Kimironko Market

From the moment we began pulling the school vehicle into a parking spot, we were bombarded by young men trying to get us to buy their services... help parking the car or watching the car while we shopped. Neither of these were necessary, so we marched on.

We bought these lovely baskets from a  man named John Wayne.

Aren't they beautiful? Only a few dollars each.

Now, on to the produce...

This part was a bit overwhelming. So many vendors... every isle super crowded. 

For just over $1, we hired a couple of personal shoppers - a great choice.

Our new friends took care of finding our produce and paying the proper vendors. 

 Counting up the cost.

Our personal shoppers. Peter is on the left. We'll look for him next time!

We carried 24 eggs home in a paper bag. 

It actually worked out fine.

Our first trip to the market was a success and thanks to Peter, it was nearly* a breeze. 

*Of course, there is was a bit of a language barrier. We asked for celery. They kept coming back with cilantro. But, all in all, it was a great experience.

our neighborhood

Our area of town is Gaculiro (ga-chu-lee-ro), also spelled Gacuriro (ga-chu-ree-ro). 

Apparently, l's and r's are interchangable.

We live up on a hill that overlooks much of the city. We don't have any great pictures of that yet, because every day things have been quite hazy (dry season!). When the rains come, things should get much clearer and greener. We've been told we'll be able to see layers and layers of hills in the distance.

Our neighborhood has its own armed guards. 

That sounds pretty scary, but it's just the way things are here.

Our school (KICS) is a couple of blocks away from home. 

Tonto's... our neighborhood store. 

We're a quick walk away from a bottle of ketchup or a box of milk.

How convenient is that?

(We also pre-pay for our electricity here - "cash power".)

A small selection of items we can buy at Tonto's.

This was a family trip down the hill. At the bottom, we can choose from
Gaculiro super market, Woodlands super market, Pizza Inn, or Chicken Inn.

It's great to have stores so close to home, but for a better selection of produce, 

the Market is our destination...

and that is a whole different experience! 

We'll tell you about that in our next post.

the gate mishap

Afton was on gate duty. The huge metal door swung out (oh no!) and broke right off the hinge. 

It was a scary moment, but he stayed injury-free.

 the welder, David and Chad propping up the gate

solder time.

the gate is better now than when we arrived.

our new place

We live on 39 Benjamina in the Gaculiro district
(but don't try to send mail here!)

Our town house is super cute, with high ceilings.
Pictures of the inside coming soon.

Everybody has at least one water tank to serve as a backup for when the regular city water runs out.

Breakfast on the front porch.

we made it to Rwanda!

First night in our new house. The beds are equipped with mosquito nets, but our missionary friends say they are more of a bonus than a necessity. After going to bed at 4:30 AM, the kids slept until 3:00 the next afternoon. This jetlag is going to be rough!

saying Goodbye

We are overwhelmed with the help we received in preparing to move... packing, cleaning, organizing, painting,  installing, sanding, pressure washing, insulating, wiring, kid- watching, notarizing, and managing our place while we're away. Thank you!!

7 trunks, 7 duffles, 6 rollie-bags, 6 personal items, 3 carseats, and 1 saxophone - Yikes!

We flew from Seattle to Frankfurt, Germany to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Entebbe, Uganda and finally to Kigali, Rwanda. Once we started flying African airlines, our family was spread out across the plane. They worked it out for our little ones to ride by daddy, but the big kids had to be brave. They did great and Afton received an ovation from his fellow travelers when he solved his Rubiks Cube for them. We were happy to find all of our luggage waiting for us at our final destination. 

Thank you, God!

final Sunday with our church home

Our hearts are heavy to be leaving newlife Gig Harbor Peninsula. 

They honored us with a special collection and sent us off with a super cool cake. It was an honor serving with these amazing people. We will miss you, friends!

Local churches jumping in

This past Sunday, two local churches generously jumped in to support our mission to Rwanda. In the morning, Eglon Community Church hosted us, prayed for us, and donated. What a neat group of people! So kind and welcoming. That evening, Port Orchard Church of Christ, our home church when we first came to this area, invited us to eat with them, share about Rwanda, and then they prayed over us. So cool to be a part of God's people.