45 Days Left in SE Asia

I have often, during these last few months, been asked about our childrens' education. Of course it's a natural thing to wonder, since they seem to be around at various parts of the day. Many residents in our apartment building who are from various parts of the world have never heard of the concept of educating their own children. So I find my self explaining almost on a daily basis what this might mean. (They just can't imagine what our days look like). Truthfully, not every day is exciting, fun or even pleasant. Challenging, actually- or downright unpleasant. (Fellow homeschoolers, you know what I mean). We still have to study multiplication but the life experiences here are so valuable to their education. Most of all we pray for their spiritual development and that they would learn to love the Lord above all else. Obviously, I'm showing you all the fun stuff and not so much the books. Have a wonderful week!



Seeing up close how different people live.

 


We are meeting and seeing sooo many different kinds of people.

 




How do you get that delicious drink out? You just wouldn't believe how many coconuts fit on one tree. I've seen up to 30 at various stages of growth. Let's just send Brandon up the tree to find out. (It wasn't easy and it was very messy).

 

Studying astronomy with Mariah and Jaden- The project was to build Stonehenge. No playdough around so we made our own.



Building Stonehenge

Another astronomy project- order of the planets.



Meeting some of North Wake's embassadors to a neighboring country.



Trying new foods like prawns and sometimes octopus and squid and desserts we've never had before with friends from different backgrounds.

I don't think anyone's better at meeting people than Cameron.

Tropical rainstorms beside the sea= incredible to watch.

Finding and identifying creatures.



She's still at it- gymnatizing on the beach in Brunei



A Week of Life in Brunei- And 60 days left in Malaysia

It's possible I am over-using words such as "wonderful" and "fantastic" but this week in Brunei was exactly that. I enjoyed (yah, over-using "enjoy" too) it there so much really I could move there. Of course it all starts with the people- They give the word hospitality whole new meaning. I always learn so much from their giving ways and their incredible ways of making people feel at home in their country. Brunei is such a unique country, with a variety of types of people, just like in Malaysia. The country is "owned" by a king; the Sultan of Brunei who lives in a palace in Bandar Seri Begawan. This is where we spent our 7 days in Brunei. (In the city of Bandar, not in the palace). We did pass the palace a few times and (possibly) saw the Sultan driving by in his car. The Sultan and most of the population of this country are Muslim.

We spent our time there with some wonderful people whom we have come to know over the years. Ben spoke several times over the week in their church, and we also served the youth there. We did love serving there, but mostly they just spoiled us, so how could we not have a wonderful time?

On our way home from Brunei, Mariah developed a fever so we spent much of the next week homebound, homeschooling, and home-everything. We did, however, have the privilege of meeting with a family from North Wake in Wake Forest who serve in a nearby country. 

Today we took the day off to visit a waterpark about two hours from the island- Bukit Merah. The kids had a blast and tired themselves out. Thus everyone is sleeping and I have a few moments to update the blog on our happenings here. Perhaps you thought we had fallen off the end of the world- it has been a few weeks. The internet doesn't always cooperate here.  

We're thankful for another 60 days to spend here. Sixty more days to give and receive and enjoy. :) We are not staying in the same part of the island as we used to live. This has been dissapointing in some ways but a great experience in other ways. The people in the apartment building where we stay are truly international. I love that the kids are making friends with kids with names such as Muhammed and Jafal and Heung, and I get to have poolside conversations with their Moms.

Thanks for praying for us, and thanks for checking on us.

We had a wonderful time with old and new friends. We ate a lot. A lot.

Their Majesties the Merkle royal family.

We spent an hour touring the Kampung Ayer; one tenth of the population of the city lives over the water. It's beautiful yet eye-opening at the same time.

The architecture in Brunei is very worthy of touring. The largest mosques here have golden domes (real gold, that is).