Church & Shopping

Update from 1/4/2009 - Sunday began overcast, with heavy skies. But that didn’t dampen our spirits.

We all met for breakfast about 9am and left for church at 9:30am. Like the churches in the USA, attendance can be down following a holiday. That was the case here. We were back to the church where we had New Year’s Eve service. Come to find out, it is a Canadian-based church. The music was fantastic and the message inspiring. They had one gal that wanted to give her testimony. It brought us all to tears.

After church we went to a little out-of-the-way place for grilled ham & cheese sandwiches. Lunchtime is always accompanied by at least one rousing game of cards. We never seem to get to the end of the game, as our lunch arrives before then. But it passes the time and we have fun.

During lunch we noticed a few sprinkles, and then a quick cloudburst. People sitting outside quickly scampered under cover.

The girls were eager to go SHOPPING!!! Just as we arrived at the little shopping spot (I can’t call it a mall…..but there were all of these little tiny places side-by-side and up the hill that were all hooked together and there was some protection from overhead – but not much) the skies opened up and it just poured. That gave Erica an opportunity to tell us how to proceed with the bartering process. Basically, whatever they say the item costs, offer them half. Then they’ll counter and the dickering begins.

It was still raining, but we jumped out of the van and ran for cover. Most of the places we were dry, but sometimes the roof leaked. They even had umbrellas to hold over our heads as we crossed a little area.

I bought a few trinkets, but not much. I always was thinking about how I was going to get the items back home. You know me - - - pack light!

We went and had Chinese food for dinner. It was very good, but we ate outside and it got cold. I’m glad I had brought my hooded sweatshirt.

My throat was a little scratchy towards the end of the evening. I took my temp and it was normal. So I popped some extra vitamin C, Vicked up my chest, and took a Benadryl.

Back for a few final hours of construction in the morning. Both Amon & Erica are going to Butare today, so we will be with our African chaperones for the day. Then in the afternoon we will get to do a little more shopping.

And then we will need to get back to our rooms and pack – as we leave in the morning for two days in Butare. Hopefully it will still be daylight, because it is hard to get much done in our room after dark (between worrying about the mosquitoes, not having good light in the room and me being not worth much in the evening.