Closer to Home

Life is complicated here.  It has been a few days without rain, thus the days have been warmer.  We have arrived in “the Ville” and things at the guest house are not really ready for our stay.  I think the best comparison may be to camping in the least developed country in the world without having any camping gear. 

The view from out our guest house door, with people from the dedication
which took place on the day after we arrived.

The other day the screen saver on our computer was playing through family pictures while I (La Maestra) was studying our new language “Casa”.  As I looked at the pictures they were filled with joy, but I was struck with the realization that many of the pictures had a difficult time attached to them also.  Yet the only feeling that the pictures evoked for me is joy.  I am sure this transition will be the same.  There have been tears shed – for example, when the plastic spoon I saved from the airplane and was using to stir dinner was melting in our food!  But I am sure that when we look back on this time our memories and pictures will be filled with joy. 

Highlights!  We have had some children come and play with our children very, very nicely.  They are as old as 16, 15, 13 and they have been tossing a ball with our children, etc.  We have had invitations to dinner.  We have had in-depth conversations with the church about the possibilities for our responsibilities.  We have had people work at teaching us Hausa.  We have eaten three meals a day and even though it felt like survival mode, we have had enough to share with others.   We don’t have malaria yet.  We don’t have terrible constant diarrhea yet.  We have a lot for which we can be grateful .