First Contact

We have been here in Yangon with the Garrisons for a week now, and are
slowly adjusting. Life here moves at a much slower pace than in the
States. Things take a long time to get done. We have determined
(with some difficulty) that we can use this (lachmans@gmail.com) email
address while in Myanmar - please direct communications to us at this
address. As with most things in Myanmar all this may change. The
government may block our access to this account tomorrow for all we
know.

The picture included is of us riding in a 'tuktuk' in Bangkok, the
last night we were there. We enjoyed most of our time there, although
culture shock hit me (Catherine) pretty hard. Those of you who know
me well probably aren't surprised at that! Compared to Bangkok,
Yangon is quite a bit more shocking, and although where we are living
is much calmer the poverty is much more obvious.

We have found out that we can only get a 10 week business visa to stay
here, which means that we will need to leave the country twice (at
least) to be here as long as we intended. Initially we had not
planned to leave at all, but this is a turn of events. We are trying
to determine the best way to handle this, as leaving 2 or 3 times will
eat up most of our budget for our time here (with airfare out,
purchasing new visas, and staying in Bangkok or Chiang Mai while we
apply for visas). We are still committed to being here for roughly 6
months as we originally planned, however we are not sure how that will
work.

It is wonderful to be with the Garrisons. A couple days after we
arrived here, we realized that Ben had only been given 4 weeks on his
visa. We went to immigration and got it worked out (with a little
fretting and prayer first, and a complete change of plans for the
day). At any rate, when Jake Garrison heard us talking about Ben
perhaps having to leave in a month, he piped up that Ben could take
him with him and he wasn't going to let him go (or go to Thailand with
him). We are so thankful that it was worked out. We would've had to
drastically cut our time here if we had to leave every 4 weeks!

We have spent the week hanging out with the family and getting
acclimated to being here. It's very different than anything I've ever
imagined. We desire to meet the Myanmar people, but language is such
a difficult barrier at this time. We will begin next week doing more
work in the community (teaching English, helping teach basic hygiene
to children with MCP at some of their sites). We are also pleased to
help the Garrisons some with the homeschooling of their 4 kids.
They've only recently had all four at home, which makes it difficult
for them to do their ministry. We hope we will be a help to them
during our time here. We have begun language study with a tutor that
comes twice weekly; my brain is a little rusty in language
acquisition. It's been a few years for me. Hopefully Ben's recent
Swahili studies will have his brain primed for Burmese.

We are at the end of the rainy season here, and it is hot and humid.
We're told that it will be hot for about a month, then cool down for
"winter" for a couple of months before the real heat starts to kick
in. I am not excited to see what that's like! We miss home in
Athens, knowing that fall goes on without us. It's hard to miss your
favorite season. It's disconcerting when the weather isn't what
you're used to. The passage of time and seasons is hard to
understand.

We are well, rested, and pretty content to be here. In some ways I
feel a bit guilty that our adjustment has been so smooth. But hey,
I'll take it I guess. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to
pray as we really start to invest here in this community and country.