Week 3 in Burundi

I made a mistake about Lake Tanganyika it is supposed to be the second deepest lake not the second biggest. Sometimes things get lost in translationJ. We went back to Lake Tanganyika on Saturday with one of the board members and their family. We went a beautiful spot and had this spot been in Canada, it would be overrun with people, but here there were very few.  We ate lunch by the lake and then the kids had a great time splashing in the lake. Ariel took us to another spot just down from us that they call Bora Bora. It was pretty posh and had many Muzungos (white people). On the way there we saw a bike towing a motor cycle. Greg and I smiled at the irony but it was Ariel who said “only in Africa”.

Greg and the kids went with our friend Moses to see his African drumming band. Moses called some of his friends together to put on a show for the kids. They even go into their traditional dress. They carry these 50 lb drums on their heads. Moses’s drumming band is the second best in Bujumbura and he travels around Africa with them.  They even let the kids have a try. People here are so generous with their time.

On Sunday Greg and I went to the English mass at the Catholic Church with one of the board members. This was the first time Greg and I went downtown without a Burundian friend. We were able to communicate with the cab driver and made it there and back with no troubles. The Catholic Church was very packed.  They did have fans running to keep it somewhat cool but the power went off several times during the service and it was very hot. The one plus for me when the power went off was the electric piano didn’t work, so you could really hear the harmony in the singing and it was amazing. The priest gave a nice sermon on compassion and it really hit a cord because sometimes I find my attitude isn’t where it should be.

We have really started to hit the grammar hard in class and I have to say I find it incredibly dry and I think the kids do too. Poor Greg has had to venture into past perfect tenses.  We hate to make them suffer, so we also play games and they love them. Their faces light up whenever we mention the word game. We like to play hangman, bingo, 20 questions and even go fish. The twins love to join in on the games. Greg takes his class to a nearby field and they play football (soccer).

Our kids get picked by and dropped off at the school and Greg and I walk. It is about a 20 minute walk, so it is not so bad in the morning but rather hot in the afternoon. We often stop at a little store and get a treat for lunch, like a cold drink. We do not have a fridge or stove at our house. We have a wonderful cook who uses coal to heat things at the back of our house. We have had fish, french fries, coleslaw, and a lot of avocados. Hanna is in heaven. Speaking of Hanna, I was worried that she would not know what to do with her fingers since she cannot text here in Africa. But not to worry, she has found a new use for her fingers and that is knitting. She is actually quite good. Perhaps she will start a new trend with teens back in Canada.

Since we do not have all the conveniences of home, we have gotten reacquainted with each other. We have been having some great family times, laughing, playing games, and talking about our experiences in Burundi so far. The twins have fun using their imagination and can entertain themselves quite well most times.  On Sunday we sat out on our veranda and we listened the sound track of the Lion King. How cool is that, listening to the Lion King in Africa!!

We were invited to a prayer meeting at the Prime Ministers house last night by one of the teachers. The Prime Minister in Burundi meets with the people every Monday night to worship and pray with the people. He never misses a Monday unless he is out of town. They asked Greg to address the crowd and introduce us. They gave us a very warm welcome. There was quite a lengthy sermon in Kirundi but a fellow next to Hanna and I translated it into English for us and gave us an English Bible.

We were able to meet up with our friend Charles’s Cousin, Martin today. Charles is a friend from Edmonton who grew up on the Congo/ Burundi border and he is the one who told us about Burundi. We had a nice visit with Martin and he will take us to an English Church on Sunday. He lives close to us but the trouble here is that there are not addresses really so you have to use landmarks to tell people where you live. Luckily we are close to a popular restaurant that most people know about.

We are now having coffee with our friends Kenny and David. They have been great about showing us around and taking care of us.