sweet grapes

To China from here:
Twenty months at 20 m.p.h., we would've been there by now. . . notwithstanding the 'speed bumps'.

It's all good though. At this speed, we really have time to build up the anticipation! Or at least have time to enjoy some other 'diversions' that we may not have experienced otherwise. The latter thought is the one that is most compelling for me.

I will not be travelling to Vietnam with my friend to get her little girl (her third daughter from Vietnam). She is leaving this Tuesday, 9/25/07 - it all happened SO fast (the whole process - I'm surprised she hasn't suffered a whiplash)! I will be cheering her on from here along the way though! I can't wait to meet her new daughter!

I have another friend who was just matched last week with her new baby boy from China and will travel within 3 months. All exciting things!

I've watched a few films in the past few weeks. One of the most evocative being "Sometimes In April" and two of the most recent, "Ladies In Lavender" and "Lost Boys of Sudan."

By being involved with the resettled African families, I've come to know a woman whose been right here near us for a couple of years now. She, too, came to America under very difficult situations (to put it very mildy). This particular evening when we were at her house, I spontaneously showed her a book I was reading from the library (by Philip Gourevitch) about the genocide in Rwanda at a specific hospital. Wildy enough, she was a nurse at that hospital shortly before the genocide took place. Fortunately she left just prior to the genocide killings at the hospital. Still, all the people she knew that worked there and were taking shelter there were killed. She knew the people named in this particular story (the ones murdered and 2 of the ones that participated in the murders). It was a bit of a surreal moment for me. This book tells a chilling story for sure, but for me, these were names in a book - names in a terrible story but to the woman next to me, these were names of friends and people whose families she lived among and knew. My heart sank like a lead boulder as I realized that perhaps looking at all this in print would bring back too many terrible memories - I could see that it was not a pleasant thing for her. She indicated that she made an effort to 'forget' (and had forgotten some things) but as she read the names, she began to remember various details. . . . I had no idea that she had been at this hospital or that she was even a nurse. I thought she was from Congo (she lived there as well). . . I didn't know the whole story. She is now a translator as she is fluent in 6 languages (four being specific to Africa).

Some friends of ours are in China right now. Jeff (the father) told about the day they met their new daughter, Christiana (on Mother's Day). They are overjoyed. I loved reading his description of China:

"We flew 2 hours to Chongqing and got off got our luggage and met our guide. We left our luggage at another bus that was going to the hotel there and we all boarded another bus to Fuling, a two hour drive into the mountains. This has to be the most fertile and beautiful places on earth! It is lush and green. You can't imagine how many mountains there are. . . . It is everything you think of China. It is peasant farmers with rice patties that are carved into steep mountain slopes. It is amazing to see the terrace gardens and the deep gourges and huge rivers. The cities are much more like New York. They are buildings piled on top of buildings but built on lots of mountain slopes. It's terrain is very much like San Francisco. The drive there included mountain passes with looooooong tunnels and huge bridges. You cannot believe this unless you are actually here. It was gorgeous! However, we were at the back of the bus with our kids and everyone is so going over in their minds what they will do when they recieve their kids that a few began to get car sick. We stopped and collected ourselves and continued on because no matter how sick we were there wasn't going to be anything stop us from this blessing! We drive into the city of Fuling and honestly it was GORGEOUS in it's natural beauty! The suspension bridges that went over the huge Yangtze river were amazing. I have certainly heard about the Yangtze but seeing it was awesome! It really was amazing! Anyway, we drive to the center of the big city with hundreds of skyscrapers built up and down the mountain slopes. We walk down to the orphanage and the suspense is just about to take our breath away. We walk into the courtyard and into a meeting room off the courtyard. The doctor/director of the orhphanage comes in and gives us a talk about the work they do."

Instead of a cake equal to the Great Wall of Chocolate (that I so love at P.F. Chang's), it was 2 very small chocolate cakes with mixed berry yogurt . . . and when I realized that we'd used the last of our birthday cake candles for my nephew's birthday, Ed (ever so good at improvising) whipped out the matches. He lit one and stuck it in one of the very small cakes as we sang, "Happy Birthday," me to him and him for himself, before he blew it out (or it burned the thing up).

It's gratifying to make something happen even if everything is not 'perfect' or I don't happen to have exactly 'everything needed' (or would that be 'wanted'? for the occasion. It brings back memories of my grandmother. She was talented at 'improvising' and making something out of seemingly nothing (ever the optimist). I also remember a Thanksgiving holiday years ago before I was married, with a dear friend, Julie. She lived thousands of miles away from her family/relatives and I lived a few hundred from mine. So her and I and a guy named Pete (trivia: we all shared birthdays 2 days apart in the same month), had our Thanksgiving meal together. It was in Julie's not yet furnished apartment (none of us had much furniture yet), so we put a table cloth on the floor and ate together. It was so fun (and so different) that I don't think I will ever forget it!

We turn not older with years but newer every day. ~ Emily Dickenson

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We had a few rogue snow flakes yesterday morning. A cold front moved in and killed off most of the flowers in our yard. After church, we spent the afternoon with my sister and her family. My sister crocheted a blanket for (our long awaited for, Lauren! (Here's to the little life we are hopeful for!).



I received an e-mail from my friend in Egypt, Tamer, to wish us a happy Easter. Tamer attends the Coptic church. He said:

We are celebrating Jesus' resurrection today Sunday 8th. I have heard on TV that there are 5 different denominations are going to celebrate Jesus' Resurrection On this Sunday. This timing happens only once every 4 year. So the Easter is in Egypt today but we call it Resurrection Feast. So what did you do today? Are you in the church. I told you about this before but let me remind you of it. We fasted for 55 days before today. During our fast we stop eating meat, eggs, butter, chickens or drinking milk. We become totally vegetarian during these 55 days. . . . The Lent is the longest in our fasts. We fast about 5 months a year. It was great to eat meat after 55 days of just easting vegetarian food. . . .

While he was here in the states he gave me a picture that was special to him, of the crucifixion that I have kept. He wrote a note to me on the back in English and at my request, wrote the same thing in Arabic. I learned a lot from Tamer. The landscape of his life is harsh and unforgiving and the circumstances unavoidable. Still, he has such life in him and has been an inspiration to me.

Here's to life -

...Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!...
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!...
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!...
Christ hath opened Paradise, Alleluia!...
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!...
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
~ Charles Wesley 1739 from Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

The trees in our yard are blooming. It's so pretty right now.



























We made a brief visit to see Emma Grace on Sunday. She'd had a big day already and was fast asleep. She will soon be 12 months old. She's a very sweet, happy girl.