Pine Air

I arrived in Canada on Thursday last week and the first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the airport was the strong smell of pine-fresh air! It was actually quite overwhelming. I couldn't believe how strong it was. It's nice to be in fresh air. Fresh, cool air.

It's really nice to be back. I kicked off my return home with a wedding of one of my good friends. It was beautiful!! And there were so many people there that I didn't expect. It was a nice reunion.

I've been really taking advantage of the down time. Will and I went hiking yesterday and it was the most fun I've had in a while. I have fun all the time, but this was especially fun! We haven't really had much opportunity to adventure on our own lately, so it was well appreciated.

The weather hasn't been pleasant. We came back to days of rain and cold. But today is a stunning day! It's sunny and beautiful! I'm currently sitting on the deck in Millarville, staring at the lush, green poplar trees and in between, a clear view of the mountains. Also staring at Will mow the grass. I like mowing the lawn and especially love smelling the mowed lawn, but I also just love staring at him. I choose to not help today.

In this moment I feel incredibly blessed. I miss Africa and think of all my family there often, but God has ordained this time for us and we look forward to what is to come.

Everything Happens On The Street

Helen and Paul have a large piece of art in their living room titled Everything Happens On The Street. It's a photo of two young Cambodian boys on the street. I don't understand poverty in Asia.

We arrived in Singapore two Thursdays ago. Singapore is pretty crazy. It's just a big island-city-country filled with people from all over the world. It's quite a beautiful city, but extremely hot. Sweaty Singapore. The interesting thing about Singapore is everyone has a home. Apparently there's no such thing as homelessness.

It's been really nice to spend time with Will's parents. And it has been really fun to operate as a family unit. Hoff clan. I especially get a kick out of it when we're cruising around Singapore in a little bike posse. It's how we get around. We've been doing a lot of fun, yet simple things while we've been here. Riding bikes, swimming in the pool, enjoying different types of restaurants (Turkish, Mexican, Indian, etc), exploring.

Will, Thom, and I got the opportunity to spend 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This is home of the famous Angkor Wat temple, as well as many other famous ancient temples. We had a fantastic time!

The most interesting part about Cambodia for me (and the most challenging) were the street children and the way I battled with how to care for them, especially after being in Africa and being so comfortable and confident with how to do it there. My eyes were first opened to this on the first night. We were eating dinner at a hawkers and many children were trying to sell us postcards and bracelets. We didn't want them and continued, exhaustively, to say so. The children were very persistent and clever and continued to stand at our table and watch us eat. They then began asking us to buy them food. Not feeling comfortable saying no to this without knowing the children's situation, I eventually asked them were they slept. They looked startled and went very quiet. When I asked again, they took off around the corner and never came back. We came to realize later that these kids belonged to the women at the hawkers and that's just how the system worked.

It's really difficult being in an extremely poor and desperate place and knowing the culture and systems, but then going to a completely foreign place, with no understanding of the children, their poverty, and their stories. I really battled with this.

My next difficult encounter occurred much later that night. We were going back to our hostel late in the evening, around midnight, and a child literally jumped into my arms. He latched his legs around my waist and he wasn't letting go. He looked to be around 5 or 6 years old. He wanted me to buy him food. There were other children and Will and Thom were trying to communicate with them. Using our best investigatory skills that we learned in Africa, we found out the little guy lived very far away and couldn't just walk home. As Will is trying to talk to an older kid and convince him my little friend had to get home and we'd pay for a way to get him home, I stood by helplessly as an old granny walked up to me, quickly smacked the little boy a few times until he cried, then without words spoken, leave. Another young girl came and yelled a few words at him then walked away. I was completely lost, but my heart was aching. I've never felt so helpless and so lost. We just didn't know what to do. Will and Thom made the decision to just leave. I couldn't make that decision; my heart just hurt so much for him. Why was he out so late? Did he have parents? Is this a scam? I just didn't know what to think. I pried him off and we walked away feeling very heavy.

We talked later to the Canadian couple that owned our hostel. They said most of the children are scammers, especially in such a touristy city. They said some are authentic in their need, but they are very hard to find and it's very hard to figure out who they are. I wasn't convinced, though, that they had gone deep enough in the lives of these families for me to take full value of what they had to say. That sounds really harsh, but I know what it means to go deep and I know that you can't know unless you do.

I'm still trying to process this feeling. I know South Africa. I know the kids. I know their stories. I know how the government operates, how the culture operates. I know the messy history and how that affects the people today. I know the social problems, the roots of them. I don't know this place. And not knowing this place but watching the kids beg on the streets was one of the hardest things I have had to experience. Everything happens on the streets and I have no idea what that means.

Au Revoir RDC

So our time in the DRC came and went rather quickly. Strange to say that considering I've never seen my life move more slowly. I was even noticing one day when I was walking to the kitchen to do something, and even my pace to the kitchen was brutally slow. Life just seems to move slower. We honestly spent the majority of the time cooking, reading, eating, planning meals, and sleeping. Erick was busy in a training so there really wasn't much opportunity to get out.

After many days of not doing much, we planned out our last day. We were going to start in the morning at Kikula market, looking for fabrics and any other DRC treats. We were then going to visit the care centre in the afternoon and do home visits with the care workers. Yes, a well-planned day. Thom will get a nice community experience. And then Will and Thom woke up very ill. They lied around all day and decided they weren't well enough to carry out the plan. So Todd, Katie, and I did. We didn't spend long in the market, which was unfortunate. I love the markets. I could spend hours looking at fabrics. It feels like a bookstore to me; I'm scared if I leave before I look at everything, I'll miss a treasure. But I had to hurry on. But I did have time to stop and buy a Congolese Moo-Moo. So sweet. We walked to the care centre and were greeted warmly by the kids. This is the same community I blogged about earlier. It was so special to be there again. I was amazed to see the kids remember the songs we sang with them that last day. The English songs. I think the most beautiful part of that place is just the community the kids have formed. Parentless, some abandoned, children. The centre is a safe place for them to come together and be together. They know each other's names, they know where one another is if not at the centre. They eat together, play together, sing together, pray together. It's a really beautiful thing to be a part of.

We decided we needed to get Thom and Will tested for Malaria so arranged for a doctor to come to the house. After a lot of confusion and miscommunication, Will and Thom also ended up in Kikula at Pastor Jacob's house. The doctor came with his little Malaria tests. I'm quite familiar with this particular test. It's just a quick test that requires you to prick the finger, put in one of the spots and put solution in the other. If two lines show up, Malaria. So the doctor began by pricking Will's finger and putting it in the spot where the solution is supposed to go. He then pricked Thom's finger (using a different needle) and proceeded to drip his blood also in the spot where the solution is supposed to go. He then sat and waited. I've used these tests before and I know nothing will happen without the solution. I tried to talk to him in my very good French about the test and where the blood is supposed to go and where the solution is supposed to go. But the conversation ended with me saying, "You know." Of which I knew he didn't, but questioning authority here doesn't happen. So we waited. And then finally he pricked Thom's finger again and started to drip the blood in the correct spot on WILL'S test. Thom stopped him quickly. Disaster diverted. So now on each test there is blood in the solution spot and the blood spot. And we waited a bit more. He then dug up some sort of fluid in his bag and put some in both the blood spot and the solution spot. Will's test started magically working (imagine) and came up negative. Thom's took much, much longer. He said Thom's blood was too thick so it didn't move, but the rest of us knew blood dries out quickly and was probably clotted already. So eventually both came up negative and the doctor prescribed Will to drink coffee to bring down his blood pressure. But we're positive Will has Malaria so we're starting him on treatment anyway.

So I'm writing this on our last night here. Thom is fast asleep already and I'm sitting in the living room enjoying the company of Todd, Katie, and Will in candlelight. Power cuts are pretty classic here. We've been quite lucky and have been without power cuts for the last 4 or 5 days, but on our last night, what would be a proper send-off than candlelight.

Oh, and for Todd's sake I must say I burnt the cookies today.

We will stay Thursday night in Luanshya, Friday night in Lusaka, and Saturday and Sunday night in Livingstone. We arrive in South Africa on Monday.

That's all for now.

[Wrote this blog on Wednesday night, but posting now. We are in Livinstone. We decided to do the whole trip from Luanshya in one day. Loving it! Oh and Thom and Will are without Malaria. All is well]

Malawi, The Series Round 3

The high school I attended (and later taught at) in Lloydminster has been building a relationship with the orphaned and vulnerable children attending the school Royie started up in Mngwere, Malawi. The Lloyd school has been learning about Malawi and Hands at Work, raising funds, generating awareness and interest and writing letters. One of the main reasons I visited Malawi was to understand more about the community and the children in the schools so I can bring more information back to my school. I visited all the schools Royie's children are attending. There are three schools in total: Tima (which the Community Based Organisation [CBO] runs out of Royie's church in Mngwere), Milonde 1 and Milonde 2 (government schools). Tima CBO takes the children for the first 2 years in order to get them adjusted to school, to keep closer tabs on them, and build good skills and passion for school. Royie's first group of kids he started with in Tima CBO have just entered the government school this year. After Grade 2, the children attend Milonde 2 which runs up to Grade 6, and then further onto Milonde 1 which goes up to Grade 8. After that, one of the best Secondary Schools in the country is very near, but many don't make it there.

To understand the schools a bit better, I spent a whole day interviewing teachers, principals and children. This is what they had to say.

Principals:
[The headmaster of the school and head teacher spoke about their school, successes, and challenges.]

We teach 9 subjects: English, Maths, Chichewa (local language), Science & Technology, Social & Environmental Studies, Expressive Arts (music, dance, games, drama), Life Skills, Agriculture, and Religious Education (including Islam, Christianity, and ADR, their traditional spirituality). We have 804 learners and 11 teachers. Our classes have up to 150 children per 1 or 2 teachers. The government recommends 60 children per teacher, but we just can't manage that. Because of this, we are preaching, not teaching. This is our main challenge. Our classrooms are overcrowded. The rooms are very small and children are sitting on the floor, shoulder to shoulder. Ideally we would want a ratio of 1 teacher to 40 students. We are also short of books. The government sponsors us, but we mostly have to supply our own. We would love to have posting boards to post papers on and demonstrations for teaching, lockers to store learning materials, and desks and chairs for the students. Another challenge is the unreliable water source. We have a seasonal water trap but when it is dried up we have to fetch water over 2 km away. This makes a huge challenge for teachers because it is difficult to keep clean and they often come to school unbathed and with dirty clothes. Other challenges include parents' inability to meet basic needs, lack of permanent and adequate toilets, and no teacher housing (part of the deal of being a teacher is that the government provides houses for you near the school). [One thing I found very interesting is that they never one mentioned or hinted at their salary.]

[I was impressed that these guys spoke so much about their successes. In my experience, mostly challenges are spoken about and successes difficult to come up with.]
We have very hard working teachers and they love their learners very much. They are quick to offer extra classes to ensure their students succeed. Our school always wins competitions against other schools in the district. We won a National Quiz on Aids. Our students won us MK 40,000 (approx $212). Our school sends the most learners in the district to National secondary schools and because of this, pupils come from all over to attend our school. We are also proud that our learners can read and write in Grade 1.

[Because I was curious, I asked about salaries].
Our pay ranges based on the grade we teach. When a teacher first starts out, they are placed in Grade L. They can only move onto the next grade level (and pay scale) by receiving a promotion. The problem with this is that if a teacher completes all the requirements to receive a promotion, but gets denied, they are never allowed to receive a promotion again. The teachers can upgrade themselves to teach at higher levels by going back to school, but they can't afford it.
Grade L pay starts at MK 19,000 per month (approx $100) before deductions. They usually earn a net pay of around MK 15,000 per month (approx $80). A teacher in Grade 8 can earn between MK 40,000 - MK 50,000 per month (approx. $212 - $265). There are very few Grade 8 teachers, though, because the government controls how many are promoted. Too many Grade 8 teachers costs too much. They currently have 1 Grade 8 teacher in their whole district.

Teachers:
[A teacher, Peter, spoke about the kids from Tima CBO and their adjustment to Grade 3 in the government school.]

The children attend regularly. They are average students, they definitely aren't the bottom of the class, despite the unique challenges they face. They were facing many challenges (food, clothing, health, grief, etc.) but Tima CBO has minimized these challenges so the children are better able to focus in school. They interact very well with the other children. They all play well together and aren't stigmatized. As a teacher I face a big challenge of the large numbers of learners and the little learning materials we have. In order to cope with this, we do a lot of group work. Another challenge is that we don't have enough classrooms for all the classes. One of the classes takes place outside under the big tree. During rainy season (Oct - Apr), the class learns in the hall (which is basically outside still, but under a veranda).

Students:
[Interviewed 3 students cared for by the CBO, one of Royie's original students in Grade 3, one student in Grade 6 and another in Grade 7.]

Teleza is an 11 year old girl in Grade 3B. She stays in Mngwere Village with her Granny. She is a very clever girl whose favourite subject is Chichewa and who desires to be a teacher. She loves to play a common Malawian game called Wishu. You use bowls and collect sand. There is a person in the middle that has to fill the bowl with sand while others are trying to hit him/her with a ball. She says her biggest challenge is soap for bathing and writing materials for school. She says she loves school and knows that if she stays in school, she will know how to read and write. She has a field where they have planted maize and beans. They will harvest between June and July and Teleza will be a big part of this harvest. As the Granny gets older, responsibility will fall more and more on Teleza to do the farming. This is the only way they are surviving. From the CBO, Sarah visits her three times a week. Sarah encourages her to go to school. Teleza is very happy when Sarah visits and so is her Granny (she gives a big smile). Her mother passed away when she was 4. When her mother passed away, her father married another woman. He comes sometimes to see her, but really isn't around much. In Malawi, when men marry, they become part of the woman's family and stays with them. When they divorce or the wife dies, the man must go back to his own family. The man can take the children but he will most likely get re-married and the new wife usually treats the children poorly. He knows it is best for the children to stay with the Grandparents. When asked if she's happy, she just smiled and giggled, then proceeded to take me to a bush of flowers to pose in front of as I took her picture.

Felista in 17 years old and stays in Mngwere village with her mother's younger sister, who is 25. She has an older sister who is 19 but she is away doing domestic work for a family in Lilongwe. Royie found Felista in 2009 staying alone in her house, both of her parents had passed away. She was incredibly vulnerable to lonely men and the CBO feared men could come at any time. She was 15 at that time and in Grade 4, but was taken away to work a farm for 1 year. This seems to be common with vulnerable children. Because Mngwere is not a developed or highly educated place, people see it as a place they can get workers. Farmers come into the community and advertise that they want workers and it seems to be children that get taken. Vulnerable children see it as an opportunity until they come back after 1 year and received very little pay. When the CBO found out she was working the farm, they talked to the person that hired her. They were kind enough to allow her to attend school when she wasn't farming. After coming back from working, she stayed with her Aunt and is now attending school at Milonde 1. She says she likes school because she wants to assist all her relatives when she finds work. She says her main challenge is at home. Some days they can't find food and this causes her to struggle with her school work because of her hunger.

Deborah is 14 years old and stays in Mngwere village. She stays with her Granny and her Uncle. She likes school because she wants to be a useful citizen in Malawi and become a nurse. She says she knows people who are sick right now, one of them being her Aunt's daughter. She has been sick for 3 days and Deborah has been helping them fetch water for her bath. She loves to read books in English and does it every opportunity she has, which often isn't much. They struggle with water and she has to fetch water up to 1.5 km away. This usually takes her 1-2 hours, depending on the cue. She says she fetches water because she doesn't want her Granny to be troubled to go. She does this as soon as she comes home from school and as a result has to complete homework during the night with a torch.

All the children spoke highly of their Care Workers from Tima CBO that visit them regularly. The CBO is doing a lot for the children, 165 orphaned and vulnerable children in total. Everyday after school, they come to the Care Centre (Royie's church in the meantime) for a meal. All the children also receive exercise books and pens, uniforms, home visits, and blankets. Many children sleep on the bare, dirt floor which is a huge problem especially in the winter when it gets down to 0 degrees Celcius. The Care Workers also provide homework help for the children at the Centre after school. This is very important (as we learned from Deborah) because the children become very busy fetching water and working the fields as soon as they get home from school. Tima CBO is also providing Grade 1 and 2 classes for 28 children, an additional meal for them, and soap.

Bonjour! Je pense ... je suis ici.

Greetings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo!

I arrived here on May 6 with Willis and his brother TCat. This place is hectically crazy but it's nice to have Will (who lived here for 5 months last year) to direct us around. It's just nice to have those boys in general. So entertaining. Will has the dirtiest feet in the history of dirty feet and Thom is rocking the Orlando pony.

So far we've been doing nothing. It's been nice. Just hanging out. Yesterday we went to Kikula, a community just outside of Likasi (the town we're staying in). Kikula is caring for 50 orphans and vulnerable children, visiting them regularly in their homes and feeding them 6 days a week. We arrived around 1:30 pm and stayed until 5:00 pm. Doesn't sound like very long, but it felt like eternity. We were so tired by the end. When we first arrived Will, Thom, Carey & Alissa instantly started playing games with kids. Thom invented this French counting game with actions. He would count to 5 in french and on each number he had a different action. I think "un" was a clap, "deux" was hands on lap, "trois" was crossed arms over chest, "quatre" was touching the head, and "cinq" was arms in the air. The kids loved it, I found it entertaining. All round good fun.

I've spent many, many days and hours in communities like this one and my first instinct isn't usually to play with the kids but to sit with the care workers and learn about them and bond with them in the kitchen. This is what I did. But the Congo wasn't colonized by English people. Their native tongue is Swahili but the colonial language is French. There were 3 care workers in the kitchen and only one could speak a bit of French. It was quite nice because I'm not fluent and neither was she so our conversation was a series of simple sentences and head nods. It was really fun to practice my french ... I'm actually really surprised how much I've retained from Chabot's classes 7 years ago. The most difficult part about trying to bring my french back is that I've learned multiple languages after that and usually resort to one of these languages when searching my mind for the right word. Spanish (University), Siswati (SA), Shangaan (SA/Moz), Bemba (Zambia), Chichewa (Malawi).

Mama Deda, the coordinator of the program for the kids, made us play game after game with the kids and sing song after song for the kids. We were seriously running out of things to do. Erick was supposed to fetch us at 4, so we figured we only had to run a few things, but when it became later and later, we feared there would be no end. Alissa and I tried to think of every camp song possible and Thom and Will also dove into their camp songs. I had to resort eventually to songs like Little Bunny Fufu (which I didn't remember anything past "bopping them on the head" and was forced to stop), MM-NN went the Little Green Frog (which didn't really last long so tried to make up verses past the first and failed miserably when what came to mind was "Bam Bam went the Rabbit" of which didn't go well with the rhythm and was so funny to me I couldn't contine). We sang Jesus Loves Me, the Banana Song (3 times), Tarzan, Funky Chicken (twice with new and improved actions), and Petite Poisson. We played Duck Duck Chicken (Alissa didn't know Swahili word for Goose) and that was a HUGE hit ... until the kids started cheating and cutting through the circle. Poor Thom just couldn't make it back to the space before any of the kids...

We're here in the Congo for two weeks and don't really have much planned. We will probably just visit communities and hang out and explore as much as we can without getting harrassed by the Yellow Fever (what Erick calls the police here.. they wear full yellow outfits and yellow hats).

But speaking of harrassment, just want to love on all the Mothers out there! In particular want to send love to the mothers in my life: Pauline, Kimmy, Helen, Jessica, Trish, Grandma G,B,D, and Aliah. I love you all! Hope you enjoy this special day and take pride in all those years of worry, tears, and sacrificial love.


Prayer:
Please pray for Katie who got Malaria and left the Congo early to receive proper treatment in South Africa. Pray for quick recovery and for their insurance to come through.
Please pray for Kelvin (our bookkeeper at Hands). He got Cerebral Malaria, which is the most serious kind. He's currently in the ICU at our nearby hospital in South Africa.
Also pray for me on a less serious note. I've had a cold for over 2 weeks now and just can't shake it. When I think it is getting better and almost gone, it just kicks in again.

Thanks.

Much love.

Malawi, The Series Round 2

Last time on Malawi, The Series:
Maize fields, long walking, precious family, lots of love.

So to continue with my update on Malawi I choose to discuss the topics of bathing, eating, electricity, and mosquitoes.

If you have been following my blogs regularly, you know by now that I am not an avid bather. But when you are not in control of your life (being hosted by the most hospitable people on the planet), you change. Vailet made me a bath twice a day. This is not a porcelain tub lined with candles and rose petals, filled with bubbles, rubber duckies and other fun bath toys. This is a small basin of extremely hot water placed in a grass hut with a dirt floor and large rocks strategically placed around the floor. These rocks are meant for balancing. The hut had a blue mosquito net placed over the door for privacy ... on non-windy days. Baths are basically a lot of scooping water in hand and splashing. But honestly, these are my favourite types of baths. I'm planning to have a bath basin in my bathroom.

Overly hospitable people can at times be stressful, especially in terms of food. And not just the amount I am forced to eat, but also knowing that the most hospitable families are usually families that are too generous for their own economic capacity. I would get this incredible spread every meal (4 a day) and the kids would get a half piece of dry bread. Hard to swallow that. It was not physically possible to ingest all the food I had ingested.
Common breakfast: 3 giant buns with 1 inch spread of margarine, 2 bananas, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 cups of coffee. One time she made homemade deep-fried potato wedges and popcorn for breakfast. She filled my bowl with wedges and I ate very slowly, hoping the elapsed time would display the fill of my stomach. As soon as I finished, she tried to fill my bowl again. After explaining I'm full and her responding, "You have long journey", she filled my bowl. When she left, I put most of it back in the main bowl and continued to test my elapsed-time theory. When she returned and found my bowl nearly empty, she filled again. And then brought me a giant bowl of popcorn. There's no winning. Breakfast, lunch (which included 3 full plates of rice), tea at 5 pm (which included anther 3 giant buns with margarine and 2 cups of coffee), and supper. One time we had fried chicken for supper and in total I ate 6 pieces of chicken, along with the mountain of Nsima and veggies.

The house had no electricity. No one had electricity. When it got dark at 6 pm the candles would come out. Difficult to use the toilet (literally a small hole 8 inches in diameter) on a windy day with a candle. Step outside, candle instantly out, proceed to aim. One thing they did have that gave a tiny bit of light was a wire hanging around the house with mini flashlight bulbs hooked to a battery. It made it look really nice, actually.

Mosquitoes were the worst I had ever seen. The first night they were all in my net with me so I tried to sleep under the blankets but you know how that goes. It gets so hot and stuffy so you try to make a small breathing hole but know the mosquitoes can smell your lips so you continue to suffer. I'm honestly surprised I don't have malaria. If I was to get it anywhere, should've been there.

Next round of the series we'll explore the communities and schools I visited.

Malawi, The Series.

A few things have happened since last time I posted: Celebrations in Zambia, our first Hands wedding (where both parties met through Hands - mine is the second), and Malawi.

I have much to say about 7 days in Malawi but don't want to make you read 100 pages at once so instead I'll write a series of blogs and make you read 100 pages over a period of time. I hope pictures will come at some point.

I arrived on 26 April. It was a fun and interesting journey, mostly because I did it all on my own. Big for me. I left my house in SA at 5 am on Monday, took the Bug to Johannesburg, got on a flight, landed in Lusaka Zambia, stayed the night and caught a bus the next morning. The bus took me to Chipata. I got on a taxi which took me to the border, I crossed, then got on another taxi to Mchiji and then another taxi to Lilongwe where I finally met up with Royie. We then travelled together to his beautiful home deep in the moutnains and maize fields of Mngwere. This place is much more rural than I could have imagined. It is literally winding footpahts through tall grass and maize. Everyone travels by foot or by bike if you are fortunate. Royie and I had to walk 9 km to work each day. One way.

But the thing that burns in my heart the most to share now is Royie's family. I fell in love with them and couldn't part without tears. Every second of every day I was deeply moved by the beauty of their family. Royie stays with his wife, Vailet, and their 7 children, ranging from 3 to 24. The two eldest girls (Chimwewe, 24, and Ireen, 22) are married with children and have their own houses on Royie's plot. In Malawian culture, when a woman marries, the man joins the woman's family. A very matriarchal society. Royie and Vailet have been married 31 years but to watch Vailet giggle as she chats with him you would think it has been 3. She's such a good companion and helper to him. As I approach my wedding, I loved watching her and the way she brings life into the home.

I think my favourite part of staying with the family was sitting in the kitchen (an outdoor room with a dirt floor and a spot to build a fire) with Vailet, Chimwewe, and Ireen. These three beautiful women would be preparing meals for their own family and would do it together with such joy. They would chat and laugh and sing together. They truly loved each other's company. It just made me see the specialness in raising families together and remaining together through all stages of life.

I'll stop here but on the next entry I need to describe their home, where I bathed (loooved it), the simple but tough way in which they live, the things I did and places I saw, how much coffee I drank, bread I ate and how many baths I took.

Before I end, just a huge shout out to Elizabeth. I missed your birthday. I'm sorry. Happy 6th!

Much love.