Well, it’s been an interesting 2 weeks in the countryside (to say the least).  Instead of a long post in the form of a recap with new things added in, I thought I’d just give some (not very scientific) statistics:

• Number of scorpions captured/killed within the house:  4
• Number of Shelob-sized spiders killed within the house: 2 (The second one really was a Shelob-esq sized arachnid.  I had to break out my elvish blade Sting to make an end to her.)
• Number of rat sitings in rooms other than the kitchen/bathroom/bedrooms: 2
• Number of rats killed or captured in said rooms: 0
• Liters of yak yogurt consumed by our family in Tibetan homes in the past two weeks: 2 (approx.)
• Percentage of yak yogurt lost after 2-hour trip down bumpy mountain road: 25% (Poor Sarah.  Well, actually poor Christa, too.  Sarah was sitting on her lap when she tossed the proverbial cookies.)
• Number of small birds who found their way into our enclosed porch area and then couldn’t find their way back outside: 1 (Did I mention birds give me the heebie-jeebies?  I’d almost prefer rats.  At least I can swat at them with a guilt-free conscience.)
• Total number of water related repairs required in the span of two weeks: 2 (We’ve already replaced the water line from the street to our house as you know.  We woke up this morning to a lake in our kitchen due to some kind of malfunction in the hot water heater.  That one we’re still working on getting fixed.)
• Percentage of mites who survived the destruction of their "nest area": 5% (It may be much less or perhaps more than this, but at least Sarah hasn’t had any new bites or mites found on her.)
• Number of times our daughters have been mistaken for twins by the locals:  I lost count after 10.
• Number of times I bumped into a German guy named Rene on the streets of Jianzha: 1 (What, you were expecting it to be more?)
• Cost in RMB I’ve already expended to get my work permit (not including visas): 915 (Just divide by 7.5 to the U.S. dollar equivalent.  The visas could be an additional 400 RMB / family member!)
• Hours actually spent in the library thusfar:  0.5 (We did get some training, but that’s about it.)
• Number of times in the last two weeks that I’ve questioned my own sanity:  Too many to count!

But we have had our good moments though, too.  Yesterday, we got away from the House for the day.  We rented a vehicle/driver and went about 2 hours up into the mountains.  We visited a Tibetan family’s home.  The daughter of this family worked at the library this summer.  The ride was rough, but the visit was pleasant.  Here’s the pictures from that excursion.