Month: August 2017

September 9, 2015

The boys arrived last night!  Their escort dropped them off at ABE after a long journey.  They were very tired and excited. 

 

Oh my, they are so sweet!  The little one, who is as tall as I am, speaks a bit more English.  He couldn’t stop smiling.  They are both so cute, so polite.  They had brand new clothes on, all pressed and spiffy. 

 

Our new friend from the local Shia mosque came and brought friends from Afghanistan who are really lovely.  They have been in the US for 30 years, are citizens, have raised their children here.  They translated and offered good advice about halal food. 

 

Lots of people warned us that the boys would probably have a problem with the dogs.  Turns out the boys love dogs, but aren’t crazy about cats.  J

 

Nolan took the morning off and had breakfast and a walk around the neighborhood with them.  Since then, they have been on the phone with their friends at the refugee shelter in Jakarta who all want to talk to them. 

 

We have had the tour of the house and neighborhood, so we are off to do a little shopping and maybe enroll in swimming classes.

 

Virginia

November 10, 2015

Things here are getting a little better every day – as Ghani/Sam says.  Our new house is feeling like home.  We have (knock on wood) resolved our plumbing issues and now have 2.5 functioning bathrooms and an ice maker that works.  The floor is in the studio, I have some new work tables and shelves (giant thanks to Charlie and Margaret!), and I am starting to get set up in the new space.  The kilns are in, electric working, and we even have the exhaust for the kilns working.  We have had a lot of help and are grateful beyond measure for that!

It is still crazy hectic.  I am not taking full breaths yet.  We still have plenty of boxes to get through.  J  And I am so far behind on production I can’t even think about it!  It is too much for me to do all at the same time – house, boys, business, work.  I don’t know how other people do it.  I always feel like I am forgetting things!

The house passed the test with flying colors on Trick or Treat night.  It was an insane sprint to get the place clean and organized, but we did it!  We invited friends to come over and we had over 200 trick or treaters come to the door!  It was a busy, wonderful night.  Everyone agreed that this is a super party house.  J Thanks to Sherry who brought a trunk full of costumes, Ghani and Hedayat got dressed up and went trick-or-treating with Sherry and her husband and daughter.  They had a great time!    When we ran out of candy to hand out, the boys donated their trick or treat candy.  So, trick or treat night is going to be a big party night at our house as an annual tradition.  Nolan is already figuring out decorations for next year.  Our neighbors have been amazing.  We even got a cake and a card from one of them last week!  Everyone has been super friendly and welcoming.

The boys are doing well.  They like school, though they find it challenging to communicate with their classmates who don’t speak English. They are struggling a bit – mostly with math, so we are arranging for some tutoring and practicing at home.  I think we will also set up some online and other school-type work for them to do at home.  It is hard to know how much to push there.  They have been here for just 2 months, and Hedayat (James) only learned to read and write less than 2 years ago.

Ghani has “the knack” – he fixed our garbage disposal, my kiln, and a variety of other things that I can’t think of at the moment.  He wants to get into a program where he can get his auto mechanic certificate.  He already knows most of what he would need as he worked for years in a mechanic shop.

Hedayat is more of an artist.  I think he is a good dancer – we have seen some fun videos of him at the shelter in Jakarta.  He isn’t too impressed with the dancing here – says it is too easy.  Still, I think the boys would find it fun to take a Latin dance class and learn to do some of the dances that kids here do.

We joined the JCC (which is 3 blocks away) and the boys go there after school sometimes to swim and practice soccer.  We want to get the boys into some classes for art and music and theatre – expose them to a variety of creative outlets and see if any seem to be passions for them.  The boys have signed up for winter sports and I have no idea when those start or what the schedules will be.  It is pretty funny being a new parent with teenagers!  We are clueless about a lot of things that “normal” parents just know from going through all these things from kindergarten.  Despite our deficiencies, we are loving the experience and the boys seem to be happy.

As everyone warned, our grocery habits have changed.  We go through 2 gallons of milk and apple cider a week.  Fortunately, the boys prefer babaganoush, apples, and red beans for snacks – so junk food isn’t an issue.  I am not sure what we ate before they got here, but dinners are a much bigger deal now.  The boys like spicy foods, so in addition to salt and pepper, Sriracha is always on our dinner table as a condiment.  We are eating Indian and Mexican a lot.  We also have been working on making their favorite Afghani dish – Qabili pilau.  It is a dish with rice, chicken, carrots and raisins – very delicious and not spicy.  So far we have gotten close to how it is supposed to taste, but we don’t quite have it perfected, so we will have to keep working on it.  And Ghani is talking about making fresh bread – I am looking forward to that!

Some things that are on our to do as soon as we can list:  NYC (see the statue of Liberty), art museum, planetarium, theatre production, Philadelphia.  Also on the list of things to do…  bowling, movies, watch all the classic Christmas movies and tv shows, sledding, skiing – and lots more!

I put photos of the boys in an album online – you can see them here…

https://picasaweb.google.com/111868296699991388114/TheBoys?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOuXwZnD2pyC-AE&feat=directlink

Virginia

September 20, 2015

Quick update…

We celebrated our one week anniversary with the boys with a swim at Mauch Chunk Lake and dinner at Molly Maguire’s in Jim Thorpe.  Nolan and I are enjoying having the boys here very much.  For me, everything about it seems lovely.  I especially love hearing them laugh.

We went to an orientation at the Newcomers Academy in Allentown.  What a wonderful program – the boys will be there for one year to get intensive education in English, math, science and social studies to help to get them prepared to go to public school next year.  The boys are disappointed that they won’t be with “American boys”, but Nolan and I are sure that this will be a wonderful experience for them and will help prepare them for next year.

Abdulghani (Sam) worked in a mechanic shop in Afghanistan where they moved the driver’s side controls to the opposite side in cars imported from Japan.  Sam was responsible for the electrical systems, so he knows a lot about the electrical systems of cars.  He also has the packing gene which is very helpful right now.  J  He is very thoughtful and meticulous, and though quiet, as kind and gentle as can be.

Hedayat (James) should be called smiley.  He is the social butterfly.  He doesn’t know his birthday or how old he is.  When he arrived in Jakarta, they guessed his age at 10, so he would be 11 now.  But he seems bigger and more mature than 11 and is very concerned about being put with the little kids at school.  I assume that when we get him in to the doctor for a physical, she will be able to help us get a better guestimate of his age.

Both boys can read and write in Dari and Farsi.  They can also read and write in English.  Nolan has been working on learning Dari, so at mealtimes especially, we get some Dari training.  We find a lot of the sounds really challenging.  Abdulghani’s friends all call him Ghani.  But the “g” is soft, not like Jonny but something deeper in the throat and subtle and so far, impossible for me to pronounce correctly.  So this morning when the boys saw a squirrel and we gave them the name for it, I was amused that they had a tough time saying squirrel.  We actually found a sound that they had trouble pronouncing!

The boys go for inoculations on Tuesday morning and then as soon as we have the keys to the new house, they can start school.

Closing on the new house is delayed.  We expect to close Wednesday, but don’t have a firm commitment yet.  It is delayed because our mortgage company failed to request the correct documents and such in a timely fashion.  We are more than a little angry about it, but squeaking doesn’t seem to be getting the wheel any grease.

Despite the frustration and anxiety over the closing of the new house, we are all doing great.  The boys have been a wonderful help and seem to be having fun.  They are looking forward to getting the keys to the new house, and to playing soccer, ice skating, and swimming.  I was quite surprised about the ice skating.  Evidently the boys went to an ice skating place in Jakarta and they loved it.  (And they have some video to prove it!)

I still have the kilns going and in between packing and calls and emails related the house, I am working through a few last minute batches for Celtic Fest – which starts Friday.  Yikes!!!  Our show schedule is packed for the next month, then we get a slight break before all the Christmas festivities start.

We are looking forward to being moved in to the new house and having lots of visitors, and to lots of fun field trips!

Virginia Ellen