Angella had a really long day yesterday, especially since she had to drive us. When I drive at home at night I am usually exhausted and that is just because it is tiring to have to stay awake! Here, the roads are much, much worse. There are often huge potholes that you have to avoid or the road narrows because the sides (I fail to say shoulders because I don't think they truly exist) have washed away. It was much more productive this morning for her to sleep in and work on her homework for her upcoming return to a masters program. I don't know what we would do without Angella. She gives up almost her entire vacation to help us out and sometimes we take advantage of her! I am trying to make sure we don't force her to wear herself out too much!
The boys and I went to the Watoto office alone this time. It was easy because we had talked to Emily about sponsorship and Bob about the visit already when Angella was there. Although it wasn't difficult to get a pass, they still had to make sure that we weren't going with out Angella. I reassured them that Angella took the morning to sleep but would be our "host" at our visit.
Afterwards we went to the craft market to look at what sorts of things they had this year. It's almost always the same stuff, but I still manage to buy a bunch more! I need to stop these habits. One of the ladies remembered me from last year. When I walked up she remembered meand what I had bought from her! That's amazing! I'm not usually that memorable, so this lady must have a really great memory. The women who sell in the shops are super hard working and are relentless in trying to make a sale. I am not really great at saying no in most situations, so I really have to force myself to use the word while I am in the market!
The best part of the day was the afternoon. We got to see the Woolies! I didn't call my brother or my mom from the house because I was almost out of airtime, and we only stayed for a couple of hours. We had sweeties and a couple of treats in the car, but surprisingly we never even took them out. Sometimes I wonder if the kids like us because we bring them things or they actually like us because we visit them. I think this time they really just liked us because we were there! Sweet! I showed them the "hello" video that Ross and Rachel (and Oscar) had made on my ipad. They loved it! The minute Ross showed up on the screen, Peter led the way with "Wooly Bully" and said "1-2-3" over and over. For those of you who don't know the song, here is a sweet video of it from youtube(I hope it works and that I am allowed to post it on a blog):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHF558u6Q_8
Over the past year, one of the house moms, Rose, passed away due to complications from HIV/AIDS. Her son and daughter still remain in the house and a new mom, Christine has come to take over. She is so sweet and is great with the kids. She was excited to meet us because when the kids say their prayers they often ask if they can pray for the Wooly Bully. They always talk about when they went to the zoo and when they went for chicken. She had no idea who they were always talking about and now she got to meet us and hear and see Ross. The kids loved seeing the pictures of themselves from all the times we were here on the ipad. It is super convenient to have them in one place. They liked to see the pictures from home, too. They started naming all the people that I showed them. Now they know Ross, Rachel, Oscar, Rocky, Mom, and Dad. It was just really great to hang out with the kids and play outside. I know we will get to see them again, and hopefully it will be a longer time. My mom is going to be so excited to see them again!
When we got home, we were much more tired than we expected. We were planning on hanging out with some friends, but we were too tired! In addition, we were all thinking about how long today is going to be. We are taking a trip to Mbende, which is a large village about 2.5 hours away. Angella said the roads are much better, so that is a bonus, but it is still far and there are hundreds of kids and adults that greet us. We give medicine to the orphaned kids who stay in houses and then we just go around and visit everyone else. It's probably the most work and the place with the most unexpected surprises. I just always hope that we will be able to see everybody and get the work done!
For now, here are a few pictures of the Woolies. I didn't take that many today because we spent so much time talking with the moms, but I promise there will be more to come!
Awesome! Is your phone number the same?
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