A Week in Africa - Sunday

Although no two days are alike here, there are some general commonalities. In an effort to paint a better picture of what goes on in the day-to-day, I am going to document our lives through pictures and words each day this week. So let's begin!

Sunday:

The girls wake up very early and play a little - Mat and I struggle to open our eyes. Finally I shoot out of bed from the sound of Nia crying after crashing on the cement floor. A little blood on her lip but she's going to be just fine.

We have church today so our pace is a bit more focused as we get dressed and make breakfast. Did you know Guinea hen eggs taste just like chickens eggs?! The eggs are smaller, the yolks are bigger, and the shell can be near impossible to crack!

After eating, we each recite the fighter verse for this week. Romans 14:7-8 (this was a long one so we just went for 7-8 although technically verse 9 was included).

Thailie clears the table, we take vitamins, brush teeth, wash the dishes and start packing up what we need for church.

Each week we rotate where church will be held between our teams' homes, the small Busi Methodist church, and the church in Pahi that was started from the original Rangi TIMO team back in 1998. This week was at Pahi. Any time we go somewhere outside of Busi, it is best to plan we will be gone all day! So we pack diapers, blankets, the girls' quiet Busy Bible, a fresh baked loaf of bread, some peanuts and sukali guru (sugary stuff made locally that goes great with peanuts - think peanuts and candy pumpkins... Well, kinda.) and the all important roll of toilet paper!

And we're off! We take a very rocky 45 min drive to reach the church in Pahi. It is a small church on the property of the Tanner Girls school- a school started by the original TIMO team. One of our team members, Jared Hood preaches while our team leader Peter translates into Swahili. Like any Swahili service we have been to, it is at least 2.5 hours long filled with songs, greetings, prayers, preaching and a very unique dismissal; there is an ending song that everyone sings as you line up single file to exit the building. As you exit you shake the hand of each person who has gone before you and then join the end of the line to shake those hands that are still coming out. Africans are big on greeting, shaking hands and community.

Jared preaches while Peter translates

The girls making good use of their Busy Bible

At the end of the greeting line

Another thing East Africans are big on is eating together, so because we drove from Busi to be with them, we all ate together - rice, beans, goat and soda. A very standard, yet honoring meal. You serve goat and soda for special occasions.

We then headed back to Busi. Both girls fell asleep in the car. How they manage this while being held on our laps, sloshed around in the seat is a mystery to me!

We spend the rest of our Sunday mostly as a lazy day to rest and relax. The girls play, we talk to some of the neighbor boys (a few older ones know a little English so that is fun.)

Nia stacking shapes

Thailie playing babies in the pantry while I make dinner

Mat has decided that the grass in our courtyard is not sufficient to feed the three turtles we have roaming around so he decides we need to let Lucy, the biggest one, go. About a month ago someone brought us a turtle because they think white people eat turtle. We thought it would be an awesome pet to roam our courtyard so we bought it for the equivalent of less than $4. This led to multiple people bringing us turtles everyday; they find them in their gardens and then try to sell them to us! It is so crazy. No matter how many times we tell them we don't want any more and that we don't eat them, more and more turtles come.

Thai leads the way with her headlamp while Mat releases Lucy

While the turtle is being released, I find this guy in our Choo (bathroom) - it's a scorpion!

Part of getting Thailie ready for bed for almost the past month has includes cleaning and bandaging her foot. She was riding on the back of Mat's bike when her foot twisted and got caught in the spokes. It was a pretty gruesome accident but it is healing exceptionally well.

Note Thailie's concern with her clenched fists. She has been quite dramatic about the whole ordeal!