our exhaust-saturated, dusty city was like the freshness you feel from taking a shower after rolling around in manure (not that I’ve ever done that). So, since we couldn’t (actually, chose not to) walk around and get anything accomplished in the rain, we went home and made brownies.

Here’s the brownie recipe that I used with a few modifications if you need them in your part of the world. They’re the best brownies we’ve ever eaten (please take into account where we live – McDonald’s actually sounds good now) and they’re super easy to make.

ONE-BOWL CASHEW-CARAMEL BROWNIES
(Modified version: ONE-BOWL BROWNIES)

6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped (170 grams bittersweet chocolate, or whatever kind they have where you are)
¼ cup butter (unsalted if you have it)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
pinch salt
½ cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped (they’re great without the cashews)
6 ounces milk chocolate-caramel baking chips (plain milk chocolate does the trick)

1. Heat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan (round works too) with nonstick foil (or spray stick foil with oil/cooking spray), leaving extra foil on 2 side edges.
2. Place chopped chocolate and butter in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir until smooth.
3. Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla into chocolate mixture. Stir in flour and salt until incorporated. Fold in nuts and chips.
4. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging. Remove from oven and cool briefly on a wire rack.
5. Use the overhanging foil to lift brownie from pan. Cut into 16 squares.

Our first wedding

Sarah and I experienced our first wedding this past week. Usually weddings are three days long and held outside. This wedding was indoors, but definitely had the same energy. My friend’s son was getting married, so when we got there my friend had us seated at a table with his relatives that came in from out of town. They took us right in and made sure we had a great time. They also made sure we danced.

Unfortunately, we were only able to go to the last night of the wedding. It was more of a reception than a ceremony. There was music and a time to give gifts to the bride and groom. The gifts of money and small pieces of gold were pinned to the clothes of the bride and groom. Also, the bride refrained from smiling very much. In this culture, since the bride is leaving her family it is a bitter-sweet day for her and she shows it by not smiling.

Great Friends

Recently, some close friends of ours decided to spend their vacation visiting us. We had such a great time with Josh and Emily. We didn’t realize how good of a time until after they left. We were able to be our old ridiculous-selves, play games, laugh at each other (in English!), and show them our new life. We went to the big city and saw amazing architecture, beautiful rugs and carpets, and ate fantastic food. In our city, we took them to a village, a beautiful island, and the ancient castle over-looking our city. The highlight was probably being hassled by the police because Josh wanted to take pictures of hundreds of guys praying outside a mosque. Thanks a lot Josh. You don't have to live here.

We’re so grateful to them and those at Emily’s mom’s fellowship who sent us peanut butter, Starbursts, enchilada, taco, and spaghetti mix, and more peanut butter. You know, the essentials.

Josh and Emily were the first to take advantage of our free room and board. They seemed to enjoy their experience and say they’re coming back. Who’s next?

Below are a few photos from their time here.

The 3000 year old castle just down the street from our new apartment.

On top of the castle at sunset.

In every village, no matter what the house
looks like, you'll see a satellite.

In an old palace we found the "royal throne."
In his short time here, Josh, didn't quite master the
technique of how to use the squatty potty.