What Living Overseas is Teaching Me.......

Living overseas is teaching me a lot, even at age 40! There is the obvious of course, having to learn a new language which is double the trouble here in Baku as the people here speak either Azerbaijani or Russian but typically not both! Google translate has become my new best friend for both talking to the locals and reading labels at the market. The Russian alphabet is a nightmare to learn but the words aren't so bad. The Azerbaijani (also called Azeri) alphabet is easy as it is very similar to the English one but the words make no sense to me when I hear them. But beyond learning new languages, I have learned not to take anything for granted. Here in Baku, I miss my favorite stores like Walmart and Target where there is one stop shopping. You can find a lot of grocery stores here but they don't have things that are commonplace in the states. So my other new best friend is amazon! I couldn't live without it here. Mail takes about 10 days to 3 weeks and we don't get it everyday anymore, typically only once a week but it's better than never! And we are lucky to have the "pouch" mail that goes to the Embassy. Some of the other families here work for BP oil and they do not have a pouch mail system. We have to make a lot of foods from scratch here like cookies, bread, and pancakes as you cannot find pre-mixed boxes here. 

So beyond missing convenience items and stores, the thing I took for granted and miss more than anything are libraries and book stores! We brought a few books for the kids to read but after over a month here I can't stand to look at those same books we read every night anymore! I wish I could just run to the bookstore or library and get bags full of books to read!

So living overseas is exciting but it also has many teachable moments not only for the kids but for me as well. So......if anyone wants to send books or pre-made mixes or other things we are missing here I'll send you a list of what we miss and want and you can send it here:
Barry Craft 
7050 Baku Place #44
Dulles, Virginia 20189
I know, I know, it looks like an American address, but it goes to the Dulles airport, and then gets flown here to the Embassy. 

In the meantime here are some more adorable pics of my babies who won't stop growing!  

Gracie on the bus on a field trip we took with her class to a recycling plant.

Ty on the same bus ready for the field trip.

Making cookies from scratch! The kids had such a blast making a huge mess!

Tyler's project from the field trip. This is actually part two of it. His artwork really impresses his teacher. Funny, I still remember at 2 when he hated crayons and writing and coloring and drawing and now he is so good at it and loves doing it!

Part one of Tyler's representation of the field trip. I love how he calls the truck a lorry. This comes from all of the British readers he has been given nightly as his teacher is from London lol. I love it I really do.

Ty in class working on a project with a fellow student.