When on the mission field, one has to be prepared for anything. God trains you in all kinds of random things before hand, and you wonder... how are all these things going to possibly be useful??? Never doubt again! Rest assured. God's plans are not wasted.
This morning, as my husband left to help another missionary, I decided it was time. I have looked at it long enough. And, today was a cool, crisp morning that announced the cold weather to follow. If not today, then, when? So, after the baby went down for a nap, I told Jude it was time to get wet. (He instantly is excited, of course!)
The simplest tasks in the USA, become ever so much longer here. Just a couple of weeks ago, I set off to buy a set of wooden blocks for Zachary, as we don't have toys for his age, and he's ready. Now, in America, it's a simple run to Walmart or wherever, and run home; and there are oodles of choices. Here, I ran up and down 6 flights of stairs in the mall, end to end, just to end up back where I started. Apparently, wooden blocks aren't common here. The only set is shipped in from the States, and they are in the expensive toy store of course.
Now, I set off to wash a rug. Most of our floor is wood or stone tile, but I have a large area rug in the living room. We have a small vacuum cleaner (that's not really designed for carpet), and I vacuum the carpet when I can get away with it. Being as the living room carpet is between the kitchen and the dining room, and I have toddlers, and and and... it looks in bad need of a bath. In Chattanooga, I would have just rented Rug Doctor from the local Walmart for a few hours; here, no such help.
First, we roll up the rug, take it outside, and I attempt to hang it over the entry gate. It's heavy. I struggle and pull, and decide I need a boost. I pull the bench to the gate, and s l o w l y work the rug over the top. This would allow me to power wash the rug easily enough, I'm thinking, (the Georgian way) and work well for drying. Ha ha. Nope! First of all, I should have checked the length of the hose. It didn't reach; short about a meter. So, I figure, I'll just spray it from where it reaches and see if that isn't good enough. Nope! I forgot that pressure washing puts strain on the connections, and, well, a picture would suffice. Screw on connectors aren't common here.
(I should say, about now, the neighbor was looking on and shaking his head and waving his arms. Trying to tell me something? I can't understand. )
So, Jude and I pull the carpet back down and start to lay it out on our slowly slanting driveway, which is thankfully paved and probably designed to wash things on it. Jude had great fun hosing the rug down, then we made buckets of soapy water to dump over the top, and I began the slow task of scrubbing every centimeter of that rug with a scrub brush. Totally NOT what I had in mind to start with, but I rolled with it. By now, Jude has totally soaked the rug with water, so it's not going to be dry for a few days, no matter how it is hung.
Knowing my back will be sore the next day, but truly having fun getting the job done, Jude and I began to clean up. Now, how to dry that rug. I can't leave it on the ground, as it would get run over by a multitude of feet (both people and animals) before my husband gets home to help me hang it somewhere. It is WAY too heavy soaking wet for me to tote it over the gate now. Finally, Jude blurts out "make a tent!" Yes. That would do. So, looking very rookie-ish, I slowly worked the rug over two benches, and put a pole in the middle to keep the water from pooling.
Satisfied that it would have to do, I headed inside. Zachary is awake, so I go to rescue him from his crib (not sure how long he was awake), and sent Jude to his room for clean clothes. Then, sweep the living room floor, as somehow dirt gets under rugs, and DONE!
It took an hour and a half. -And it will be days until it is dry again.
Not bad for a first time. Next time I plan to try the Georgian way of power-washing it. (I just have to figure out how to get a wet rug home from the car wash hangar!) Oh, the joys of living and learning in a new country. I'm loving it!
I hope you have enjoyed this humorous take on a moment from our life here in Georgia. Please take a moment to pray for us as we learn the language and culture, so we can share the love of Christ as soon as possible.
This morning, as my husband left to help another missionary, I decided it was time. I have looked at it long enough. And, today was a cool, crisp morning that announced the cold weather to follow. If not today, then, when? So, after the baby went down for a nap, I told Jude it was time to get wet. (He instantly is excited, of course!)
The simplest tasks in the USA, become ever so much longer here. Just a couple of weeks ago, I set off to buy a set of wooden blocks for Zachary, as we don't have toys for his age, and he's ready. Now, in America, it's a simple run to Walmart or wherever, and run home; and there are oodles of choices. Here, I ran up and down 6 flights of stairs in the mall, end to end, just to end up back where I started. Apparently, wooden blocks aren't common here. The only set is shipped in from the States, and they are in the expensive toy store of course.
Now, I set off to wash a rug. Most of our floor is wood or stone tile, but I have a large area rug in the living room. We have a small vacuum cleaner (that's not really designed for carpet), and I vacuum the carpet when I can get away with it. Being as the living room carpet is between the kitchen and the dining room, and I have toddlers, and and and... it looks in bad need of a bath. In Chattanooga, I would have just rented Rug Doctor from the local Walmart for a few hours; here, no such help.
(I should say, about now, the neighbor was looking on and shaking his head and waving his arms. Trying to tell me something? I can't understand. )
So, Jude and I pull the carpet back down and start to lay it out on our slowly slanting driveway, which is thankfully paved and probably designed to wash things on it. Jude had great fun hosing the rug down, then we made buckets of soapy water to dump over the top, and I began the slow task of scrubbing every centimeter of that rug with a scrub brush. Totally NOT what I had in mind to start with, but I rolled with it. By now, Jude has totally soaked the rug with water, so it's not going to be dry for a few days, no matter how it is hung.
Knowing my back will be sore the next day, but truly having fun getting the job done, Jude and I began to clean up. Now, how to dry that rug. I can't leave it on the ground, as it would get run over by a multitude of feet (both people and animals) before my husband gets home to help me hang it somewhere. It is WAY too heavy soaking wet for me to tote it over the gate now. Finally, Jude blurts out "make a tent!" Yes. That would do. So, looking very rookie-ish, I slowly worked the rug over two benches, and put a pole in the middle to keep the water from pooling.Satisfied that it would have to do, I headed inside. Zachary is awake, so I go to rescue him from his crib (not sure how long he was awake), and sent Jude to his room for clean clothes. Then, sweep the living room floor, as somehow dirt gets under rugs, and DONE!
It took an hour and a half. -And it will be days until it is dry again.
Not bad for a first time. Next time I plan to try the Georgian way of power-washing it. (I just have to figure out how to get a wet rug home from the car wash hangar!) Oh, the joys of living and learning in a new country. I'm loving it!
I hope you have enjoyed this humorous take on a moment from our life here in Georgia. Please take a moment to pray for us as we learn the language and culture, so we can share the love of Christ as soon as possible.
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