Back in Bujumbura, Eyes Wide Open

The Family wading in the Gunpowder River near Fallston, MD.



I had said I was going to try and write this blog in flight between Baltimore and Bujumbura.  I was not sure I would actually have the discipline to do so as this can be fairly distracting with 2 small children, but everyone is asleep on this second leg of the trip and from the window of the A-330 I am flying in, I can look down on a clear sunny morning over the Swiss Alps.

It is an interesting place to begin to write this entry as travel time between the very different worlds that currently comprise my identity is an odd space, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I know as soon as I hit Burundi soil the memory of home-leave will seem to be as distant in time as it is in space.  (The converse was true when I arrived in the US).  17 hours may seem like a lot of time on planes, but it is almost too short considering the magnitude of the transition.  I often think of early missionaries (like my Grandparents) who would have taken weeks to arrive in China by steamship, and would not have returned home once in 6 to 10 years.  Now the world is much smaller and a jump between continents takes about a day.  Convenient yes, but extremely surreal, like passing through some kind of time/space worm hole. 

--Especially going back to a place like Burundi which could not be more different than the quiet, pristine Baltimore suburb where we spent much of the past 2 months.

One thing that was nice to experience about a week before we left was that subtle change of season that is so familiar to me as an East Coaster.  The movement from summer to Indian summer.  One day the air was just different and I could tell that the earth’s tilt would not sustain anymore blistering hot days.  I associate this time (from my academic life), with preparing syllabi and getting supplies to start the new school year.  It does not have the same meaning in Burundi of course as our work does not follow an academic calendar.  The change of season also happens later, in October, with the first rains heralding the end of the 3 month dry season.  (I think one becomes more sensitive to seasonal change with age, probably a valuable capacity to agrarian societies of yore who respected their elders.)

The last week in Maryland was pleasant and almost reflecting the new seasonal mildness, we found ourselves focusing more on ‘being’ in our last days rather than ‘doing’.  We squeezed in a few final visits with life-long friends who we only need to see occasionally to reaffirm relationship.  Jeff Kenney, who was best man at my wedding drove down from DC and we met him half way at a restaurant for a happy hour entente.  It was good to see him and catch up on his life.  It struck me that we managed to see most of the people in our wedding party or involved in our wedding in some important way.  (Sorry we missed you Amy, Adam, Richard, Lani, Barb and Sarah). 

We also did some outings to enjoy nature, something that is sadly most difficult to do in Burundi, without being a public spectacle.  (It is hard to find a place to be out alone in the woods there).  We went as a family to a place on the Gunpowder river where Oren very much enjoyed riding on his belly down some shallow rapids with Mom while David and I went wading.  It was one of the last things we did before our visit before our first departure to Burundi so this return to it after our ‘half-time’ break seemed appropriate.

I also enjoyed running during my time in the US.  Although I have found swimming very renewing in Burundi, I used to love running long distances through the country side of the Hudson River Valley and through parkland in Maryland.  I was able to do several runs around Loch Raven, a watershed north of Baltimore.  It is about a 13 mile loop the way I run it and I have run it often at significant times in my life.  (notably several times the week before and the day of my wedding.)  I also ran it several times during my discernment about going to Burundi.  I ran it twice in the last week before we left this time.  It was always more than exercise, and is a place I have really heard God’s voice in a very direct and prophetic way in the past. 

Another outing into nature was a final return to Charter Hall, a retreat center partially owned by Rebecca’s parents along one of the furthest estuaries from the Chesapeake Bay.  It is a lovely place that teams with waterfowl, and fauna.  We saw bald eagles, beavers, 12 inch bass jumping out of the water, and numerous ducks, geese, osprey, blue heron, kingfishers and the like. 

We enjoyed kayaking, canoeing, swimming, even some kite flying.  We were thrilled to share this final weekend with both sets of our parents as well as Rebecca’s brothers’ family (cousins too)  But also several folks from our small group in Poughkeepsie NY came down to pay us one last visit.  (Wendy Hart with her kids Justin, Alecia, and Lance, and Don and Rosaura with their kids Gabriella and Raphael).  We played games and did church together Sunday where our small group members prayed for us and vice versa.  It was great to hear updates about our church in New York where they had just finished another very fulfilling Mexico youth mission trip.  (A tradition Rebecca had started in 2004 and they have continued ever since.)  Our church youth developed a strong relationship to a church in Ensenada and have deepened ties with many of the youth there over the years.  Hearing about this was very encouraging to Rebecca and I.  (There is a passage in the Bible where Jesus says you will harvest where you have not sown and sow where you will not harvest.)  I think that is meant to be encouraging and that is how these testimonies seem to us.

We were also able to celebrate Grandma Jean’s Birthday while we were up there which brought several other family friends (Charlene, the Ballards, Stan, and others) as well who were happy to wish us well on our return.  The kids enjoyed decorating Grandma Jean’s cake for her.  It was an appropriate last hurrah for our final weekend in the US, and we got back to Baltimore late Sunday night.

Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to packing except for our ‘last supper’ on Monday in which we took our parents out for Thai food.  (The kids stayed with their cousins and ate pizza.).  We wanted to have a chance to thank them for their generosity in giving us a place to stay the past 2 and a half months rent free , and for taking our children out for enriching activities (especially the Grandmothers).  They assured us that it was their pleasure to do this but we know what a blessing it is first to even have all of our parents still living, but also to have them having the will and means to be able to host us so completely.  This is not something we take for granted as MCCers.

We left for Dulles after lunch on Tuesday, my mom and Rebecca’s parents accompanied us.  Once we crossed behind the security gates and they were out of sight we knew the shift to our other reality was now irreversible.  This was even more evident in that we knew, waiting for us at the gate were three new SALT volunteers, Janelle, Annie, and Bethany who would be accompanying us on this flight back to Bujumbura to begin their one year term with us.  They will stay at our house the first week.



Accomplishments:

I am not sure if I would measure the value of our leave time by the extent to which we succeeded in completing any stated goals we had set out for ourselves before leaving.  But then again, a lot of our job is reading reports in which just such ‘indicators’ need to be exemplified.  So here goes:

1) We did want to do a bit of continuing ed./ spiritual renewal and I feel the Psalms course at Regent Seminary and week in Vancouver fulfilled that desire.

2) We certainly did our fair share of nature walks in parks, etc, and visits to playgrounds with our children.

3) We had some specific goals for Oren, learning to read in English before starting French first grade was top on the list.  We did not succeed in this at all despite some efforts by us and his grandmothers.  BUT Oren did learn how to ride a bike really well, something he loves and is very proud of, so that was an unexpected benefit.  (Sadly not something he will be able to do in Burundi.)

4)  For David our sole goal was potty training.  This was a complete failure as he managed to allude us every time he wanted to poop and would deliberately hide in a corner and finish his business before we were ever aware no matter how vigilant we tried to be.  On the other hand, his vocabulary and language skills exploded and he speaks in clear sentences now, something he could not do before we arrived.  (He also can ride a tricycle now.)

5) Videography.  I did have a desire to archive some of my choreography on U-tube while I had high speed video.  I had some success and put up about half a dozen works in the last week we were there.  Hopefully I can add to that when I am back again next year.  If you are interested, the web address Is http://www.youtube.com/user/pamosley99.

So are we ready to go back?  It is a good question, about 2 weeks ago I had real sense of dread about leaving, then last week I felt very antsy to back to a normal routine as soon as possible  (It is hard to try to live every moment to its fullest day after day with no routine.) 

We have been in Burundi 3 years and will probably do at least 3 more to finish our assignment, so this break was the half-way point as I mentioned earlier.  Going back though, is very different than going for the first time.  There is so much spiritual momentum and energy one gets from going into a new challenge.  One does not know what to expect and is hopefully flexible and open to anything.

But we are going back with our eyes wide open.  We know what we are returning to, and have been blessed as well as bruised from the first 3 years there.  We can’t return with the naïve openness of our first arrival.  But we hope that the homeleave has revitalized us enough to remove the cynicism that can be a result of too many diminished expectations from the naïve hopes of our initial arrival.

I believe we are ready to return to a clearer, more realistic, hope for our next 3 years.  We will be overwhelmed with work the first 3 weeks or so, but hopefully will be able to come up for a breath by the middle of September.  I will do my best to post faithfully once a week again, and I hope you will continue to share this journey with us.

Postscript:  Landed in Bujumbura at 7:05 pm Aug 23rd where Felix picked us up in 2 cars and we were home by 8:30 pm to 2 very happy dogs!!

Homeleave #7: Winding up--Chautauqua, Niagara Falls, and back to Baltimore

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Classic view of Niagara Falls which I saw for the first time last week.


As we enter the 'late afternoon' of our homeleave, I am amazed, in looking back at all the traveling we have done, particularly with regard to the geography we have covered in the US (and Canada).  We have actually been to every region, (Northeast, South East, Midwest, and Northwest, even the Great Lakes) except the Southwest.  (There is no plan in the working to get down to Phoenix or San Diego anytime before we leave.)  It has been quite an adventure and we have felt very successful in visiting many, many friends and relatives in our time here in a way that has not been excessively stressful.

Last week we completed our final set of family vacations by spending a week in Chautauqua, New York with Rebecca's parents and her brother and sister-in-law with their 2 kids.  The timing in terms of travel the first day was a bit tough in that Rebecca and I returned from Vancouver/Seattle on a red-eye to Baltimore, then left the same morning for an 8 hour road trip to Chautauqua, which is in western New York, about an hour south of Buffalo.  Although we were tired, the timing was good in that we arrived on the same day as everyone else so we had the maximum amount of time together.

If you have not heard of Chautauqua and the Chautauqua Institution, it is worth a bit of explanation and description to try to get a picture of the place where Rebecca's family decided to vacation this year.  At a glance, one might describe it as a kind of close-knit gated community along the side of Lake Chautauqua, a small lake in a fairly remote part of Western New York.  Visitors can rent rooms or houses that are owned on the property, which is quite large and even includes a golf course, tennis courts, a dance studio, art studio, art gallery, several theaters including a large ampitheater that houses 3000, stores, restaurants, a large library, bookstore, a town square and much more.  I would say that it is part town, part University and actually has a faculty that is invited each year as well as a dance and opera company in residence, numerous artists, authors, and other distinguished individuals. During the summer season there is a different theme each week, that vary from the Arts, to Global Health, Economics, Innovation and Technology, and even Iran: from Silk Road to Middle East Powder Keg (which was the theme for our week).

There are also, of course numerous lake activities to choose from including swimming, boating, skiing, sailing and fishing to name just a few.  Needless to say, there was plenty to do and choose from.

The history of Chautauqua is interesting because it was founded in the 1870s as a camp to train Sunday School teachers. About 2000 teachers from different denominations were invited to participate and set up camp in the place in tents.  This eventually evolved into what is now the Chautauqua Institution.  Because of its Christian roots there is a worship service every morning that features a very well known preacher.  The week we were there, the preacher was the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, from the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, which was the home church of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was an excellent speaker and quite inspired, coping deftly with an audience that was probably 99.9% white. He joked about that and told us how to 'talk back' to the pastor:  "If you like what I say, say 'Amen'.  If you agree with what I say but it is hard to hear say, say 'Lord have mercy'.  If you disagree with what I say, say 'Help, Lord!'  He tested us out with the proclamations  God is Good--Amen!  Drinking is a sin.-- Lord have mercy!  I could go on preaching all day-- Help, Lord!


He led us each morning and the adults in our group took turns going on different mornings while others watched the kids.

Rebecca and I did get a chance to swim most mornings as there was a pool available for lap swimming as well.  By day we did various activities with the kids including miniature golf, biking, and swimming in the lake.  Oren continued to improve his biking skills along with his cousin Miriam and they preferred to bike just about everywhere on the grounds.

During the evenings there were many special programs for adults and we took the opportunity to split up childcare again so that different ones of us could go to experience some events.  Dave and Jean Sack (Rebecca's parents) went to the opera The Magic Flute on Monday, Paul and Gwndolyn (Rebecca's brother and sister-n-law) went to a lecture by author Dan Brown on Tuesday, and Rebecca and I went to a performance of the North Carolina Dance Theater on Wednesday. It was great to see a dance performance by this repertory company and I did see some works of choreographers I was familiar with (Jaqueline Buglisi, Dwight Rhoden).  It was an enjoyable evening.

When we were staying home with the kids we enjoyed playing some adult board games, particularly Ticket to Ride, a pretty cool board game where the idea is to construct rail lines between major cities in the US.

We also took turns cooking and enjoyed great food prepared by different families.  Rebecca and I prepared a very nice Indian meal on Friday evening which included Aloo Gobi vindaloo (cauliflower and potatoes), channa saag (spinach and chick-peas), raita, and chicken tikka masala.  It came out really well eventhough we improvised on many ingredients.

We did some special outings and because of that this week was quite unique.  On Thursday we left the Institution and headed north about an hour and a half to Niagara Falls, NY and Ontario.  We were not just going as tourists though--we had made a plan to meet Zachee, Bridget and Timmy!!!  Yes, they had recently arrived in Toronto from Burundi where they will be for the next several years.  Zachee's visa for Canada did not permit him entry into the US, but it was not a problem for us to cross into Canada.  Since we were close to the border in Chautauqua, we made plans to coordinate a visit to the falls with them.

Although we did a get a flat tire on the way up (something I am very used to from driving in Burundi), we did not have much trouble getting up.  When we crossed the rainbow bridge into Canada we saw Zachee and Co. as we drove down toward the visitor center parking lot.

Oren and David were ecstatic to see Timmy!  David hugged him and rubbed his head quite a bit.  They all looked great and we introduced Zachee, Bridget, and Timmy to Rebecca parents, her brother as well as the cousins Miriam and Gabriel.

The kids had a ball at the falls.  It is quite a spectacular view on the Canadian side where you can look directly into the immense Horseshoe Falls.  (It was the first time I had been there.)  We really enjoyed hearing Z and B's stories about leaving Burundi, traveling through Europe, and arriving in Canada.  We shared lunch together as a big group, then Rebecca's family went on back to Chautauqua while our family stayed and had dinner with Zachee and Bridget.  We all enjoyed sitting in the visitor center restaurant that over looked the falls as the sun was setting.  It was a fabulous day and we drove home in the evening and got back around 10pm without incident.

Bujumbura will be a bit emptier without Zachee, Bridget, and especially Oren's best friend Timmy there.

But the Burundi connections did not end on Thursday.  It happened that Jodi Mikalachki, our former service worker who taught at the Hope School, was also in Toronto.  So she took a trip down to Chautauqua on Friday and paid us a visit.  It was nice to spend the day with her there and we reminisced as well as talked about her future plans to return again to Burundi sometime in the fall.

We left Chautauqua on Saturday and headed back home to Baltimore, arriving in the late afternoon.  This was an important landmark as this ended all of our journeys prior to our return to Burundi.  We have left the last 2 weeks for time in the Baltimore area to get ready for return, in terms of packing, and preparing spiritually, emotionally, etc.

The kids are spending time with their grandparents and cousins for the most part this week.  They went to the train museum with Grandma Jean as well as the library.  Rebecca and I have begun shopping for gifts to bring back to friends and colleagues, not a small job.

Because of Oren's enthusiasm for biking, we did plan a family bike trip on Thursday.  There is an old railroad that has been converted into a bike trail along the Gunpowder river (NCR trail).  It goes about 20 miles, but we chose a short section of it, about 7.2 miles round-trip.  We felt this would be a challenge for Oren but do-able.  (remember my goal of biking across the US with the family in 2020!)  We borrowed bikes from my parents and Rebecca's brother (he had one with a baby seat for David) and we set off mid-morning.  It was a perfect day and despite some complaints about being tired, Oren did make it to the halfway point which was an old train station where we had lunch.  After lunch we rode back which was much easier as it was on a slight downhill grade that way.  I was very proud of Oren for accomplishing this goal and gives me hope for future adventures.

Friday the kids went to the train museum but in the evening we had dinner with Rebecca's parents then out to a baseball game.  We watched the Aberdeen Ironbirds, a minor league team, with some great seats right behind home plate.  Although they lost, it was a good time with Rebecca's family and the cousins.

Saturday was Miriam's (Oren's cousin) 8th Birthday and although it rained the kids had a great time together again at their house which featured great food and a piniata.  (It was funny to watch David go after the piniata with a bat--he knew exactly what to do.)

Sunday we went to my parents' church where Rebecca taught a Sunday school class and I preached.  It is the last chance we will have to visit this church (Valley Baptist) before we leave, so they did pray for and recommission us for our return to Burundi.  It is good to know how faithfully people in this congregation have been praying for us during our time there.

I shared a message based on a series they are doing on the book of Acts.  (chapter 14).  It was interesting to read and exegete this passage.  It is the first time I have gone back and done some studied reading of the book of Acts since I entered the mission field 3 years ago.  Hearing about Paul's struggles on his 2nd missionary journey through Iconium and Lystra really felt alive to me.  I was able to share from the heart the frustration of being misunderstood cross culturally, as in what happened to Paul and Barnabus at Lystra.  After performing a miraculous healing, they are immediately proclaimed to be Gods (Zeus and Hermes) and even after much debate are barely able to keep the people from sacrificing to them.

In our context we are not called Hermes and Zeus, but the name Mzungu has similar implications, and with all of our access to resources, it is easy for local Christians to confuse the messenger with the message, and look for the benefits of the Gospel in the material benefits provided by the foreign mission or Christian NGO.

Here is a quotation from the sermon on the subject:

I know it is important in terms of encouraging our partners to go out and see their work, and while people do not actually acclaim me as Zeus when I go out in the field (these are Christian partners) the treatment I receive as a donor is uncomfortably close to deification.  In fact there is a word for white foreigners, it is Mzungu.  And while we may not be seen as God’s we are just as good from the perspective of most Burundians.  We have power, we do amazing things with our medicine, and computers, and money.  So we receive ‘divine’ treatment from our local hosts and receive innumerable petitions for help in healing diseases, providing education, food, jobs, and money.  We are seen as saviors.

And I can tell you, poor rural African Christians are in awe of seeing us and other missionaries roll up in 4X4s with lots of money to spend (for good causes—provided by faithful givers in North America), driving around the country, jetting in and out of the region. And African pastors say, “Hey, I’d like a piece of that.  I’d like to drive around the country in 4X4 preaching the Gospel, I would like a big church building and a church band with electronic musical instruments and a soundsystem, and I would like a computer to write my sermons and do word searches on the internet.  And as a witness to the Gospel I need it and deserve it.

You see, our good actions, our charity, even as Christians is so easily misunderstood and can take the focus away from the gospel and bring the focus on the donor and the benefits.  Paul and Barnabus struggled to do damage control in this situation, and we see many historic mission churches having to do the same damage control around the world today.

This brings the blog up to date on this Sunday.  I intend to make one more entry, probably on the plane on the flight back to Burundi.  We have a bit less than 10 days here and I am amazed at all we have done, and everyone we have seen and yet timed in a way that has not felt overwhelming and unrestful.  Hopefully we will be able to maintain this in our final week.

Homeleave #6: O Canada

Rebecca and I on a suspension bridge that crosses over Lynn Canyon, North Vancouver, Canada.



This is another important juncture and opportunity to put down 'on paper' the happenings in our homeleave.  I am writing this for friends in Burundi who are interested in keeping up with us, as well as a way for me to reflect back on the experiences and how they have renewed and enriched us mentally, physically, and spiritually.

I had mentioned in my last entry that we were leaving the children with the Grandparents for a one week trip as a couple to Vancouver.  The plan was to audit a one week course on the Psalms at Regent College (a Christian seminary) where Rebecca received her M. Div.  We had chosen this option for several reasons not necessarily in this order of importance:

1) Spiritual renewal-- We feel we have needed this both as a result of our overseas assignment as well as parents of young children.  Both are equally trying I would say, even though we love our children and do find a great deal of satisfaction in our jobs.  MCC encourages us to do something intentionally renewing as part of our leave time and even provided a contribution to the tuition fee of the course.

2) Visiting the Pacific Northwest again-- Both of us did our graduate work in the region (me at UW) and Rebecca at Regent.  We also spent time during our courtship together in Vancouver so we did relish the idea of going back and reliving some of those memories.

I should add that our decision to take a course in Old Testament theology (the Psalms) over some of the more topical courses offered was due to the fact that Dr. Bruce Waltke was teaching (one of the foremost evangelical scholars of OT theology and Hebrew in the world, as well as one of the greatest men of sincere faith I have ever met.), and also because we really felt a need to 'get back to the basics'.  So we forewent some interesting options including "Reading C.S. Lewis",  "Writing with Scripture", "Faith in a Postmodern World", "Poverty and Transformtion in the Gospel", etc.  in favor of what could have been a very dry series of lectures on exegeting the Psalms using various critical methods.

In fact, Dr. Waltke did exegete and give us tools to exegete using various critical methods, but through it he opened my eyes and heart to receive them for the bursting garden of hidden treasures they are. He also restored my confidence that indeed those psalms attributed to King David were most likely written by him despite the doubts cast by some late 19th century Bible scholars who have claimed they date to the more recent 'second temple' period, theories that remain in vogue even today.

I cannot go into the details of everything I learned about the Psalms and that might also detract from talking about the important way that reading them daily worked on my soul.  Class was from 8-11 followed by an hour chapel service at the seminary with beautiful music and inspired speakers.  It was the perfect beginning to each day.  Rebecca and I would walk back to the sublet apartment we were staying at then have the afternoon to relax and do things in the City.

Before I go forward though into our extracurricular activities in Vancouver I should back up a bit to talk about our arrival.  We left on a Friday from Baltimore.  My Dad dropped us off at about 7 am at the airport and we headed for Seattle where we planned to connect with some old friends of ours (Matt and Jana), stay the night, then head out in a rented car the next morning.

The weather was bad in Chicago, our connecting town, and our flight left Baltimore several hours late.  We were quite sure we would miss the connection but by a miracle, our next flight was also delayed taking off so we made the connection with about 10 seconds to spare but sprinting through O'Hare Airport when we landed.

The long flight and even delays were not all bad.  Not traveling with kids meant that Rebecca and I actually had a chance to read a book or two.  I brought a book called When Charity Destroys Dignity: Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement.  It is written by Glenn Schwartz the son of the missionary martyred in the movie The End of the Spear.  It is a good book about the problem of charity and worth reading if you are in the mission field.  I got through most of it on the flight to Seattle.

The arrival in Seattle was less dramatic and Matt met us at the airport.  I could not do justice to Matt and Jana in trying to 'sum them up' in any brief way.  I have known them for many years, probably most notably during my dance mid-career.  I lived in New York at the time but did some work in St. Louis at Washington University from time to time.  Matt was a student and then later got a job at MADCo a dance company I had worked in in St. Louis.  Jana was a dancer there and I set several works on them as a guest choreographer.  When I went to grad. school in Seattle, Matt and Jana had moved there and founded their own dance company 'The Rockhoppers'. We became very close those 2 years because of our past connection.  So close that when I did get married in Baltimore to Rebecca, they came out and even performed a duet at the reception of our wedding.

They are unique in many ways I cannot even explain. I get the impression, for instance that they succeed at everything they try.  They have since left dance and have an amazing landscape architecture business that does beautiful garden work in Seattle called Terabithia.

They were very happy to welcome us to their house when we arrived and Matt smoked ribs, beginning on the morning we arrived.  We had a fantastic dinner and spent a lot of time laughing and reminiscing about the old days.  They gave us a lift to the car rental place after breakfast and also gave us some fall/winter clothes as we had no idea that while it was 105 in Baltimore it has not ever been above 80 the whole summer in Seattle and is in the 50s and 60s most of the time.  It was cold there and Rebecca and I were not at all prepared for that.

We started the 3 or so hour drive North to Vancouver but stopped for lunch to see another friend, Elizabeth, who was a housemate of Rebecca's when she was a student at Regent.  (She was also at our wedding.)  Elizabeth has since married a man named Nick and they live in Skagit Valley about an hour north of Seattle where they work in a ministry alongside migrant farm workers, ex-prisoners, former addicts, and other marginalized people.  Nick also manages a community farm project where they grow some of the most beautiful vegetables I have ever seen.  (The soil there is probably the best in the world for things like cabbages, broccoli, berries, etc.)  We had a very nice lunch with them and talked about some shared interests in ways, as Christians, to engage poverty which do not lead to dependence but rather empower those we are serving to find sustainable solutions to their problems.  The spiritual leader of their ministry is a man named Robert Ekblad who wrote the book Reading the Bible with the Damned.  I read it when I was doing prison ministry in New York and it is one of the best books I have ever read on sharing hope, through our faith, with people who are deeply marginalized and alienated from (and by) mainstream western culture.

We continued on to Vancouver after our visit with Elizabeth and Nick and arrived in the afternoon. (It was so simple to cross the border--did not even get out of the car--its lush gardens and parkland were a real contrast to the border between Rwanda and Burundi that we drive through monthly.

We found our apartment and key, dropped our stuff off and decided to take a long walk from the UBC campus along the shore toward the City.  It was cool but perfect weather to walk in.  We marveled at how clean everything was, how well-cared-for the City looked.  And of course marveled at the sublime back drop of snow-capped peaks which surround the City across the picturesque English Bay.  We also were interested to see expressions of Vancouver culture (where everyone seems super healthy.)  Here is a picture of an outdoor yoga class with about 300 people in attendance.

We made a loop back home and had some sushi and Korean soup at an Asian restaurant near the campus.  We had decided to eat very healthily and exercise daily during our time here as well.

The next day was Sunday and we were invited to preach at Peace Mennonite Church, where Rebecca had interned while she was in seminary.  We shared our video and reflections on Psalm 126 with them.  There were some MCCers there who really appreciated the presentation.  There were others who still remembered Rebecca from her seminary days including the pastor and his wife who Rebecca had actually been in Seminary with.  (Tim and Sandra)  Although Tim was not in town, Sandra invited us over to lunch afterward and we had a nice meal with her and their 3 sons.

What most impressed me that day was the story she told me about how their family had biked across Canada in 80 days two summers before.  I was amazed that they had the wherewithal to do such a thing. The youngest son was only 12 at the time.  It apparently was something they had planned to do for years.  I was so impressed I am thinking about maybe working toward doing that with our family in about a decade (maybe for my 60th Birthday).  I imagined what a lasting memory that would be to leave with one's children as well as a time to really grow together as a family.  Anyway, we will see if that ever happens.  I certainly admired their willingness to do that.  We also talked about some common interests as they had served as a family in Zimbabwe and had been back in the past year.

We left in the afternoon and had made a plan to do a hike that day.  Specifically, we had decided to hike up Grouse Mountain on a trail called the Grouse Grind.  I know every Vancouverite knows what this is but I will try my best to describe it to those who do not.  It is not a remote trail, in fact it is quite well used, probably hundreds of people a day ascend it.  If that were not the case I would call it the most grueling vertical ascent short of mountaineering.  Several thousand feet up in less than 2 kilometers.  I know that we were dying and wondering if we were near to the top after half an hour.  We were sure we must be, until we saw the one quarter sign about 300 meters above us.  We trudged on, Rebecca did her best not to look down as she is extremely acrophobic.   Meanwhile we were being passed every 2 or so minutes by individuals or groups that were virtually jogging up, trying to beat their previous time.  (Which you can get recorded on an e-card.)  The world record is about 24 minutes and Rebecca and I probably took about 1.5 hours.  To the average person this hike is a grueling struggle against nature and fear; for Vancooverites it is Nature's stairmaster, and many do it several times a week.

The top is a real tourist attraction and can be reached as well by a giant cable car (the way we came down.)  It is a real thrill ride, like a roller coaster only thousands of feet down hanging by a thread.  There is skiing at the top in winter and there was still snow on the mountain when we got up there.  (We were not cold after the climb though.)  We shopped on the way home and ate dinner around 10pm, which did not seem late as the sun just barely sets by that time.


Monday we began class and as I mentioned above, we felt very good about the course of study we had selected for the week.  It was really satisfying to be back in a class setting and listening to a lecture by an inspired teacher!

On Monday afternoon we took a brief walk on the beach but then rode the bus into the City in Vancouver to have dinner with another former classmate of Rebecca (who also came to our wedding).  Scott and his wife Patricia live in a really nice apartment in downtown Vancouver that reminds me of a highrise on the upper westside of New York City.  Very small but extremely well-appointed.  He is working for the Catholic Church running a homeless shelter and helping people with transitional housing.  They prepared an exquisite dinner for us perfectly presented including a cake that Patricia made.  She even went to the internet and found the phrase Kaze Abagenzi (welcome friends) in Kirundi and wrote it in icing on the cake.  We took our dinner to the park by the waterfront and then took a walk around the marina to the entrance to Stanley Park.  It was great to catch up with them and hear about what it is like for Scott as an American to be working now in Canada.  We ended the evening with cups of imported Colombian hot chocolate before Rebecca and I returned to our apartment.

Tuesday we went swimming in the afternoon in the UBC pool.  We chose to use the 50 meter outdoor pool even though the air was quite cool.  The water is kept at a reasonable temperature so the workout was very satisfying.  We took another long walk afterward and found a park on the waterfront where there was a 135 meter pool!  It was phenomenal and we planned to return to try it out on Thursday.

Wednesday we took a walk through Stanley Park downtown along the waterfront.  It is very scenic and includes beautiful views of mountains, water, as well as ocean liners, enormous oil freighters and cargo ships coming and going, and sea planes taking off and landing.  We also saw seals in the water as well as a family of otters.

Thursday after class we did take a trip to the gigantic pool for a swim.   It was quite an experience to swim laps that measured 135 meters.  Going across and back once was the equivalent of doing 11 laps in a 25 meter pool.  Afterward, since it was our last evening in Vancouver, we went out to eat again at a Japanese restaurant (we love sushi--something you just don't get in Burundi or much of Africa for that matter.)

After class on Friday we packed and left Vancouver and drove back to Seattle where we met Matt and Jana again after dropping off the rental car.  We arrived about 6pm and since our plane was leaving at 11:30 pm, (red eye) we had dinner with them at a Thai restaurant.  Another unforgettable meal for both the food and the conversation.  They dropped us at the airport afterward and we took the overnight back to Baltimore (with a stop in Chicago) without incident.

We were extremely grateful to our parents for watching the kids for the whole time.  We did Skype regularly and got very good reports about them.  For most of the week Oren stayed with Rebecca's folks and David stayed with mine.  Splitting them up was actually really good since sibling rivalry is one of the main programs they run when they are together.  Being apart at night made them very compatible by day and they did many things with cousins including visit the zoo, train museum, a farm, etc.  They were extremely well-behaved the whole time.

The challenge of ending this trip was the lack of transition time to the next activity.  We landed in Baltimore at 9:30 am Saturday and left 3 hours later, bleary-eyed on the next stage of our leave- a vacation with Rebecca's family at the Chautaqua Institute in upstate New York.  I will say more about that next week, but I am writing right now from New York.  The 8 hour drive up here was probably the most difficult part of the trip since Rebecca and I only had the fitful sleep one gets sitting upright in a plane the night before.  Still we are glad to be here and to see our kids again and are enjoying our time now with Rebecca's parents, her brother's family and the cousins are having a blast.

Postscript:  I want to reflect a bit on the experience of visiting Canada as an American, particularly during this week when all the news seemed to be about the impending debt crisis and the inability of Congress to reach a compromise.  I guess the tension will always exist here in our culture between the recognized need for an effective federal government and the desire to be left alone to pursue one's own destiny.  Our forefathers overthrew their own colonial overseers in order to pursue individual inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

In Canada the 3 words that probably best express the Canadian citizen's worldview is  Peace, Order, and Good Government.  That is, they do, on the whole, privilege the good of the community over the rights of the individual.  It is evident in that Canadians pay very high taxes.  But the trade-off is also evident in the well working efficient mass transit system, in low unemployment, in beautiful parks to be enjoyed by all, in free health care, and in a highly regulated banking system that did not get caught in the sub-prime lending crisis that plunged our economy into recession.  Scott, who works with the homeless also noted that in Seattle (3 hours down the road) there are 10,000 homeless people on the streets, in Vancouver there are less than 2500.  This is because all new building in Vancouver City must make provision for 20% low-income housing in the facility and homelessness is a priority for the city.  (the mayor was elected on a platform of providing more bike lanes and ending homelessness.)

I think the Tea Party in our country represents the apotheosis of the rights of the individual over the state.  Rightfully they ask why the government should force us to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves.  (I think  Tea Partyers believe that unemployment is more due to ones unwillingness to work rather than bad fortune beyond ones control and helping out just makes it worse.)  I disagree, but I really don't know who is right.   -- I will say, however, that there is a lot to be said for a nation that takes care of all its citizens and foreigners and puts the good of the community over the individual.  Whether Canadians are generally less lazy and likely to take advantage of the system than Americans, I can't say... but I doubt it.  And yet government regulation and taxes seem to succeed there in promoting the good for all better than unregulated private enterprise in our country.  Many who read this may differ with me on this analysis, but I would suggest taking a good hard look at a place like Canada before rejecting the notion completely.

Bonus Photo:  Oren at a farm in Maryland that his grandparents took him to.