Made a little trip down south, but we didn't start in California. However, this license plate was present in Laos...go figure. These are just a few pictures of Laos that we got. It was a fun "quick" little trip. We spent more time on a bus trying to get there than we did in the actual country. However, once there, we did partake of an awesome lunch! Seems like a poorer country, but the people were incredibly friendly and helpful. 
Here is Logan working hard in our bedroom! There is no technical living room, so we do most of life in this room. You can see the bed, Logan's closet and Logan's desk. I have a small desk (more like a dressing table) on the opposite side of the room and my own closet as well.
Here is the dining room. Our lovely table and fridge...the opening and windows that you can see go to the kitchen. Taking this picture, I'm standing in the bedroom, and the front door would be to my left.
Here is one side of the kitchen. Stove top and water dispenser...need I say more?
I'm standing at the stove now....looking towards the opposite end of the kitchen. The door is to the bathroom, that's my washer on the left, and our kitchen/bathroom sink! Yay...no dishes in this picture. The windows on the left w/ the ugly curtains are to the outside world, and the windows on the right look into the spare bedroom/mandolin room. Also pictured is a Drumgoole's apron...that is for Liz and Karl...
I guess that's about it for now. Sorry that the layout for this blog is kind of boring, but at least you got pictures!!!!!
Well, now that DA and I are students, we had to get student visas instead of travel visas. One of our American friends who has been here for a while took us to the Foreign Affairs Bureau to apply for them. After the official spent 5 solid minutes analyzing our passports and our current visas, he looked up at us with his best intimidating look and asked in Chinese, “Why did you decide to come here now to study? It is an odd time of the semester to begin school.” Thankfully the guy we were with has dealt with these guys many, many times and simply answered, “Right now the weather is very beautiful”..... Satisfied with his answer the official gave us the applications and told us that we needed to go take pictures for the application. This is where the real fun begins.....
The three of us walk down to a nearby Kodak photo shop and tell the workers that we needed a picture taken of each of us for visa applications. I was delighted by how serious these guys take their job. First of all they seem uptight and high-strung anyways, but they looked at me and told me that I could not take a picture today because my shirt was too light. Baffled by his demand we insisted that it was okay, but he would not budge. To take a picture I had to have a darker shirt. The man then looked at our American friend (who was wearing a dark shirt), and told him that he needed to change shirts with me for us to take the picture today. Again, the seriousness of these guys who run a photo booth was hilarious. We all loose control and laugh hysterically and I begin to take off my shirt to expose my bare skin to the world and change shirts with our friend. After this I stand in front of the camera and the photographer then poses me to his liking with the most serious face imaginable. All this for a little 1x2 inch, $2.50 picture. And I can honestly say that a day hasn’t gone by where something like this has happened.
LH
Wow, have things been crazy the past few weeks. We finally got moved into our own apartment and will be here only temporarily. We are in a very beautiful city. It is not your typical Asian city. One thing that sticks out to me as the most peculiar is the fact that this relatively small city (350,000ish people) has a Super Wal-Mart! That would be like Tulia, Texas or Slaton, Texas having its own Super Wal-Mart. Not only does it have its own Wal-Mart, but also a KFC and a McDonald’s! The reason this small town gets all these super nice hookups (American fast food is considered rich people cuisine) is because the city is home to the largest cigarette factory in this country. It is amazing the money they have put into this town to make it as clean and beautiful as they have. I never thought I would be thankful for a cigarette factory, but I can actually say that I am. As I type I am sitting on our bed with the windows open and a crisp breeze is blowing through the house with the aroma of fresh tobacco lingering therein. It is truly pleasant.
We will hopefully begin language school soon and will be studying 15-18 hours a week with 24 hours a week of personal study time. As for the next two months this is our ‘job’.
During these somewhat interesting days it is essential that we let the truth we know and love direct our emotions and our wills. I know the JC left the comforts of his eternal home to come down and live in a dirty, sin-filled world, and die here so that his people can be clean in our Father’s eyes for eternity. Not that Asia is any more or less sin-filled than America, but for us it is in many ways less comfortable. (i.e. last night when I was showering I dropped the bar of soap down the squatty, which is located directly under the shower head, and had to dig it our with some kitchen utensils. Don’t worry, we got a new bar of soap.) Most days the battle for us is simply remembering what he did and surrendering our lives to him and rejoicing that we are able to experience slight discomfort ultimately for his glory. And at the end of the day there can be much rejoicing.
LH
