Taj Mahal

Mwaramutse!

It rained last night. Quite unusual for this time of year. The rainy season ended at the beginning of May, and the dry season started. So yesterday when the rolling thunder started, I just kind of assumed it would just be a nice noise, maybe some cool weather from the mountains to accompany it.  A few sprinkles came, no big deal. Then more sprinkles came. Then it started POURING. The most thunder I have ever heard during one storm. It stopped long enough for me to walk from the guy’s house to mine, and then started again. Pretty sure it rained all night. I woke up around 3am to the loudest thunder I have ever heard; it shook my whole house. Quite exciting. Now that I think about it, that probably explains why I totally missed my alarm this morning and had to get dressed and out of the house within 8 minutes. Good times.

This has been a great week. On Saturday, Operation Christmas Child gifts were distributed to children in the community. BYFC was able to get the container with tax exemption quite easily, which is a miracle. I love watching the tangible work that God is doing. Imana shimwe. On Sunday, we attempted to go to church at 9. Most churches in Burundi last about 4 hours, but since this one only lasts 2 hours and we got lost until about 10, we got smoothies instead. J I had my first big market experience as well. There was a roller blading team and live music right outside, not sure what was happening but it was cool to see from afar! We have a team coming on Saturday from the UK, they will be doing medical clinics here in Buj and in Cibitoke in the community.  There are basically teams coming weekly during the summer. A lot of the time they stay in my house, so I am usually playing hostess during the week. It’s fun to get some different personalities in the mix. Today I am going to Homes of Hope Cibitoke to see my babies! I am so ready to hug their necks and hold their sweet hands. I hope to visit them at least once a month while I am here. They are my joy.

I am now Aunt Sissy to beautiful baby Gracie Bell. I miss her. She is perfection. When I see her in December, she will be 6 months old already. Still in slight disbelief. It’s been an emotional ride since my first day here. My heart longs to be here, but longs to be with Gracie and my sister. God has such great plans for that baby girl. We do not even know the extent of all He will do through her. He is so faithful. Gracie Bell is a tangible miracle, and I love her so much!

We went to an Indian food restaurant on Saturday night, ‘Taj Mahal’. I am not a big Indian food fan. I have only had it twice in the states, and it just isn’t my favorite thing. So----Step one, order a drink. Out comes this thick white yogurt drink. By far the weirdest thing my taste buds have sipped out of a straw. It tasted like sweet, salted sour cream. Sip one was weird. Sip two was good. By sip three, I was hooked. Next came the garlic naan. MMMMMM. I love naan. Next was the main course. So I ordered this Chicken Seek Something, and was quite excited to eat some chicken for the first time in a month. To my surprise, out comes this sausage-like meat product….still don’t know what it was. I had one bite. Let’s just say I am a texture person. By the grace of God, Zack was kind enough to want to trade me. The rest of my meal was a fabulous combo of chicken, rice, naan, and sour cream through a straw. Delish. There is an Italian food place around here somewhere that I want to try. Maybe this weekend. I will keep you posted J 

Oh, and it's raining again. 

Guinea Pigs

Amahoro!

I told a lot of you that I would be video blogging…well the internet situation is not quite ideal for uploading videos. So hopefully I can be almost as entertaining through a written blog. Here we go.

I am in love with Burundi. It is the 2^nd poorest country in the world, and about the size of Maryland. Quite beautiful, mountains on one side and Lake Tanganyika on the other. This month has been wonderful! I got here with the team on June 1, and was able to spend two weeks with them and with the people of Burundi. We traveled to Cibitoke and Gitega, spending much time with the kids of Homes of Hope, and also doing ministry in the community. I absolutely love these people. They are more a blessing to me than I could have known.

So far, living in Burundi has been filled with many adventures… Spiders, crocs, rats, hippos galore. And I am loving it. It is home for me. With all of the sweat, cold showers, and rice and beans. The Burundi zoo. For those with weak stomachs, or largely into animal rights, you can skip this paragraph. Here we go. When you walk in, there is a large tank filled with cute fluffy black and white guinea pigs. For 5,000 fbu ($3.50), you can buy one to feed to the animal of your choice. Gotta love the food chain. There is a choice between a crocodile, leopard, or python. I think Jeff actually got a video of the leopard crunching the skull of a guinea pig. I left at that point. As much of an adventure as that is, the crunching kinda makes me nauseas…. J We had a really good one at one point, the croc chased the guinea pig for about 10 minutes…that guinea pig was fighting for his life. I almost wanted to save it, just because he was so clever. But alas, the croc won, with a large snap, and a small squeak. Next was the chimp. Her name is Tina, and she has an attitude. JD ended up giving it his thermos full of hot tea. She opened it and drank it down, stirring it until it cooled down. Smart thing, she is. And then she threw dirt on me. I think she wanted more tea.

I started work at the office this last week, mostly dealing with communications. And really whatever they need me to do. I have so far responded to several emails from people that want to come for short and long term mission trips. A lot of them are bringing people with medical backgrounds, and they want to serve in the communities around Burundi. This is one of the most valuable ways to show the love of God to me. True servanthood. Summers are very busy around here. We have new teams or individuals coming practically weekly to serve. It has been so good to jump in with both feet. God is doing such an amazing work through the ministry of Burundi Youth for Christ. Many children that had no parents or home now have a mum, papa, brothers and sisters, and a place to call home because of this ministry. God is using this ministry to change the country, and it is amazing to watch! You may visit www.burundiyfc.org to learn more.

I am living in a house to myself for the most part. The guys- JD, Jeff, and Zachary live in the house directly behind me, I am either at their house or they are at mine the majority of the time. They are pretty much hilarious. Getting used to the not so abnormal bodily functions, terribly off key singing, and conversations that girls just don’t have. But I love it. When you are the only girl, you just kind of have to jump in there I suppose. Zach thought I REALLY jumped in there the other night, my leg made a noise against the couch and he thought I had farted….yea right.

We are collecting insects just for fun. Thus far we have a huge scorpion, 2 millipedes (in hopes that we can watch the scorpion eat them), and a very big spider, all in a pitcher with a lid. Gotta love the bugs. Hoping to find something giant soon.

Until next time.