The Rollercoaster

The original reason I was going to write an entry today, before we found out about Joshua losing his job, was to talk about living in a hotel. I want to stay focused on that, somewhat, because that part of our journey has been intriguing. Some parts of living in the hotel have been exciting, and some of have been quite boring. Some have been fun new experiences, and some of have been scary. There really is not a way to sum the whole experience up at all, and the thing of it is, I know we have only touched the tip of the iceberg. For the next two years we will be nomads, and we will live in many hotels.

We have met some interesting people already. We like all of the hotel staff very much, except for one receptionist who I think is really tired of us. We have a continental breakfast here, so we encounter many new people over coffee, donuts, fruit and a waffle maker that makes the most broken, ugly waffles in existence. The other guests are always angry about the waffle maker, so we have never used it. Some of the guests are quiet and polite, and we only see them quietly check and then quietly leave. Other guests we do not see check in but we hear them throughout the night. One group ran up and down the halls screaming and laughing, another spent a good deal of the night humming one note (chanting?) and another set fire to popcorn.


The popcorn story is fairly interesting. A couple on the lower floor settled in for a movie with their bag of popcorn that was very much burnt, and the fire alarms starting sounding. Knowing that it was just their bag of popcorn, they continued on with their movie while the rest of the hotel residents (including us) were in a panic. I am not sure how it all came about, but the fire department entered their smoky room to see them watching their movie calmly eating their popcorn. I guess it takes all kinds to make up the hotel population!


One challenge has been figuring out how to do housekeeping. We just stopped buying plastic plates and forks last week and started doing dishes in the sink. We also have no way of getting to the laundromat except for the bus or taking a taxi ($$$$$$$$) so we have been doing laundry in the bathtub. It's a simple enough process if you do not count the drying.

Drying is such a pain and it makes me want to buy new clothes once a week (we may as well take a cab) or just wear dirty clothes and look bums. But, we make it a family effort to rotate clothes from the shower rod to the ironing board, from the ironing board to the air conditioner, from the air conditioner to the closet as they dry. They must all by turned throughout the process so that no part is left wet too long or they begin to stink. For our next move, I am going to buy a nice drying rack so we do not have these same hassles if we cannot dry them in a dryer. What a pain!


Keeping Isaiah busy has been another obstacle. We play little games we have made up and sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider multiple times a day. When hotel occupancy is low, I let him run up and down the halls. I open the windows and curtains daily so we can get fresh air. When daddy gets home, we go out together almost every day. The mall has a great play place and it is only a short walk so we go there. He loves the other kids. He also loves going on bus rides and says, "WHOOOOaoooooOOaaaaaooooa!" whenever we go around a corner.

We are really struggling with the abrupt end of this project. We are most sad about how we instantly felt plugged in at the local church and now we have to leave. That is the part that is really "killing" us. Both of us get teary eyed when we think about leaving our new church. But, it really taught us a lot about the kind of enthusiasm we want to have in our faith going forward. That's what this is all about, right? Experiences and lessons.


What a roller coaster!