An update and some messy spelling and grammar......

((Attention: I apologize ahead of time for messy grammar, spelling and anything else that may be out of place. This update was quickly typed so that I could update you all as soon as I got WiFi. Therefore it was written late at night. Please excuse my mess ups, I promise to be better next time! Thanks!)) Amahoro from Burundi! I've finally made it to my destination! It was a long plane ride, but everyone still arrived in Bujumbura in good spirits! After staying the night there, my first experience with a musquito net, we got up bright and early and packed up for the long car ride ahead. Then we all parted ways, I headed out with the guys and kids (minus the Willis family.) We made our way up the twisty mountains to Kibuye. The ride was long but very enjoyable! The views were beautiful, the people were intriguing, and many smiles were shared between us through the windows. After arriving in Kibuye we were all shown to our rooms and unpacked some things, a little while after the moms and the Willis family joined us. We all hung out together and were introduced to everyone here! You can definintely feel the spirit of God working in this place and I'm so blessed to have this experience and be a part of it. I've learned a lot of things already form this trip and can't wait for more of Gods wonderful teachings! Listed below are somethings I've learned. Before I close with these things I would like to let you all know that my updates will be very brief, and not every day, we lose power here almost every day and as you can imagine I'm busy with kids, families and helping out any way possible. I would also like to point out that because of the poor wifi I will not be able to post pictures, I will get all of them to you after the trip and will make sure to include a post about how to view them! Thank you all for understanding and for your prayers! Now, without further ado, the things I've learned so far! 1: There is a different kind of clean here! When asked when the kids take a bath the childrens responses were "about once a week, or every two weeks." Of course, me being an american girl who can barely go a day without a shower, was kind of struck by this. I couldn't imagine doing that, especially as a child, you play outside all day in the red dirt making bricks from it for fun. Chasing around chickens, catching toads and making a mess! Then I remembered where I was, and how different things are here. Sometimes being clean isn't what it's all about, I mean don't get me wrong I'm not always shiny and clean, but I like to try and be. Germs bother me a lot and sanitizer is probably used more on my hands then lotion is. Here they don't live that way, and I think of started to accept that. I may not be used to the fact of showering only once a week, but I can respect them for that and for conserving water. So next time my mom asks me to shower I can pull the "I only showered once a week in Burundi and its dirtier there then it is here!" excuse ;) 2: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER! Every time I'm thirsty I can't just go get a drink, I have to make sure I get it from the filter and that it's clean. If I don't drink the filtered water i could get extremely sick. not only do I have to watch out for myself, but I try to watch the children too. I would rather get sick then have one of them sick so I try to make sure they don't accidently get water from the tap. This can be stressful since I'm definitely not used to this and one little slip up can ruin your week! 3:Language Barriers: It's different not being able to communicate with everyone here, the only thing I can say to them is Hi. When they try to continue the conversation I politely ask them if they speak english. Most do not so I leave it to the adults to converse and I just politely say Amahoro and shake their hand. Maybe as time goes along i can learn more words and try to talk with some people here :) 4: Cars: I've found that a large group of white people in a van traveling up the hills to Kibuye is quite the treat for Burundians. They are so interested in us that they don't even pay attention to what they're doing. They simply look at you amazed and sometimes give a smile or a wave. It's kind of like a 2-way looking glass. They study you since you are new to them and you study them right back. In one second you both make eye contact and briefly smile, then go on with whatever it was you're doing. I've found that the men are very hard workers and the women here love babies! 5: Culture: Though we all seem very different, I can't truely see the differences. We are all children of God, different skin, different language, different driving techniques, it doesn't matter. We are all one body, one heart beating, one voice rising together to praise our creator. Some people don't see it that way and some just need to open their eyes. That is something we struggle with daily in America, more and more people make racist jokes and talk down on different colored kids. Here in this place, the africans embrace us. With every turn they've helped us, whether it be loading up luggage, unloading luggage, childcare, cooking, cleaning, laundry, you name it. Even if we can't really speak with them they are here to help. If only we could be that way in the U.S. we can definitely learn from this culture. Especially the servant's heart part of it.