Holes 1/6/13

Jen and I found out we would be living in the Children's home one day before arriving.  When we arrived, we were shown to our room.  We discovered we also had roommates...each other!  We have a small room with two beds, a table, and thankfully some pegs on the wall useful for hanging stuff.  The Children's home later brought us some shelves.  Jen chose the bed next to the wall and I chose the bed next to the window.  We are working on getting everything situated. Although we had mosquito nets, there were cider block openings above our windows where mosquitoes could fly in.  We asked Reggie if there was any screen mesh to cover the openings.  There wasn't.  I was surprised he was able to take us to town, and get it taken care of.  It wasn't until later Jen and I thought we could have cut up an extra mosquito net she had and duct taped it over the openings.  I have been faithfully taking my Malaria medicine.  I haven't seen many mosquitoes in Gitega, but there were some in Bujumbura.  The medicine helps with acne, but makes me sensitive to sunlight.  I also try to eat a lot with the medicine so it doesn't upset my stomach.

Kirundi 1/6/13

Most of the people here speak a tribal language called Kirundi.  JR knows a little bit, and Jen and I learned a little in Europe.  It is a tonal language, but I'm thankful it doesn't seem nearly as hard as Thai.  They use the same English alphabet minus three letters, the vowels are similar to Spanish, and there are a couple sounds I haven't figured out yet.  School starts on Monday.  There's a meeting this evening with the kids from the Children's home, and tomorrow, kids start arriving at the school.  The oldest kid at the Children's home is in 6th grade, and will go to the secondary school next year.

ET Phone Home? 1/5/13

Town is a couple miles from the Children's home.  When we arrived in Gitega, our driver, Nicolas, headed back to Bujumbura.  (Also called Buja.)  Nicolas is the main driver for the Burundi Office.  The leader of the Children's home, Reggie, took us to town.  Caleb drove.  He is one of the two drivers for the Children's home.  We went to a Smart phone outlet store.  It had three chairs, a counter, and two people behind the counter.  One gentlemen, with an Economics degree, thankfully knew English and helped us out.  Jen and I both got SIM cards to call home.  But, her new phone's charger didn't work, and I forgot my new phone.  My old phone didn't work, which was no surprised.  It uses dual band, and I think most networks have changed to tri band networks.  When I was in Thailand, they dropped the dual band, and I had to get a new phone.  Other staff with my organization had to do the same thing.  My cousin had the same thing happen to him in Russia, so it's not surprising the phone didn't work here.  Jen and I knew we didn't have minutes for the phones, but we weren't able to explain that we needed to stop and buy a phone card to get minutes.  Back at the Children's home, I was able to get my new phone to work, but I still can't call the US, or someone locally.  So...I still can't phone home yet.  Sorry!  Thanks a lot for the new phone!

Catching Rays 1/5/13

Most of the time, there isn't power at the Children's home.  During the day, there are some solar panels that collect sunshine and store up energy.  At night, shortly after all sign of the sun has disappeared, we get about two hours of electricity, from about 6:15pm to 8:15pm. Jen and I plug in our laptops, cell phones, and whatever else we need for the next day, and make sure everything is ready to go by 8:15pm.  When the energy is used up, it's lights out for the night.
Thank you for the flashlight!

Morning Call 1/5/13

This morning, Jen and I were awaken to cawing, and the sound of large birds walking on the tin roof over our head.  I thought the robin outside my window growing up was bad!  At the children's home, there are birds that are somewhere between a raven and a magpie.  They are the size of a raven, but have a white patch on their chest like a magpie.  The ravens generally wonder around the compound looking for things to do or things to eat.  I made a mental note this morning not to let them hear my cell phone's alarm clock so they wouldn't mimic it, and I half wondered if Jen was hoping raven was on the dinner menu as she rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

Hanna 1/5/13

Jen, JR and I left Bujumbura and traveled to Gitega.  JR when home, and Jen and I were taken to the Children's home where we would be living.  When Jen and I arrived at our new home, Hanna, another teacher at the middle school, greeted us along with a couple of families from her church.  Hanna is from Idaho, and her friends were from the same church.  One couple lived in Bujumbura, and one couple lived back in Idaho and was visiting from the US with their four kids.  The youngest kid was 21 months old, and three of the four kids threw up on the planes coming to Burundi.  What a nightmare it was for their mother!  The family is hoping things will be better on the way home.  Hanna is the typing teacher, however, she will be taking a break these first few weeks of school.  Hanna got Malaria in December, thought she was doing better, but got it again severely last week or the week before.  She's doing alright, but is taking it easy so she doesn't have another episode.  Hanna wasn't sleeping under a mosquito net, wasn't on malaria medicine, and was in the same room Jen and I are now in.  She was a great help answering questions from Jen and I, and she's happy there are now other Americans with her. She gave Jen and I a book or a Word Document that will help us learn Kirundi.

Made it!

I've made it safely to Bujumbura, Burundi.  I enjoyed my first trip to Europe, and things are going well in Burundi.  I've already slept under my first mosquito net, slept through a thunderstorm, survived a cold shower, and found a large spider.  I've also had the opportunity to play Oh Hell, and I think I just had the best Mocha coffee I've ever had.  There is a lot more in Bujumbura than I thought.  I think it reminds me more of Mexico, than it does Thailand.  I had lunch today at the Burundi office, and met a lot of the staff that I've heard about and e-mailed.  Tomorrow morning, I'll be going to Gitega and seeing the school I'll be teaching at.  Traveling with the headmaster of the school and the history teacher has been a blessing.