three months in a nutshell

Our English church youth group is great and active. At the beginning of the summer they invited us to go with them to the mountains for a BBQ. Several of the youth have, or could borrow, cars. It was a blast! Here Gina is helping to prepare the vegetables for pilaf.

After lunch we played several games and had a grand old time. While we were playing a form of tag, four of our friends walked by. One was a student and the other three were regular attendants of Friday Club. Most of them had joined Gina’s beginner Sabbath school group. Gina and I had been wanting to go to the mountains with them for several weeks. They played with us for a while, enjoyed watermelon together, and we took this group photo while walking down the mountain. Not everyone was there but it did represent part of the group.

Gina and I decided to take the long way back with our friends. They had walked from Medeo. Gina, unfortunately, twisted her ankle on the way down and was not up to the hike. She rode home with the youth group and I hiked back with the girls. The mountains were so beautiful and full of wild flowers.

A few weeks later Rachel stopped by to visit us. We were on our summer break and looking forward to a fun filled time touring the area with Rachel. On Sunday just after her arrival, we took Rachel on a hike in the mountains with Gina’s friends. Gina’s ankle was strong enough to make the hike this time. Gina and I stopped on the bridge for a picture.

Isn’t Gina cute!

Here we are at the waterfall. Rachel and Gina studied together and graduated in the same class.

About a month ago now, we received a forwarded e-mail from our director that she had received from two Walla Walla guys that were planning on passing through town on their Asia tour and wanted to locate the English church for Sabbath. Friday we were able to make contact with them and we invited them to crash on our floor. They were glad for the budget break and to find people that spoke English. They helped us with Friday club with the various activities and gave a short presentation of where all they had traveled over the last two months. Sunday morning we got up early and took them for a hike at Medeo before taking them to the train station and whishing them off. It was a blur, but we had fun.

Two Sabbath’s ago it was children’s dedication Sabbath. Schools all over the country start on the same day. Our children’s department was packed this day and Galina, one of our office staff and great friend of ours, told the Children’s story. All of the children and adults were captivated by her story.

I keep mentioning how Gina and I got to the mountains with our students. Some may be interested in seeing how that works. 1) We announce in classes that we will be meeting outside the front gates of the business complex where out school is located at 10am.

2) Groups of any size are acceptable because we are riding the local bus system!

3) I drag the students up the mountain to an obscure location they have probably never been to before. Just before the students die of exhaustion, we find a nice secluded knoll with a view to set down blankets or sheets, those lungies from India work great, and start the picnic. We played games for a while. Card games are not popular here and so Gina and I have been teaching them some we brought with us from America. Uno as well as Head and Foot were on the table today. When it comes time to eat, everyone empties the contents of their bags into a huge pile in the middle and then people just grab whatever looks good to eat. Each person takes turns trying to encourage others to eat the food they packed up. No one wants to carry anything but trash down the mountain.

4) Finding a place for a group photo is always a must!

5) Take a quick snap of the two of us for the family. Now if only I can get that up of the internet in a timely manner. When the day is done, we hike down and students one by one disappear off the bus as they head home.

Meet 28 kilograms of farm fresh Roma tomatoes. They have just suffered a long bus ride home from the wholesale market and a one block hike up from the bus stop. For people that still cannot think in SI that is 28 kg * 2.2 lb/kg = 61.6 lbs.

Add a few fresh ingredients in our soon to be famous recipe and the never to be patented process but closely held trade secret

Run everything through a hand crank meat grinder.

Boil it down for about an hour and add all the right spices, seasonings, and salt.

Sterilize the jars in the oven. Fill, seal, and wrap them in towels to keep the boiling contents hot for as long as possible.

When the process is done, you are left with some delicious tomato sauce that can be used to make mouthwatering dishes in seconds.

Our first batch was so good and such a big hit that we gave much of it away to friends we have made here and others who have been giving us jars with delicious contents. Sharing home canned food is a tradition here. What a great culture!!!