Getting Acclimated

We have been in Wisconsin a month now.  I know that I am making progress.  Last week I went to Wal-Mart  twice to get groceries and didn’t freak out.  That is a big step.  I know that a friend of mine from Papua said that when she was in America on furlough she would sit in the car and her husband would run into Wal-Mart because it was just too overwhelming for her.  I know exactly how she feels.

The other day we went to the bank and Cale was going to leave his shoes at the door.  In Indo you would take off your shoes before going into most stores and homes.  I told him that here you have to leave them on or they might ask you to leave.  Cale keeps saying things like, “When we get back to Indo…”  So, I don’t think he gets it.  The older kids are doing ok.  Emma has still been crying herself to sleep.  Wyatt has been acting out more.  Sophie seems to be ok.  She is happy that she met some girls at her church class. Cale is the most reluctant to try American food.  They all miss having rice at most meals.  It was so wonderful to have some rain here.  We were all missing rain.  We are used to having that sound on our roof regularly.  I took Cale to my parents garden and he loved it.  He said it was way better than the pasar (Indo market).  Remember the pictures of us at the pasar?  That seems like so long ago. Cale thinks the gumball machine is one of the best inventions in America.  How funny?  He always walks into Wal-Mart with his quarter.

My Mom has been trying to teach the kids their address and phone number.  They never had to know it before.  They are learning the Pledge of Allegiance, all about income taxes, drinking laws, the American money system, speed limits, how nice and speedy real internet can be, and how awesome it is to be around family all the time.

When we went to Wal-Mart, Garth noticed that on the little payment screen it said you could pick a language.  He asked the teller if he could pick Indonesian.   She chuckled slightly and said no. 

It was funny; a few weeks ago I got an email from our church saying that they had received some Indonesian money in the offering.  They wanted to know what they should do with it.  Haha.

So, we are getting acclimated a little bit at a time.  It sure isn’t as smooth and easy as I thought it would be.

Right now we are on our way to New York for a family reunion with Garth’s family.  A wonderful family from church is letting us borrow their vehicle since we still haven’t found one that fits us all.

It should be a nice time reconnecting with family we haven’t seen for quite some time.

I will send you pictures.

Love

Rachel