It's all coming back to me now!!

Once you've been in Africa, you never forget Africa. It's not that I did forget, but when you come back, and see the view, the people, smell the smells, memories just flood back. It is taking some adjusting. The first couple of days were hard, but I'm getting there. I never grew up a city girl, but I have become one. And city girls don't do well in Africa. lol The Geckos crawling on the walls in your house, dead birds in the bedroom, dead dogs on the side of the road(that was there for days before someone picked him up). The language barrier has been tough, but we are learning. And also getting around town is a challenge. We walk or get taxis. A lot of the taxis are motorbikes, you should see it, they drive CRAZY-no such thing as a center line. The first day, Mike and I decided to walk to this cafe (it is starbucks times 10 - not kidding!!) and my calves still hurt. They don't call this the land of a thousand hills for nothing. It is gorgeous here. I am now filling my longing or homesickness for Africa since Malawi 15 years ago. Africa should be a place for everyone to visit at least once. I am glad my son is from such a special land. :)

The food is very, very expensive. We bought a package of weiners for $10, 500g of dry macaroni for $9, very small mustard for $5, cereal is $15, etc. Coke (as in pop) and bread is cheap. Hence the term "coke and a bun" is a very good idea. We ate this every day in Malawi. So if I walk all the hills and not eat much - it'll be a good weight loss program!! lol

(by the way, I should tell you, this is Marcy - Mike has written every other post. So hello (or "Jambo" to all my peeps) lol

SO... do you want to hear about our son?? I've kept you waiting. He is a great little kid. We visited him at the orphanage on Sat for an hour. We picked him up on Sun morning and took him to church and kept him for all day. He was so good. He was actually stunned and in shock, but very good. He took food from us and we got one smile from him. We picked him up today (mon), and he cried all morning, so we took him back to the orphanage and just played with him there in his environment. The poor little guy is confused. He laughed a couple of times today at the orphanage, but then it is almost if he caught himself laughing, and suddenly stopped, and became serious again. The kicker is he is a "daddy's boy"!!! Big time. He wants nothing to do with me. It's sad, but I know that it will come with time. At least he is bonding with one of us. If Mike leaves the room , he screames. And if Mike is holding him and I try and take him - he screams!!
He is the happiest when we give him food. And it's different food than he receives at the orphanage. We gave him a sippy cup and he holds onto that for dear life. They have nothing for themselves at the orphanage, and very few toys. When we drop him off, we take his sippy cup and toys, because the other kids will want them. There are SO many kids there, waiting for a home. It is sad, but I am glad that the orphanage is giving them a home.

Well, I have to go, thank you for your prayers. Please keep praying, because Immigration says his Visa will not be done in the 2 weeks. But we serve and love a God that can work miracles, and we have put this in his hands. It has been a struggle this whole journey, God has been faithful, and I will continue to trust God, to help us the rest of this journey. His name "Irakoze" means "thanks to God"