Waiting for the Rain--Again!

Yolanda showing off her new kitchen.




Constipated.  Not me, the whole country--weather-wise that is.  After a lovely beginning to rainy season 3 weeks ago marked by several days of showers, we have had not a drop for more than 3 weeks.  So we are back to living in the daily gathering dust in our homes.  But added to this is a real unpleasantness of sticky heat.  Most of the dry season Burundi is relatively cool and breezy, but during these transitional weeks if it does not rain, the air becomes still and sticky, impregnated with water but not shedding any.

There is a certain testiness associated with this inter-season as well as we swelter and wait, parched for that elusive rain shower.  (Actually I have no data, but I could swear that there has been an uptick in the number of traffic accidents and impatient drivers cruising around during this time.)

The week has not been all bad despite this seasonal perturbation.  We have had healthy children all week, which is no mean feat.  Neither of them missed any school.  It has been good to see David acclimate to the Montessori pre-school where he goes from 8 to 12 every day.  He does seem to like going now and seeing the cages of parrots, guinea pigs, rabbits, and turtles at the entrance.  He definitely prefers to get into the car with Oren and us rather than stay at home with Marcelline which he had been doing several mornings a week.

Rebecca and I sadly have been missing our morning swims which usually proceed dropping the kids off at school, because the pool has been drained for renovations.  This is actually very good news, despite the inconvenience because it has been falling apart.  The good news is we drove by yesterday and we found that they had finished and it was in the process of being refilled!  It should be done by Tuesday this week so we can swim there again soon.  It does look really nice with all the broken tiles and ladders replaced, and all the outside surfaces repainted.  (We will only be able to enjoy it for 3 or 4 days before we leave town again for 10 days as we have meetings in Burkino Faso for which we leave Saturday, but at least we will be coming back to a renovated pool later in the month.)

Monday last week, I took Yolanda, our service worker up to Gitega to get her set up in her new home.  Rebecca stayed back with the kids as they were in school.  It had the feeling to me of a momentous event as this was the official beginning of the work of her MCC term.  We had been up several times earlier last month to find a place for her and sign a contract.  This time, after dropping the kids off at school we loaded the Landcrusier, stuffed-full of furniture and other necessities including a bed on the roof and a dining room set inside as well as stove and cooking gas, and headed up the mountains.  I am happy to say that nothing fell off.

Yolanda's little house is modest, almost like the servants quarters of a larger house in the same cloture.  I was happy to see the sister who is the landlord waiting for us when we drove up, to give us a key.  Her kirundi teacher paid us a visit as well as we were unloading.  The house had received a fresh coat of paint, chartreuse on the outside and the stone work in the living room painted like a black and white holstein cow.  (not exactly to Yolanda's taste.)

We were also told the water was pretty inconsistent in Gitega and she would need to store water on the property or we might even put up a tower for her.

We spent several hours in Gitega getting various things for her, such as food and basic supplies and set up her bed and stove so she could at least sleep and eat.  She still needs furniture for the living room, but after a brief visit with our partners, I left her there in the afternoon and headed back down to Buja.  It did feel a bit like living a kid at College, but Yolanda is very independent and capable in both French and Kirundi and I do not think she will have any trouble getting around.  I will be going back up this Wednesday to bring her a refridgerator and living room furntiture.

The other news is that we have had a guest all this week.  Her name is Dina and she in a Burundian married to a Congolese man named Jimmy (nickname).   He has been living in Bukavu, but has been down in Bujumbura to work on getting a visa for South Africa.  He is, as of recently, working for MCC Southern Africa as the regional peace representative.  The problem is that he is having a very difficult time getting a visa to get down there and start his job.  They have been more or less in limbo for the month.  He did come down her to do some teaching at a peace seminar in Gitega this week and left his wife Dina with us.  He came back just today to join her and they will be here for the next week.

I don't know when their visas will come through, but hopefully soon, I know that there is some frustration for him to be stuck here waiting to begin work for this technicality.  The sad truth is, being Congolese makes it very hard to get a visa as there is generally a stigma associated with them as people wanting to escape their country to make a better life somewhere else, and not return.  One can hardly blame them considering the dangerous mess of a place Eastern Congo is these days.  Prayers or direct influence with the government of South Africa would appreciated this week.

On Tuesday I did begin teaching my ballet class at the Ecole Belge again.  It began well with about 20 5-8 year olds in the first section and dozen 9-16 year olds in the second section.  I am committed to getting some mirrors put up in the multipurpose room this year, although finding them in Burundi will be no mean feat.  I do look forward to teaching this class as a change from my normal routine and to keep us connected to activities at Oren's school as parents.

Oren continues to do better in school these days and it does seem that he is becoming more and more willing to speak french, still not to us, but to his friends and teachers as well.  He continually gets very good reports from his teacher, Mdme Crystalle who seems to like him very much.

The other highlight this week for Oren and I was my success in dowloading the movie "The Swiss Family Robinson" from Itunes.  This is a movie I loved as a kid, especially growing up in another culture.  I always fancied our family as the Robinsons shipwrecked on an island having one adventure after another.  It took 6 straight days of downloading to finally get the 1.4 gigabyte file, but it was worth it.  Oren loves it and has watched it about 4 times this past week.  It is as good as I remember it, although I am more politically sensitive to the portrayal of Asian pirates and their own mission to colonize New Guinnea, but beyond that, it would hold up to any action film made today with the latest technology.

Despite the long wait for the movie, I still appreciate a slow internet connection as it makes spending excessive amounts of time on the computer surfing the internet fairly unappealing.

The rest of the week was fairly normal.  We have felt fairly caught up with our work these days.  (That is to say, we are not behind.)  This has primarily been due to the fact that now can work together every day from 8 until noon while the kids are in school.  It has been good in that respect.

We went to a Birthday party for one of Oren's friends this week, Sebastian, whose father works for the Dutch embassy and whose mother is a Mennonite from the US and very familiar with MCC.  It was a nice party, and as they are new in town, and living at the Club du Lac Tanganyika hotel, it was nice to be able to connect our children and us together.

Saturday we had our normal morning exercise class (less Yolanda) but had several danish guests who are here doing some short term work.  In the afternoon we went to a different pool for a swim to cool off then spent the evening with our German missionary friends.

There is another new family in town with two children--Emily and Rebecca a bit younger than Oren and David.  They have been joining us at some of these social events and after church today, the wife (Kristen) and kids came over for lunch at our house.  Oren is quite a gracious host these days and seems to like to make new kids feel at home in Burundi.  The kids played on the trampoline and with his toys before they left about 2.

Actually Sunday afternoon felt like our house was Grand Central Station.  We had a number of visitors pass through who were arriving or leaving town.  There is a peace conference we are sponsoring in Gitega and several MCC peace officers are teaching there.  Today was a kind of 'changing of the guard' when Jimmy finished teaching and Gopar, an MCC peace rep. from Nigeria was arriving.  We all met at our house, today in the afternoon and shared some fantas.

By late afternoon, we felt we needed a break from all the social engagements and headed for a third time this weekend to the beach for a short time.  We met Zachee and Bridget there and had a nice visit with them while Oren played with Tim.

We are gearing up mentally for a busy week as we need to prepare to leave regional meeting in Burkina Faso on Saturday.  It is a long 2 day plane trip to get there, but it is nice to see the other reps and their families.  The next blog I write should be from there, but don't be surprised if it is delayed by several days as I hear the interenet there is sketchy at best.