All Posts | Susie

Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 1, 2013

On Sunday the high was supposed to be 40 here. But that was Celsius, and in Fahrenheit that means 104. It was hot. So what would you do on such a hot afternoon? I made chocolate chip cookies. Sunday night was the determined night for me to make an American meal for my family here. […]

Same but Different, part 3

February 16, 2013

Same: I swept for quite a while on Sunday. Different: I swept the yard instead of the house! And the goal was to sweep up all the fallen leaves and flowers, but to leave the rocks. There isn’t grass here, so it’s all “dirt” with rocks. The “dirt” is closer to brown sand, though. In […]

Same but Different, Part 4

February 16, 2013

Same: At church this last Sunday we had a child dedication. It was very similar to what we’d have at Oakwood, with a Bible verse, vows taken by the parents, and a prayer. Different: There was only one child being dedicated and she wasn’t walked around the church. (I know it’s not very different, but […]

Dirt Roads

February 9, 2013

Before I left the US I shared the following statistic many times: In 2004, only 5% of the roads in My Country were paved. That’s the latest I knew and I didn’t know what to expect when I got here. From what I’ve seen around town, it looks like that percentage has gone way up […]

John 13:7

February 5, 2013

Yesterday I was reading in John 13. I came across John 13:7 and thought that it summed things up here quite well. It says, “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’” Sometimes I feel like everyone I meet here could tell me that multiple times a […]

Same But Different, Part 2

January 31, 2013

Same: The other day we had spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch. It came complete with a spaghetti claw (if that’s what you call the spoon thing you use to get spaghetti out of the pot with). The tomato sauce even had ground beef in it, which is the only time so far that I’ve […]

Same but Different, part 1

January 27, 2013

There are many things that I’ve encountered so far that are the same as you’d see in the US, but also very different. I thought that you may enjoy hearing about some of them, so as I can I’ll post some here. Same: This morning I saw 4 inflatable Santas, each with white skin and […]

Do you know who won?

January 27, 2013

Do you know who won the recent soccer game? It was My Country!! Even though I wasn’t in front of the television for the whole soccer game I could tell each time that they made a goal, since the neighborhood went wild. The game was thousands of miles away, but with each goal it sounded […]

I’m leaving on a jet plane

January 17, 2013

Four days until takeoff. Just think – by Tuesday I’ll be experiencing the 90s and sunny. And lots of French. And different sights, sounds, and smells, that will likely become “normal” after a while. I think that it’s such a big transition that I can’t even understand it from this side of the ocean. That’s […]

Commissioning and Going Away Open House

January 16, 2013

Since I’m planning on leaving on Monday for My Country, this last Sunday was a special one at church. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few pictures so you can see what went on: