village day

villager

truly I am a villager at heart...this weekend I visited a village with two other friends and I was totally lovin' it! There was an array of crops and livestock to look at and green stretches of land as far as the eye could see. We rode into the village in a car and rode out of it on a tractor. I couldn't help but sing the "Green Acres" theme song in my head while riding the tractor.

the value of life

...haven't been much of a poster lately because frankly Z and I have been a little down in the dumps. I usually don't prefer to post about the sad times here but I think sad posts are unavoidable...frankly because the majority of the population here live in poverty, there are more people who are illiterate than literate, top to bottom political corruption, and rampant starvation. Every day we are faced with the real Curry Land and some days our perception can not help but become grim.
This week (and probably many more weeks to come) my heart goes out to a family I have never met, nor will I be able to meet. This family recently lost their son in a highway accident last week. Z was the first to stop at the scene of the accident, there were two boys, one standing and shaking from fear and the other laying on the side of the road slightly breathing. A car had hit the boys while they were on a bicycle and did not stop. Z stopped and was able to draw enough attention to get others passing by to stop as well. Out here there is no such thing as 911, Z attempted to administer CPR but people would not let anyone touch the dying boy, so there on the side of the road he died. His father was reached and the man carried the dead body back to his village in his arms. Our hearts ache for this family and our thoughts and prayers go out to them as well.

mmm...

We are eating mangoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, and lychees to our hearts delight...pounds of it all because it is so cheap! Just wanted to rub it in.

Can someone tell me...

Why do they call the common cold a cold when you can catch one in the hottest place on earth?!?I wouldn't mind this "cold" that I have had for the past 5 days if it actually made me feel cold...it is in the 110's here.

coffee crazed

Since Z and I have been enjoying coffee every morning this week I thought it appropriate to give a shout out to our coffee suppliers - B Mania - thank you so much, and S bro thank you for transporting the precious beans.
However like every post on my blog there is a crazy story to be shared...this story is about a coffee crazed pooch. Z and I are in love with a wonderful coffee from Costa Rica called Cafe Brit. We discovered it on our honeymoon and recently ordered a box from the Internet and had it shipped to B Mania. Just for the record 9 1lb bags of coffee are in one box. The shipment arrived to the B Mania residence when all were at work so the box was left in the carport. When Z's mom arrived home coffee beans were scattered throughout the carport. Samson, the B Mania family pooch tried to ingest about 8 bags of coffee, the 9th bag was mysteriously nowhere to be found...
Another shipment was ordered to replace the doggy demolished one...and a few days after the incident the 9th bag was discovered intact on the doorstep. Apparently Samson felt a little remorse.

sssllloooowww week....

seriously slow week full of work and more work. In between the work days though I got to do somethings that simply were just good for the soul...

• Made a name plaque for our house out of tiles.
• Went to the salon with some friends...it had been 5 months since my last hair cut, yikes.
• Took some lunch to a hospitalized friend and his pregnant wife.
• Sat around with women and children and shared stories in Urdu.
• Drank coffee every morning this week instead of chai.

In a lot of ways I am thankful for the slowness.