The health post accountant with her new neighborsLife: It has dawned on me that we are actually, really leaving. One of our peace corps neighbors is finishing early and going home next week, so we sent him off with a party last weekend. It’s sad, but he’s a good friend, and I don’t doubt that we’ll see him again soon. We do tend to get together a lot, and it seems like we do it increasingly as we get closer to the end, and each time, we ask ourselves if this is the last time. I’m sure this isn’t, but it hangs in the air. I think we get especially close to each other because we’re disengaging from our work and communities. It was hard watching Brandon say goodbye to his Rwandan friends, and start giving his things away to neighbors. I know I’m going to see these guys again sooner than I’m going to see my Rwandan family here. As we pull away from Rwanda, I think we pull together, just like we always do when things are difficult. I just hope that in the end that doesn’t make things even harder.
The Boys, one last timeCrafts: So, as I’ve mentioned before, my friend Anna and I visit the local prison about once a week to sew toys for children at the hospital with some of the female prisoners. Last week, we were wrapping up, and giving the new bean bags a quick toss to make sure the beans wouldn’t fall out, I had a vision: Brandon is a serious juggler. African fabric bean bags would be the perfect gift. Given that Anna has made hundreds of these things, she was the one to present Brandon with them. On my part, Tom had recently talked me into buying a promotional length of fabric for Primus – Rwanda’s most popular beer. Thinking about gifts that were both small and meaningful, I came up with a passport holder for Brandon. While I was sewing, I realized that the fabric was actually not for Rwandan Primus, but the Congolese brand. Still, I don’t think that that detracts from the overall effect.
And finally, a Valentine’s Day gift from our garden.
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