Weekend Party

Not much of note happened this week, except that we went to a really interesting party on Saturday night. First, I have to back up and give a bit of background information on how we met the hosts…. Every Friday night, our family goes to the only pizza place in town, Pizza Corner. Its actually pretty descent for an Indian pizza place. Anyway, about three weeks ago we saw another Anglo family there, and they introduced themselves as they were leaving. They were from Holland, and they sold everything and moved here so the husband could start a software outsourcing company to outsource to Holland. The wife, Mieke, invited me to a weekly luncheon each Wednesday with other Europeans and Indians who have spent a lot of time abroad. The crazy thing is that very morning while Adam and I were praying, I had asked for an American or European friend! Since then, I have gone to this ladies’ luncheon every week. It would have been even better if at least one of them were Christian, but sadly none of them are. I have a strong sense that they are very a-religious, for lack of a better word, like many Europeans are now. There is one lady in particular, however, that I’d like to get to know better and hopefully share the gospel with. She is an older lady originally from Argentina who has lived all over the world, including New York for 20 year. She is very much into Hinduism, so it should be interesting.

So back to the party- it was at Mieke and her husband Wim’s apartment, along with their three young children. In attendance were a couple from France, a woman from the Czech Republic who is married to an Indian Muslim, another Dutch guy, a woman from Turkey who is married to an Indian, a woman from Germany (whose parents are from the UK and Italy, so she doesn’t feel quite ‘German’), and several other Indians who have lived abroad. It was a pretty crazy party with lots of food and a lot of small kids running around in a small, hot apartment. Wim apparently was a DJ for some time back in the Netherlands, and he had what seemed like every music video that was made in the 1980’s which he played quite loudly!

Aside from the party, we are adjusting to everyday life here. I have mentioned this to others in the States, but what strikes me most in this culture is its self-centeredness. Everyone pushes others aside to get ahead in line, etc. even when someone is clearly there ahead of them, and even adults will push ahead of children. We went to the zoo the other day, and Jackie was straining to see a cobra in its display and a group of grown men and women came over and pushed in front of her to see. Sadly, even in the local church that we attend, people push in front of others to take communion! We were shocked the first time, and now we try to joke about it each time. Adam has noticed things like this at work as well, but he pointed out that in that case, perhaps its just the sheer number of people here that doesn’t allow a person to do things like hold a door for someone or to say hi as you pass in a hallway, because if you did, you’d be holding the door all day and saying hi all day. I get that but not so much the pushing others out of the way. Coming from Boise, home of the uber-nice, its still a shock.

Finally, prayers for the girls would be appreciated. Hailey continues to get upset when we are at the local church. It makes her really, really miss home and The Pursuit. It is also not easy for them to spend every waking minute together. Even though they’ve been real troopers most of the time, it not easy to be around each other and no other kids 24/7.

I do continue to thank God for the apartment He set up for us. I have gotten past the moldy roof tops of the neighboring buildings and can now see the beauty of the trees around us. Having seen the accommodations of others as well, we are truly fortunate to have such a nice apartment.