I'm up early this AM with thoughts bouncing around in my head... Caleb just left for his last day of golfing and the kids aren't up yet. Figured I'd take a few minutes to reflect here.
Last Wednesday we went to Mr Chips after school to grab some food for the kids, but it took so long (classic) that Mazie & Caleb had to leave before it was ready (they were going golfing with Mazie's friend Jeeya and her dad). So Athena, Lexi, and I ended up walking home with an extra bag of chips (fries) and chicken that Mazie was supposed to eat. When we got to our street, three kids we didn't know greeted us muzungus with the familiar, "Hello! I'm hungry!" Realizing I was carrying an extra bag of food that would likely go uneaten, I stopped and handed it over to one of them, trying to explain that he should share it with the others. A tussle ensued, with the three kids scrambling over the bag and MORE kids running over to try and get their share. I kept saying, "No! Share!!" to no effect... a guy came over and tried to help mediate, and we turned and walked the rest of the way home, a little dejected. As we got home, Lexi said, "Mom, we're good people, right?"
This story came back to me yesterday when I was telling Craig, my newest lab member/Hedgehog, about our weekend and our great but complicated block party. (I got a little weepy during our Zoom meeting ... reeeeaaalll professional... grateful once again for understanding and supportive co-workers. Thanks Craig. :)) We have such a longing to feel like what we're doing here is good and right, to be able to walk away knowing that we are Good People and that we have Fixed Things. But we can't, and that's kind of the whole point. The problems we're looking at here, the massive inequities in wealth and opportunity, the systems that created and maintain all of it - it's all so fundamentally rotten that it's hard for any of us to do anything that is truly Good. Every well-intentioned action has negative consequences. And that makes it challenging for all of us, from the 8 year old on up, to make sense of what we're doing here and what the sum total of our Good and Bad impacts has been.
I can't remember exactly what I told Lexi in that moment. Probably that yes, we are Good People, and we're doing our best, but it's a complicated world with some big problems that we can't solve on our own.
The weekend block party and our impending departure have prompted a lot of stock-taking: where have we landed at the end of this chapter, and what do we do with all of this?
We have to accept our limited role and abilities - as individuals, we can't solve anything. We are not saviors.
But we also can't let that paralyze us into inaction.
Staying committed to seeing everyone around us, wherever we are, as worthy and fully human and deserving of love and support and opportunity seems like a Good way to live. It's also really hard, because it makes us confront the deep wrongness of a world that takes equally deserving people and hands them such vastly unequal lots. It makes us accept that we do not have what we have because we are Good People, but because we were born with white skin in a rich country. That is not fair.
And if it's not fair, we're obligated to do something about it, but (back to the beginning) what on earth can we do?
Because the unfairness and the impotence and the discomfort it all causes is hard to handle, it's tempting to build different stories about why our lives are so different from our neighbors. We've heard those stories here. People are drinking and having too many kids. They're not Good People, which is why they don't have, and that's ok. If I believe that, I can feel better. I noticed that after being here for a few months, I had many days where I didn't really see the inequities so much... I got used to them and maybe started to accept that this is just how things are.
But I don't want to do that. I want to keep seeing and feeling. And I want to act.
So we've done some things. We've set up SACCO accounts for our neighbors, and committed to putting in small amounts of money on a monthly basis for each family until each kid turns 18. We've tried, as best we can, to make it clear that this money comes without conditions. Our intention is to support the kids we've grown to love and their families, and they are in the best position to decide how that money should be spent. We also haven't done this alone, by a long stretch. The money is coming from our big generous extended family, and we've relied on the guidance and help of our friends here (Kevine, Odette, Lambert, Anaclet) to set up and maintain this scheme.
And we've tried to look at the larger systems, too, and to partner with others who live with and understand those systems and are working to make changes across different domains. We've invested and partnered in Great Native Safaris with Anaclet to support his conservation and eco-tourism work. We've learned from Joseph at USAID about work towards peacebuilding and good governance. I'm working with public health colleagues to build capacity for climate and health research-to-action in Rwanda and East Africa.
I think that overall, these are Good Things, and yes, Lexi, we are Good People. We're all good people. But all of it is also incomplete and imperfect. And so we can't just walk away. We have to stay connected and keep working to build connections and actions that will last.
At our block party we told the neighbors that while we're leaving now, we will come back to Rwanda to visit. One of the mamas asked, "When you come back, will you come HERE, to this neighborhood?" We told her that we will. (Odette has actually told us that when we come back, we can stay here at her house for free, which is very sweet.) So we're going home-home for now, but we will be back to this home again. When? Who knows. One step at a time.
I've given myself 15 min to write this post because we have A LOT going on right now. T minus 5 days to departure. No time for reflection - just the facts here on our very eventful last weekend in Rwanda.
Chapter 1: Ingagi
For our final wildlife experience here, we planned a trip to see the mountain gorillas (ingagi) in Volcanos National Park. Since you have to be 15+ to do this, we timed our adventure to happen after Mazie's 15th birthday. Sadly, Mazie tested positive for COVID on Friday morning (she'd been home sick the day before and had some symptoms starting Monday)... we debated canceling the whole trip, but since Caleb and I felt ok, Mazie said she was ok with it, and Anaclet was adamant that we should go, we decided to forge ahead with just the 2 of us.
We drove up and stayed near the park on Friday night, and then woke up early on Saturday. Checked in at the park headquarters and were assigned to a group of 8 plus a guide. Anaclet drove us about 40 min to the drop off point, and we set off on foot with our guide, our group, and a few porters. About another 50 min walk through farmlands to the park entrance, and then a muddy uphill 1.5 hr hike into the jungle. A group of trekkers were up ahead scouting out where our gorillas were. We eventually met them on the trail, left our backpacks and walking sticks, put on masks (to prevent giving or getting diseases to/from our primate relatives), and bushwhacked off the trail for a couple of minutes until...
INGAGI!
We got to spend an hour with them. It was magical. There were apparently 14 gorillas in this troupe - I think we saw about 10 of them. First was the lead silverback with a 1 year old baby and another juvenile... also one in that tree over there.
Then there was a mama & 3 yr old baby, and another juvenile that came VERY close to Caleb on the path.
Then in another spot close by there was a second silverback (the "vice president") with another mama & 6 month old baby. The adults were trying to rest but the baby was awake and playful. I joked that the baby was taking a "nope," which is what we used to call it when our babes refused to sleep at naptime.
(Waiting for lunch with Caleb... taking a few minutes to get this started.)
Chapter 2: Block Party
We got back from our ingagi trek on Saturday evening and found the kids all intact and happy. On Sunday, we had a "block party" at our house with our neighbors. Caleb has successfully set up SACCO accounts for 22 families at this point. The original intention for these accounts was to support the families of the kids we've gotten to know on an ongoing basis. We made a list of kids names and found the mamas who went with them. (It was also fun to figure out which kids are from the same families - Diane, Jadot, and Paci are all siblings, huh?) That came to about 17 families. Then we added Theo and Violette. Then Vestine brought over a couple of other mamas and insisted that we knew their kids too and needed to add them. (Then Odette the landlord called and said she'd heard that Vestine was recruiting families and taking a cut of their payments and asked us not to add any more of Vestine's friends.) So that brought us to 22.
The idea for the block party was to have a celebration and BBQ with those families, which we estimated would be about 30 kids and 40 adults (mamas and papas). We talked to Odette about it and she loved the idea. She talked to Theo, and they came up with the plan that Theo would go buy 2 goats, and then a guy who has a little corner bar on our street would bring his grill over and cook them up at our house. (Aside: I pictured Theo buying two already-butchered goats, but then he showed us this picture on Saturday night...
and asked to borrow our knife... which we brought with us from the US and is a special one that Ty & Sara gave us... we told him, as best we could, that it was special and we needed it back, and we did get it back, but with some signs of wear and tear because it was apparently used to do this:
End of aside.)
Anyhoo. On our way back from the gorilla trek we stopped at a big roadside market (near one of the Bridges to Prosperity bridges, actually) and bought 4 large bunches of bananas, 4 pineapples, 4 kgs of passionfruit, and some gooseberries. We also planned to get a bunch of Fanta. So with 2 goats-worth of bruchettes and a ton of fruit & drinks, we thought we were all set.
We originally thought we'd just have the gate open and have the party in the driveway, but we quickly realized that once word got out we'd have an unmanageably enormous crowd. So we decided to have the party inside the gate and just let in the people we invited. A little before the party Caleb went out to grab drinks (54 Fantas and 18 beers) and came back with a report that the crowd was gathering outside and they were very dressed up. Which was good info since we were definitely planning on casual BBQ attire. Kevine came over to help with setup around 3:30, we finished getting ready, got fancy, and at 4:30 Caleb and Kevine went down to let in the guests.
A couple of surprises. First, there were A LOT of kids... about 54 vs the 30 or so from "our" SACCO families. Definitely a lot of kids we'd never seen before. At some point I think one of the mamas said they'd brought family members? Nieces/nephews perhaps? In any case, a lot of children. Second, almost no papas - just one or two, and a lot of mamas... mostly from our families, with maybe 5 or so extras? I think at some point Theo counted 98 people in total, which was more than we had planned for...
What happened from there is a little hard to describe, especially from my intention to write this quickly and just-the-facts (though... we're still here waiting for our lunch 1 hr and 45 min after we got here).
The kids and parents all sat down in the seats we'd set out.
(Oh, looks like food is finally coming! Let's pause.)
...
(Wow, that lunch was a whole thing. Ended up waiting for 2 hrs for food... great way to spend one of our last days here. Phew. Now I'm at Question - gotta wrap this up in 5 min so I can actually do some work today.)
So everyone sits down. We've got some music playing. That's fairly normal for a block party. The not normal thing is that we can't let everyone just come and serve themselves food - from experience, we know that would likely lead to a big scramble with everyone grabbing as much as possible. So we go around handing out one banana each, and then one passionfruit, and then one slice of pineapple.... With the unexpected guests, we didn't have enough Fanta or brochettes for everyone, so we got 2 more crates of Fanta from Mama Big Tony (not to be confused with Little Tony) who owns a shop a few yards away, and had some of the families share brochettes with the littler kids instead of giving one to every person.
Brief reflection: no matter how much we have or give, it is not enough.
Somewhere in there, there was a little bit of dancing...
and some speeches (with translation thanks to Kevine and Lambert, who also came with a friend who is a pastor... and gave us a blessing at the end of the night that included telling us that God told him a. we should stop drinking beer and b. we will be returning to Rwanda to live here for 2 years and will continue to do lots of great things for the people of this country... but I digress), and some picture-taking (we wanted photos with each of the SACCO families, which took a while), and some gift-giving (also unexpected - the neighbors got Rwanda art for me & Caleb and nested baskets for the kids).
There was a lot of hugging and many expressions of gratitude.
Eventually, the neighbors left and there were just a few of us left... Lambert and the aforementioned pastor, Kevine, and Odette's cousin Ninisa and her brother, who stopped by unrelated to the party to try (for about the 5th time) to install the security cameras Ahya brought back in Feb post-TV theft. Caleb and I hadn't eaten anything at this point... there was a platter of brochettes and goat ribs that had been set aside for us, so we brought those out and managed to have a few bites (I think I had a full brochette but Caleb only got maybe one bite).
And then the rest of the guests left, and we went to bed.
That's all I have for today. Thoughts and Feelings about all of this will have to wait. Full photo album here.
Mazie James, aka Peanut Dickinson, aka the original raison d'etre of this blog, turned 15 on Tuesday. It was a low-key celebration: she went to school, and then we went to Sakae for dinner (so she could have her favorite food: chicken fried rice), and then we came home and had cake with Kevine and Theo. Her big present was a new (refurbished) iPhone 12, which Grandpa brought in his luggage. It takes .5 photos, whatever that means, and she's very excited about that.
Kevine shared this fun little photo collage
Even in full teenager mode, Mazie James is a joy. She is kind and thoughtful and hard-working. She's been incredibly adaptable during this adventure, and has made some great friends that I hope she'll keep. For Mother's Day, she wrote me a card that said pretty much exactly what I'd want her to say... so much so that I had to ask if she was just saying what she knew I'd want her to say... which she said wasn't the case.
I appreciate her honesty and her presence and her willingness to stay connected to us, her embarrassing parents, even as she forges her developmentally-appropriate independent path. I'm excited to see her reconnect with the people and things she loves back home, and I'm also excited to see what sticks from this experience and what she does with the things she's learned here. Very strange to be parenting an almost-adult, who is still (and will always be) our Baby Mazie.
Here in Rwanda, it is common to call people by someone else’s
name. Like when I was a kid and I
introduced myself as “Michael’s little brother.” For most people, that had much more meaning
than the 5 letters that happen to spell my name. So, while I am Kalibu, I am also Papa Alexa,
Papa Athena, Papa Mazie.
Papa Kalibu got quite the welcome when he arrived and an
even better send off when he left.Somewhere in the middle was a wonderful adventure.
Day One:Well, we can’t
start there, because day 1 was supposed to be back in April.Grandpa’s passport expired in August 2023, so
he wasn’t allowed to fly internationally because it was within 6 months of
expiring.Traveling pros know this rule
quite well, but I was shocked by it and so was my dad.It reminds me of the Seinfeld, “Anyone can
take a reservation, but really it’s the holding of a reservation that matters.”It’s not expired, but I can’t use it anymore…because
of the expiration date.Got it.
So, he rebooked his flight for May, signed up for an
emergency passport, got it, and all was saved.
On Friday morning, he took off from Denver to Chicago, but a
delay in that flight got him into Chicago too late to catch his flight to Brussels.So, he hung out in Chicago for a day or so
and then flew to Istanbul, Turkey (which is in Europe while other parts of Turkey
are in Asia. fun fact). On Sunday he flew from Istanbul to Kigali with an
arrival of 12:15am on Monday.That
flight was delayed and he didn’t get out of the Kigali airport until nearly
2am.62 hours to get from Denver to
Kigali.Ouch.
He was a trooper and woke up early to have breakfast with
the kids and walk them to school.That
walk through the neighborhood and seeing the school is quite the initiation to
our community.Lots to see.Sensory/information/questions overload.When we got back to the house, he got his
first major greeting from the neighborhood kids, who ran right by me to hug
Papa Kalibu.He was a great participant,
hugging them, picking them up, playing with them, and even giving lots of kisses
on the hands and foreheads.He was so
fantastic.
We ended up going golfing on Monday while the kids were in
school and had lunch at the “halfway house” between the two rounds of 9
holes.Lunch ended up taking an hour and
a half and Papa Kalibu was getting his first major dose of Rwanda Time.Priceless.
A short afternoon nap and we were ready for dinner at Khana
Kazana.It’s a great Indian restaurant
with big tables and a fun atmosphere.We’ve
taken all of our guests here for family style dinner.Lambert and Anaclet joined us and we had a lovely
evening.During dinner we asked Anaclet
if we could go on a quick 1-day safari with Grandpa on Tuesday or Thursday (his
idea originally), and he said that Tuesday would work best.So, suddenly we needed an early bed time for
our 5:30am Safari departure.
Day 2: I’m so glad that we got to drive through the country
side, see all that there is to see on the rolling hills and make it to Akagera
National Park for the animals and nature.Papa Kalibu got to see so many amazing animals, but the big 5 were elusive
on our brief journey (only the Cape Buffalo showed up).A very long drive back and our 12 hour safari
trip was complete.
Grandpa is the family photographer, so he has better pictures of Hippos and Zebras and Baboons
Then it was off to dinner at Heaven.Lexi has been adamant about taking Grandpa to Heaven and Katie and I had
been pushing against it.It’s a fine
restaurant, but it’s not a necessary stop on a 5-day trip. Before Grandpa's trip, we had many great public conversations that
went something like this.
Lexi yelling and crying, “Why
can’t we go to Heaven?”
“Lexi, I know how bad you want
to go to Heaven, I’m just not sure if it’s going to happen.”
“WHY!!!!”
“Listen, Heaven is fine, it’s just
really not that great.I don’t think we
need to go there.”
“WE DO!”
“Why do you want to go so bad?What do you like so much about Heaven?”
“The food is good. They’re really
nice. And there is a trampoline and a playground.”
“Okay.I just don’t think that mom and I want to
take Grandpa to Heaven and I’m not sure if he really wants to go.What if you and I go to Heaven by ourselves a
little later?”
“I want to go to Heaven WITH
Grandpa.You promised!”
Getting loud enough that
everyone can hear, “NO.I NEVER PROMISED
THAT WE WOULD GO TO HEAVEN!”
We got lots of great looks and I realized that we should be
having this conversation in the privacy of our own home.
So, we went to Heaven and it was very good. Nothing to base
a religion around.
Day 3: We woke up early on Wednesday to watch GAME 1 of the
Nuggets vs Lakers.It did not disappoint,
Jokic continued his post season dominance with 100 points, 65 rebounds, and 42
assists.
Wednesday is “Club Night” at
the golf course, so we headed out for 18 holes with 2 great guys, Emmanuel and
Patrick.Unfortunately, Emmanuel was
called away for a work emergency and Remi took his place.Grandpa struggled with the rental clubs and a
body that just spent 3 days traveling, followed by golf, followed by 12 hours in
a safari vehicle.I played pretty
well.Well enough to win a trophy at
club night? Nearly.I lost by 1 point to
REMI of all people.I beat him by 1, but
his handicap was 2 more than me, so he got me.Our friend Patrick got a hole-in-one, so that was quite fun to get back to
the clubhouse for the celebration.
Having my dad meet all these wonderful Rwandans and see this
part of the culture was really fun for me.It’s nothing like the kids at the gate and it’s also quite different
from meeting Lambert and Anaclet.So
many different Africans, it turns out.
Wednesday afternoon we went to Pili Pili for pool time with
the kids and it did not disappoint.Lovely views, food, drinks, and playing.
Okay. Nap time.
Ready for a night out on the town?Let’s leave the car behind and get on some
moto taxis.That’s right, I made Grandpa
take a motorcycle taxi.We waited for a
normal taxi for a while, but then Grandpa said, “fine, we can take a motorcycle.”He did great!!!!!
Stopped by club night to meet more people and see that
amazing community.
Then out to meet Katie
at Tania’s. This really cool place that
we heard about, but no one was there. So,
we walked to Choma’d where we had great food and atmosphere for the rest of the
night. Bed time!
Day 4: Thursday morning we walked the kids part way to
school and then headed to Question Coffee.
It’s our must see coffee shop with a walk through the neighborhood, through
a banana field, past some water holes, next to some small hut homes and up a
steep hill to the main street. We couldn’t
stay too long, we had more to do. 3rd
moto taxi home and we were off, in the car, to KOKO.
This is a really cool organization that is working to
convert the way people cook from charcoal to ethanol.It’s not as good as electric, but the emissions
are very low (great for health), the price and quantity options are equal to charcoal
(easy for adoption), and the upfront cost to convert is very low (good for
accessibility).They have rolled this
out to a million people in Kenya and they are starting their rollout in Rwanda
in August.So exciting.
After a nice conversation with the KOKO people, Grandpa and
I were off to the Genocide Memorial.
This is not fun, but so important to learn more about this history and
how it plays into the present and the future.
We are currently in the 100 days of remembrance from April 7th,
when the genocide began and July 4th, when the RPF liberated Kigali
(88 days, I think is the actual count).
In that short time nearly 1 million Tutsis, moderate Hutus, and Twa were
murdered by their neighbors and the Interhamwe militia. Understanding the process that gets a group
of people to hate and dehumanize another group of people is critical work. “Tolerance of hate speech is one step before
tolerance of violence.” Listening to a
former President that wields significant influence speak in hateful tones of “us”
vs “them” with great applause is frightening.
The cacophonous echo of the same hate and bigotry becoming acceptable nationwide
is even scarier. We have to remember
that every story of atrocity was carried out by humans that really
existed. It’s not make-believe, could
never really happen, bullshit. Hitler
was a human. He was a guy giving
speeches to angry Germans. Nazis were
people. They loved their country and would
do anything to protect it from the enemy.
We have to work to listen to each other and find what bonds us, not what
divides us. It’s easy to look at what
happened here in Rwanda and think, “that’s their history.” But it has happened all over the world for
thousands of years, including our own Native American genocide. Sadly, it will happen again.
Heavy shit.
Thursday evening was quite chill.We napped, hung out with the kiddos, and Katie
made a wonderful dinner.
Day 5: Friday morning, we all woke up early to watch the 2nd
Nuggets game, but something happened with the recording, so we had to stay in the
bubble, and record a re-airing of the game at 10:30am for a later
watching.Drove the kids to school and then
headed to Nyandungu, a great eco park in the heart of the city.We rented bikes and rode all around the park,
stopping to see birds and plants and wishing Anaclet was there to give us all
the information.It was absolutely
lovely.
Off to the science fair!
Athena crushed it (see other blog post).
Her group of 4 had a great project, with a wonderful board, and fantastic
explanation of their work and findings.
The whole fair was awesome to see.
One sweet part was that both Lexi and Mazie were able (and excited) to
stop by, since they’re all on the same campus.
Then we took Grandpa to the Kimironko market, which is straight
out of a movie.Chaos and tight spaces
with lots and lots of vendors trying to help you buy their things.The best was when the vendors in the little hallway
would actually block you from passing them while showing you their
supplies.Grandpa was a cool customer,
taking it all in.Katie and I noticed
how calm and confident we were.It’s
been a long 5 months and we’ve definitely grown more accustomed to the culture
and we were able to navigate the scene like pros. Off to lunch.
We met up with Kevine for lunch at Sole Luna, a great little
Italian place with a view.Kevine and I
worked on the bank books for our neighbors.We’re up to 20 bank accounts to help people save for school fees and
other monthly expenses!
We picked up the kids from school at 2:15 and headed home for
the much anticipated Nuggets game 2.What a fun game and it was amazing to see Murray step up in the 4th
while Lebron looked like a 38 year old that has won enough already.
Lazy afternoon (finally) and then it was off to the airport
to conclude a whirlwind 5-day African adventure.
Now thoughts.😊
It was lovely to have my dad here.We didn’t plan on having guests this late in
our trip, but it was neat to have someone witness the “end” of our time
here.We have grown so comfortable and
are certainly living a busy life here.He met Patrick, Emma, Remi, Lambert, Kevine, Anaclet, Theo, Violette,
Vestine and others.He witnessed the
independence of our kids and the complexity of our community.He saw eco parks, national parks, memorials,
markets, garbage piles, and crazy traffic.He got to see our lives.
He mentioned that it’s rare, if not unprecedented for him to
just be with a family for a week.To
just sit and watch what breakfast and dinner look like.The normal mechanics of a day and a
week.This was a busy week, of course,
but I think it meant lot for him to be “in” our family for 5 days.I know it meant a lot for me that he traveled
all this way, through many obstacles, to make this trip happen.
I was also amazed at his stamina.Everyone knows how much energy my mom has,
and her ability to go, go, go is no secret.I really felt like we pushed my dad to have 24 hours of experiences for
5 straight days.On day 5, watching him
bike through the park, I definitely thought, I hope I’m as active and healthy
as he is when I’m 72.It’s a blessing to
have both of my parents alive and present in my life.To have them healthy and active and engaged
is beyond fortunate.Katie is similarly
lucky, but this is my post.😊Love
you Nanny, Papa, and Ahya.
9:10: Arrived at the tattoo place for my 9 am appointment. Jaycee's not here. Caleb and I head over to Question Coffee, 1/2 block away.
9:21: Jaycee texts that he's here.
9:33: I walk back over with my coffee. Jaycee is here but the gate to the place is locked. He calls a guy who says he's on his way over.
9:39: The guy should be here in 5-10 minutes.
9:40: Another guy who is not the guy with the key shows up. Apparently there is another guy inside who could let us in, but he's not answering his phone. Probably asleep.
9:46: Jaycee says he just talked to another guy he works with at the other space, where Lexi got her ears pieced and Caleb got his first tattoo. Should we just head across town to that place? Let's wait another 5 minutes.
9:52: Another guy who is also not the guy with keys shows up. He grabs a stick and reaches over the wall to bang on the roof.
9:55: A sleepy looking guy opens the gate. We're in.
10:10: Jaycee has sketched the tattoo on my leg. About the right size & position? Great, he'll go make a stencil. I will wait.
10:49: Jaycee is back with the stencil: a drawing of the tattoo design on a thin sort of wax paper. Puts it on my leg and the image comes off. Looks good. Maybe make the roots a little longer?
10:55: Ready to start? Yes!
10:55: Ow.
11:04: Done with roots and trunk. This part's not too bad. The roots hurt the most.
11:15: Tattoo pain is manageable but my leg is cramping from being in this weird position. Jaycee says he'll give me a break soon.
11:21: Roots weren't actually done. Going over them again. This is the most painful part so far. Breathe. I've had 3 babies & my breath is magic. In & out. Could use that break.
11:38: Break time!
11:45: Break's over. Walked around and got an orange Fanta. Back at it.
Pictures I took of the space during the break.
The gate.
That's the roof the one guy banged on to wake the other guy up.
11:50: Somehow this entire post I've been writing in the Blogger app on my phone... disappears. Wiped clean. NOOOO! Spend a few minutes trying to see if I can recover it. It's gone. Give up?
I've got time to kill. Let's see if I can go back and recreate from memory. I'll put in what I can and go back to fill it in later.
12:03: Saved blog post. Making progress filling it in. Good distraction. This is still happening.
12:13: Stretching my leg again. Jaycee says we're getting close. 10 minutes to go?
12:20: Done? Let's go check it out!
Done! I think I love it? Yes, I love it. It's a part of me now!
Let's go home.
13:19: Back home, done filling in details on this post. Publish.
13:25: Reading over the blog one more time and I realize I haven't really explained what the tattoo is.
Quick update:
What is it? It's an acacia tree, with some Rwandan art. Why? I love trees, and I wanted a tattoo. In Rwanda.
Being in DC last week gave me a good opportunity to start thinking about how to tell the story of our trip, particularly to those who have not followed our every move on here. (Thanks, loyal readers!) One thing that's been fun is reflecting on the kids' stories... they've all had their own paths and experiences. Here's MY perception of how it's gone for each of them:
(Note that when I showed to this to Alexa, she said that it's not right... she was way more upset about coming than Athena was before the trip. Athena says this looks pretty accurate to her. Mazie has not yet reviewed. I'm certainly missing other highs and lows... our safaris & Ahya's visit definitely positive bumps too, and there were lots of other challenges and setbacks along the way. So, this isn't "the truth," but it's not too far off.)
As a parent, watching Athena struggle socially for a lot of the past few months has been tough. I knew she'd grow from it somehow in the long term, but it was still hard to see her giving up and losing confidence in her ability to connect with others. She kind of just curled into a ball for a while. So it's been quite a joy to see her complete turnaround and blossoming starting in late April. Today was her middle school science fair, and Caleb, Grandpa, her sisters, and I got to go see her present with her team of FRIENDS (Tony, Nixon, and Yafet). She's been working hard on this project over the past few weeks, including having Tony over to the house to plan for it before I went to DC, and brought the poster board home last night to have Lexi help her decorate it. Watching her today being fully engaged and smiling and laughing with her teammates and confidently explaining their project on light reflection to the judges was just... triumphant.
Also, for a middle school science fair project, this conclusion section gets pretty deep. Athena says Yafet and Nixon did most of the writing for it, and Caleb thinks maybe their parents and/or ChatGPT might have helped. I choose to believe they're just two brilliant middle schoolers, providing a very fitting summary (conclusion/results) for this particular story.
