Company, Dishes and Moving Away!

                  There are times that I remember to take pictures of our guests....

but these folks were here a long time ago..  

This is  Rowan  (a computer scientist in e-health) and his friend who
does public health work here and Suzanne...
who works in ICT E-health development.  

Suzanne and her husband will be moving here in Jan. 

and he will be a new prof working at CMU/Rwanda.

Since Suzanne is in the health profession we invited, Jeff and Brandy
and Garret and of course, Hedda joined in the fun since she is also a
 professor at CMU/Rwanda.  We had a fun time talking and sharing stories
and learning more and more about the health profession here in Rwanda. 
Jeff is here with the Clinton Health Initiative as a teaching nurse. 

We have a big enough house but very little work space in the kitchen.
So clean up from company is always a bit of a challenge.

Thought you'd get a kick out of seeing where all the washed
dishes get set in the process of drying. The "lid" that covers
the little stove comes down so at least that makes a little 
more surface area.

I have to tell you a story that I already told Michelle.
Just the other night i was doing dishes.. not these. but those
from a couple of nights ago and I was standing at the sink
and it just hit me or smashed into me...
"You are doing dishes in Africa!!"
  I never in my whole life ever
even thought about doing anything in Africa.. let alone doing dishes!
And at that moment everything just came flooding in... yes, I'm doing
dishes in Africa!
 After being here for 9 months already.. it was quite a strange revelation...

Not to mention that last week someone was here and mentioned a
dishwasher....  I actually stopped and thought.. right, a dishwasher--
They have those in some places in the world.  HA!
Funny how your perspective changes in another culture.

But then there was sad news!  The owner of Cynthia, Patrick and little Boy's house
told them they have to move.  He wants to build something where their houses
are.  The following pictures are Boy's moving day... with his family.

Boy's little sister----"Girl"!!! 

 Boy's big brother, Eric. He always comes to church with us, too.
I will so miss them being so close..  

a

Boy's momma, Cynthia & Serge's Mom, Collette and me

The house is empty and Boy has gone with his daddy to move in the
other place which is far from here.
Do you remember Boy??

He always sort of been my little Oscar away from home. 
Every time we leave the village he blows us big kisses.
Oh, how we will miss this sweet this one. 

This is Serge and baby Girl again!
 You can see everything has left the house except the
important stuff--  the TV and the baby bath! 

This is Matoni holding Girl.. Matoni lives in front
of Kofi's house and they don't have to move but everyone
was saying their goodbyes.

Life keeps changing.  People move. Cultures change
and life goes on for everyone but in different ways.

The other kids from the village will be in boarding school this
Jan. and then I'll only be able to see them once a month.
This too, will be hard for me.  I wonder what the Lord
has planned for 2013.

I'm sure there will be more company, more dinners, more
dishes and already we know so many who are moving.
Kigali is a transient place so I need to start getting used to that--
for while we are here, many will come and go.
Some relationships we will have forever.... others will be
temporary..  but i know i will never forget all the wonderful people
we have met and keep meeting here... Both Rwandans and Expats!

 God has blessed us with so many wonderful friends here.
We're already in the state of "how can we ever get together with all of them?".

Some things are just like home!

love you all,
margie