Burkina Trip, part 2

Our schedule had a couple of "rest" days built into it.  We spent them Ouaga, hanging out, eating, unpacking, and just enjoying being with each other.

The boys were up early on Day 1, eager to play with the Legos we packed for all.

 Troy bought this coffee contraption especially for this trip.  He was very worried about his caffeine intake and even brought his own coffee.  He was so excited to make it on the last plane with the coffee still in his possession!

 Daniel and some of his favorite items:  books.  Jonas really surprised us by playing with Daniel frequently.  They loved wrestling together, and Jonas was careful to keep Daniel away from any dangers.

 A sampling of what was inside those 8 bags. I asked several friends to pack a care package box for the Mathenys, thinking they could open one a month after we left.  Those friends forwarded it to their friends and this is what happened.  I cannot tell you how much God was involved in these boxes.  There were boxes from people even Troy and I haven't met yet at Northside, birthday and holiday packages for the kids, and answers to prayers Sara hadn't even prayed yet.  She got Twizzlers to go with a math book she JUST checked out at the homeschool co-op!  Emily asked to make a recipe from a cookbook that was sent, and they planned to improvise, only to find the raspberry Jell-O they needed in this pile!  I could go on and on... And this doesn't even include the 3 bags Sara's sweet sister Carla packed full of wish list items they hadn't thought to bring!

 It's the Matheny's family tradition to have a time of worship when they receive care packages.  I love how intentional they are in showing their kids the importance of this every day.  An inspiration for us!  We had a great time!

This is how we rolled in Burkina.  Don't let Jonas's frown fool you, he loved it back there.  These guys were so busy laughing and talking that I'm not sure they even noticed Africa as we drove through it!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to the market for souvenir shopping.  Philip, Troy, and Emily loved it.  These guys:  not so much.  It was hot, and they were ready for dinner.  It's just like home; they're not hungry until we get to the places with no food.

How cute are they in these little chairs?

We went to the Gondwana, a nice restaurant, for dinner.  Linda, another newcomer to Burkina and Sheltering Wings, joined us.

The inside of this place was super cool.  My boys really impressed me with their ability to wait for food at a restaurant.  There is no "fast food" in Burkina, and it's not uncommon to wait an hour for food!  This was Reef's favorite restaurant of the trip, and he was a little sad we only ate there once.

 I'm sure the ice cream that came with the kid's meal (which Titus swears is just like Chick Fil A nuggets) had nothing to do with his love!

 Local soccer field.  Can you imaging playing in that dust and heat and full sun?

 On Sunday, the boys gave us a VERY rare treat: they slept until after 8:30!!!! We headed to IBF, the English-speaking church in Ouaga. The kids jumped right into their coloring pages and enjoyed Bible class too.  Reef even says it was as good as Ms. Kenda's class, which is a HUGE compliment because she is amazing.

 After church, we headed to the infamous grocery store with playland.  They have a snack bar too, so we were able to get lunch, play, and grocery shop all in one place! This play area puts some American ones to shame, and our kids played for AGES and came out crazy sweaty!  Troy was surprised to find so many Australian items in the grocery store, including his beloved Milo (a chocolate milk powder).

 The afternoon was spent at home, and the kids enjoyed a Fandango in the courtyard.  It's like a drink pouch that you can freeze and eat like a popsicle, after you bleach the outside to get rid of germs/bugs/yuckiness.  It was a hit!

To top off a great day, we ate a small dinner of leftovers and were treated to the first batch of ice cream from Sara's new ice cream maker!  It was YUMMY!

 

On the schedule for the next day:  drive to Bobo.  That trip may get a post all its own!

Burkina Trip, part 1

I'm taking a break from playing catch-up on the blog to tell you guys about our trip to Burkina Faso!  I need to get it all down in writing before the details slip away...
Burkina Faso is a small, land-locked country in West Africa.  It is in the top 3 of the poorest counties in the world and number 1 in illiteracy. 
Our dear friends, the Matheny family, moved to Burkina in December; they plan to be there for several years aiding the orphan crisis.  We miss them greatly and were so excited to get to visit them!  You can follow their story over at frontrowburkina.blogspot.com. 
After much planning and praying, our tickets were bought for March 13-21.  After some debate, Troy and I decided Reef and Jonas would go with us.  They both miss Emily and Titus, and we felt like they could be a great encouragement to friends who might be missing home.  Lachlan and Poppy got to stay home with Oma and Opa; we felt they were just too little to handle that kind of travel well.
To prepare for our trip, all 4 of us needed a yellow fever shot (required to get in the country and hard to get in the States!), meningitis and flu shots, and malaria meds.  Let me tell you, there were moments we weren't sure Jonas would make it to Burkina because he fought the shots!  The malaria meds also don't come in a chewable, so we ended up crushing them and mixing them with Oreo filling.
Finally, the day to leave arrived!  This is what our luggage looked like:

 That's 8 full bags and 4 carry-ons, the max allowed!  Our church family were helped us pack some good surprises for our friends, plus Sara's sister brought over 2 bags packed with Sara's wish list items.
I packed some fun surprises in the boys' bags to keep them occupied through 3 layovers.  First to make an appearance: the Rainbow Loom!  Oh, they were so excited!

The biggest stress of this trip was the airline.  United was unable to get our family of 4 seats together on either of the first 2 flights!  Ummm, why is it not your policy to seat families together????  They also double-booked my seat on our middle flight and made me get off the plane!

Finally, it was all sorted, and we were settled into our flight from Chicago to Brussels.  The boys were thrilled with the in-flight entertainment and had to be forced to sleep!  Jonas watched Frozen both ways.

Our final leg of the trip was from Brussels to Ouagadougou.  We were really impressed with Brussels Air's service and food.  Plus the flight wasn't full, so we could let the boys lay down for a small sleep. 

And they served ice cream!  This picture is bad because we work them up to eat the ice cream.

Arriving in Burkina was unlike any other airport we've been to!  Luckily Sara had given us a great idea of what to expect.  You walk off the plane (it was hot!) and board a bus to the terminal.  Then your yellow card gets checked, then you get fingerprinted (a gift to Burkina from the U.S.), and then you get your bags.  Philip had already shown our bags with the Batman tape to a helper, and he was already gathering bags!  The boys and I could see our friends just outside!  After collecting all 8 bags, we zipped through customs, where they peeked inside just 1 bag (TSA had already searched 5 out of 8 in Chicago). 

What a sweet reunion with our friends!  In Africa!  Sometimes it still seems unreal!

This is how you load the car:

One of our first real looks at life here:

I can barely ride a bike, let alone balance something on my head at the same time!

 

That afternoon was spend unpacking, showering, and visiting their favorite restaurant, The Rec, which has lots of American favorites. It was early to bed for us because it had been a looong 2 days of travelling!

Stay tuned for more stories from Burkina tomorrow!

 

TV Time with Poppy

One day I walked in to our room and found this:


Can you see that they both have their own remotes?
This is what they were watching:

She actually asked for football!

A few weeks later she and I had a movie date, complete with popcorn and the Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That.