Oren's Fly Moves and Other Fun at Home

Oren, David and Timmy chillin' on the front porch.

Once again trying to get this posted before I fall asleep.  I wish I had time tomorrow morning but I will be taking Yolanda up to Gitega then so I need to do this now. (Postscript: major long power failure prevented publishing until Monday evening).

I am happy to say that this was a week to regroup and get reaquainted with the family.  After being out of town most of last week, it was very good to have a week at home with Rebecca and the kids.  Last week I had been in Rwanda where I had left our area director at the DRC border in Goma.  

The plan for him was to visit some projects with the MCC Congo Rep then cross back into Rwanda at Bukavu on Thursday and head back to Bujumubura where he would make his connection back to Nigeria. The fact that Mark would pass one more night in Bujumbura before he left gave us the perfect opportunity to have a farewell ceremony for Zachee as he had officially retired from MCC and we have hired his replacement.  

We had the gathering at our house on Thursday evening.  Jodi, Yolanda, Rebecca and I, as well as Bridget and Zachee, Mark Sprunger and Felix were there.  Among the things we gave him were a scrap book of emails and photos that we had collected.  We had asked people who knew him from the past to send a note to him recounting a memory.  

Those of us who were there in person also told a small story about a special memory about him.  Jodi even read a small speech she prepared for him in kirundi.  Bridget was particularly inspiring because besides being his wife, she was also the original country representative for MCC when Zachee was hired 10 years before.  It was touching to hear about the time he was originally hired and the committment he had to MCC over the years.

We ended the evening with a big dinner together prepared by Marcelline and our cook trainer Enoch which featured filet mignon and beautifully presented salads.

We had a full house Thursday night as Mark, Yolanda, and Jodi all stayed the night.  Friday at noon I took Mark back to the airport.  He told me he was very encouraged by the visit and felt that our program here seemed to be running well.  He particularly mentioned our project with Batwa as one of the highlights.  He went back to Nigeria, but we will be seeing him again in Burkina Faso in about 3 weeks for our annual regional meetings there in mid-October.

Among the other highlights of the week was a rite of passage for Rebecca.  On Tuesday one of us had to make a trip upcountry to Gitega to sign a contract on Yolanda's house.  I had just come back from the long week of travel and wanted to have some time with the kids so Rebecca volunteered to make the drive up the mountains this time.  She has never been the driver for this trip although we have made it together frequently.  She and Yolanda left together in the morning and were back by late afternoon.  I was glad she was able to do this as it is something that might be necessary from time to time.  It is a bit scary more because of reckless drivers barreling down and passing trucks on blind curves then because of the condition of the road.  Skill and experience and a wary eye are all necessary on what I would consider a fairly routine trip for us.

I should also mention that the kids were actually well all week and did not miss a day of school!  This felt like a real victory and answer to prayer for us as they were sick almost all of the week before.  David seems to be adjusting well to school and did not even whimper when I dropped him off Thursday and Friday.  The good health of the kids was evident in the time I spent with them out of school as well.  It was so good to just play with them this week.  Probably the best time was Friday evening when I put on some music they like and Oren insisted that mommy and daddy sit down and watch them do a dance performance.  They entertained us in the living room dancing on the coffee table for nearly an hour straight.  It was actually hilarious to see Oren bustin' some moves.   He is very inventive and reminds me of some post modern choreographers (Merce Cunningham or maybe Trish Brown) that I admired in my dance career days.  

It was good to have a week at home after the long week of driving the week before.  Getting Yolanda installed in Gitega will probably take several trips in the next two weeks but probably only day trips.

The weekend was a chance to relax with exercise on Saturday mornin and a trip to the beach in the afternoon where Oren is really starting to show some virtuosity riding the waves. It was a great time to be there, since we got to see a lot of friends playing in the kid pool along with us. We had dinner at Ubuntu in the evening with Jodi and Yolanda and our friends Jean Claude and Francine.

Sunday was pretty normal with church in the morning. As a new change, we did invite some friends over to try to once again to start a small prayer and share group.   We will see how this goes this time.  We have had difficulty in the past because of the short duration of time people spend here and the general unavailability of our missionary friends, but we will see how this goes.  Prayer for a group of friends that could make this committment would be appreciated.

I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of swimming every morning this week.  I missed it the week I was in Rwanda, but also this past week because when Rebecca and I went Monday morning, we found it was being drained for repairs.  This was kind of a good news/bad news discovery.  On the one hand we were disappointed to miss swimming, on the other hand, the pool was desperately in need of some repairs.  I do not think it has been repaired since it was built by Belgian colonialists in the late 50s or 60s.  It is a nice pool but I was afraid it was going to deteriorate to uselessness in the next several years.  The manager said they should have it refilled this week, so we can always hope it will be done soon.

Bonus photo: (Grandparents, don't look!) Oren doing a dive to the couch for his big finale.