Rainy Season is Here!!

That's right, we've had a ton of rain this week!! We've had days we just walk in the rain, and one night it was pouring to walk from the supermarket home with all of our groceries! The biggest imâct the rain makes is on the dirt roads. It kind of feels like a roller coaster ride going thru them in a taxi, and you have to have a strong stomach! The roads are basically reduced to "potholes," or big puddles! Along with our driving, I realized yesterday that most of the roads have no middle yellow line! That's why we drive in the opposite lane to pass cars. When the taxis pass in the left hand lane and another car is coming, the drive becomes a little like the game of chicken, and the first one to swerve gives. It's a little nerve-wracking!

This week we've discovered that we have a ton more free time than we thought! We're really doing about 3 hours of work each day, plus driving time, then we have lots of time to just hang out! We've been reading, making bracelets, playing card games, and watching Disney movies on Sarah's laptop! (This week we've seen Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin :) Last night we even busted out the coloring books and crayons we brought for the kids and colored for 3.5 hours while we listened to country music and sang along!

We've had a couple of funny miscommunications this week that lead us to remember to be flexible... Monday morning we woke up at 7:45 to find our host Parfait already in the kitchen and 5 missed calls from him on our little cell phone we bought... oops! So Tuesday morning we got up at 7 to make sure we were ready.. And our hosts didn't arrive until 1! Oh well, we're getting used to it :)

On Tuesday we went to the market, thinking it would be a nice place to find souveniers! We were immediately ushered into a small room where Berénjé's brother has an office, and the Berénjé and Parfait went to scope out pants for the guys. After they located the "store," the guys were allowed to go out and look at the pants while Sarah and I waited. There was no souvenier buying to be done. Once business was finished, we were escorted through the mud and trash on the ground, and told to keep our belongings as close to us as possible! I walked through the rain clutching my purse to my chest thinking, "Hope our friends and families aren't disappointed if we don't have anything to bring back!!" It was just a little different than we expected :)

On Wednesday, we traveled back to the headquarters to work with children with families affected by HIV/AIDS. We weren't sure what kind of numbers to expect, but we ended up with 130 kids in a room no bigger than 15 x 30 feet! We played games for about three hours, and the children's joy, as aways, was so evident. When I heard them scream in excitement, I reminded myself that it was five or ten minutes they weren't worrying about mom or dad being sick, or how they would eat at night. On Thursday we had the opportunity to walk through the slums to a Nazarene church under construction and help them for a bit. The church used to function, but a storm took off the roof. The pastor explained his vision of a church, pastor's home, medical clinic, and nursury for the community that is so lacking these things. He said the goal of the church was to reach and save all of the children in the area! What a cool thing to be a small part of!! After we worked, they brought a mixing bowl-size dish of rice, beans, and two whole fish for about seven of us to share. We ate with our right hand, as is the custom here, and at the end, only two fish tails remained! I thought it was a neat moment of community between two cultures. We ended the day by joining hands and singing and praying together.

Thanks for your continued prayers!! We need them very much to continue dealing with team dynamics, culture adjustment, and the ever present language barrier! God is good and He is working!!