Settling In

Salam,

So it has only been a few days since arriving to our new site, but we seem to be begining to settle in. Another transition has put a little more stress on us, but we are doing the only thing we know what to do, and are try to go with the flow. I think the language is coming. I can hold someones attention for about twenty minutes, then I run out of material. Getting used to hearing a language other than your own all day every day is exhausting. Somedays I wake up and feel like I can contribute to conversation, and "wow" people with my language. Other days it's hard to remember how to tell some one that "I'm Ok". It's an entirely new experience for us. Alicia and I help each other along. I know more vocab, she remembers grammar, and when we put it all toghether we sound like a mildly intelligent four year old.
My NGO is really nice. It is more than I expected. I will post some pics later, but it has a billard table room, several conference rooms, all the works, plus a cafe in the building. I also have a desk with a computer. Weird 'eh?
So far, the best part about this move has been our host family. I will post pictures later, but they are really fun. "Papa" is 56 and "Mama" is 45. He is russian and german, she is azeri. They have two sons, one (23) of which is living in germany with his wife and son. The other (26) lives at home and is super nice. He has taken me along when he goes places/visits people. The food has been good, and Mama makes her own bread. It's really good. My attitude increased exponentially when I realized the food was good, there was a lot of it, and it happens three times a day. Last sunday I worked outside with Papa. What's really crazy about it is that he reminds us of an Umbarger. The way he'll stand there and look at what he's working on was like Dwayne or Irvin all over. Alicia and I both like the reminder.
He bought a bicycle and we fixed it up together. He had one already and I asked him why he bought another. He told me "So we can ride to the river together and go fishing." It was probably the first time I felt like someone did something big for me because they wanted to.
We miss home, family, and friends. There is no other way around that. The experience as a whole has been something different that what we expected. Someways worse, someways.... different. One thing is for sure, it's super interesting.