So glad I went!!

Well, I've tried to post this for over a week now but have not been successful. So, forgive me, but this is over a week old now.

We found out on Friday one of the villages that has been adopted by a partnering church, was going to be throwing a BIG welcoming celebration/dance for the team when they arrived to the village on Sunday. I started catching a cold Saturday and when Sunday rolled around I felt yucky. I took a nap and when I woke up I had to decide if I felt like going to the village to see the celebration or not. Well, Arnett and I talked about it, he felt I needed to stay home and rest but I really, really wanted to go. I decided to take my chances and went out to the village with the rest of our team and boy am I glad I did!!!

We got there and there was a huge crowd waiting on us. As soon as we rolled into the village, we stopped to do some informal greetings and we were about to pull away and go to the camp, when we heard BANG! BANG! BANG! There were 3 or 4 villagers behind our trucks shooting guns welcoming us into the village. Once we arrived at the camp, they started setting everything up. People were bringing in chairs, benches, stools, drums of different sizes. Then they started dancing!!! It was so incredible!!! I was able to capture some pictures and some video of the event.

Here the ladies are dancing in a circle around the drummers. Notice how they carry their babies on their backs!! It amazed me during the dancing they kept the babies on their backs!! The women would be jumping around and the babies would be sound asleep!!

The first of the costumes that came out. We found out later that these two guys on stilts were actually battling between each other. Not sure about the guy with white powder all over him.

 

 

 

 

 

The next act that came out was a lion costume. The man in the picture is the lion tamer. The little kids were really afraid of the lion.

 

This guy was the next act after the lion. We're not real sure what he was...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, it was the ladies turn to dance. Of course, I was not excluded from this. Here I am trying to figure out what in the world I'm doing!!

 

About half way through, this guy comes up to me and puts this belt on my waist!! It's got bottle caps tied to strings, so it makes noise. The more you shake "it" the more noise it makes!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of our week was okay. I ended up having to go to the doctor because my cold turned into the flu. Praise the Lord, I am all better now and back into the swing of things. Arnett went out to the bush for 2 nights last week and had a good trip. That was about it for last week. Until next time...

I'm not a terrorist, a great find, and mystery meat...

Well, we've had another great week. Our language lessons still continue to go well. We thank you for praying about our language.

Monday night we decided to try a new restaurant in town, "The Steak House". Me, Arnett, and Sara all went. Well, none of us speak French and all three of us know very little Bambara. Luckily for us, the owner, spoke English!! We got to chatting with him and he told us, "I'm from Lebanon, but I'm not a terrorist!" Well, we just thought that was the funniest thing ever and all three cracked up laughing!! The food was great and we had a good time!

The rest of our week was spent in language class and studying for the most part. Friday night, we were able to go and have a "movie night" with some of the others from our team.

 

Just had to share a couple photos of Butterbean and how big we've gotten!!

 

 

 

 

Yep!! That's our baby!!

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning, there were some people who worked for the American Embassy and some other organizations who were having a yard sale. We figured we might find some good stuff, so LaVerne, Sara, Arnett, and I all went. The first find of the day was a Fisher Price farm house set in great condition!! Then we found "THE ITEM!!" a glider, rocker in GREAT condition, and for a good price!! I sat in and was sold!! Praise the Lord that He allowed us to find a much wanted item!! We then purchased a Tonka dump truck for Butterbean and a Christmas Tree with lights!! We were both super stoked about all we found!!

 

 

 

 

Arnett loving our new glider rocker!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the yard sale, Sara, Arnett, and I decided to go eat at the steak house again. We got there and to our dismay, the owner was no where in sight! So, we got our menus and started looking. Sara and I wanted pizza, so we decided on that! Arnett wanted a steak sandwich but couldn't tell if they had them or not. Under the hamburger section, there was something beouf, which we knew was the French word for beef. Sara, told Arnett, "Oh, just order it, be adventurous!!" Well, he did. The meal arrived and Arnett's looked like round pieces of beef. He tried it and said "It's really salty". Then he had Sara try a piece (he knew I would not try it). Once Sara was about half way through eating it, he proceeds to tell her "Yeah, that's the most disgusting thing ever!!" Then our team mate LaVerne shows up and Arnett tells her to try a piece and she does. Well, after the nasty look on LaVerne's face she asks the waiter what it is(she speaks French!). He tells her it's COW TONGUE!!! We all cracked up laughing!! No wonder when we asked him what it was, he said beef and pointed to his tongue. We thought he was telling us you eat it!! We learned a valuable lesson, sometimes it's just better to stick with what you know!!

 

The mystery meat!! You can't see it here but the edges looked like they had taste buds on them!!

 

 

 

Praises this week:

1. We are learning more and more language everyday.
2. For finding the gliding rocking chair.
3. For laughter, which is good medicine for the soul!

Prayer Requests:

1. Language Learning.
2. We will build good relationships with those that we meet, despite the language barrier.

Once again, we thank you for your prayers!! Until next time...

An taara sugu la ntene...

Which means, we went to the market, Monday in Bambara!!

After language Arnett and I decided to venture out to the market for two reasons 1. To practice the little language we do know and 2. to buy some lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots.

Before we left I made sure I was properly dressed in one of my new African outfits and Praise the Lord I did!! In America we tend to dress for ourselves, "I'm wearing this because I like it and don't care what you think!" But here they dress for each other!! I was stopped at least a half dozen times by women who were complimenting me on my outfit!! Which lead way to conversations, which allowed me to build relationships, and practice more and more! It was a great trip and we were able to successfully buy all the veggies we needed. We Praise God for allowing us to have this awesome experience!!

Until next time...

 

 

 

One of my new African outfits!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closer look. I'm in love with all the different fabric they have here!! Every time we go to the market I want to buy more!! Arnett has had to put the brakes on me for now!! :)

 

 

 

 

 

The clothes here are very roomy. This is great thing because it gives Butterbean room to grow!!

Grocery stores, first doctor's appointment, and a trip to the bush...

Well, we've had another GREAT week!!! Once again, we were busy with language classes, which are going well. We learn a little bit more each day!

One of the things we are quickly learning is that just living here takes time. To do any simple routine task (by U.S. standards) takes  a lot of time here! For example, on Wednesday we went out with one of our team mates and went grocery shopping. No big deal back home, you get in the car, go to Wal-Mart, get what you need and are home in less than an hour, right? Well, not here! We left our house at 2:30 and headed to grocery store#1. We got the items on our list that were available. Then we were off to grocery store #2. Same thing, got the available items and then, off to grocery store #3. So, I'm sure your thinking after 3 stores we should have gotten everything on our list, not so!! We then headed to grocery store #4! Finally, after 4 grocery stores we were able to get all that we needed! Praise the Lord! We finally arrived home at 6:30.

 

The view of our street, when you turn right out of our drive way.

 

 

 

 

 

The sheep walking down our street.

 

 

 

 

 

The cows walking down our street. Our house is just up on the left from this angle.

 

 

On Thursday, we had our first African prenatal visit. The appointment went GREAT!! We even got to do an ultrasound and see our little Butterbean! The tech said everything looked GREAT! Praise the Lord!! Butterbean is growing and doing well. They estimated his/her weight to be a little over a pound. We lift up praises to our Father for a continued GREAT pregnancy and the health care that is available here!! God is so good!!

 

 

 

A typical site around Bamako...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even in Africa...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another typical site - firewood stacked in the back of a small truck. Don't know how they drive these things!!

 

 

 

 

On Friday, we went out to the bush for our very first spend the night trip!! We got there Friday afternoon late and it just happened to be market day in the village. In the smaller villages they only have market day once or maybe twice a week. Unlike here in town where we have market day everyday! Sara (one of our team mates) and I walked around the market. When we were done, we went back to the "camp" and sat around talking with everyone. We then ate dinner, which was an "American" meal since we were out with a volunteer team. After dinner, I took my first "bucket bath" which wasn't bad at all, especially considering it was dark and when I looked up I could see millions of stars!! After all this it was time to start the nights storying sessions. We sang praise and worship songs and then broke into small groups and told Bible stories. It was a great time. Afterwards, we set up our mosquito net tents and went to bed. It was an amazing night and through the mosquito net tent you could see those millions of stars. I even saw a couple of shooting ones!! God is so AWESOME!! We got up Saturday, ate breakfast, and headed to a nearby village to tell some Bible stories. Once we got there and told the stories we were then served an "African" lunch. The men ate out of one bowl and the women ate out of another bowl. All with our hands. We were served "tow". Definitely not one of my favorites!! The taste wasn't that bad but the texture was like sandy, gritty playdough. Thankfully, God allowed me to get it down and keep it down!! We then headed back into town.

 

 

The village we stayed at. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first "tow"

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see we've had another busy week.

We Praise God for:

1. Allowing us to be adjusting well to living here
2. For a good report on Butterbean
3. Good health care is available here
4. A great trip to the bush

Prayer Requests:

1. Language Learning
2. We will make some friends who will help us practice the little bit of Bambara we do know
3. For boldness and courage to get out there and practice language with anyone and everyone we meet.

We thank you again for your prayers!! Until next time...