May Update

The last update was "the beginning of hot season" and it seems to have ended! I should not speak too soon, as many locals say it is the beginning of the hot, humid season, but we have had rain! A really good rain came about 2 weeks ago. It was so refreshing and very deafening on our tin roof. The temperatures seemed to have dropped since! It has been dipping below 30 at night! Yippee!! Have not had temperatures above 47 during the days! Yippee!! We survived our first hot season! Here are some pictures to summarize our month.

Yes, it is hot here, but it is so hard to get exercise. Thankfully, I have an amazing running partner who makes me get up at an obscene hour on a Sunday morning and we go every week! This is how much sand is in ONE shoe after a run. We decided just today that we will work up to a half marathon. The temperatures are usually high 20s or low 30s during our run, and we are completely drenched in sweat, but it is an amazing feeling! We ran 11.75km today...just have to add 9km to that! I am a bit scared though...

Nathan having fun drawing on our IKEA board...I am SO glad we brought this out...provides lots of entertainment for us!

trying to think of something witty to write..."the trees are blooming" or something like that...but in actuality, it is really sad...there is so much garbage all over the place, it is gross. In fairness, this is in the middle of nowhere and seems to be a garbage dump, but there is an incredibly large number of plastic bags all over this city...so sad

Our director's family has bunnies and we got to go and visit when they had some newborns! They were pretty cute.

Yes, that is sweat on their heads :) Having TV time with some Korean friends.

Nathan fell asleep during a time out

Jaelyn had artwork displayed at her school for an art weekend

Went to the village of Kongu with Kristi last week and these kids were eating lunch in front of us. They were so darn cute I had to take a picture...it is still hard for me to get over the differences in our culture. They were just happy to get food and started digging right in. They got the big bowl because it was the bowl they were serving out of, and they got what was left. They did not bother brushing off the sand from their hands before they started to eat. They were even given some of the bones (yes, there was actually meat in the sauce, quite a treat!) and were so happy to gnaw on what little meat was left on them. The rice and sauce was good and it was very humbling to have these people share with us the little that they have. May God have mercy on this place and on all of us. We who have so much are so reluctant to give and share our excess while the poorest of the poor are willing to share out of their need. 

We went to a local church today and it was a great experience. They sang for 2 hours or so, the sermon was translated into 2 dialects and there was a bit of chaos, but it was so encouraging for us to see Christians here! There weren't a whole lot considering the total number of people in Niamey, but there were, indeed, people who wanted to worship Jesus and gathered to do so! 

Went to a yard sale yesterday and picked up a soft bat for Nathan! He has been so excited to play with Rog. Such a great improvement from a 1" diameter PVC pipe that he was using for a bat in the beginning...