maybe it's sinking in that i'm not just here for a visit

So, as many of you know, my favorite photo subjects are almost always children. There are plenty of beautiful little faces around me, so you'll probably be seeing a lot of them!

These two friends, Fabiola (L) and Maria, live at the first New Hope Home started by Chantal and are two of the oldest children.

refrigerators and bank accounts

Another week! Among the week’s notables was the fact that it was the first time I worked from the office every day in at least five months and possibly longer. I’m not a very good cubicle-dweller, so this might be an event to mourn, rather than to celebrate – ha!

As I was getting ready for my move, I spent a lot of time going to offices and businesses during the day to take care of various moving details and then doing my work and answering emails late at night, thanks to the wonderful world of telecommuting. So going into the office for eight hours and then going home and not working until the following day has been a novelty.

Among the other things I did this week: going to see the house where I’ll be living – very exciting! I’m especially excited by the nice big yard around the house. I also bought a refrigerator and stove, as well as a couple of plates and cups, so that even before the rest of my things arrive from the States I can at least eat – priorities, you know.

Chantal and her sister-in-law Joiesse (again, I’m guessing at this spelling) took me shopping for my appliances, which helped tremendously. While I’m actually fairly good at bargaining, having no idea what the going rate for an item is makes it a bit difficult to bargain. And I set up a bank account. This isn’t really exciting, I realize, but again it was the novelty of the situation. The bank was open for regular business hours on Sunday so that’s what I did after lunch yesterday.














This beautiful little girl, Deborah, also lives at the first home.














As the oldest infant at the second home, Mbabazi (approx 9 months old) is Queen of the Babies.














And here she is with her royal subjects: (L-R) Daniel, Moses, Prince (yes, Prince), and one more young lady whose name escapes me as I write this...

adventures in the kitchen

I also did a bit of cooking. I enjoy cooking and have done quite a bit of it over the years. Though I’m not sure I’m ever going to convince Baptiste of this. Baptiste is a very kind, soft-spoken, smiley man who helps out around Chantal’s home. We can say hello and how are you to one another and then his English is exhausted so we mostly communicate through signs and pointing.

The one time I tried to say a word to him in Kinyarwanda, he smiled and said, “You speak Swahili?” In my defense, I knew it was a Swahili word I’d used, but I thought it was also used in Kinyarwanda. I was wrong. All in all, we get on quite well. He just doesn’t trust me in the kitchen. Perhaps deservedly if you look at the facts from his perspective.

One day I’d had a quick bite of lunch and decided I’d wash my few dishes up. There was a rag and a sponge in the sink. I picked up the rag, added a bit of soap and started washing, just as Baptiste walked in. With a big smile he started gesturing that he would do it. I told him it was no problem. When I insisted, he came over, took the rag out of my hand and placed the sponge in it instead. He also picked up the soap bottle and squeezed some on, just to be on the safe side, I think.

It turns out that I was washing the dishes with the rag he only uses for wiping the counters. Baptiste is a use-only-a- sponge-for-washing-dishes kind of guy, evidently. I walked away from the encounter fairly certain that Baptiste thought that was my first experience washing dishes.

Fast-forward to breakfast the next morning, when I decided to scramble myself a couple of eggs. When Baptiste saw me get out a skillet, butter and two eggs, he walked over and got a small bowl and a fork, so I could scramble them. I realize that might be the most traditional way to scramble eggs and if I’d just gone ahead and done it that way, perhaps I could have reassured Baptiste that it wasn’t my first time cooking.

But the truth is, I prefer melting a little butter, breaking the eggs directly into the skillet and letting the whites whiten a bit before starting to scramble them. I thanked Baptiste for the bowl, then stubbornly pressed on and gestured that I was going to do it differently. He smiled at me, shrugged a little, and opened the drawer to get the crazy woman in his kitchen a spatula so she could stir her strange eggs.

Add the fact that I’m still learning where items are kept in the kitchen, still getting used to the gas burners I’m cooking on, etc, and none of this has done anything to help convince Baptiste that I can find my way around a kitchen. Now, when I start anything, he stands at my shoulder for the first 10 minutes or so, to make sure I can find things, know how to turn things on and off – and perhaps to make sure I don’t burn the house down.














This one is here just because I love it. The infant is Baby Sarah, from last week's post. I had been taking close-ups of Sarah just previous to this photo, while her "Mama" held her.

Then one of the aunties suggested I take a picture of both of them. The mama hesitated but then agreed. So here they are: the youngest and oldest members of New Hope Home 1, together.














Several of the children and babies, one of the mamas, Chantal (standing on right), one of the aunties, and another friend all enjoy one of the newly finished sitting rooms.

fresh paint and brownies

In spite of Baptiste’s doubts, I did successfully make a couple batches of brownies that we took to Chantal’s kids on Sunday afternoon. Chantal and I had been talking about things we’re familiar with from the States that can easily be made here. (Incidentally, you can buy almost everything here – it’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to spend. The price tag on anything that has to be imported can be shockingly high.)

I told her about a brownie recipe our family has always used and we discovered that we had everything we needed to make them – yea! So she suggested we make some as a treat for all the children. Of course, we kept some for ourselves too…

Over the last week, both current homes as well as the new one have been getting fresh coats of paint on the walls and floors and the children have gamely allowed themselves to be shuffled from room to room and house to house as this happened. While the paint finished drying, Chantal and I spent much of Saturday afternoon arranging furniture.

The brownies were in part to celebrate the fact that after several days of upheaval, the kids were all back in their own beds and able to go freely from room to room in their homes. They were a big hit.














I just love the "Sunday afternoon picnic" feel of this photo. Rosemary and Enosa decided to make themselves comfortable while they ate their brownies. Enosa just arrived at the home on Thursday, but judging from this photo he seems to be settling in just fine.

By the way, the brownie recipe, for those who are interested, is:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter (I did not say they were healthy brownies)
2 eggs
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2 cups flour

Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees (F) for about half an hour. Enjoy!

I'm continually thinking of all my family and friends who I left in Colorado -- as well as the many of you who are scattered all over various other parts of the world! I end this sending lots of love to all.