Ramadan feast - Rosa Eid

At the close of the month of Ramadan (رمضان) is a special celebration to break the 30-day fast! Many families will buy a single sheep that they will slaughter for the feast, to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. The meat is then divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others (1/3 to the family, 1/3 to other relatives, friends & neighbors, and 1/3 is given to the poor as a gift). This year we were privileged to share the holiday with one of our employees & her family. Here are some pictures of the yummy foods we ate!

You can see Polo (aka Pilaf = rice & carrot dish), some Pickled cabbage & carrots, and also Fifila (mutton & rice balls) which the kids love.

This is a famous Uyghur soup called Chuchura. It is filled with lamb dumplings, vegetables, cilantro & the perfect spicy broth!

We are always treated with the best hospitality - and wonderful times of laughter!

winter is coming!!

We had our first snow on November 10th this year....and the weather is getting quite nippy these days! Pretty soon we will all wear long-johns and warm, poofy jackets to stay toasty outside. Our winter weather is pretty consistent with Minnesota winters, since we are along the same latitude. We are making the most of this non-freezing weather while we can....since it will get way below zero soon. Our apartment is heated by radiators, which do a great job keeping us toasty indoors.

Here are the girls dressed up outside our door, for a walk to the market. This is pre-snow!
(Asia - 6.5, Eden - 4.5, Sydney - almost 3!!)

costume party 2009

This year we decided to host a Costume Party at our apartment with some of our friends. There ended up being over 25 kids and 20 parents that came! We transformed the house into a carnival - with different games and activities in each room! The girls also helped me make a pumpkin pinata and fill it with prizes.

Eden dressed up as a rabbit/lamb, Sydney was a dragon, and Asia was a princess for the 6th time. Here is Eden with her close friend Amina (as Spider-woman).
I was so busy running around that I didn't get many pictures - but we had 2 bean-bag tosses, pin-the-patch-on-the-scarecrow, darts, basketball slam-dunk, bobbing for apples, a tunnel/maze in our bedroom, fishing, and three mystery boxes (filled with slimy objects) which Justin himself created. We were so tired afterwards....but I think it was a success!!

This is one of my new friends (she came dressed as a tree). I tried to put together a cow-girl outfit!! If you haven't noticed....I really enjoy hosting parties at our home!

dish duty

I thought these were so cute....I had to share. The girls have become eager to help me with dishes, which has been quite exciting for me! They take turns rinsing and stacking in the rack, while we sing together. Of course it takes longer, we get some water on the floor, and all my dishes are plastic - but the memories & values instilled are priceless. They are such beautiful gifts....

Sydney was taking a nap.

momma-jamma in China!!

My mom is here! The girls call her 'jamma' which fits so well. She is so energetic and full of adventure! We are so glad she made the long trip to be with us for 2+ full weeks! Here are some highlights of our jam-packed, fun-filled visit:

Jamma with E&A at NanMen GongYuan 南门公园 (the People's Park)
Here she is making friends with our favorite fruit-stand lady & being her friendly self!
E&A atop Hong Shan mountain 红山with Jamma-banana! (Red Mountain)
Visiting an ancient city with 1000 Buddhist Caves outside of Turpan - mom made another friend with a Uyghur musician. He was so sweet!!
Reading lots of stories on the couch....
And one final picture that just shows how she has impacted us all:
We love you SO much mom and we had such a blast with you!! Thank you with all our hearts for taking the time to join our clan in the wild west of China. Thank you for loving our girls with all your heart, and being so easy-going with all the cultural differences out here! We know how shocking it can be! You were incredible!! We miss you so much already!

blogland

Blogland is a strange and beautiful place. I actually really miss it. I feel like I have typed 17 million beautifully crafted posts in my brain over the past 4 months. And its amazing that time has flown by so quickly without a tangible post on this 'community journal' of mine. I am humbled that others want to read my heartfelt thoughts, and I love that I can share more about the people and land that we call home.

I have been visiting the States for the past 5 days, and its a taste of heaven to me. Seeing people who have shaped me, poured their lives into me and challenged me to live beyond myself - has been so therapeutic. I have cried lots of tears: joyful ones, healing ones. Thank you for listening, lifting, and asking deep questions. Being here for my sister-friends' wedding was perfect in every way. I am so grateful for this trip - and for Justin gifting it to me. I haven't been away from them ever....so this was a restful haven, and a wonderful time of reflection for me. Yet I miss them like crazy!!

I am leaving in about 24 hours, and I haven't even updated this blog like I had planned (in my brain). Its kinda on the bottom of my list, since the face-to-face connections rank above an impersonal online journal. Maybe someday I will have full access to the lovely internet once again, and I will catch you up on the happenings of our foreign lives. Also, know that we will stay safe. We are taken care of in such intricate ways. Our bodies and hearts are held by a Strength that none can fathom. We will do our best to communicate in creative ways as I go back, so stay tuned. The adventure is not over - and you know how we LOVE adventure! As I depart, I will paste something I wrote about the riots in our city, so you are aware of our situation. We love you dearly, and I return with hope & peace, feeling loved and encouraged. Thank you with all my heart. ~ Alia (my Uyghur name)

07-05 Riots in Urumqi

This afternoon, major riots broke out across our city. We never imagined anything like this could ever happen here. Many people have been killed, wounded and now arrested. This is the scariest thing we have ever gone thru in our short lives, and yet – because of secure nature of this country, we are not going to share much about these events on our blog. We do not want to share opinions or details of events without being able to share the entire story. Please take time to scour other news sites to get a better picture of the history of tensions out here. You can find more about these events on other news sites. Thanks for thinking of us!

The most recent news I could find: CNN Sept 8th, 2009, and China Daily.

a common sight these days....

When I walk behind these guys, I feel pretty safe.

some melon love

Melons in Western China!!

Did you know that China is the world’s largest watermelon producer? Western China is THE place to grow melons!!

In the summer you can buy melons straight off the picking truck! The more common melons are Watermelons (xigua 西瓜), Hami Gua 哈密瓜(cantaloupe) and Tien Gua 铁南瓜(Honeydew). I have never tasted a fresher, sweeter melon than here in Xinjiang. During Melon season (May-June-July-August) we are inundated with melon trucks all over town. Right now the prices are pretty low – about 1-2 kuai per kilo. I can buy a large Watermelon for 6 kuai, which is less than a dollar! We buy a melon about every 2 days – and eat them all summer long. They are perfectly sweet, juicy and easy to eat! We love them best chilled in the fridge, if we can wait that long. They are also quite healthy – with high levels of Vitamin C, potassium, beta carotene, lycopene, fiber & B vitamins! …yet mostly water & sugar! The Hami Melon (Hāmì guā哈密瓜) is famous here in Western China, originally from the city of Hami, in our beloved Xinjiang! In America, you would call it a Cantaloupe – with the peachy-orange flesh, and white/green rind. The bigger the melons are said to have a sweeter flavor. Melons taste best at room temperature, but they can keep for up to 3 weeks without refrigeration! Hami-gua melons now thrive in California!

How to choose the perfect melon

• Ask the grocer when they arrived
• Pick a large one, it should feel heavy for its size
• Check out the stem – should look newly picked
• Look for a yellowish “field spot” – area where the melon rested on the ground
• Avoid soft melons, and rinds with scars or bruises
• Avoid melons that are on the bottom of the stack
• Buy whole melons, not cut ones

Taking care of your melon

Uncut melons can be kept at room temp for up to three weeks. Once cut, melons can be hazardous food. Always refrigerate cut melon with saran wrap or in a sealed container for best quality. Do not eat cut melon after 2 hours being outside. Cut melon only lasts about 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Always toss if the flavor seems off.

Hope you are inspired to eat some delicious melons!! (or come visit us next summer!!)

(I wrote this post last summer....just catching up in 2010)