Saturday

Saturday started with the kids waking up at 6:30am.  I went out and played with them so Kathee (and Karl) could sleep.  We had granola bars, and bananas and oranges from the market.  We hung out and played quietly until Kathee, and then Karl, woke up for the day.  Once they woke up the adults ate a quiet breakfast while the children played.  

Mid morning our first shipment from Walmart arrived at the APO address we were allowed to use by a woman associated with the US Embassy and attends Kathee’s dad’s church.  We were told that everything takes three weeks to arrive, so we ordered diapers and other things we’d need from Walmart.com and shipped them to the APO address.  When Aslam delivered the box, included was a separate box of children’s toys.  From the Nerf guns to the wooden blocks to the toy animals, our kids are loving the toys!  

At noon Karl left for a big shindig for the daughter of karl’s landlord, so we fended for ourselves, made lunch, put the kids down for naps, and then I crashed.  At 4:30, Kathee woke me up and we took our second walk around the village.  I used Strava, an app I use when cycling to measure our distance and where we went.  1.8 miles!  

We stopped at a free trade place Kathee loves to buy some things.  This organization works with people with disabilities and those with leprosy to give them jobs as they make textile/crafts.  After finding everything we wanted and more, we set everything aside and continued our walk, telling the man we’d be back to pay for everything later.  Some of our purchases during this walk included:  a stool for the girls to reach the sink, eggs, vegetables, and I can’t remember what else.  The best part of each walk is getting rotis at another place tonight, which was right next to the mobile chicken butcher shop.  I asked Aslam if it was okay to take pictures and he said it was okay to take pictures since he had become friends with them over the years.  They got a hoot out of me taking so many pictures of their illegal butcher shop, which is in the back of a stripped out (of the interior) minivan that is still drivable.  Then Aslam said that I couldn’t post them to FB as their little chop shop (see what I did there?) isn’t what you’d call legal.  I’ll have to wait until we get back to the States and send them out.  It’s…ahhh… awesome….but less than sanitary.  Let’s just say that the knife one of the dude’s uses touches the bottoms of his bare feet A LOT!  I’m still hoping to see the goat butcher shop, but we’ll see!  

When we returned to MESH (the free trade store), Hope sat down and fell asleep.  Like out sleep.  When we finished I had to carry her the equivalent of the three blocks home.  She slept almost the entire way.  Love jet lag.  

After we got home, Kathee made supper, we ate, and before the end of supper, Gideon asked to go to bed.  The girls followed shortly after.  After supper, I cleaned the kitchen while Kathee read some of the documents I needed proofed to complete my internship for the presbytery.  Then I folded some clothes.  And now I’m getting ready for bed.  

Church is in the morning!  We are excited to go to corporate worship and visit DICF again.  Karl had said there is much change since we last visited so we are excited to see and worship in their new space (they rent from a different school than in the past).  We leave at 8:45 for the 10:30 service.  We are excited.  With that, I’m going to bed.  Goodnight!