Sunday, and sunshine

It really is ironic how differently life runs in a foreign country. Somehow you know that in the apparent disarray you find, the locals think things are running smoothly. Like road rules. There aren't any. Some cars drive on the left, and some cars drive on the right. The steering wheels vary from side to side and you are never quite sure which side the passenger should board on, as often you could end up on the drivers lap. ..the louder you honk, the more power you have..or so they think..Then, try and get some money out of the bank. You go to a huge open bank in which you push your way up to the front counter, and then, in the total act of faith and good will, you offer your credit card, your only life line, to one of some twenty people who work there, and in some form communicate that you want money from them...next thing you know, they are gone with your money and you see nothing or hear nothing for a very long time. In fact, so long that all of the sudden you start to think...should i have help on to that?? But then, in the end you end up with your card back and a piece of paper that tells you to wait in this line, and then that line, and then eventually you get a little money. It just works, ..Somehow. I try and stay away from figuring it all out. Alot of our notes have been somewhat frustrated and irritated, I will try and portray in this one the good things, the silly things, the happy moments in which you find yourself in a great place, doing crazy things, meeting incredible human beings, and having views some would pay for. All in a day. 

This weekend we had the chance to scope our way around Bujumbura, the capitol, and get a feel for the land. Highlights: we swam in a pool next door to our office. Bonus, hopefully the chlorinated water killed some of the foreign bodies becoming a little too comfortable on our skin. We ate Indian food. Yes, it was incredible. Nan, and curry, and chapat, and chicken and all other delicious tid bits that were not beans! we also had our absolute worst night ever and managed to laugh the next day about it. By that I mean. we were exhausted, stressed, depressed, moody, and on top of that very very hot. The mosquito net had holes, so we both sacrificed half of our blood volume to feed ravinous bugs in their attempt to infect us with a blessed parasite called malaria. we literally have battle wounds. Eyes, lips, noses, soles of feet, butts...nothing was sparred in this attack.  Finally we smartened up and put in ear plugs so that we didnt' ahve to listen to the incessant fluttering of their wings...and then, next thing I know i wake up , almost with a scream b/c Kenton is standing on the bed over me, yes, trying to kill all the mosquitos. It felt like a million of them. Needless to say, we didn't sleep that night. We have since become smarter and spent a good hour patching our mosquito net, the windows, the floor wholes and every other orifice that was allowing the invasion of unwanted visitors. 

Tomorrow we will head back to Kigutu, our little village, to once again try and join the fight towards improving health care for extremly impoverished communities. We are hopefull, but cautiously so.  On our drive down here on Friday  ,we stopped at a road block to find that  a huge hippo had made it's home close to shore. Only in burundi. 

We love your comments. It is nice to have feedback, encouragement, and really any message that tells us tales from our homeland. For now, we miss you all, are learning to love one another in areas of high intensity, and just taking it all in. That's all you can do right?!?