over the mountains and around the cows...

Our friend invited us to her village the other day. We were excited! It's not everyday a person around here invites you to their hometown, so we readily accepted. (And hey, my friend knew we could drive her so that's a bonus considering there's not a very regular bus to her village!) Summer here means it's rainy season, which can also make it tricky navigating mountain roads (due to potential mud slides). So the night before we were set to go it had been POURING rain for hours. And at first we decided not to go. But then our friend got a call from her mama saying it wasn't raining in the village and they were expecting some company (in other words, come TODAY!) So thankfully the rain stopped by then and we were on our way. Once we got off the highway, it was a windy, bumpy road and both my girls said they were getting sick so we took a little breather. I even flew off my seat at one point the roads were so bumpy!!

This picture below of Grace makes me laugh. When I told her it would help her stomach feel better if she watched the road, she proceeded to STARE DOWN the road. I mean, she didn't take her eyes off. She wanted her stomach to feel better!

All concerns about car sickness were gone by the time we got to the village and Grace got to see another Wilbur-looking pig.

and we even got to feed some of them

Can you guess what this is? Yep, they brew their own beer.

Here's a picture of my friend's family home.

And here's the meal they served, which included white beans, chicken, tofu, greens, and the best mushrooms I've ever eaten. They grown them right on their mountain.

This cutie-pie lived right next door and was around Trinity's age.

My friend let me try on her hat worn for special holidays. (My mom bought one like this to take home with her to Lubbock, USA!)

And we found a vest that fit Kevin.

But it all looked much better on our friend and her father!

You know what I love about this picture? Folks are doing business here buying and selling peppers and mushrooms and my Trinity is right in the middle of it all singing the Sound of Music.

After lunch my friend walked us to the "new village" part of the village. The gov..t has given villagers a portion of the money needed to build new homes, and many families are building right now.

My friend's family hopes to be moved in to their new home before the lunar New Year.

Another view of the new village homes

We also walked over to pick some fruit right off the trees. You might ask me, "What fruit?" And I would have no idea what it's called. My friend didn't even know what it's called in the national language. It tasted like a small tart apple but well, wasn't.

None of the ladies from the village (except my friend) could speak the national language. Their cultural identity and language has been kept very well intact.

Trinity ate at least 4 or 5 of these apples/whatever-they-are-called-fruits.

We made some memories today.