Recap of Our Week

Our internet was down all day yesterday, so I wrote this and then couldn’t post it.  Meanwhile, yesterday, Matthew took his first flight.  He and pilot Nick Frey headed out to Vanga on a chartered flight for some people so that Matthew could check out the hanger and post there.  I am hoping he will post about it and share some pictures…but maybe you already saw this one posted on facebook?

Matthew and Nick take flight!

Thursday we all took a family trip downtown to the Mission Aviation Fellowship office.  The office is located on the Av de Justice (you can Google Map it, I think) right in line with several consulates and embassies.

The drive downtown (we were not in the driver’s seat) is an interesting one.  In Western terms, we went from the suburbs to the big city.  Here, we drove through winding neighborhoods, over very damaged roads, through some crazy intersections, and suddenly we’re on a road that is several lanes wide, paved, and even has traffic lights.  Not traffic lights like I’ve seen them before.  These are arrows that count down from 99.  If there are police officers there, do whatever they tell you, not what the light is doing.  Anyway, the MAF office is in a building with several other missionary and non-government operations (NGOs).  We met the national staff, had a brief orientation, and then the kids and I waited in a little room while Matthew and another person conducted interviews for his helper/driver/interpreter.  Not knowing the language, roads, or shops, Matthew will be far better off with sometime who knows all of those things to help him.

After those were over, we drove around, seeing a few more places to go shopping, found something akin to Walmart, but even that comparison is a stretch, and stopped for lunch.  It was our first trip out to eat…the restaurant was Lebanese!  We had tasty schwarmas and Cokes.  I have not been a Coke drinker, but here…oh man.  I don’t know if it’s the heat or the “real” Coke (made with sugar syrup instead of HFCS), but they taste SO good here.  It’s bad, I know.

Then we headed home to the heat.  The power, as of Thursday, had been out for three days in a row.  It would come on at night and go off in the morning.  Kind of annoying, but it’s been on since Thursday night now and we’re hoping it stays this way for a while.  I got lots of laundry done yesterday, walked with the kids down to the nearby open market (with a friend, because my French is limited to “bonjour”) and got lots of little things cleaned.  I even baked biscuits!  The stroller is great, but the roads in our neighborhood are hills and made of sand (yep, sand).  Let’s just say, I got my workout!  It’s about a half mile to the marketplace, called the Commercial Centre.

This morning the MAF wives had a lovely breakfast and prayer time for our team.  It was a great way to start the weekend.