A Few of Our Favourite Things

Playing, singing, talking, teaching, stories, new foods . . . there's been so many new experiences that have quickly made it to the top of our "favourite" list.  We have to share a few with you so that you know we've had some fun adventures here in Rwanda.

Naomi's favourite:

Dancing:  the kids--both boys and girls--dance with joy and enthusiasm!  The girls love to teach Abby and Naomi the moves and Naomi is quickly learning some Rwandan dance.

Group games: planning, teaching or playing, Naomi puts her whole heart into the games.  The kids all know she isn't afraid to play as hard as they do.  Sundays, when most of us are resting, she's up with the kids having a blast.  

Abigail's favourite: 

Language Lessons: learning the language is challenging, but Abigail is picking it up quickly, especially with her local teachers (ages 4-24) teachers who are trying so hard to get her fluent.  ESL has also brought out her gift of teaching young and old.

Thunder storms: when the wind picks up, watch out, a storm is rushing in.  After quickly closing the windows, Nathan and Abby dash out to watch the storm and get some good pictures. Inevitably, they come back in drenched. 

Ethan's favourite:

Ordie the gecko:  he's a gecko who lives in the girl's room.  He's married with 10 children--8 daughters, 2 sons (or so the story goes).  Every night, Ethan sits with mom to hear of this gecko's adventures.  

Going on the swings: friends to play with, places to explore and a playground. . .the favourite hangout place for Ethan is the swing.  Now to find a way to keep knees from getting skinned . . .

Nathan's  favourite:

Catching critters:  frogs, bugs, chameleons and geckos, none are safe from Nathan (except maybe the rats).  Much to Ethan's dismay, his pet gecko may be targeted next.  

Hanging out with the kids: early walks to school, late morning visits, afternoon hang-out times or evening family nights, any opportunity to connect with the kids and college students is used.  Nathan has found more ways to encourage and mentor those around him.  

Joel's favourite:

Playing with the kids: playground time, tag, reading or just hanging out.  Joel is becoming a friend to everyone--even the youngest who was terrified of our white faces!

Fresh Fruit: bananas, pineapples, passion fruit, guava, oranges and limes.  Nothing compares to the taste of fruit picked fresh. Yummy!

Kim's favourite:  

Break down barriers: making people laugh and easing any tension people may have with white folks around.  Walking to the market and having people call, "mzungu" gets Kim quickly looking around  asking "where??" people start laughing, but are no longer pointing.  

Exercise/training:  flying on the swing superman style, reverse push-ups, monkey bars, chin-ups.  Not only is Kim trying to stay fit, he's teaching the kids some exercises as well.

Renae's favourite:

Encouraging kids and mamas:  stories, teaching, games, prayer time or just a simple smile.  Seeing how everyone responds to encouragement inspires me to reach out even more.

Getting creative: learning to think outside the box, problem solve and draw deep from what's already been learned has us all drawing on our creative side.  This can especially come out during ESL prep, lesson planning and family nights.  It's good to be kept on our toes.

More favourites:  trips to the market, brushette, fanta, night sounds, mosquito nets (sort of), pressure cooker and homemade bread . . .

Coming soon:  favourite recipes from Rwanda!