so here we are.

I'm sitting here in the air conditioned room of the temporary housing where we're staying. The big girls are playing on the ipad, the little girl is passed out from a jet-lag induced nap, and the little boy is screaming for attention. Really, he's squealing for attention, but sometimes squealing and screaming are hard to differentiate. My wonderful, capable, and thoughtful husband is out looking at a few apartments.

It's been a good week so far. We've been blessed by the prayers of old friends and blessed by the hospitality of new friends. We've been in and around the city and are slowly starting to get a feel for the place. There are so many differences between this city and where we used to live. For those that might be interested, here's a few of them:

Our new city is super hilly - think San Francisco hilly. That means there are very few bikes. It's hard to believe there's such a city in this country that doesn't have bikes, but there is! We're in it! Our calves have been sore each morning just from the little bit of walking we've done.

Our new city has lots and lots of green. There are lovely trees everywhere, but the truly amazing thing is that they aren't covered in a layer of dust. They're...clean. It's shocking, really.

The roads of our old city were generally laid out in a nice grid pattern - North/South streets, East/West streets. This city so far seems to be a jumble of twisty and turny roads. Getting my bearings has been tough for this reason!

This city has a reputation for being cloudy and depressing, but in fact it hasn't seemed that way at all. I think if someone were coming straight here from America, it might seem cloudy and dreary. But if you've lived in other cities here, the fact that it's cloudy and means that you can actually see the clouds is pretty impressive. So many cities here are blanketed with a layer of smog that I wonder if locals even know that clouds exist. Here, you can actually see the shapes of the clouds - which I think is pretty nice.

We had very low expectations of what the city would be like, so I think we're being surprised at every turn. Even though apartment hunting is slow, we have so much to be thankful for. The Lord has truly been gracious to us in leading us here.

Our kids are adjusting well. Silas is totally jet-lagging and has been awake from 2-4 every night except last night. (Maybe that's a sign that things are getting better?) I've carried him more in the Snugli carrier than ever and I'm sure my shoulders and neck will pay for it soon!

Abby is such a little extrovert. She's friendly and funny and says hello to anyone who will look at her. She poses for pictures and waves at toothless old ladies. She's a real charmer. She loves the freedom she gets in the taxi now that carseats are a distant memory. [I, on the other hand, do not love the freedom she gets in the taxi!] She likes chinese food and loves strawberry ice cream.

Samantha has probably been the quickest to adjust of all our kids. She has enthusiastically embraced the people and culture around her. She bravely uses her broken language skills to communicate with waitresses, taxi drivers and passersby. She loves the food and has had zero issues with jet lag. Even she commented yesterday, "I think I'm really getting used to it here!"

Emma still seems a little skeptical of it all, which is fair since she's the oldest and has the largest capacity to compare experiences. She's been concerned about the smell of the streets and her inability to communicate. She doesn't remember many of our previous rules - you must always hold a hand when you cross the street, you have to sit still in the taxi, you've got to pay attention to where you're walking - and the learning curve seems to be hardest on her. I feel like she's caught between being able to be "big girl" in America and having to start from scratch here. We've been trying to be thoughtful about taking extra time to process things with her and giving extra grace for her. She's gradually getting used to things though, and she's enjoying the fun stuff we've been able to do together. She's been so excited to eat some of her special foods again, and she loves playing with the other local children she's met.

We're all looking forward to having our own place soon. We're staying in a two bedroom place, which is better than two hotel rooms but still feels a little cramped for the six of us! So - maybe next week will hold more progress on the apartment search? Thanks to all of you who have kept us in your prayers and have sent words of encouragement our way! We really appreciate you!