June 9

June 9

 

I was doing a word puzzle the other day and needed a word that ended in ‘an’ so I thought okay, that is the suffix, now I need to figure out the root. Then I realized oops, wrong language!  [ ‘an’ turns a verb into a noun ]

 

Don’t forget Flag Day is coming up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   ;-D

 

We just started adding tilapia to the ponds and when I went to check on things today, I was shocked to see many floating fish. Tilapia are generally hard to kill. I thought how can we get seabass, if the tilapia don’t even survive. What could be that wrong with the water? Dean tried to explain, but I couldn’t understand, so I got my translator on the phone, but he preferred coming to the ponds, than trying to translate over the phone. So it turns out, out of several hundred, a couple hundred died. I don’t know how careful they were when transporting them, or how different our water is (salinity, temp, pH, etc.) that could have been too much of a shock to them. So I made suggestions on gradually acclimatizing them instead of just dumping them in. Hopefully that will help. I didn’t freak out as much as I could have (although I did consider the merits of changing my occupation). So, maybe I am making progress in not getting upset over every seeming- setback.

 

Recently I’ve been able to connect more with some of the other foreigners which helps in having people to talk to. Last Saturday I invited several for Uno, Texas chicken (similar to KFC), and ice cream [one of the things I miss is good ice cream. Someone clued me in to a place that has reasonably prices tubs; it is okay but definitely not Moose Tracks.]  We (American, Malaysian, & Finnish) had a good time, but never played Uno, just talked the whole time. I’ve also gotten to know another American better and realized we have similar personalities, backgrounds, and struggles. Praise God for like-minded sisters!

 

But, I don’t want to end up spending all my time with non-locals!  There is a group of college students that meet on Saturdays for the purpose of practicing English, who are looking for native speakers to join them I’m hoping to meet them this week or next, which could be a good way to get to know some of them.