Pics From Here and There

Three of the staff here at Shalom Guest House: Frederick, Esperanse and Jane. Esperanse and Jane have very kindly been doing our washing since we arrived, which after asking Andrew I have learnt is not actually part of their job. So we are now employing them to do the washing and also in the afternoon for one of them to watch the kids for an hour while the other acts as our Kinyarwanda language helper. They are already teaching us outside of language helper hour! They have asked me to teach them some English as well.


Tim is very excited to have his first ever office! The bookshelves, I’m sure, will not remain bare.


The sign at the entrance of the hospital. Tim is looking towards the hospital itself, the building the to left of the sign in the blood bank. To the right is the dirt road that leads into the centre of town, where there are numerous shops and a market.


 This is the very back of the hospital. The view from here is spectacular.


And here (at the back of the hospital) begins the dirt road with houses along both sides, one of which will be ours one day! Our house is at the other end, right next door to the army barracks. Should be safe!


On seeing this puddle the day before I took the photo (when it was more wet), Will exclaimed excitedly, “Look Mum! A chocolate puddle!”.


An excited Skype video call to the children’s Oma (grandmother).

Other points of interest:

• Hannah, at 11 months, has started calling her father Tim. She is also enunciating William beautifully all of a sudden. She is still not 100% but slept last night (resettling herself a few times) and coped today without pain relief.
• William is seeming quite grown up, and has decided he's too old for The Hungry Caterpillar book (he'll listen happily while it's being read to Hannah). He's still sorting out his opposites so at the moment he says young instead of old, and long instead of short.Quite amusing at times!
• A cold front came in while I was at the market with Hannah on my back yesterday. The locals donned heavy jumpers. I was quite comfortable in a summer skirt and t-shirt whilst walking, but I must have had 100 people tell me in exuberant, highly concerned Kinyarwanda that Hannah was cold and needed her legs and arms covered. Today was quite warm and when it rained there were warm puddles outside our room. I stripped the kids off and let them play in them. They had a great time and a small crowd but again I discovered this was not warm by local standards. When I suggested it was cold in Holland today, at -4'C, I got a high five!
•  We think the Visas are nearly sorted. The trip to Kigali yesterday was fruitless but today the hospital director of administration went alone and we think (he speaks French and we have trouble communicating, particularly on the phone) that the applications were accepted today. Excellent! Thankyou for your prayers in this. Our entry visas expired yesterday.
•  Tim met our future neighbour at the hospital; a very lovely radiologist who shook Tim’s hand six times, is a grandfather and has already promised to bring his young grandchildren (8,6,4,2 y.o.) to play with our kids.
• I have become friends with a waitress at the supermarket cafe. She is a single Mum with a 3 y.o. boy. They will come to visit us on Sunday! She has been very thoughtful, including helping us to look for a house last week.