For the birds

The boys' latest venture in the tribe is bird hunting with their friends... both our teammates' kids and the tribal boys. They use a combination of bows and arrows, air soft guns and this type of boomerang wooden stick thing... I think the current kill rate is tribal boys - 1 million; white boys - zero. :)

I cringe every time they came back with a dead bird. We live in a tropical rain forest, people. The birds are bright green and red and beautiful and would be in a zoo in America. The boys aren't killing annoying black ravens or pigeons. :( I saw a huge white cockatoo that a tribal boy caught a couple weeks back.... it was gorgeous. It also fed his entire family for dinner that night. 

Ethics aside, hunting has led to obsession with all things bird. We're researching bird houses, bird traps, mating seasons and nest building. Last week the tribal boys came by in the morning and we (uncharacteristically and very graciously!) allowed the boys to skip school to go hunting. They came back an hour later with two "kills" that all 10 boys plucked and gutted and roasted and ate... I think each boy got half a bite of meat. That afternoon, I kid you not, we opened our history lesson to the life of John James Audubon and the founding of the Audubon Society. (Yes, I get the irony.) 

So on our vacation last month, when we gave the boys the option of visiting the zoo or visiting a bird park, they, of course, chose the bird park. 

The bird park was SO cool. I was surprised. :) The birds were everywhere but in cages. Wandering on sidewalks, perched in trees. It was literally like a big bird resort where the birds just kinda did their thing and we wandered around and tried not to get stepped on or pooped on. 

 Ever the ham....

After a show on predator birds....

Feeding time.... and no, we didn't get any white splotches on clothes or hats. :)

We did have to shush the boys at times.... "Look, Mom, we've caught one of those before!" "Oh, look, I've eaten that kind - it tasted really good!" Not sure Audubon would have approved. :)

Vacation

Vacation. So, so much fun. It's kinda funny taking a vacation as a missionary; the first time we did, we got a nasty email from a supporter saying they hadn't had a vacation in 5 years and why should we get to take one? So I understand it can be a sensitive subject, but there are a LOT of things about life overseas that don't make sense to someone who's never lived outside America. 

We go to beautiful resort places because that's all that's offered..... regular local people don't stay at hotels, so there are no Best Westerns in this country. But because of the exchange rates, we pay less to stay at a beautiful 4 star resort than we would pay to stay at a Best Western in America. So some of our vacation pictures do kinda look dreamy, but that is one of the (few!) perks of living in a 3rd world country. :)

Back to vacation... this was our first one in several years. Somewhere between the last family trip we took and this one, our babies grew up and turned into real kids who could handle "real" vacation stuff like renting bikes and riding to Starbucks....

And going to a real water park and riding the "scary" rides....

And who had their "own" money that they could use to buy souvenirs. As the boys have ZERO opportunities to spend money in daily life, it was really fun for them to have some cash to actually exchange for toys and trinkets and souvenirs. We learned a LOT about their little money personalities (one a spender, one a saver, and one who carefully considered and then bought only really nice, expensive import toys.... that one had better grow up to be a doctor or lawyer!) 

Brant bought the little boys these hats.... love this picture.

We do not go on vacation for the beaches.... our beaches here are much more beautiful with zero tourists, but we still feel obligated to visit the beach at least once or twice.... especially when your fancy 4 star resort has its own private beach...

We go on vacation for the air conditioning, the shopping and the food.... which I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed....

This was a pirate themed restaurant where we ate up in a tree house, Swiss Family Robinson style...

This was an amazing new Texas BBQ joint that definitely exceeded the hype.... it just opened two months ago and is run by a kid from Austin, Texas, who looks like like he dropped out of UT and whose goal in life is to befriend every BBQ-starved ex-pat in the Eastern Hemisphere. :) 

And this was a fancy tea house we had reservations for our last day of the trip. And by "reservations" I mean, I booked the table, and Brant had serious reservations about taking 3 little boys to "high tea" with real china dishes. :) He gave the boys such a talking to before we entered the place and I was a bit scared when I saw the glass goblets and flowers and china.... BUT, it turned out to be such a fun meal! Each boy got his own "child's tea" complete with mini kid friendly sandwiches (PB&J and ham&cheese cut in fancy shapes) and trays of tiny desserts - towers of them! The boys literally squealed and clapped their hands when they saw all the food brought out. And "tea" for the boys turned out to be milkshakes for them and cappuccino for Brant (I was the only one who got real tea!) It was a fun last meal. 

So yes, we just ate the whole vacation, and I think we each gained 10 pounds. (Not an exaggeration, but already falling off with our regular chicken and rice tribal diet.) We also got some really fun things for our house - rugs for the boys' rooms, light fixtures to cover our bare bulbs and a good stock of ham, cheese, nuts and frozen berries (yes, we carried a huge cooler back on the plane!)

So thankful for our vacation!