Alien Fruit, Monster Rain and other Grand Adventures

Our crazy adventures continue here in our Rwanda home.  It's been only two weeks, but the experiences are one that are building great memories we will treasure always.

This morning I wasn't feeling 100%, so I sent Kim to the market with a detailed list.  In Canada, he always came back with a "bonus" item (usually something unique or unidentifiable).  

Here in Rwanda, he did not disappoint.  The fruit was large (think misshapen basketball size), heavy, slightly prickly and close to lime green.  Naomi and I decided to crack it open for lunch.  Cautiously we cut into the "alien" fruit.  The texture was brain-like, rubbery and like nothing I've seen before.  Pods encased in stringy material each held a large seed.  When you pull the pods out of their melon shell, they are rubbery (like calamari). This is the edible part.  It tastes kind of like a chewy banana.  Not bad really, just an adventure getting to it!  It's part of our lunch today--fruit salad, pumpkin muffins and sliced Gouda cheese.  

Food has been interesting.  No Walmart just down the street.  We have the local market each Wednesday.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are available for a good price.  There's a few stores, we can get flour, tomato paste and superglue (odd combination, I know).   Eggs, fanta (pop) and rice MAY be available.  The rest of our needs (cleaning supplies, milk, meat, cheese and toilet paper) have to come with a trip to the city.  

We've been enjoying steady heat (27-30) during the day.  The evenings are pleasantly cool, usually making it very comfortable to sleep.  On days it's peaked 30, we've noticed thunderstorms popping up.  It's usually around 2 or 3 in the afternoon we are quickly scrambling to grab our clothes off the line.  The rain usually only lasts 10-15 minutes, then it's back to the warmth and comfortable humidity.  

Last Saturday we had a "monster rain".  The skies darkened quickly and the wind (we hadn't experienced that here yet) picked up.  When the rain came, it was so loud, poor little Ethan sobbed on our bed that he wanted to leave the country and go to a place it didn't rain.  Once we gave him earmuffs and a game, he calmed down.  As the rain poured, the wind drove it into our home through the windows and vents.  Water flooded in from under the door.  Because of the concrete, it's no big deal, we just squeegee the water back out.  Every building had water, but no damage, just a squeegee to the floor and it was taken care of. This was a good taste of the rainy season to come.

We are feeling settled in our mission house and look forward to visitors whenever God opens the doors.  We've been so impressed by the generosity of the people and amazed at how hard-working and happy they are.  The staff here at the home are truly a blessing and we are already growing to love and appreciate them dearly. 

We love receiving the encouraging emails and messages.  Thank you for reminding us that we are not forgotten!

Prayer request for this week:

--favour for the last bit of visa (hopefully today we can get it submitted)

--health for everyone

--continued ease in adjustment for the kids