A Trip to the Forest

This weekend marked the halfway point of our time in Colorado!  We have been learning so much and making some wonderful friends in our classmates and their families.  The structure of 'school' and being in one place for a while now has been a powerful reminder that we need structure in our lives. That is something that we have definitely lacked these past twelve months since we left Kentucky August 15, 2012!  

Nonetheless, after a week of sitting in a classroom from 8:30 until 4:00, it's good to get out and explore the surrounding area, and even better to reconnect with folks who really know us, like my Aunt Dianna and Uncle Jerry.  They moved from the Chicago suburbs to Colorado in 1999 and we had never been to their home here in what's called the Black Forest.  On Sunday we met for church and then spent the afternoon at their home.

Meeting the chickens at the house next door

No eggs!

Yep!  He can climb that wall too!

Not one of Elie's better photos, but in her defense, she was giggling pretty hard.

Thank you, Aunt Dianna and Uncle Jerry!  It was a great respite for us and we really enjoyed our time!

Gettin' Girly Here!

I can't believe that we've been here almost two weeks already!  MTI has been everything we hoped for and more.  As we reach this mid-point in our study here, we have really become comfortable with our classmates and their families.  They are some really super people and it's unbelievable to think now, while we're altogether, that in a few short months we will be scattered, literally, all over the globe to such very different people groups and places.

I might have mentioned that there are 39 adults and 30 children participating in training.  Our community all lives together in the retreat center on three different floors.  About half flew here and don't have transportation, so for the most part, after classes are over we stick around the facility and spend a lot of time together in the evenings.

Across from the kitchen is a little marker board/message station where we can leave announcements for each other.  The other day a message appeared, "Polish Party Wednesday night at 7PM!"  Ellie read it and most definitely expressed her desire to go.

Oh my goodness, it was such fun.  The oldest girls in the program are 11 and they range in age down to three months.  The three-month-old didn't participate, but the second youngest did (at age 22 months).  Music played, fingernails were painted, then toes.  Color combinations got funky.  Little sparkles and embellishments added.  It was 100% girly.

I hope I don't embarrass Ellie too bad here, but she was having so much fun, she didn't realize until one had was nearly finished that she had to go potty, like 2 hours ago.  "Oh no.  Oh no.  Potty emergency!  Oh no!  This is NOT good!  My nails are WET!"  All the way down the stairs to the main floor restroom she's repeating (a little too loudly) "Potty emergency!"  We made it in time and she had me there to work her pants so she didn't have to damage her wet nails.

I kept thinking how fun it would be to do something like this with all the girls in Vlashaj.  Fingernail polish is universal!

(below) Most of the crew at the conclusion of the evening.  WAY past bedtime, but parents didn't seem to mind.  How fun to see these girls and friendships develop!

Next week (starting earlier so all of the girls can participate):  H A I R ! ! !

Life Cycles

For Ellie's 8th birthday, she received one of those butterfly kits.  You know the kind.  It has the collapsible, nylon cage, magnifying glass, and coupon to send away for your own caterpillars that will go through the life cycles and eventually turn into real life butterflies.  It was a perfect gift for our critter girl.  Her own science lab in real life.

Unfortunately for Ellie, she had a mom who forgot to send away for the caterpillars until it was nearly too late!  By the time I rediscovered the coupon code and directions (about a month after her birthday), we had a very narrow delivery window in order for the creatures to arrive before we left for Colorado to enjoy the butterflies before we move to Albania.

Thankfully, the caterpillars arrived earlier than predicted and we enjoyed watching them quickly grow in size and then wrap themselves up in self-spun cocoons.  Unbeknownst to me though, the next stage was the most fragile. While they hung precipitously from tiny threads attached to the lid of their acrylic jar we were instructed not to move them until they emerged!

Unfortunately they weren't to emerge until well after our arrival at MTI.  That meant we had to immobilize our little butterfly cage as best we could in the back of our minivan. In spite of our best efforts, it nevertheless bounced and jostled across nearly 1,000 miles of interstates and two-lane roads until we reached our destination in Colorado.

By the time we arrived, three of the six cocoons had fallen to the base of the cage.  Grateful for the three that remained, we placed the cage in Ellie's classroom for all of the children to enjoy when hatching day arrived.

I have to say, I have felt like I could identify with those little cocoons, hanging on upside down for dear life.  As the weeks have wound down to this home stretch before our departure, my world seems to be shaking and swaying with no promise of smooth roads or stopping anytime soon.  For someone who considered herself pretty even keeled, the combination of transitions, decision making, and lack of structure these past twelve months (particularly during the week leading up to our departure which included two family birthdays and packing for Colorado AND Albania) have tested my ability to 'hold it together' at times.  There were days I was glad to just be hanging on and not laying at the bottom of my 'cage'!

Today marked one week at MTI and the structure of classes, (now) familiar faces, and even having set meal times is serving to smooth out the sense of constant upheaval of the previous month. To be sure, we are still having to make decisions related to our departure (do we need to purchase more water filters for our filtration system?  have we notarized our updated will?  did I send away for the documents we need for our residency application?), but the overall structure to our days has been surprisingly stabilizing for all of us.  It's a good reminder for me of the importance of creating a structure to our schedule to take over to our new life in Albania as we seek to make our transition as smooth as possible. We know the hardest parts are yet to come, but hopefully what awaits on the other side is something beautiful.

After much struggle, the first butterfly emerged on Friday afternoon.  We brought the cage back up to our room where we could be sure the butterfly had food to eat until classes resumed and we could return the cage today.  A second one emerged on Saturday.  Then on Sunday much to our surprise four more butterflies emerged, including the three that had dropped to the bottom of the cage!  We all marveled at the transformation we witnessed and rejoiced that life had not been lost when those three chrysalis' had fallen.

While I am no where likening myself (yet) to having attained a transformation like our six little butterflies, I do appreciate the promise they represent -- that change and struggle can produce something beautiful. 

God's Creation | Garden of the Gods

This morning we drove 25 minutes south and visited the acclaimed "Garden of the Gods" (or as Ellie calls it, 'Garden of the Lord'.)

It was perfect weather for enjoying God's creation!  I think we would have stayed longer if we had planned better, but all in all, it was a good trip.  

Bright sun!

The park was quite full!  We really enjoyed watching all the climbers (see one in the background below).

I shouldn't have pointed out the snake sign to Ellie as it made her edgy every time she heard a 'suspicious' sound... like the stroller tire scratching in the dust on the sidewalk. : )

A Multi-Lingual Family

Our homemade game board from today's language learning methods class

A Multi-lingual family... or at least we can pretend today. ;-)

The front end of our language training has been loaded with language acquisition tools.

• We've learned how our mouths, tongue, nose and throat can create a virtually infinite number of different sounds.  
• We've learned how comprehension is the locomotive that pulls the train of language learning (whose cars include vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc.) and that encouragement comes from comprehension.
• We have learned how language learning is increased when the learner is engrossed through active learning (including as many of our senses as possible) and the learner is in charge of the process.

And that's just the beginning.  One of the particularly meaningful aspects of our training is that while we are learning all of these lessons, Ellie and Reni are learning them too!

Today we engaged in Learning Acquisition Projects.  Ellie did the same activity as us, but with her classmates in Spanish.  Nathan was paired with a native Vietnamese speaker, and I was paired with a native Mandarin speaker.  The point of today's exercise wasn't geared towards us actually 'learning' those new languages but the methodology for learning which we can recreate with the aid of a language helper in Albania.  It was so fun!  And the cool thing?  Between 9am and 11:30am, I could understand a variety of different commands, numbers, colors, and prepositional phrases in Mandarin!  If we could have controlled the pacing a bit more (which we couldn't because the point was to learn all the steps of the process in a limited amount of time), I'm sure my comprehension would have been even higher.

The point of sharing all of this is to say that we feel greatly encouraged in our optimism for learning Albanian.  I think I have admitted on this blog that I was beginning to feel some serious apprehension about our ability to get to a place of fluency any time soon. Now I think we are able to step into the process of language learning with a realistic optimism. When we arrive in Albania, we will have a better sense of how to prioritize and structure our days.  And the best part?  We can do this as a family!

We need to go off to a coaching session!  We are so grateful for this time of preparation and your prayers on our behalf!  We consider this a huge investment in our future in Albania, not just so we can speak Albanian, but for the Story we have to share!

My job is to bring good cheer

That line was delivered on our first day of language training and has stuck with me. The point was, be willing to make a fool of yourself. Give permission for others to laugh at your feaux pas and you might just make a friend. Because if you can't laugh at yourself, they will laugh at you anyway, but behind your back next time.

The front end of our training has been weighted towards practical language learning tools, sharpening our ears to hear more than the 44 sounds we have in our English language, and exercising our vocal apparatus to produce some of those new-to-us sounds. I was literally aching after language drills this afternoon. 

To show the effectiveness of one particular method, this afternoon we learned several phrases and vocabulary in a tribal dialect from Southeast Asia in a brief demonstration that we can easily replicate in our fields of service.  It's all about filling our toolbox with practical methods for language acquisition. We aren't too old, and how we fared in high school German won't doom us to failure before we begin.

There are 39 adults and 30 children (under age 11) headed to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The fellowship is sweet and we are only a few days in!

Gotta go do my homework!

First Day!

Today we moved into our digs at MTI! I was surprised that the kids initially struggled being dropped off in their classrooms. Reni even said, "I'm not done being nervous," as I left. All this past year going to so many different churches and nothing like today.
We know they are going to love what is in store for them. Their curriculum mirrors ours so we can process everything together. As the evening came to a close we could se them relax as they became acquainted with their surroundings and started to make friends. Here are a few photos from my phone outside after supper.
We are all turning in early - this altitude thing has me sleepy!

(below) Look, Mom, a bench my size!

Kansas

We made it last night to my cousin, Chad's home in Olathe. Not surprising, the kids hit it off. One of Chad's sons declared it "impossible" that a boy would not have his full legs. As I predicted, within minutes it was completely forgotten!

Chad and Christa have two children through adoption and two the old fashioned way. As you can imagine, we have lots to talk about! Thank you, Chad and Christa, for your hospitity!

Now we break for lunch in Hays. I would estimate we are 60% or more of our way through the state. Pressing on to Colorado Springs tonight!