WELL, ARSCHKARTE…

Yowsa… I just looked at the date on my last post… October 25th…WHAT…not possible, but alas it is. Sorry for that… I will do my best to recap our last month here, BLOW through our time back stateside and start to fill you in on what’s going on here now that we’re back. You might want to take a potty break, get some popcorn… a coke… put your feet up… this may take a while…

Late October saw us on yet another travel adventure when we spent a few days in Cape Town, South Africa, where RR had a speaking engagement. We went down a few days early, stayed in Stellenbosch, which is only 20 miles from Cape Town, but in the wine country of the area, and feels worlds away. AWESOME is the only way to describe it! We also drove down the coast to Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Stunningly beautiful and a place that is now ranked near the top of places we have visited…we will most definitely return and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has the chance!! RR stayed on after I returned to Rwanda for his speaking engagement at the Wild at Heart conference.

Viewing the African Penguins on a VERY windy day...

South African Wine Country....STUNNING!

Cape Point - the southernmost tip of Africa

When I did return, around midnight, due to flight delays (go figure), I was whipped… and couldn’t really figure out why… it’s wasn’t a really exhausting trip (compared to the mongo one we do going back and
forth to the states), but at 2 AM when I woke up with aches you can’t even imagine, fever and chills, I was like, hello MALARIA, I’m Cheryl, nice to meet ya! Oh, but being the obsessive/compulsive, anal/retentive person I am, I DID have the malaria meds on hand, so I took them immediately… Africans call it “Bone Break Fever” for a reason, and while the first few days were tough (danged skeeters), by the one week mark, I was 100% back to normal…

Just in time for the wolf pack to arrive (ok, minus the Woodhams) :( …the Braswells, Chapmans & Greenwoods arrived for 10 days of going, seeing, meeting and experiencing the local culture. We SO enjoyed all being together HERE. When I think about what it is I miss most about life in the US, it isn’t things, it’s people, and these are the people I miss the most (along with our families, of course). We got a lot accomplished though… strategizing on everything from housing to education. We couldn’t do what we do without their support on so many levels! It was an AWESOME time of work and fellowship!

The Wolf Pack girls (Kelli, Camille, me, Lori...minus Lea Angel)

On Nov. 21st, I flew back with the gang to the US… early so that I could get the much dreaded surgery on my ankle. But, it turns out, it WAS broken, and no surgery was necessary, but 2 more months in the
walking cast was necessary – ARRRRR!! Barely got that sucker off in time to head back here! Oh, but that was just the start of my ENDLESS trips to doctors – I’ll run through the list quickly, but know before
I start, everything is fine now, and I’m gonna agrabate (as Brit used to say for aggravate) RR for a long time to come! I had to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from my face (USE YOUR SUNSCREEN PEOPLE and NO I do not love the sun, either – never have really), and plastic surgery to repair the gaping hole in my face (a big shout out to Kris Shewmake)! And let me just say THIS out loud. I’m really happy for folks who choose to have plastic surgery for whatever reason… don’t judge, don’t care, knock yourselves out, but I have decided to embrace my wrinkles… EVERY last one of them! Cause there is NO WAY, I would choose to have any “work done” for fun! That little bit I did have done left me looking like I had been in a bar fight, not to mention the pain (ok, I’m a baby, but STILL)! Yeah… not for me! Also had my yearly mammogram, and well, wouldn’t you just know it… they found a “suspicious spot”… REALLY!?!?!?! So more tests and trips to surgeons, and well, it appears to be nothing… will have it checked again when we are back in September, but holy cow, enough already! All of that was overshadowed though by Thanksgiving & Christmas with our families, and our biggest celebration of all, Brittany and Kelly’s wedding. It was a quiet, intimate affair with immediate family and a few of their close friends, at Cedar Gove Inn in Vicksburg, MS. Russell married them, Josh gave her away, and it was a perfect day. This mama unit loves seeing her baby girl so happy!

Formal Portrait - AR State Capitol

Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Thornton

After 2 ½ months (for me – 2 for RR) back stateside, we left Little Rock to head back on Feb. 7th, but had to spend a week in Germany for RR to have some meetings and get some electrical equipment for here
since we have European plugs and power. We stayed with our friends (ok…they are really like family), the Janata’s. Rene’ is a top executive with RwandAir here in Rwanda, and Jacquie and their four
kids live in Rudesheim… about 45 minutes outside Frankfurt on the Rhine River. Well… it was an AWESOME week being honorary Janata’s… we can’t even begin to thank them for their hospitality! Since the Janata’s had to leave themselves the day before we did, we decided the stay close to the airport in Frankfurt our last night in Germany so that we could get to the airport and make it easy on ourselves the
next morning.

Rudesheim, Germany

We arrived at the airport at 5:45 for our 8:10 flight… but had to get our four trunks out of storage (it was easier to store them at the airport than drag them all over the place), which we did without a hitch… got to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes (I had already checked-in online the day before), and check the trunks. So, RR says, we are here to check our bags and get our boarding passes for our 8:10 flight – and the nice, little, German, KLM employee lady says, “we don’t have an 8:10 flight” – EXCRUSE ME?!?!?!? No, we have a 6:50 flight and a 10:50 flight. RR says the look on my face was priceless – I personally felt like I was going to pass out! Turns out, our arrival time into Amsterdam (our transfer point for getting to Rwanda) was 8:10. Now… if you know me, you know I actually pride myself in being the obsessive/compulsive, anal/retentive person I am. It serves us well… especially when traveling. We have NEVER missed a flight due to our own mistake! Cheryl Rainey DOES NOT miss airline flights! Oh, but we did this one… big as Dallas! Well, Arschkarte (a German term that means “that didn’t work out as planned”) So, $500 later, we find ourselves on the 10:50 flight to Amsterdam, but that meant we missed our flight to Rwanda, so we had to overnight there! Not all bad actually, ok… except for another extra $500 for hotels and food and subways and trains, and oh, the battery charger RR found and just had to have for the cordless tools he bought in Germany! No really… we Rainey’s do know how to take things on the fly when traveling, and RR had never been to Amsterdam, so we made a GREAT afternoon and evening out of it, and had a ton of fun! But boy oh boy, was I peeved at myself. Someone jokingly ask me if we went to a “coffee shop,” which in Amsterdam is just a legal place to sell marijuana, and I was like… ummm, that would be a big, fat, NO… CLEARLY, I do not need to lose any more brain cells than I have currently lost! I don’t know if my psyche could take missing another flight – EVER! I’ll stick with Ginkgo Biloba thank you very much!

An unexpected, fun day (and night) in Amsterdam!

So, here we are, back in our little Rwandan home, and settling back in just fine. The garden is beautiful and baby Elizabeth is now SEVEN months old and has 3 ½ teeth. She seems to still be a bit spoiled…
oops… that’s my fault, but she cracks us up daily! I had forgotten how amazing it is to watch babies grow and develop… every day, a new wonder! We are also excited to have our niece, Katie Rainey, with us
for the next few months, and have LOTS of big projects on the horizon, but I’ll save those for the next blog!

Seven Months Old and Three Teefies

A Big Smile....

Laughing at me....

Our garden

Looking good....

Thanks to Beatrice.....

 Till next time – hugs, love and God Bless!!!

Pure Joy......

So… .it’s been a few weeks since my last post… not because there is nothing to tell, but because there is SO much to tell. I’ll try not to go into every minute detail, but suffice it to say, life is full and wondrous, and I can’t remember many times in my life being this content and satisfied.

As always, my days are made most wondrous by my continual awe at God as seen through and in baby Elizabeth. I honestly can’t even describe the joy involved in helping take care of this precious little being every day. I now know what it is to be a grandmother, and it is, as described by those in the know, the best job on the planet… I would hardily concur! She is mighty fond of her CeCe, I can tell you that… I can get her to sleep in record time, and she loves laying on the couch next to me (even if I am not paying attention to her), while I work. Just to look over and see that smile, makes my heart sore. Honestly, the thought of leaving her for 6 weeks when I head back next month is almost more than I can bear, but being back home for the holidays with our friends and family is awfully important to me as well, and so, we attempt to thread the needle that is our life both here in Rwanda and back stateside.

Also in the last couple of weeks, we have rented a car for just a couple of months from friends who weren’t going to be here for several months, to number 1: see if we would use a car if we had access to one, and number 2: get me out and about with a little more success since my ankle injury. It has made getting out and about so much easier. It’s probably a good thing, with my ankle, that I can’t drive here just yet. As most of you know, Russell is a fairly conservative, take it easy, kinda driver… I AM NOT… Yes… the fact that our car is a manual transmission, therefore, I am unable to drive, because of my ankle, is probably a very, VERY good thing… I’m not sure Rwanda is ready for my driving… oh, but soon enough!

As we have ventured out and about a little more lately, we have tried to explore some of the places that have not been accessible to me via walking. The other day, we visited the local deaf school here in Musanze, and oh my goodness, what a treat is was. This school was started by a British man, who had a heart for deaf children. The school has 58 deaf boarding students, as well as 35 "Children Head of Household" day students, who for one reason or another, have found themselves, at their young ages, as heads of their households, having to provide financially (and every other way) for their younger siblings. Here in Rwanda, being deaf has traditionally been associated with being stupid and not capable of learning, much less being a contributing, communicating member of society. Oh, how wrong they have been. We happened to be there on a day that the students were preparing for final exams, so we had the pleasure of watching them go through some of what would be the language part of their testing. At first, they were simply having fun by writing our names on the blackboard. I had to reach WAY back into the very depths of my brain to bring back my very rudimentary sign language skills that I learned 30 some odd years ago in college. And I must say, I did pretty well. As you can see from the pictures, they wrote both my name and Russell’s on the board, along with their own. Next, they read, out loud, from the blackboard, so they are learning speaking skills as well as sign language. These kids are so smart, they actually learn English, French, Kinyarwanda, as well as sign language, SIMULTANEOUSLY! How many of us could do that… I certainly couldn’t… they are smart and funny and LOVE to learn! How refreshing!!

The "Children Head of Household" day students are learning a trade… everything from carpentry, to art, to basket weaving, to gardening and/or sewing skills… something that will allow them to go out, get a job and support their siblings for whom they have responsibility. Again, how many of us can imagine doing that at the age of 15, 16 or 17?

It was such a fun afternoon being with these precious kids and the teachers that are so devoted to helping them, not to be outcasts, but contributing members of society. I am in awe of the difference they are making! We should all strive to such…

All the photos this week are from our afternoon at the deaf school. Just look at the smiles on these kids faces… oh, to have such pure joy! I will say that joy has been a TITCH more difficult to come by in the last couple of days, as we woke up Saturday morning to NO WATER. It appears that one of the major water mains coming into the town broke and the whole town has been without water since. And then ON TOP of that… during an afternoon thunderstorm, lightning hit our house and completely fried our internet modem… so we are back to even slower internet than usual… BUT… since it did rain during said thunderstorm, we had every bucket we could find outside collecting water so we could flush our toilet… oh yeah… we Rainey’s are just regular MacGyver’s… I'm happy to report that by yesterday afternoon the water is back on so we are back in business, when they told us it could possible be a week without… whew!!

Next week, Russell and I will be heading to Cape Town, South Africa for a few days. He has been asked to speak at a Wild at Heart conference there, so we are going down a few days early just to check out another part of the continent. I will head back home, while he stays on to speak at the conference. Next post… I’ll let you know what adventures we find to our south… till then… my prayer is that we all find PURE JOY!!

Heytheresweetpeapumpkinsugarbear......

 

Wow….what a big weekend is was for us here in Musanze….baby Elizabeth’s official baby naming ceremony was Saturday afternoon, and boy oh boy, was it QUITE the cultural experience.

A little background on the Kwita Izina (the Rwandan name for a naming ceremony).  It is usually done when the baby is 8 days old, because it not only represents the giving of the name, but the child being allowed out of the house and into the public eye. Russell and I being gone sort of messed up that 8 day thing for Elizabeth (and her family), but they were insistent on waiting until we got back so that we would be able to be present for the ceremony. It’s also tradition for a Rwandan baby to have a first name, a middle name and a last name, just like our babies in the US, and the father is actually the one that picks the middle and last names.  AND, as you also know, I was asked, even before she was born, to pick one of her names…you all have had a huge heads-up over anyone here in Rwanda….we have been calling her ‘sweet pea” and “pumpkin” and “sugar bear” to avoid saying her name out loud….if we had waited any longer, she was going to think her name was “heytheresweetpeapumpkinsugarbear”.



SOOOO….here we go….we were told it would start at noon…only at eleven to be told…”oh, no…we not start till one, my mother is not even on the bus in Kigali yet….she too slow”. Well….at least we found out before we left home. At one, we show up to most all there….except Christine’s mom…yep…she was MIA, and I’m pretty sure starting without her was not cool. So, we (Anna Reed included, since it was she that helped so much the night Elizabeth was born by driving to get us, and then to Christine’s to get her and took us all to the hospital) sit there and make niceties with 20 people, most of whom don’t speak a LICK of English. We honed our charade playing skills, yet some more, although we were extremely fortunate to have Christine’s aunt, Anna, there, who spoke perfect English. For the baby naming part of the ceremony, she was gracious enough to translate for us.  I’m also fairly certain that the baby naming part of the ceremony is what they traditionally start with, and THEN the eating and drinking portion of the day begins, but since Mama was MIA, we ate first….and a feast it was. It really is amazing how most Rwandan families (Christine included), who have no running water, and cook over a wood fire, are able to prepare such a feast to share with friends and family. They had chairs set up all around the fairly small living room, so it was like having an indoor picnic. We know from Christine cooking for us every day, how well she can cook a traditional Rwandan meal…add her sister, aunt and other family members to help…and let me just tell you…us Southerners ain’t got nothing on the Rwandans….they can flat put on a spread!!! Mama finally made her way to the party half way through our meal, which meant that we were now good to go for the baby naming part of our day!!

Now, the baby naming ceremony is just that….a traditional ceremony in which they place the baby in the middle of the room, with the parents sitting there, and each and every person (including all children) approach the baby and says the name THEY think the child should be named. After everyone in the room has done this, the parents then go off in a room by themselves to powwow over what the baby’s name should be. They pick one of the names presented to them, and then the father will pick the middle and last names. Interesting point here….most Rwandans do not use the same last name within families. The father chooses names he thinks appropriate for the child. So, mother, father, and all children will have different last names…..for you folks who are into genealogy, go on, put a wet rag on your heads so you don’t pass out…this country would be a NIGHTMARE for you!!

Christine had already given us a heads up about the process least we not look like complete fools, so when our turn comes and we both say the name “Elizabeth”….and there were all sorts of beautiful names thrown out there….and after the last person “approached” the baby and parents…mom and dad go to the back room to decide, and after a few, back they come and announce her name is Elizabeth!! Oh…everyone claps and carries on….whew….no more “heytheresweetpeapumpkinsugarbear”!!

 Then the speeches begin, made all the more complicated by the fact that Anna, the aunt, had to translate for Russell, Anna and I after every few sentences. There were prayers and congratulations, but frankly, the most touching came as a complete surprise to Russell, Anna and I, because they were thanking US, for taking Christine and the baby in, as our own family…being there to get her to the hospital, being with her at the hospital and generally being parents and grandparents to her and her kids…this coming from the ACTUAL parents and grandparents, and other family members.  And then Christine gives a precious speech about how much she appreciates being part of our family and how much she loves us!! OK…Kleenex please!! Those of you who know Russell and I know we HATE being in the limelight…what we do, we generally do under the radar, anonymously if possible, so this type of attention was a titch uncomfortable for us, but it was SOOO coming from their hearts, we just felt honored and blessed to be a part of the day, in such a special way, and to be able to call these people family!! Christine then proceeds to give ME a gift, which you can see from the photo is some traditional Rwandan material (pink OF COURSE) so that I can have made a Rwandan dress….something Russell has been trying to get me to do since we moved here and which Christine overheard us talking about one day! Sly fox, that one!!

It was just SUCH an amazing treat to be part of such a day. In the end, Christine’s husband decided the name Elizabeth was the only name she needed other than a last name….and the last name he chose translates to “queen” in Rwandan and is Kamikazi…..yep…pronounced just like it looks and when she told me that, I seriously laughed out loud, which gave her a puzzled look until I explained what Kamikazi meant to us….fairly appropriate, I would say, to go with the name Elizabeth, which in our family is synonymous  with strong-willed and hard headed, but such loving hearts….so we are proud to formally introduce, Elizabeth Kamikazi!! When Russell heard the name, he said “That’s perfect!” with that grin  he gets when he’s imagining trouble. I wonder if I’ll be able to talk one of my kids into naming one of our granddaughters (God willing)…Kamikazi….Brit?? Josh??

In all my wildest dreams, I could have NEVER imagined, not only attending, but being such a integral part of, such a ceremony. What a joy and blessing!!

Enjoy the plethora of photos …a picture really is worth a thousand words!!

The Spread

Russell

Dad's sister

Mom's sister

Mom & her mom

Mom and Dad

Dad

Maternal Grandmother

Big Brother

Big Sister

Paternal Grandmother

Cousin

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!!