Long Time, No Blog........

Wow…long time, no blog post. Honestly, I didn’t see any point in posting while we were stateside. Either we were seeing you, or if we weren’t, did you REALLY care to hear what was going on in Arkansas….I mean, really???

I will say our time back was, well….JAM PACKED!!! And I’m not even kidding. I don’t think we stopped longer than two seconds, and I’m not even sure the man sleeping in my bed was Russell since I didn’t usually physically see him get in or out (minds out of the gutter people, minds out of the gutter), as we mostly went in separate directions.  It was too much, really. I don’t like it when we are THAT busy…especially separate from each other, but it seems to be the nature of the beast…..at least for us….

Of course, it didn’t take quite 24 hours to get my fill of sushi AND cheese dip (and NO, not in the same meal), and brushing my teeth in the sink WITH tap water, as well as not having to crawl out from under the mosquito net in the middle of the night and then back in, just to go tee tee, were welcomed conveniences, not to mention driving again…anywhere, anytime, but two things really struck me as differences in Rwanda and the US:

The first was clearly the food…in the US we simply eat too much, unhealthy, food….I lost 22 pounds the first three months we lived here in Rwanda….I gained 6 pounds in 6 weeks back in the US….so CLEARLY, I am no more capable of most that keeping myself from SHOVELIN it in, but it is good to be back to more normal eating habits….and already 4 of the 6 are gone.

Secondly, life here is just not as CRAZY…in the US, we go a hundred miles an hour on a hundred different things….here, its takes what seems like FOREVER to change even one thing….I’m not sure either is the way to go, but it is interesting to go back and forth between the two such wildly different worlds, and how quickly we seem to adapt to whichever world we are in!

I did see the orthopedic surgeon as soon as I got back to take a look at my ankle and after trying this, that AND the other (including two different steroid injections), it seems that surgery is going to be necessary. He said, “Boy, you really did a number on this ankle”. Hmmmm….and you went to medical school WHERE, exactly…. Doogie – cause I’m not joking when I say this guy looked 12 years old!!! I’m sure he really IS young, not that I am just getting OLD, so EVERYONE seems young.  I was insistent on coming back as scheduled, so with some coaxing (like he really had a choice), he agreed to wait until Dec. to operate. So, now I get to have ankle surgery, help plan (and attend on Dec. 18th) a small, immediate family only, wedding….yes, Brit and Kelly got engaged while we were back and we are honored to welcome him into the family, although I’m certain he has NO idea what he is getting himself into), and then Christmas….in that order….what is it I was just saying about keeping up with a crazy schedule?????

Oh, and on life here in Rwanda…..as you can see…Miss Sugar Bear herself grew like a WEED while we were gone. She has actually more than doubled her weight in 8 weeks, so she’s obviously eating well. Christine is bringing her to work with her every day, so I get to play ‘CeCe’. This ‘grandmother’ gig is pretty awesome….fun with them during the day, then off they go at night…SCORE!!!  It has been great getting back connected with all our staff….I’m not sure who missed who more. When we walked through our front door at 10 PM the night we got home, the table was set, roses from our garden on the table, and Christine had made us a pizza….it was precious!! I should have taken a picture, but at that point, I could only find my way to the bed, MY bed….and boy was it nice to get there!!!

The garden is coming along as well….we now have started “Musanze Basil”…we have a SEA of it, and they don’t even know what it is or how to cook with it….I’m like, “throw it in everything you cook, it will make it better”, but thus far, Christine isn’t convinced. We are working on that. The tomatoes just now have some fruit, as does the zucchini, and the Italian parsley is growing great guns too. We have planted sugar snap peas, green beans, celery, onions, three types of lettuce, butternut squash, cauliflower and radishes just since we have been back….and here’s the thing…I have NO idea what I am doing in a garden. Sure, I can grow basil in a pot and ONE year out of twenty got three cherry tomatoes off a plant in Wyoming, but a master gardener I am not….so the fact that we are now growing all the things listed above is a little funny to me….but, so far, so good…I think good weather and good soil help….and our sweet Beatrice (with whom I can barely communicate) to keep it all in check…we are perfecting the art of hand signals!! Next time you play charades, I’ll assure you, you want ME on your team….oh…. I got this….WAHTEVER it is!!

So…it’s good to be back to our Rwandan home, and that really is what it feels like….HOME!! As much as I miss everyone back in the states, I do love how settled we feel here now, and how I can’t wait to dig in to the plans we have for this country, but my part will have to wait a little longer since I am still in my walking cast with strict orders from Dr. Doogie to stay off my ankle as much as possible until the surgery….does this guy KNOW ME??? Actually, I am being a good girl and taking solace in the fact that I get to be with this precious baby every day….what a blessing!!!

Till next time….hugs from our little corner of the world!!

Welcome to the World Baby Girl........

Well, let me tell you….the last 24 hours have seen quite the excitement around the Rainey house.

First off, Tim Lundy arrived Tuesday night for a week (we all fly back together to the states on Tuesday), and it’s been great having him here. He is preaching this week at a crusade here hosted by Bishop John, but there has been enough down time for him so that we have enjoyed being able to visit. Tim hauled over two more trunks for us, filled mostly with tool type things, but he brought some stuff for me that turned out to be perfect timing. He brought a walking cast/boot for my ankle, and a ton of stuff for Christine’s new baby….ya know…all the Johnson & Johnson baby bath/lotion products, plus paci’s and some blankets and clothes (thanks Brit and Lori). All kinds of things!! And none too soon!!

Last night at around 10, we got THE call from Christine that she was in labor. She had apparently started having contractions at 7, and by 10 was ready to head to the hospital. Now….we don’t have a car, and getting a taxi here at 10 at night is impossible, so we called trusty Anna Reed, who ran over with her car and picked us up, then we all went over to Christine’s and got her. Her next door neighbors agreed to watch the two older kids, so off we trek to the hospital. So, I was familiar….after the man-trap/bike incident… with the hospital drill….ok…just a TITCH different in the maternity ward. And this is how it all went down…..we walk in and about 20 women gathered around point in the general direction we should go…ok…Christine and her muzungu posse….we head around the corner, where there are two chairs…we find the woman who looked to be in charge, and she just had a titch of an attitude….I’m just sayin…At this point, Russell is standing around with the 20 woman outside the little room…and we decide fairly quickly, this ain’t no place for a man…he was the only one and a muzungu at that…so he and Anna left and left Christine and I to the task at hand.

The “attitude chick”, then points us in the general direction of a room with four beds (photo included), and there is one bed not taken (also photo included). Here’s where it starts to get interesting for me….the bed has NOTHING on it…just a mattress..no sheets, no pillows, no NOTHIN…fortunately, Christine had an extra piece of material which we laid over the mattress. All the other beds were taken with three other women in various stages of labor and they all had posse’s as well…I mean…poor Christine had only me… in one of the other beds, we had a woman that looked to be 55 if she looked a day….and of course not ONE other person beside Christine and I spoke English, so I couldn’t understand all the conversations, but let’s just say some things don’t need words…this poor woman was S.U.F.F.E.R.I.N.G…..and I guess so…I kept thinking what it would be like , at my age, to be in labor again….heebie jeebie’s is what came to mind just THINKING bout THAT. The other woman sat on a stool the whole time and would stand up every time she had a contraction…she was fairly quiet compared to memaw and then the other woman was just crying, and crying and CRYING…and I was thinking….man, she must be in six kinds of pain, but then Christine told me, based on conversations in the room, that her baby had actually died and they were just waiting for her to deliver….OK…kill me NOW!! It was horrible….watching that poor woman labor, knowing the situation. …and this is where we stayed for the next 4 hours….did even ONE person check on us….that would be a NADDA!!!  And people…if you don’t bring it, you don’t have it…they give you NOTHING, but a bed in which to have the baby and a “nurse” to deliver it.

But, my job was to be there to support Christine, and she did a GREAT job…she labored HARD for four hours, and when it was time, she knew, and we walked….barely….back over to the room with “attitude chick” and they took Christine back to another room where there were about 8 beds…and they made me stay outside that room….WHHHATTT!!! Yep…it was like the old days where the family waits outside the delivery room….I was a NERVOUS WRECK!! But it didn’t take but about 2 minutes and we heard baby Elizabeth crying….I must say at this point Nurse Cratchet came out and told me it was a “female” and actually warmed up a little, and because I was the crazy Muzungu running around with my camera, they actually let me back to see Christine and the baby (not the norm from what I could gather), so I was able to get photos. You can see how beautiful she is. She was officially born at 2:43 AM and weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. We got Christine to her room (and by “room”, I mean a big room with 12 beds – similar in situation to the labor “room” – and all full) about 20 minutes after the delivery (Russell came back over when they took her back), and we came on home. I think I got into bed about 4, but didn’t get to sleep until close to 4:30…..of course, if there are no taxi’s at 10, there SURE aren’t any at 4 AM, so I had to WALK home in the walking cast – a good test run for our trips through the airports next week, but holy cow, was ankle hurting by the time I got home!! But…amazing what adrenaline does for pain…should try that more often :)

I am SOOOO very thankful that Elizabeth arrived before our departure next Tuesday. Christine’s aunt was coming today, and her husband will be here tomorrow, and her sister, Chantal on Saturday, so she is set for the next few days, although Russell popped up bright and early this morning and took her a whole smorgasbord of food and water, and Beatrice, our gardener was already there with milk for her, from her cow, so we are all trying to love on her until her “real” family gets here.  Since we are leaving next week, she will get a nice long break (VERY unusual here)…they usually go back to work within a few days because if they don’t work, they don’t get paid, but of course, she is on paid maternity leave from the Rainey household….and when she does come back to work, she will bring the baby with her every day….so, we will get to spoil that little girl silly with love!!

As we get ready to come back to the states for some time there, and I look back at my journey over the last three months here in Rwanda….how I went from despair, to resolution, to now, having family here too….to come back to, when we do…the way I see it, God has blessed me with grandbabies on this side of the big pond now…so that when OUR kids make us grandparents, I’ll never NOT have grandbabies now, whether we are here or there….God is good, and I am blessed!! Welcome to the world baby girl!!

Cast Off....Cast On....and We Ain't Talkin Bout Knitin.....

Ok…so TWO weeks from today, we leave Rwanda for our first trip back home!! SCORE!! Actually, as excited as I am to get back to see friends and family…..and let’s be real…sushi, cheese dip, WATERMELON,  Izzy’s and some good old BBQ, I really have gotten into quite a good place here. In fact, EVERYONE needs to be praying as HARD AS YOU CAN that Christine has that baby just a few days early. I honestly can’t hardly stand the thought that I won’t be with her when baby Elizabeth is born.  Because if I’m not here, she will be alone….THAT, breaks my heart!!  She and I have developed such a close, almost mother/daughter, relationship…actually, she is just a year older than Brit, so there you have it! I am going to miss her soooo much when we are gone….along with the rest of our staff, but especially her!! I am also happy to report that our night guard, Kiza, and his wife, Chantal, are expecting their second baby in January...man...babies galore :)

Now…when I had my cast put on, the doctor said to keep the cast on 2-3 weeks. Well, yesterday was two weeks exactly, so over to the hospital we haul to have this sucker cut on off. Ya know….it was feeling pretty good….and Lord knows I was ready to be done. So…they pull out the trusty cast cutteroffer  and go to it (see photo, to which I want to add a disclaimer  - REALLY dude REALLY…you have make me smile when some Rwandan dude has a saw on my leg) (Oh…and I also want you to note that my signature Strawberry Margarita nail polish is back on the toes I could get to…I’m mean really…a girl’s gotta do, what a girls gotta do). Oh, oh, but it gets better….”Rwandan dude with saw” actually got  through the fiberglass quite well, but there is this material they put under a fiberglass cast that needs to be cut through with scissors…ummmm…yeah…novel  idea…having a pair of scissors in a HOSPITAL…so, NOOOO, can't find any scissors…so he comes back with a razor blade…no joke…a razor blade and starts cutting…at which point I start TEARING at this stuff like there is no tomorrow…I think he got the point rather quickly to keep the razor blade away from MOI!! So, we get the cast off and gotta say, after two weeks, I was, frankly, expecting the swelling to be mostly gone…foot to look pretty good…not so much there either…it was still swelled pretty good and black and blue…and holy cow, did it ever hurt. At this point I also want to point out that the cutest boy in the world, having had a cast or two in his day, did try to warn me that the minute they took the thing off, I would say, “Put it back on”. Did I believe him…of course not…well, let me just say, I do now. We were also fairly strategic in that we had “Rwandan dude with saw” cut down both sides of the cast so that if my ankle wasn’t quite ready for freedom, we could simply put it back on and ace bandage it closed. I tried to gut it out a few hours, but clearly, it was a no go, cause as I type, I have that cast back on my leg…I think I’ll give it a few more days and see how we do. The nice thing about this though, is that I was able to take it off this morning to take my shower and not have to be some sort of contortionist just to get clean and keep my cast dry! So…we’ll see what the next week or so holds. After my shower I did try moving my ankle a little…cause really, the LAST thing I want is to be on crutches on the plane RIDES home!! OY VEY!!

I also posted some photos of our garden…the zucchini (the biggest), cantaloupe and watermelon are doing well, as are the tomaters and basil….my girls and I are having MORE fun with this garden. I can’t even tell you!!

We are a little worried about Pete…didn’t hear him all day today. Not that I’m complaining, but on that note, I did see the BIGGEST bird I have ever seen…like a Velociraptor….NO KIDDING…SOOO…either Pete was "what's for dinner" over there, or the biggest bird in the world got him!! I’ll keep you posted. Fifi is also still at it every single night as well, and well, we have added a new animal to our menagerie….just call us Dr. and Mrs. Doolittle….a cat, which has been hanging out and meowing ALL the time. He/She? sticks pretty close to the compost, so I have aptly named it Nom Nom….as in… this food is so good.…nomnomnomnom….we figure if it eats out of the compost…fine….even better…goes after the combo squirrel/rat (or squrats, as I like to call them) things we have here…then stay as long as you like Nom Nom!!

Lastly…please continue to keep the Wardlaw and Parkinson families in your prayers, also, for us, as we get through a BUSY next two weeks (and only three good legs between us), and try to get ready to leave.  Till next week…TTFN!!!

Wow Wow Wubbzy....

Well….I am a week past the dreaded bike wreck…and the cast on the ‘ol leg….gotta say…this is the first time I have ever had a cast – yep...first time…I’m not diggin it so much. There’s a shock!!!

The first few days, I only  had one elbow type crutch….so I did a lot of hopping around…but Russell had to go down to Kigali for a meeting, so he went over to King Faisal Hospital (the largest in Kigali) and got me a real live pair of crutches….woo hoo!! NOW….it’s still sketchy getting around…NO surface here is even, so even with crutches, venturing farther than my front porch isn’t cool….and you’re just gonna have to take my word for it…I’m stubborn…I usually find these things out the hard way…fortunately, it wasn’t too hard….and for the record, everyone here is taking really, really good care of me.

But…all and all, the ankle is coming along…I am being a super good girl so that, hopefully, next week, I can get this sucker off…it still swells when I have it down, so I keep it up as much as possible…and wow wow wubbzy , you can’t believe the other bruises that have shown up all over my body…I have one on my left leg (where the bike actually fell ON me) that is seriously the size of a softball….not to mention the plethora of smaller ones….I  (and my bike) did a number on myself…FOR SURE!!!

I would seriously like to be a fly on the wall listening to all the Rwandan kids that were witness to the “accident” and its aftermath….I mean, don’t you just KNOW they are talking about how that Muzungu lady just appeared to fall over OFF the bridge into the man-trap and proceed to cry and wail and writhe in pain….they were probably thinking…those Muzungu’s are such babies…get up…shake it off, lady…I mean really....you just FELL OVER while on that shiny new bike…you are not worthy….No really….I’m pretty sure that’s what they are saying!! I can’t wait to get this cast off and ride that road again…just to show THEM!!  Get back on the horse, as it were!!

So…leg in cast…not getting out at all….so no, out and about in Musanze stories?... ha, that’s the beauty of this place…you don’t really have to venture far to have “Life in Africa” stories….

We have decided that  there must be something wrong with Pete…I mean what rooster seriously crows ALL DAY, EVERY DAY….now I’ll grant you, I’m not a rooster expert…if any of you are…please, put in your 2 cents worth…I really do want to know if I’m just being hard on little Petey….now add to little Petey, the DOG…yes, you heard right, DOG, that has started barking, oh, bout midnight every night for hours on end. For the most part, Rwandans don’t really have dogs...you only see them in a “guard” dog situation and unless you are about to get eaten by one, you shouldn’t really hear them bark…so imagine our surprise when we started hearing a dog barking at all hours of the night…at first I thought maybe it was my pain meds…ya know…”working” …but no…the dog went on long after the pain meds quit “working”….we have yet to investigate, but no doubt, between Pete and the dog, which I have named Fifi  (I mean if you are going to ruin my sleep, you are getting a little French poodle name, big boy)…that Ambien is coming in handy….I’m just sayin….

Me and my cohorts in crime, Christine and Beatrice, did get the tomatoes (all three types) and basil (both types) in the ground this morning….actually, Beatrice did all the work, Christine, helped, and I sat, leg up in chair, directing…I’ve decided I’m a very good director. I also had to have Ronald to translate because they were giving me a list of seeds (in Kinyarwanda) I needed to bring back with me when we come back in Sept….let’s just say, it’s going to be a VERY good month for Burpee this month…but between the food and flowers…oh my…the taste and beauty that will come from our home!!!  We are still pampering the parsley and oregano in their cups, but hope those are ready to go in the ground later this week!!  What I can say, is that 99 days out of 100 here are “Cheryl Rainey days”, which is a phrase coined by my bestest friend, Kathleen, and it represents 70-75 degree days, and 50 degree nights, with NO humidity. I can’t argue with the cutest boy in the world on this point…lots of others, but not this one!!

Yesterday, being the 4th was bittersweet for us here…I think this is only the second time in my life, I have not been on US soil on the 4th of July….gotta say…it was weird…they did have a big shindig down in Kigali at the US Embassy on Saturday, but with leg, cannot travel, so we missed the festivities. We do hope though, that y'all had a safe and fun 4th with family and friends…and lots of ice cold watermelon….yummy!!

And I also want to take this opportunity to ask for a couple of prayer requests:

First, for my friend, David Wardlaw, and his family. They lost their oldest son, Win, who was 20, in an accident 10 days ago, and I can only imagine how hard a loss like that must be. They have been in our prayers every single day, and would appreciate you keeping them in yours, as they navigate to a new “normal” of life without Win.

Secondly, for Betsy Parkinson.  Her mom and dad, Bill and Ann Parkinson, are our dear friends, and Bill was one of the three greats that started Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock over 30 years ago. Betsy was in a car accident on Lookout Road in LR last week, and was quite severely injured. Bill and Ann happened to be in Mexico on vacation, so it took them a little while to get back to her. THAT, we can relate to. Betsy is doing much better, but does have a long road to recovery ahead. We know what the power of prayer can do, from our experience with Brittany and her accident, almost 4 years ago, and we are praying for the same, successful outcome for Betsy…full recovery, and strength!! So, prayers for her, and her family, would also be appreciated.

Lastly, today, being July 5th, would have been our Gauki’s 94th birthday. She was a woman of character and determination. She was so much more than an aunt…she was another mother and grandmother, too…to all four of us kids and the rest of her nieces and nephews!! She also served her country during WWII. She passed away just 4 months ago, and her loss is still hard to comprehend. Not a beautiful sight goes by that I don’t think to myself, “Gauki would LOVE this.” She would have loved the beauty of Rwanda, just as she loved Jackson Hole, the lake, the beach, my sister’s farm or simply sitting by the pool, surrounded by family, watching all us kids (and our kids) swim and have a good old time. She appreciated beauty in the simplest of things, and I hope I do the same! I have included, this week, a few pictures for Gauki… to show the beauty of Rwanda and its people.

Don’t miss the chance to tell those you love that you do…and enjoy the little things…for it is the little things that make up the big ones. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you and thank God for such!! Till next week…we love you all!!

See...Ummm...Wha Had Happened Was.....

OK….for the most part, this was a great week….my tummy has been doing  great , for going on the second week, so I’ve been able to eat and get my strength back….

I told you last week that Beatrice, Christine and I were in a planting mode…and got our herbs and tomatoes planted in cups…holes in the bottoms, sittin on plates and water in the plates…my daddy taught me well….and look at em grow….they are doing great…we all three treat them like they are our babies….you should see us out there admiring our work….then, just Thursday, we planted the watermelon, cantaloupe and zucchini straight into the ground….y.u.m.m.y….I just hope the altitude and cool nights don’t kill us there….time will tell, but the anticipation is awesome!!  We are still eating fresh beans from the garden everyday…just pick them, shell them and cook them….and the corn should be ready in the next 3-4 weeks!! I already have a list of more seeds I’m going to get when we are back home in August…food and flowers…oh, the yard and garden this Muzungu and her faithful side-kicks are going to have!!! I have included photos of our cups.....the first taken  just a couple of days after planting…the second, just yesterday….also, a picture of one of our “mounds” where we planted the other things….and looks like we are already getting watermelon sprouting….SCORE!!!

Also, this week, at the hotel…it was a fun week!! Our pastry chef quit a few weeks ago (he had to go back to Uganda to deal with Land Wranglers on his land there….it’s like the wild, wild, west, people), which left the assistant pastry chef as “the guy” in our bakery kitchen.  Xavier is his name…and one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. He has an infectious smile and an attitude like no-other. The guy is seriously HAPPY all the time!! I love that!! Anyway, as he told me, “I am a bread guy”…he loves to bake breads, make breads, come-up with new breads….now, in general….the Rwandan’s like their breads very dry…it’s why I don’t, for the most part, care for it…fresh out of the oven, it’s like it’s been sitting out for a day or two….I’m not complaining…it’s just another cultural difference. (The same is true of the meat they eat…VERY tough for the most part…and they like it that way). But, at Ishema, they have prided themselves in cakes and pastries as well, but Xavier isn’t really a “pastry guy”…..SO….I spent the better part of a couple of days with him, TRYING to help him learn the art of cake decoration….and this was a challenge on several levels. I say trying because, let’s face, it, I’m no expert myself….I can hold my own pretty well for family birthdays and such, but professional…I think not! First off…we have about three or four (there are a few more, but they are the really odd ones) cake decorating tips…and we only have the following colors of food coloring paste: Black, brown, green, blue (and just a titch of yellow). AND no bags to put the icing in…apparently they have been using rolled up paper bags….yeah…I have NO idea how to do THAT! The other thing they use here is icing sugar…talk about SWEET…holy cow…and it’s not powdered sugar…and instead of butter and milk, they use egg whites as a thinner and as their “moist” ingredient…so, let me put it this way…the consistency of their icing is SOOO not what I’m used to!! But…he seemed to have that part down, so all he really needed was help with the decoration part…I brought a few zip-lock bags that we had from when we sent stuff in our trunks, and we proceeded to try to decorate a cake….the first one was darling…(and no, no photo of it..didn’t have my camera that day), and I taught him the idea of using fresh flowers as decoration on a cake (for a woman or wedding)…WELL….he thought that was the greatest thing since sliced bread (no-pun intended)….next up…two birthday cakes for boys/men….remember our color choices….and can’t exactly use pink or yellow flowers on a cake for Innocent, the man….so we just did the best we could. I did let him do most of the work...with me just guiding him…and I tried to let him come up with the ideas of how to decorate...well….by the time we were done…he was BEAMING with pride at what he had accomplished! I did include photos of that…THAT’s the part of the job I love the most…teaching and encouraging. Am I  honest with them about ways to improve? …absolutely….but always in a positive way…I try never to be negative, as in beating them down in order to get them to do what they should be doing….that is fairly common here in Rwanda…that style of management, and not effective, in my opinion. My goal is to build them up, so they can gain the self confidence needed to become the best at what they do….It was a pleasure to spend that time in the bakery kitchen with Xavier. If nothing else, we had a ton of fun!! And this Muzungu taught Xavier the art of the“high five”.

An opportunity came up earlier in the week for Russell and I to head over to Kibuye (a town to the east of Kigali a couple of hours and right on the shores of Lake Kivu) to see the orphanage we didn’t get to visit a few weeks ago because I was so sick with my tummy, but also to meet and consult with a guy from Denver, who with some partners, are building an Eco-Lodge there as well. We were going to head down to Kigali on Saturday afternoon, over to Kibuye on Sunday, spend the night and back home by Monday evening. ….

But before we left on Saturday…it was a stunningly blue-bird weather day here…we decided to go for a little bike ride…ya know…get a little exercise and check out the area and road headed up to Volcanoes National Park. We’ve been doing that at least once a week…it’s a wonderful way to get the lay of the land. That road is also great for bike riding because there is very little motorized traffic…mostly people on foot, and from that road you can see all seven volcanoes surrounding Musanze. It is truly spectacular. Now before I go any further, I need to tell you that on most of the main roads around here, they have built into the roads (on both sides) these very deep, culvert like, concrete ditches to help with the water run-off during the rainy season. I have included a photo I took of Sabinyo  (which means jagged tooth), one of the seven volcanoes, and in that picture you can see what Russell has always referred to as the man-traps….the concrete ditches. Well…we’re riding along and I see another great photo op…an “oh, beautiful, wish you were here” picture (I included those photos as well), so I wait until I see a driveway into a not-yet- completed home…and the driveway, which is actually more like a walkway, also made of concrete, across the man-trap. So, I pull my bike in very carefully…take my pictures…and here’s when it gets interesting. Instead of pulling forward and turning around so that I could go back across the “bridge” forward, I decide to back up (hey, I’m ON the bridge, so I don’t have to back far)…and here’s where I made my mistake…I turned around to check and see if there were any cars or people coming and when I did, my back tire slipped sideways off the bridge, and the man-trap gobbled up me, and my bike on top of me. NOW, let me also say that while I, maybe, USED to be, I am no longer known for my cat-like reflexes and I can now confirm that I don’t bounce like I used to either!!  (and, YES, I was wearing a helmet) I knew instantly that I had hurt my ankle… badly…in fact, I thought it was broken…it swelled so badly, so quickly, and holy moly did it ever hurt. Russell was off his bike and helping me before I even stopped NOT bouncing, and immediately went into his EMT mode (yes, he is even an EMT, training he had to get when he was a NOLS instructor and out in the mountains for a minimum of 30 days at a time). Of course, we didn’t take my shoe off, and decided fairly quickly that getting me home and the ankle up and iced and the whole R.I.C.E. thing done was a priority…problem is…how? Well…the ride up is mostly an uphill grade, so down is, well, down…so  I coasted home…didn’t have to peddle two times the whole way…once we got my shoe off…yeah…let the major swelling begin…(and I also lost my signature, Strawberry Margarita, toe-nail polish on that foot so he could check my circulation) and after calling half the people we know here, who are in the medical profession, it was decided I would have to go to the hospital to get an x-ray… so Anna Reed came and got us with her car and took us over there, but she couldn’t stay because of a previous commitment , so I literally was wheeled into the x-ray room by Noel, the trusty x-ray tech (and he took a GREAT x-ray…it was crystal clear), and then he and Russell proceed to read the film (the dr. I need to see wasn’t there) and they decide it wasn’t broken…I’ve included photos of me with Noel (how do you like the shades) and then when I was waiting outside for Russell to pay (the x-ray costs us $14 USD),  and as you can see, I was the center of attention…everyone wanted to see the Muzungu lady with the ace bandages, and even more odd to them, ICE…and then…time to come home and no Anna Reed, so Russell wheeled me all the way home in the wheelchair…you think we get looks normally, just walking down the street, you should have seen the looks with us wheeling down the street. So yesterday, the Dr. made a house call…looked at the film and my ankle, and no it’s not broken, but the sprain is severe enough that today they put a cast on for a couple of weeks…but no fiberglass up here…only plaster, and no metal crutches, only wooden, so  the folks up at Shyira Hosptial were kind enough to send those things down to the hospital here in town,and over we traipse for such and I am now the proud owner of a black cast on right ankle…oh…the eye candy that is my leg!  I have to stay off my foot…with it propped up, for a while… and, again…with NO HGTV, (and my iPod decided to quit working yesterday), but that’s ok, too! It is what it is!!

 




 But…I brought pain meds with us from home for just these kinds of situations, and I’m doin ok…this really hasn’t freaked me out at all…ok...that may have something to do with the hydrocodone…I’m just sayin…no…really…accidents happen, although I have learned to NEVER, EVER, EVER back over a man-trap. Russell is taking good care of me, and our prayer is that once the cast comes off, I’ll be as good as new…ok…as good as old!! And hey, for what it’s worth…Noel told me I had GREAT bones “for someone my age”…THAT, people, was the silver lining of the day :) Y’all all have a great week….I think I’ll prop my foot up and stay a while!!

ME.......Speechless????

Well…what a HUGE difference a week makes. First off, let me say, I seriously didn’t mean to freak people out with the post last week, but when we started this journey, I promised I would be honest about what I was feeling…good or bad…week before last just happened to be REALLY bad!! BUT, after a “curl up in a fetal position and cry it out” day….I felt SOOO much better. The tummy continued to give me problems until a few days ago, but even that is going well now. I have been eating since Friday, albeit simple, bland foods, but so far, so good…I’m still taking it easy, but all and all, I have declared myself “well”!! And if anyone thinks I’m giving up THAT easily….you seriously don’t know ME very well!! I do though, want to thank ALL of you that emailed, facebooked or called to give me encouragement and to let me know you were praying for me….you have NO idea how much it helped….clearly, your prayers worked because I’m back people, I’m back  :)

When I look back today at what I was feeling a week ago, and why, I can now see God’s hand all over it. Do I think He intentionally made me sick….of course not, but do I think that’s what it took to get me to slow down long enough to evaluate how and what I was feeling…absolutely! And this is the thing…because I was home all day every day for almost three weeks, I have already started to develop strong relationships with Christine and Beatrice, the two women that work for us all day, every day! And while Beatrice (our gardener) doesn’t speak a lick of English…we have bonded over our shared love of planting and gardening. She, Christine and I spent a whole afternoon starting tomato (three different kinds), basil (two different kinds), oregano and Italian parsley seeds in plastic cups. Now…it wouldn’t have taken ME all afternoon, but the girls were SOOO curious about what I was doing….apparently they don’t start seeds in anything…except in the ground or they simply don’t grow it at all….and today, as we had the whole group for lunch again, we were giddy with excitement as we had our first sproutings!! SCORE!! And apparently, Beatrice, who has five children, told Christine that the reason I was so sick is because I was pregnant. Ummm…yeah…not so much!

Christine and I though, have had some deep conversations about just about everything from husbands to family to babies. She is the one that has filled me in on the reality of being an average woman in Rwanda today. That she can’t do ANYTHING without her husband’s permission. That she is not allowed to tell him NO… AT ALL! I wonder if that has anything to do why she is due to have her third baby at the end of July, when she had been told it would not be safe to have any more children (she and the baby are both great, thus far….THANK GOD). And I, in turn, have shared with her what it is like for me to be a wife to Russell., and a woman in a western country. We are building a deep friendship and it would have taken much longer for us to get there if I had not been sick and home every day! AND…she completely took me by surprise on Friday when she came to me and said, “I have something VERY important  to ask you”. Now, let me preface this by saying that naming a child is one of the most important, celebrated and honored things you can do in Rwanda. Also, the husband is the one who names the child….the wife having very little say. And after the baby is born, they have a HUGE naming ceremony and celebration. So…she says she has something VERY important to ask me and at that exact moment about 50 things go through my head…..she wants the day off tomorrow…she needs an advance on her salary…OH NO…she says to me, “I would like for YOU to name my baby.” ………………………………………………………………..that’s where I was SPEECHLESS!!! She said that the baby (it’s a girl, by the way) had to have a traditional Rwandan name, which her husband would choose, but she wanted ME to bless the baby with her second name (the one by which she will most likely be called). She also said that she had to gain the courage to TELL her husband that she would like for me to give the baby her second name, and then she says, “Praise God, he said OK”. Words really can’t even begin to describe how honored I feel  (not to mention the pressure of it all), but the name came to me almost immediately, it’s a name that goes back generations in my family and is also an important one in Russell’s as well, and it means “Oath to God”…..it is my sister’s name, our daughter’s middle name and our niece’s name…it is….ELIZABETH….when I told her today, she almost cried…she said it was PERFECT and that she knew I would honor her baby with a special name….*tears of joy flowing*  She also told me she would like for me to be in the delivery room with her (husbands don’t do THAT either, apparently). She is due on July 31, and we are due to leave on July 27th….my prayer is that a HEALTHY baby girl comes a few days early….So, I am no longer lonely….I had friendships all along…it just took me being sick to appreciate them!!

And lest we forget a Pete, the rooster, story this week….as you can see, I have included a picture of Pete, but to be fair and as to not be dishonest in any way, shape or form….when I went over to take the picture of Pete….just picture it….me traipsing around in the neighbor’s yard with  a high powered camera, on the hunt for Pete…and then I see him…but wait…then I see another, and another and another and another and….that’s right…. FIVE roosters….BUT…I knew Pete, when I saw him…I mean….look at the eyes…those are the eyes of a rooster who is bound and determined to end up on my dining room table…but as not to slight Pete’s friends, I gave them names as well….Matthew, Mark, Luke and John….I figured Pete could do with some heavenly influence…..and yes…he’s still at it ALL DAY, EVERY DAY!! I just don’t think Matthew, Mark, Luke or John would act that way…do you???

And I, of course, I couldn’t let this day pass without wishing a great big Happy Father’s Day to my husband, my dad and my father-in-law….these men have loved me and influenced my life in ways that are immeasurable. And while we weren’t able to be with them today, we hope they know how much we love and appreciate them! And while R squared wasn’t able to be with our kids today, as you can see from the pictures, he was surrounded by kids.....he was a HAPPY camper!!

Thanks again, to everyone, for all the prayers and continued support….I turned a corner this week…and I can honestly say I am “most settled”!!

Pete, the Pip....and Therapy, Too....

Well….another week down, and I have still been struggling with my tummy….finally, in the last 24 hours, I feel like I am actually turning a corner, but prior to that, I had a few crackers and two bowls of plain white rice, ALL LAST WEEK, which has left me physically and emotionally drained. Adjusting to life here is hard enough when you feel good and have good energy….when you don’t…it sure doesn’t make for an easy time.

Yesterday morning I pretty much hit a wall…I woke up crying and for the most part, cried a good chunk of the day.  I would get a grip and 10 minutes later, for no apparent reason, break into tears again. When Russell would ask me why…I had no real answer. Finally, last night, the urge to break into hysteria finally subsided. It was only then was I able to really analyze why I was feeling what I was feeling and actually verbalize it….not a simple answer, but a host of things that over the last 6 weeks had either gotten stuffed or shoved aside for all kinds of reasons. Some of them because of actual busyness, some of them from my own inability to address them for fear that I would look weak or vulnerable. I think getting sick and being physically weak helped push me over the edge, and it’s probably a good thing….being the achiever/persister I am, I would have continued to go on about it without dealing with the emotions that were clearly affecting my attitude about our life here.

 I guess the simplified answer is…I’m lonely. But it really is more than that. At home, I am an independent kinda girl…always have been…I’m the one who handles our finances (I ran Rainey Designs and run Christ in the Tetons, so it naturally spilled over to our personal finances), I’m the one who didn’t think TWICE about getting in my car and driving across county, either alone or with two small kids, if I wanted to head back to AR from WY. I’m the one that has friendships that run deep, VERY DEEP. My girlfriends and my family are a lifeline of sorts for me. Russell and I have never been the sort of married couple that had to be together all the time….we both cherish our times apart…making the times together all the better. Fast forward to here….where men definitely (although 56% of the Parliament is women) rule the roost. I am “Russell’s wife”….to try to go to the bank and get money without him, is difficult (not that I really need money, cause there’s not that much to even buy). We don’t have a car, so getting anywhere is also difficult, entailing walking or riding the bikes, or better yet, African buses. Running to the grocery store, isn’t a grocery store at all….getting some simple something from Wal-Mart…ummmm….not so much….no Wal-Mart’s or anything like it, and if there were, they wouldn’t have what I wanted or needed, and the language barrier is a constant issue. But more than all of that combined, I am without my core support system….my friends and family. Sure, we talk occasionally and Facebook each other, and instant message on Skype, but it’s surely not the same. Russell has been great, but he doesn’t, nor will he ever be able to, fill the hole in my heart that my girlfriends, my kids and my family fill. He simply can’t be my girlfriend, my daughter, my sister or my mom!

So, you ask…have you prayed about it…well, of course I have. I don’t know that, in this case, God has answered as much as He’s listened. And that’s ok. I don’t know that there was anything He could do…I think by just listening, He has allowed me to process through what has been a struggle for me most of my adult life…fear of failure. If I say outloud, “I’m  lonely”, is that failure? If I had pulled the plug on this whole thing yesterday (like I would have done had I been able to get in my car (which I don’t have) and get to an airport (except it’s 2 hours away), would that have been a failure? Two weeks ago, it would have been to me, today, I can honestly say, NO, it is not! Am I still lonely…..yes, I am…not even a good night’s sleep and settled down tummy can change that. Am I going to get on a plane today and pull the plug on this whole thing…No, I’m not. No one, especially God, promised this would be easy. I didn’t expect it to be….I didn’t expect it to be this soul searching either. I’ve said all along that being here would probably teach me a lot more than I am able to teach, and it hasn’t taken long to realize how true that statement is. I expect that as time goes on, with my new found ability to express what I am feeling without the fear that it is somehow a failure, it will enable me to build relationships here. To feel more independent, whether the men of this country like it or not….to be who I am rather that who I think the culture here thinks I should be. It’s all such a process…is it sometimes a painful one…absolutely. Will I survive it and end up stronger because of it…ABSOLUTELY!  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Phil 4:13

But as not to end this week on a completely sad sack note…didn’t know you would be part of a therapy session when you started reading today now did ya.…we have had some more “Life in Africa” moments….10 days ago, I walked into the kitchen at the hotel and was handling a crisis situation...you know, being my serious…let’s see how we can address this problem….self, and just about the time I hear the “bah, bah”…I see it as well…the goat…yes a GOAT…tied up in the kitchen. I was thinking….am I delusional…high blood pressure maybe…seeing things…NOOOO…it was a real, live goat. My first reaction…have to be honest here…was “WHAT THE H#& IS THERE A GOAT DOING TIED UP IN THIS KITCHEN”, which I said out loud, but no one understood me because no one speaks a lick of English, save one guy, who said to me in his broken English “lunch tomorrow”….now, from the quizzical look on my face, he could tell it wasn’t quite registering, so he very simply raised his hand to his throat and made the left to right motion….to which I gasp, and then the whole staff laughed at my horror of the whole thing.  I said “Get that goat out of this kitchen and I don’t want to ever, EVER see another animal tied up in here again” How many code violations do you think were violated….IF we had inspectors, I’m thinking quite a few.

And then yesterday, of all days, Pete, the rooster, became a back-up singer….or as I now call him, Pete, the PIP…as in Gladys Knight and the PIPS…minds out of the gutter people, minds out of the gutter. Although, the way the chickens are always in an uproar over there…..I’m just sayin.  So, you know, the Church (St. John the Baptist) is not 25 yards away. Well yesterday, the choir practiced ALL DAY…and when I say all day….I mean like 7 AM -5PM….and their repertoire is about 10 English, contemporary Christian songs. So they go after it, singing the same songs over and over, with the keyboard set on a beat like a rockin pop song, and after each song ended, the microphone would squeal…and every time they would hit a high note or the mic would squeal, Pete, the Pip, would crow with everything he had…as if on cue.  So, we dubbed it KSJB (as in a radio station that plays the same songs in a rotation) and live in the studio, Pete, the Pip. You’ve gotta love how much these precious people love the Lord and want to always praise Him, but I think they should carefully consider bringing Pete, the Pip, in to sing back up on a regular basis….it might just save him from my dining room table!