Days of our lives

Joshua Umma Reporting

Ever since I stopped working at the hospital I've been asking God to give me a ministry that I can become involved in.  And then last month I was asked to run a week-long children's program during the summer for the hospital.  So the Community Hospital held their very first Vacation Bible School earlier this month and we sure had a lot of fun.  Castles and Crowns 2008 was a blast!  I absolutely love working with kids so VBS was just as exciting for me as it was for them.  I have no doubt that God worked it all out by having my mom and sister come a few days before VBS began until the last day to help and babysit Joshua.  Otherwise, I really couldn't have done it without them.  I'm really looking forward to VBS 2009.  Next project:  hospital newsletter.

Leaving Joshua at home with my mom really made his stranger anxiety worse.  So when I would come home from VBS he'd cling to me.  Sometimes his anxiety got so bad that he would cry everytime he would even look at my mom because grandma = no mommy.  He'd look at my mom, cry, then look away.  Then look at my mom, cry, then look away.  Why he would keep looking at my mom and making himself cry... I don't know.  Funny boy.  But he really became comfortable with my mom and sister by the time they left. 

He's really beginning to express himself and demonstrate his likes and dislikes.  I'm really enjoying this stage of development and can't wait until he starts walking and talking but oh what a handful he'll be.  We ate at a restaurant yesterday night with some friends and at the table next to us was a baby girl who was 2 days younger than Joshua.  As soon as Joshua saw her he extended his arms out indicating that he wanted to play with her and throughout the entire dinner he was either trying to grab anything in reach or climbing onto the table and wouldn't sit still for a second.  The baby girl on the other hand was sitting so quietly in her stroller and wasn't making a sound.  Is it safe to say that baby girls are not as rambunctious as boys?  But then again I knew Joshua'd be a handful ever since I was pregnant with him.  He was always kicking and moving around.  Couldn't stay still in there either.  Maybe he's practicing to become an Olympian one of these days. 

Speaking of Olympics... Michael Phelps was amazing!  We watched the Olympic games with my mom and sister and were impressed by all the talented athletes.  We had a good time while they were here.  It was really nice to see them although it did make me a little homesick when they left. 

Joshua was invited to his very first birthday party!  Here's Joshua with Paul, the birthday boy (age 2), and Rihanna (age 1.5).  Joshua's really a hit with the kids here since he's a "chinese" baby and has different color skin.  Everyone always wants to touch him and hold him.

Although we stand out against the Trinidadians, we've really adjusted and are feeling at home here.  We've fallen into our daily routines and have made good friends.  We even met some Korean families thanks to Fred's parents.  My Korean has never been really good but it's gotten exceptionally bad while I've been here.  Use it or lose it goes the saying.  So I'll be trying to use it more when we meet with the Koreans... at least for Joshua's sake.  Today I hung out with the Korean ahjoomas and felt really aged when a 12-year old girl insah-ed to me and an ahjooma referred to me as Joshua Umma.  Am I in that generation already?  Having a baby really ages you but I've got to say that I really enjoy it and wouldn't have it any other way.

I really need to start updating more frequently with shorter blogs instead of culminating everything into one.  I just keep putting it off and putting it off until it's been too long to wait anymore.  Do any other bloggers feel that way?  I'm a disgrace to all other bloggers out there.  Sorry!

Summer Update 2008

This will be more of a picture update since it would take too long to write about everything that's happened sine the last time I posted.

Jane has been learning how to cook "Trini" food the past few months and on this occasion my assistant Fazina came over and showed her how to make Sada Roti (kind of like pita bread) and a bunch of different sides.  yummm....it was good.

First Father's Day.  Me and my all time favorite son Joshua.

Community Hospital Week of Prayer Sabbath Service and Jane welcoming the guests.  We also sang and prayed with the patients.  It was a very nice Sabbath.

Dinner at our friends Marc and Vanessa's to celebrate Brazil's Festa Junina (Some Corn celebration).  Vanessa is Brazillian.

Jane & Joshua's playdate buddies

The next several pics are from Ray & Anita's visit.  I don't know about them, but we had a blast.  Everything seemed so much better when they were here.  I guess good company really does make that much of a difference.

At Maracas Beach

Woodford Square, Downtown Port of Spain

Playing with one of Joshua's new toys from auntie & uncle Raynita and Joshua crawling.

Joshua's favorite Uncle and Auntie for now.  He was loving them.  Joshua says that you have to come back again to keep that status though. :)  tough puppy.

At church in Carenage and after church at Chaguaramas Bay

Dinner at a nice italian place we went to for the first time that was really really good.  Either it was the food or it just tasted THAT good to remind us that it was the last meal with Ray & Anita.  Probably both.  Food just hasn't tasted the same since they left. :( Ray & Anita not pictured.

Dr. Nick and wife's one day visit to Trinidad.  The city below is the capital Port of Spain.

2nd outreach clinic going solo.  it just hasn't been the same.

my dental station

The Diego Martin Church District Corn Soup Throwdown

and no Renee (the girl on the right) is not standing on something. (above)

First & Second Place winners.

The Judges

First Place Winner Sister Marina with Pastor Balfour

And last but not least...Joshua wearing my favorite outfit.

Next up...Mom & Sis in law coming to visit this tuesday.  we'll update after they leave next week.  until then...

My lil' pumpkin

Since I've been MIA on Days of Our Lives, let's rewind to about a month ago when we began sleep training Joshua.  For all you new moms or to-be-moms out there, let me tell you that sleep is definitely the issue for both mommy AND baby.  Never before have I felt so chronically sleep-deprived in my life with Joshua waking every 1-3 hours at night and taking short naps during the day.  But that is in another lifetime now that Joshua is sleep trained and sleeping through the night like a champ!  Hurray!  He's now sleeping 9.5 hours straight at night and taking 2 hour naps.  What a difference! 

Joshua's really developed so much in the past month.  His active nature and curiosity along with his desire to explore the world has driven him to crawl and pull himself up to stand.  He sure has become an active little one!  It's the best feeling in the world when he spots me from across the room with big smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye and crawls with excited steps right up into my arms and touches his forehead to my forehead.  *Sigh* It makes me melt every single time.

Here are some videos of my lil' pumpkin:

15 minutes of fame

You know how they say everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame?  Well...Jane was asked by the GC to blog for the Adventist Mission website for the whole month of June and so we have been the featured missionary bloggers for the past month.  Jane was so nervous at first because she thought she couldn't write, but through the process discovered her talent for writing.  Well...I discovered her talent for writing because she is still in denial and rejects any bit of compliment.  Can somebody knock some sense into her please?  But seriously, I was really impressed and enjoyed reading her blogs, so...I'm announcing it here.  If anybody is interested in reading them you can access them at www.adventistmission.org  We should be on the front page, but I don't know how long we'll be there for since the month is almost over, but they have a history of previous bloggers, so I'm sure you'll be able to find it.  Enjoy!!!

Taste T&T 2008

A few weeks ago we went to an event that's held annually called Taste T&T.  It's an event where all of the famous local chefs and restaurants get to showcase some of their top dishes along with all of the traditional trinidadian foods.  Even though ticket prices to taste the food were mad expensive, we figured it would be worth it to try some of these "top" dishes.

Much to our surprise some of the food was actually pretty good.  One particular dish was so good we decided to check out the restaurant the following week, but a what a disappointment it was.  Of course it didn't taste the same.  It never does.  But oh well...we've already acknowledged the fact that food just doesn't taste as good here as compared to back home.  But it's been nice eating at home more often and because of that Jane is becoming quite the cook/chef.

It obviously was a really big event cause they had all sorts of things going on like a live concert, guys walking around in stilts, guys walking around blowing fire, and multiple live bands playing around the area.

It was nice to be able to actually do something for a change and go out.  It turned out to be a nice family outing.  It's just too bad they only have it once a year.

On another note, since we've been talking about food, I've finally found a fruit vendor that I can usually rely on for good fruits.  His name is Dazz and he loooovveesss kung fu.  To prove that he loves kung fu, one day he brought a bunch of his dvds to show me.  I was impressed.  He calls me chinee.  It's kind of nice that I found him cause now I can always call him to see what kind of fruits he has and he calls me when he gets the ones that I want.  He's a funny guy.  Here's a picture of Dazz and me.

Now that I'm looking at his picture does he kind of look like Don Cheadle a little bit?  Maybe not.  Anyways...this past week I bought some fruit called Sappodilla.  It's a brown round fuit that kind of looks like a big kiwi on the outside, but is super super sweet.  So sweet sometimes that you feel like you need water to dilute the sweetness.  But sad to say, Jane and I will never be eating that fruit again.  This last time we were eating it, mine felt and looked a little funny so i studied it for a little bit.  To my utter amazement and horror and disbelief I saw something moving!!!!!  Yup that's right, there were maggots moving around in it.  The crazy thing is that the Sappodillas were in the fridge.  Oh man, it was sick.  Luckily Jane hadn't started eating hers so I told her not to.  When I sliced hers open it looked a little better than mine, but...when I looked really closely, they were there too.  So that tells me that even the good ones have them.  Which is enough reason for me or anybody else in my family to never eat that fruit again even though it was so good.  The sad and disgusting part is that when my parents were here we all ate a bunch of them.  ugggghhhhh...makes me so sick just to think about it.  I'm hoping that those didn't have any maggots, but a part of me knows that there probably were.  SICK!!!!!  Oh well...at least they won't kill us.  We'll just think of it as extra protein.  Not that I need any extra.  But just to show you what it looked like I took a picture of it.  I can see only three maggots in the picture but I assure you that there were way way more.  Every slice there were a couple.  Sick.

Needless to say, I've been a little paranoid about eating fruits here since then, but luckily I haven't found them in anything else and I hope I never do.  Those things are sick.  And I would die if I found one in a mango or papaya.  Let's hope that never happens.

The countdown begins...

T minus 22 days and counting until Ray and Anita come to visit!  We just heard the news that Ray and Anita are coming to visit us for over ONE WEEK here in Trinidad.  I must say that I'm pretty excited.  I feel like a little kid again waiting for my friends to come over.  They will be the first non parent to visit us here. 

Ray is getting so scared that he thinks he should hurry up and get life insurance before he comes.  He even updated his immunizations for the trip.  I can't tell if he's really being serious or what, but as scared as he is, he's still coming to visit.  What a friend.

Jane and I are already starting to prepare a schedule for the week so that we can show them as much as we can of Trinidad before they leave.  Not that there are so many things to do here, but still.  Don't worry Ray, we'll only go to the "safe" places. I have to put the word safe in quotations cause I'm not really sure how safe safe is here.  But we'll be smart.  Rest assured God is on our side.  Can't wait.

I'm looking forward to good times for one week in July!

Mangoes Galore!

It is officially mango season here in Trinidad and we are definitely not taking it for granted. Last year we were just newbies to all of the different kinds of mangoes here so we really didn't know where to buy, which ones to buy, how to ripen, etc...but...now that we have a year of experience under our belts...let's just say we've become quite the mango connoisseurs.

You would think it to be a simple matter, but definitely not the case. Which reminds me of our first experience with mangoes here in Trinidad. Last year, one of the hospital employees gave us a couple of mangoes to take home. But they were not ripe at the time. They were pretty hard and still green. So...thinking we had to wait until the color changed we waited at least a week if not more and by the time the color actually started to change, we noticed that it had become pretty soft. I don't know about Jane, but I was pretty excited to try my first mango here thinking it would be heaven, but to my utter disappointment it tasted like alcohol. it was rotten! but because of our ignorance, we didn't even know it and still ate it thinking that's how it was supposed to taste! hahahaha....i can't stop laughing at that. The next day I went back to the lady who gave them to us and was like "did you inject alcohol into those mangoes, because I swear they tasted like alcohol!" mango amateurs...but not anymore. we've learned the art of eating mangoes.

Did you know that there are over 10 maybe even over 15 types of mangoes here? Yeah...that's right, and they all taste different. For example, there's the Julie (most common), Starch (Sweetest but hairiest), Graham (Biggest), Spice (super sweet and smooth, but rare), rose, doo doo, vere, callabash, soursop, grafted, and the list goes on and on. So...needless to say, it can get confusing.

Did you also know that they ripen faster and better wrapped up in newspaper in a paper bag? That may be common knowledge to some of you, but it was news to me. Anyways...that's some of the things that we've picked up over the last year. And we are definitely enjoying them. Sometimes we eat like 6 mangoes at a time. And they are oh so good. The sad thing is because most of the people here have their own trees, what they sell on the streets are super expensive. For example, those small yellow ones you see up there? Those are the starch mangoes. They're sweet, but tiny and they cost about $1 USD each. You can eat like 5 or more of those in one sitting, so...yeah it can get expensive. But hey, we figure it's good for our bodies and we may never get to eat them again after we leave and plus, we don't spend our money on anything else so why not, right?

p.s. if anyone wants to try, you're welcome to visit us anytime. the mangoes will be our treat. but you better hurry because mango season ends in august...

-Fred

Baby Chompers

After many attempts to catch a picture of our wiggly son's first baby teeth... here they are.  As you can tell, each new thing our baby does (or grows in this case) amazes me. hehe  Yes... we, dentists, are proud of our son's teeth. =)

Have yourself a pleasant Sabbath!

-Jane

Joshua Shares His Adventure

The circle of life

As you all know, families all over shared their appreciation for their mothers by celebrating on Mother's Day.  And with the birth of my son... I too am now a mother.  Isn't it a wonderful thing?  The circle of life.  I'm now a mom!  Crazy, huh?  Little did I know that my husband was planning a special surprise for me.  As a result of Trinidad's Vision 2020 to develop into a first-world country by the year 2020, a new Hyatt hotel had been built in the capital Port-of-Spain.  Fred reserved a room for us at the hotel to spend my very first Mother's Day.  And boy did I feel special!  Our stay was so nice and relaxing with an elegant ocean-view room, dinner by the water, breakfast buffet, and a very pampering and much needed massage.  It was so nice to be able to spend that time with my family aside from all other concerns.  Thanks, Fred, for a wonderful and relaxing time!  Some of you might be thinking, "But it was Mother's Day not Wife's Day.  What did Joshua do for you?".  He had a surprise of his own.  The night we returned from the hotel Joshua decided he wanted to do something special for me too.  So he slept 6.5 hours straight that night!  You're probably thinking, "So what's the big deal?".  For someone getting a usual 3 hours, and if lucky 4,  of sleep at a time, I was VERY appreciative.  Thanks, Joshua!  He's now starting to sleep longer stretches at night since then so I'm very happy... and rested.  To all you mothers out there... wishing you a happy mother's day every day! =)