As I wake up in the morning, the sounds and smells of Africa remind me where I am. The birds chirp unusual sounds and the dogs bark as if they are right outside your window. You hear the clanging of pans and dishes as many are preparing meals. Sometimes the smell of fresh rain fills the room and other times its the mix of whatever is being cooked outside over the fire. The cars honk nonstop as each driver has his own agenda...and drives that way. There are no rules or ettiquette in Africa. You can pass in the grass and drive your bumper to someones toes. I often can't watch as it seems impossible there won't be a 10 car pileup.
There are more people walking on the streets than in New York City. Well not really, but it appears that way. As you drive along you see all the people sitting around having drinks with each other and many little ma and pa shops. Each one containing maybe a shelf or two of food and a small cooler of drinks. Each is enclosed by gates with a small window to exchange with the customer.
Bujumbura is a pretty clean city. You don't see much trash on the roads but everything is pretty much dirt. On Saturdays, nobody is allowed to drive until 10am because this is the time they clean the streets. Can you imagine that happening in the US?!!
Another interesting fact is when there is an accident, you have to leave your car and find a taxi to take you to a police officer. You then pick the officer up and bring him to the accident. Now if he was having a beer or something you have to give him money for a couple more...for his trouble. If you don't bribe him with something, he is likely to favor with the other person making the accident your fault!! Unreal.
Another unique fact is the parents get to decide the childs last name. So a family of 5 kids may all have different last names. Interesting.
The weather is beautiful here in Bujumbura. It's been in the 80's this week with a few clouds. Nights dip down into the 70's. I can't complain after hearing about the snow storm that keeps hitting Ohio :)
We had a great day today! We played with the street kids all day. We taught them musical chairs which they absolutely loved. I think we played about ten rounds before we realized we better go find them some water. Then we tried to help them build a pyramid which they just kept laughing and falling on top of each other. So we decided to have wheel barrel races which was fun. Then Kim had hopping and skipping races with them. We taught them a few songs and dances. The best was this little girl who hasn't cracked a smile since we met her. When we were doing "o lay lay tiki tonga" song/dance with them....you do really funny moves and the words are silly...and she was laughing so hard. It was great :)
I'll try and post a few pictures... and will update again soon! If anyone has any clothes that their kids have grown out of and would like to send here...these kids desperately need them!! Any sizes from about age 4 to adult. Mostly kids sizes and there are more boys than girls...but I know they are not picky as you can see from the pictures! Also any shoes because none of them have enough.
All my love <3