Saturday, September 17, 2016

Hi You Guys!

Wow!  So much to catch up on.  Our house internet has been down this week,  so I had to make time to trek up the hill, hide from the kids and remember the internet password for another house :)

Time is flying.  We have been here almost 2 months and it feels like 2 days.  Our family is doing well.  We have completed 4 weeks of school and I'm so happy that Michigan school started up again so I have some resources from our awesome teachers!  

We have brief moments of feeling homesick waves, but they pass.  As long as no one mentions pumpkin spice, apple orchards, hayrides, warm cider and donuts...... ok, now I'm sad :(

The days are busy here.  Joel is doing a lot of surgery and has really enjoyed working with the GR resident who is out here for the month.  Brittany is the first of three 3rd year surgical residents who will be spending a month with us this year.  She was delighted to find a real bed, running water that is hot and even a microwave in her apartment here!  We are living the posh life :)  I'll let Joel fill in the details that take place in the surgical ward and operating rooms.  But the kids have introduced her to exploring the landscapes around here - all those hills!  We have taken some walks to Tyazo (the little "town" down the road) together and even given her bananas cooked in tomato sauce for dinner once :)  

Here are the kids hard at school work... our typical week day includes breakfast & chores until 9.
School from 9-1pm, lunch and play the rest of the day!  It is dark by 6:30pm and we often have visitors in the evenings until dinner and beyond.
Bedtime is welcome relief!

Some fun poetry & artwork by the kids :)

Two of Levi's favorite hobbies.  Chess.
And photo-editing.

Oh, and also cutting anything up ...
with a machete, of course!

Those super fun chores..... that mean mom makes them do!

This was a really fun day.  And gross.... disturbing... humbling... enlightening... weird.... very cultural.....
It all began with this nice little goat that the kids played with....

Levi learning from Cissy how to prepare a "kitchen" with wooden charcoal 

Meet Ferdinand (husband to Constance & Dad to Ian & baby Jesse).  When he told us that he knew how to cook brochettes, we took him up on his offer to have a party and a real Rwandan experience.  In his regular life, Ferdinand is a driver for the hospital and we have been friends since 2009.

I know.  Don't look!

This is Cissy's cousin from Kigali, Hadija.
She is preparing to cook the rice. 

Here is Constance with baby Jesse who has finally fallen asleep.  Constance is a nurse supervisor in pediatrics.

Sugarcane is a great snack while you wait for the goat to be ready!

Annette (Cissy's sister), Paula, Cissy

Levi, Ian, Lauren, Anna

Ferdinand teaching Levi how to skewer up the brochettes.

mmmmmmm.... if you don't think about it too hard.

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My sweet, sweet friend, Cissy!  Dr. Ronald's wife.

Preparing the table for our delicious buffet!
(Cissy, Lauren, Anna, Ali)

We ate goat, rice, fried potatoes, banana bread, rice salad made like pasta, peanuts, bananas, cinnamon rolls.  And is the custom of all Rwandan gatherings, Fanta!

A sneaky visitor smelling our picnic!

Constance & Paula & sleeping baby Jesse
(Andrea is in the back - a volunteer from Canada
who visited for 2 weeks)

That day was so much fun!  The kids and I went down to Kumbya with Constance, Ferdinand and their kids as well as Cissy and her sister & cousin.  When Ferdinand killed the goat, I couldn't watch.  But afterwards, the kids were fascinated and couldn't stop watching.  We peeled potatoes with dull knives, salted them and dropped them in hot oil over charcoal.  We cooked rice over the fire and cooked a tomato sauce to put on the meat.  It was a lot of work, and it wasn't until about 2 hours into the day that I realized I was the only adult "umuzungu"  (white person).  That was a fun realization for me - to suddenly be aware that I was with some real friends and nobody else was from America.  I praise God for answering my many prayers for friends here.  Later that afternoon, the rest of the gang from the mission showed up.  They brought the rest of the feast.  Super great day!