Still waiting for home internet service!

A quick update for anyone who's checking this site regularly:

We've found that it takes much longer here to set up internet than in the States. We're still "in process" and hopefully will be much more able to update the site and blog some more photos in another week or two when we're connected in our flat.

Until then, stay tuned, and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Jan's looking for work and I'm meeting with all the university people in the different departments to make sure things are ready for the term when it begins. That and having a pint every now and then!

There's no escaping it--there's a pub on every corner, it seems!

The good news is that we live very close to "Arthur's Seat," the extinct volcano at the heart of the city, and I'm working off the extra carbs on runs around the hill.

Peace!

Dust

Tea Party Ministry

STA60003
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

These are friends of Lily and Zoe. . . .

Countries represented: Zambia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia!

The girls had a wonderful tea party and Daddy played his guitar by request and chidren of all faiths sang "followin' da mastah" and "God is big" and "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

Go figure. All this in our little apartment building which has families from all over the world engaged in postgraduate studies.

Dancin' to the Pipes!

STA60051
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

This piper was amazing--and loud!

Lily kicked off a spontaneous dance and we couldn't help taking pictures.

She was doing a fair impression of the scottish jig, and more people stopped to watch and throw money in his case!

On the Castle Walls

STA60028
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Jan and the girls on the castle walls overlooking Edinburgh. You'll find a bunch of panoramic pictures of the city on the flickr site. . . .

Unbeknownst to us, this same day but later in the evening, J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter books fame) showed up at the Castle to huge fanfare, red carpet and screaming kids to kick off the sale of her latest installment. Read about it in the paper the next day. . . .

Short Thoughts on Arriving In Edinburgh

The following is an excerpt from my journal three days after we arrived in Edinburgh. . . .

And then finally, the descent into Edinburgh, and looking out over the left wing of the plane and seeing in the distance all the landmarks we’ve read about and studied for so long: the great fortress on the Hill (castle Edinburgh) and Arthur’s Seat, the volcanic leftover that heaps above the town. Walking through customs and not having to do a thing. . . . incredible surprise and joy! Whatever we had to do was done in Dublin when we entered. Catching two taxis because we had so much stuff, and the warm welcome we got from the elderly taxi driver who wouldn’t leave the girls in the rain with the luggage until I got there with the keys for the apartment (I had to stop at the housing allocations office). He then proceeded to tell us over and over that he thought we should not go to IKEA tonight because it was already getting late but that there were other stores in the area that we could get a few things at until tomorrow.

Of course, there’s no stopping Janette, who once she’d put her feet down in the flat, moved a couple of beds into different positions and smelled the air and declared it needing some freshener led us down the street to the bus stop and with Jodi’s help found the bus to IKEA that sits 20 miles south of town. We were in—wandered around like rats in a maze, following arrows, is this the right way honey?--and back home in a four hours with bedding and necessities and fell asleep at 9PM Edinburgh time. I’d still be sleeping if Lily and Janette hadn’t conspired together to rise at 3 AM!

The city: how best to describe it? We have spent days looking at it online and in guide books preparing to be here. We knew the names of streets and buildings and neighborhoods and even some of the history before we ever got here. But then, on the ground, its entirely different. The weight of the centuries and the heaviness of the cobbled streets and the soaring steeples and chimneys and gables give the entire city a presence like none other I’ve been in.

It’s a tangible weight that envelopes you, and you realize you’re finally IN the city--but its getting IN to you. Every street you look down is a vast treasury of beauty. Every where you look you’re utterly surrounded by curves and angles and shadows and stone and depth and this great weight that a mighty city carries like a heavy mantle, a personal presence. THAT’s my first impressions.

The brogue? I’m already starting to sound like them, my African ears catch the tones and ups and downs of the speech, but I have to admit its more musical than any language I’ve heard so far. Reminds me of the James Taylor line from one of his songs: “to me the words are nice the way they sound.” I catch myself not listening for content but listening instead to the rise and fall and harmony of words in the native Scots.

Dust

You Know You're In Scotland When. . . .

(I'm sitting in the coffee shop again and have a quick moment to throw something on the blog and I thought this was most appropriate. We should be online from our flat sometime early next week. Until then, enjoy this. . ..)

* You are standing next a middle-aged gentleman in the grocery line and he's wearing a polo shirt. But it's not just any polo shirt. The little crest over his heart says this: "Royal Musselburgh Golf Club. Established 1774" Yeah, a golf club older than the United States of America!

* Your daughter says to a man standing on the sidewalk, "Nice kilt." To which he winks and says, "Its a good thing she didn't call it a skirt."

* Your other daughter gets into the back of a taxi and looks up at the front left seat (in which no one is sitting because the driver is over on the right side) and says, "who's driving the taxi?!"

* You ask for a pound of cheese and get cheese that costs a pound.

* You plug your computer into the wall through two adapters and still end up blowing out the speakers.

* You go for a "drive in the country" and stop by a little country church in the middle of some farmer's field--and find out that it was built in 1550.

* You walk into a cigar shop and ask the question (foolishly): "which ones are the Cubans?" to which the proprieter answers with a little bit of a smile, "Sir, they're ALL Cubans."

* Your kitchen is plumbed for your washing machine.

* When you finally get that when people are walking up to you and saying "HiYa!" they are not getting ready to judo chop you, but are just saying "Hi!"

* When the Whiskey smells like old socks and the sea.

* "Going to the Post" means you are actually paying every bill you've got, picking up some milk and fruit, getting cash, finding a paper, AND mailing your letters.

* The beer is flatter but better.

* You can tell native Scots by the sweat pouring off their brow and nose, the red cheeks and the swearing at the heat--in 70-degree weather.

There's lots more, but this will have to do. Hope you enjoyed! This has all been part of the adventure of getting used to living here!
Dust

Ubiquitous Scottish Phone Booth Pic

STA60039
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Yeah, we had to do this. After all, its one of the icons of culture on this island.

We Made It!

A quick post since I'm sitting in a free wi fi coffee shop. We are waiting for internet to be set up in our flat, so you won't hear from us as regularly on this site for the next couple of weeks.

SUFFICE TO SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN CARED FOR BY OUR FATHER IN WAYS THAT SURPASS IMAGINATION ALREADY! THERE'LL BE MUCH MORE IN OUR NEWSLETTER COMING OUT WITHIN THE NEXT 4 WEEKS OR SO. . . .

We'll be adding more impressions of our time here once we have better access to the internet.

For now, I've uploaded all the pictures we took the first week we were here onto the flickr website.

Click the link to the right for "kunky pics" and check them all out.

You can even copy and save your favorite picture of us and put it on your computer desktop!

Peace!
Dust

Downtown with the Fam

STA60087
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Here we are sitting on the big relief map of the city. The Royal museum of Art is behind and on the right. You can see the University of Edinburgh's school of theology above the grassy mound in the background. Can you tell Mum and Dad are still dealing with jet lag? Kids are doing fine though!

12/1 Blacket Avenue!

STA60058
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Here we are at our favorite street crossing in Edinburgh--the corner of Dalkeith and Blacket Avenue--we live just a few yards down the avenue in a big married student housing apartment (flat) complex. There's shopping, post, a huge swimming pool, Lily's school on Preston street, and more all within a few blocks!

The List!

Over the last three weeks we made a big loop through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, a little bit of Montana, back through Idaho and then to Oregon. 1000's of miles in a truck that grunted like a tired buffalo.

I've tried and tried to write about the last 3 weeks and can't find words. I've sat down 3 times at the computer and don't even know where to start, so I'll just make a list:

We saw. . . .

friends.

We saw family.

We saw . . .

sunsets

and mountains

and tears

and smiles

and rivers and trouts

and birthday cakes

and batman begins and cinderella man

and stars

and darkness

and ponderosa trees like great columns in the cathedral of the forest

and sisters and wives flyfishing for the first time--oh, what a sight!


We heard . . . .

laughs

and cries

and chuckles

and bad jokes

and prayers

and one million "are we there yets?".


We felt . . . .

arms around us,
horse noses cold in the early morning,
the silky touch of a daughter's hair,
the rough embrace of more than one cold river,
the tightness of the sun's warmth on our skin,

And the breeze, oh, the June breeze blew gently most days.

We felt the Spirit gently working in each of you, and changing us too. Gently guiding us into Jesus' love.

We tasted . . .

good beer and better wine and clear water
and probably too many Mcdonald's happy meals and soft-serve ice cream,
and Momma's home-made enchilada casserole,
Ghanaian groundnut soup and rice balls
and Grandma's snickerdoodles and pies and fresh, fresh, cantelope, Graham's home-made Italian cream sauce, and steak and BBQ and . . .
tears.

We drove and laughed in the truck, listened to dear friends and family, and found this to be true: when you're "members of one another" in the Body of Christ, the encouragement and help goes both ways.

Thanks friends for delightful days of rest and evenings filled with conversation that mattered.

What a joy!

And now. . . .

EDINBURGH.

Note: Read through the Archives

By now many of you will have received a "friend raising" letter from us. Maybe you're checking out the blog for the first time. . . . the format is basically like a journal or diary (with pictures) with our favorite links in the right hand column, but don't get caught in immediacy and think the "most recent" blogs are better than ones in the archives. . . . In some ways, the date stamp has nothing to do with our blog other than to give you an idea where we're at (give or take a week!).

One of the fun (and helpful) things about a blog is that you can sift through the journal entries like digging through old pages in the attic, reading sentences that shine beams on other sentences in other entries until you begin to get a good picture of what the person was all about.

If you've got the time, and want to learn about us, the only thing better would be to pop into our flat in Edinburgh for a cup of tea and a visit.

And by the way, God's blessed us with an extra bed, so feel free:)
Dust

Daughter Jenni Hope

STA60027
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

We got to see our "daughter" Jenni (from when we worked at The Shepherd's Home) on our visit to McCall. She's now working as a Heli-Rappeller for the Forest Service in the Idaho wilderness. That means when there's a fire, they drop her on a line from a helicopter to put it out! Crazy! Lily and Zoe were SO excited to see her. We're incredibly proud of her for overcoming her fears and doing it. . . . even more thankful that God is opening her heart to His love.

Jan and Sis's

STA60034
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Janette and her sisters: Cheri on the left, and Tiffany on the right. They had a wonferful time pedicurizing (is that a word?!) in Mom's tub.

Hangin' with our sis'

STA60016
Originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Lily and Zoe hangin' with their "big sis'" Jenni Hope. They had loads of fun with her in McCall, and hope to see her soon in Scotland!

Checking in. . .

We're back in Portland, able to check email again for a little bit, and upload pictures from our journey this last month. We have 4 days and then . . . climb on a plane and fly to Scotland. . .

Its hard to express what a wonderful experience it has been. Each stop along the way with friends and family was a universe of wonders. Where to start. . . ? The writing of it would take too long even if we were to summarize what each of you has meant to us. We WILL share some highlights soon to come, but until then. . . .

How about pictures, which supposedly "say a 1000 words." Check them out on the flickr account and notice Lily and Zoe--they're smiling. They had a great time! When your children are enjoying the adventure, you can too!
Dust