CELEBRATE THE BRRR SEASON!

Well...I started working full time some months ago and the blog just kind of stopped!  A lame excuse I know.  I do want to give a special shout out to Charlotte Wheeler of Henderson Mill Dental Care though.  This blog has one subscriber and for that I love you Charlotte!  It is good to know that someone back home in Atlanta checks in on us on a regular basis.  We will see you on our visit home for Christmas and New Year!  We have only been here for five months, but we are excited about the visit home.

Life has been really great here, but it does not feel like Christmas, and for those that know me, I love me some Christmas.  Really.  All the trees, movies and music...family, friends, bells, microbrews...um, all that stuff.  

Here, well, it is kinda hot for this time of year.  We are used to at least 70 degree weather in December! Lots of mosquitos and rain, then dust, and not a lot of Hallmark cheer.  The town is not all decorated in red and green, and there is none of the busy bustle that we complain about, no piped in Xmas MUZAK at every turn, the sound of Salvation Army bells, Ho Ho Ho's and sticky sweet stuff bad for your teeth.  Not really any of it!  The Chinese store in town, T2000, does have a pipe cleaner (and I do mean pipe cleaner) fake tree for sale, but it is like two feet high and eighty bucks, and they don't even sell ornaments to put on it!

I guess what I am getting at is, when it is not around, you miss it.  Even someone like me, who is kinda a sucker for it.  I was really bummed to discover that I left all my Christmas music compilations that my friend Russell made back in Atlanta.  I really look forward to those to get me going this time of year!  Anyone that is around me around mid December knows that for sure!!!!

I do get to see this billboard every morning though, and I have to say that I don't even have to have a Coke and a smile.  The smile is enough.  I mean a little bit of commercialism at Christmas is not necessarily such a bad thing when it is this good is it?  The kids were kinda confused the first time they saw it being so used to an apple-scrubbed cheeked man with a fat belly in a sleigh, but they quickly adjusted.  It helped that Santa came to their school all decked out in his Belgian canonical robes and bishop's cap.  They have gotten used to seeing him in different ways and go with it.  I mean he is Santa!  He can do anything!  He can dress however he wants, ride on a "moto" instead of sleigh, and by golly he can be whatever race he wants! He is international and everywhere at once.

Merry Christmas!  We miss you all, and cannot wait to see you!

I promise, I will get back to this thing and keep you guys more updated with stories and pictures. Until then...here is a photo of the family hiking in Nyungwe Forest.  An amazing rainforest here that is full of birds, monkeys, chimps, frogs, Ewoks and trees.

FRUIT, SUGAR AND VEGETABLES!

So many people have been asking me what it is like here and it is really hard to explain.  So, I thought I would put some pictures up of the market where we get veggies, fruit, and assorted food to help give an idea.  It is an amazing place, that is like a buzzing beehive all the time. Full of life, culture and color.  Sam, who keeps us happy and fed here in Rwanda goes twice a week, so I went with him and snapped a lot of photos.  The lighting was not so great there and I was a little self-conscious taking pictures, so they are not the best, but you get some idea.  There is nothing like really being there though, no photo could give it justice.

Sugar, salt, flour, etc.

Beans

Sam getting the kids a healthy snack!

Um...kinda obvious.  Veggies!

More veggies!  There are so many here.  Actually, 

I have never seen some of them before.

I think if you stand here long enough, you can find the real Waldo!  

There are a ton of booths like this.  I should do a series!

MORE CATCHING UP.

Gonna do some catching up here, as I have meant to post about this for awhile now.

The Cup Of Excellence competition recently took place here in Rwanda. Coffees are first scored by a national jury, then an international jury scores the best of these to determine the winners. This was the first COE competition to take place in Africa, and not only did it take place in Rwanda, it happened within a month and a half of our arrival! I was pretty excited, as I got to see a lot of folks I have not seen in a long while from the States. I also had the opportunity to meet lots of new people from all over the world that were here for the competition. Most importantly, I was able to cup a lot of fantastic coffee! It is a big deal for the winners and runners up in this competition, as the farmers fetch really high prices for their coffee once it goes to auction. This can have a positive effect for years to come.

The cupping all took place in Butare which is about two hours from Kigali. I went down for a couple of days for both the national and the international cupping. One of the best days was when I had the opportunity to ride a coffee bike through the mountains to visit some farms and a washing station, with 30 other people from all over the world! Surreal is one word I would use to describe it. The bikes were rented from farmers here and it was a blast to ride through the villages, as people flocked around us, and children chased us down the road. If I did this every morning I would be fit as a fiddle! Alas, I have never taken a mountain bike ride through the mountains to a coffee farm, much less an eight foot long bike, and I felt fit as a busted tuba when it was all said and done. It was worth every minute! How they do this with stacks of coffee on the back of the bike is beyond me.

I had a great time over the course of the two weeks, and felt very lucky to be there.

COE Rwanda!

Table two

Table assignments for judges

Coffee Bikes!

All smiles!

 Little girl

Pig on a bike! (photo: Geoff Watts)

...yes it is still alive.

Busted tuba on a bridge.

(photo: Geoff Watts)

How do you spell "COMPETETION" anyway?

IAN IS THREE!

Sunday  the 14th was Ian's 3rd birthday.  On Saturday we had some friends over and the kids all watched a movie.  The birthday celebration was a little more mellow than in the States, but we had a good time and Ian is excited because when he woke up Sunday he was "so big!"  All day he kept saying how much bigger he had grown.  "Look at my feet Daddy!  They are so big now. My hands are bigger too!"  Pretty funny. This is all he needed for a great birthday, to grow bigger overnight!

SCHOOL!!

Ava and Ian started school last week!  A pretty big deal in our life here. Although they both went to a small camp for a few weeks, this feels much bigger in scope.  They are both doing well and Ava is already learning a small bit of French.  The hardest part has been the morning drop off, the first day or two was really hard.  Ian cried a lot, but this seems to be getting better every day.  Ava is already making friends and has told Jaime and I that the boys "really" like her.  I bet! ... and so it begins.  

The teachers seem very nice. Ava's teacher speaks English, but Ian's does not, so the daily update is a little harder to understand.  He seems to be doing ok though.  His teacher says he lays back and keeps to himself most of the time, but I think this will change soon.  He is pretty social and has a big personality so I have no doubt that he will have the run of the class in no time!

All and all things are pretty great.  The kids are going to school with other kids from all over the world!  This is one of the things we were really excited about when we decided to make the move here.  What an opportunity!  I have to say that I am amazed at how quickly we have adjusted to so many things here, and just gone on living our lives and going about it all, but not one day goes by that I don't stop for a second and think..."We are living in f*&%@#$ Rwanda!" Decatur, Georgia it ain't!

We miss you all terribly, but are excited about the future.  Come visit!

So, here are some pictures of school!

 

                 Ava and Ian first day of school!

         Walking to class.

        Ian, before the flood.

      Ava, all smiles at drop off.

                Ian, still not so sure at drop off.

      Ava's cubby and art work.

     More art work...

          Work on display in class.

WE HAVE CONTACT!

We have wireless ADSL at home!  I cannot even begin to explain what a big deal that is for us!  I think I am going to turn our front porch into an internet cafe'!  ...or something.

Anyway, we are very excited.  We have been "Skyping" people all weekend, which seems to work ok.  We had a few dropped calls, but managed to have a few very overdue conversations with missed family and friends.  Even managed to download a movie for the kids in little over half a day!  I think in the states the same download would have taken 30 to 40 minutes tops, but oh well.  We have internet, I can get daily news from around the world while I drink my morning coffee at home!  A big deal for us.

Other than that we have been having a good weekend.  Last night we had some new friends of ours and their kids over ordered take out pizza.  The kids, seven of them, watched a movie and the "adults" relaxed on the front porch drinking wine and beer.  [Jennn, thanks for bringing us that wine from the states.  It was great.  Still have one more bottle.]  Today, we went to the American Embassy with the kids and watched Kung Fu Panda and played on the lawn.  Ava and Ian had a great time.  We made last minute plans with said new friends and went to a restaurant we had not been to yet called Papyrus.  We had a great meal!  Tomorrow we are having lunch with friends and going to dinner with another couple!  Our social life is really filling up here.  We are meeting a lot of great people.  

The big news this weekend though has been the opening of a new store in town.  It is a Kenyan chain called Nakumat.  The store feels like a Target compared to everything else here, but in reality is more like a bigger Woolworth's.  It is basically a grocery / department store with everything from electronics to baked goods.  Found a lot of stuff here that I have seen nowhere else.  The store is open 24 hours and I am sure that we will find ourselves there a lot.  They were very busy, but need to work the kinks out.  I tried to buy some toilet paper and it rang up as 21,490.00 francs.  This is about 43 dollars!  I mean it was some nice tissue, but...I put it back and bought some elsewhere.  I am sure they will figure everything out, but 'til then I will be checking my receipt closely, and munchin' on the Lay's Thai Sweet Chili chips I bought.  Man, I hope these are good (have not tried them yet).

That is all for now.

HELLO!

So yeah, still here and as promised...some pictures of our time here so far! Then, a new post!

                                             ATL airport.   On our way!

                                                           Here at last!  

                           Ava, Ian and Jackson in our new yard!

                                            Some things never change!

                                               Ava and Eric's "new" car

                                   Ava and Ian on a stroll in the sun

                               You can even Slip 'n' Slide in Rwanda

YES, WE ARE STILL HERE! i promise

O.K.  o.k.   I know I have been slow on the updates here, but the internet thing at home is killing me.  The lack of internet that is.  Maybe "killing me" is a little exaggerated, but it makes it difficult.  

But, people hear this!  I have seen a monkey!  ...and baboons, zebra, giraffe, crocodile, hippopotami, impala, etc.!  Many of you know how important this was to me.  Seeing the monkey that is.  Gorillas here I come!

Jaime's brother Tyler and a friend of his Jennn came to visit us!  It has been great, and the kids could not be happier. They came bearing many gifts!  This past weekend we went to Akagera National Park which was amazing!  The park has lots of big game and over 500 species of birds! We went on safari one day, and on a boat trip the next.  We all really enjoyed it.  Tyler and Jennn will be here until Saturday.

We have started to settle in here.  Many of you know that I bought a car, which has been great for me.  On the search for a Nannie now, and hot water, internet, washer, dryer, cat food, and, and, and....We are doing fine.  We are even close to great some days.  Our life here is going to be great!

I promise I will get this blog going full speed, just bear with me.

E

NO INTERNET AT HOME YET!

O.K. Still no internet!

This blog thing is hard to do with no internet connection. I promise there will be content when that happens! For now I am going to be lazy and cut and paste the second e-mail that I sent out to some folks, this one mostly regarding the adventures of our cat Jackson! He is doing fine. I am trying to teach him how to be a true jungle cat, but the hawks that circle overhead, and these large crow/raven like birds freak him out a little. He does love the yard though!

Here is that e-mail…

oh yeah!

Jackson made it too! How did I forget that! When I picked him up for our layover in Nairobi he was a little freaked out, of course I picked him up in cargo (had to take a car there) in a concrete building with lots and lots of bars that looked like it was built to house elephants. A huge building with lots of caged cells and 40 watt bulbs, and nothing...I mean nothing, but Jackson in his little bitty crate in the middle (literally) of cell 53 something or other behind padlock and key. It was surreal to say the least! Leaving Kenya was a lot easier.

He did not want to get back in his cage the next morning! We had a quick hour flight though, and made it to our new home "relatively" quickly, with all 12 suitcases! They all arrived!

Needless to say Jackson is much happier now. He is fine and eating scrambled eggs with the rest of us each morning (a bag of cat food is 70 bucks here!).

Anyway...we love you all, and I will write something with a little more weight soon.

Eric

P.S. For those concerned...Ava's culture shock was due to, um...the culture. People's dress, babies on backs, another language, etc. She is doing well, and happy as a clam playing in the yard. I am sure that each day will be easier than the last.

…and I want to add something! After the ordeal that was the Nairobi Airport, once we landed in Rwanda, they just sent him out with our luggage on the carousel! I could see and hear him meowing going around and around as we were trying to pass through customs! No one asked for forms, documents, or anything! In Kenya, I might as well been trying to smuggle in any number of illegal products/substances with the hoops I had to jump through. Rwanda? Who cares! Who would want to bring a cat here?!!!

We made it!!!

We made it!!!  I will post pictures soon, but until then here is a copy of the e-mail I sent out, for what that's worth.

Hey everyone,

We made it!!!! I would say that it was the longest trip I have ever been on, and that includes touring across America in a van with five other people! We are very happy to be here though.

I think from door to door the trip was 40 plus hours, that includes a 15 hour layover in Nairobi. We arrived yesterday around 2 in the afternoon Kigali time. The kids were great all in all. We are all very tired, but I think the worst of it was actually the last few days before we left. Michele (Jaime's Mom), thank you for putting up with us!

The kids love the house and yard. Today we went out for a bit shopping and Ava experienced a bit of culture shock, but besides that they are doing better than I expected.

I walked to the closest hotel to us, Novotel, to access e-mail. I will post on the blog soon to write and post pictures, and hopefully we will have internet connection at home shortly. I also plan on "jailbreaking" our iPhones. Has anybody seen / bought a new one yet?

Anyway, I hope all is well. We will be in touch, and try to check e-mail again tomorrow. We love and miss you all.

Love,
Eric, Jaime, Ava and Ian

ONE MORE WEEK!

We move on July 9th, so...only one more week!

Jaime had her last day of work at CARE here in Atlanta today.  She has been there a long time and will miss it, but will still get to work with a lot of the wonderful people there in her new position.  We have been lucky enough to see a lot of friends and family the last few days and will get to visit with more this weekend before we leave.

I will do my best to document the upcoming trip over, airport and all!

OUR "OLD" HOME / MOVING OUT

The moving began today. We have been working on it for a while of course, but today all of the things that we have decided to ship to Africa have been wrapped up and packed.  We have an empty house! So all of our things are sitting on a truck somewhere ready to be put in a container, and from there they will start their slow crawl via sea then ground to us in Rwanda. This moving to Africa thing is officially starting to settle in, one gulp at a time.

Our new home and school

So as promised, here are some pictures of our new home and the Belgian school.  Keep in mind that we are having the house repainted on the inside. Wow,  pretty bad.  You should see the paint job in person!  Painting aside though, we looked at a lot of homes and this one seemed right. Some were bigger, had larger yards, and more scenic views, but they just were not right for us for one reason or another.  We looked at this house early on in our house hunting ventures and kept coming back to it when discussing what we wanted.  I will post more pictures of the house once we have settled in.

As far as schools, there were actually more options than we initially thought there would be. We looked around a lot, but we both felt pretty strongly that L'Ecole Belge was the one. Between the staff, parents and most importantly, kids...we felt that this is where our kids would fit best. We talked to a lot of parents and staff and this seems to be the place. There were a few schools in town that were Anglophile, but we thought it would be a missed opportunity to place tham in an English speaking environment. We hope that Ava and Ian will soon excel at French! I need them to translate for me.