weekend away

With a busy month behind us and a busy month ahead (one of our surgeons will be on vacation for the next three weeks and school starts next week), we decided to take a short break. Since I haven't left town since we moved here in March, we decided to go away for the weekend.  There aren't that many places to go...and its not very easy to get to those places. We don't have a vehicle, so we had to take the bus. Taking the bus is always an interesting experience. The big bus wheels usually decrease the impact of the endless potholes. Unless, as we discovered this time, the only seats left are in the very back of the bus. Then, every the impact of every pothole is amplified and, if you don't have a firm grip on the seat back in front of you, your head will bang into the ceiling. My head and neck are still quite sore...but we survived.  The trip back was worse...rain made the roads even rougher and Tab had some sort of gastroenteritis and ended up needing a ziploc bag (and spent the rest of the day at home sick in bed).  :(

We left on Thursday and spent three nights in the area where we did our language training.  It was a short visit, but we really enjoyed catching up with old friends.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

the tree where the bus stopped for prayer time

Luke diagnosing the internet woes. Unfortunately, he can't fix it without a part from America. But, he was able to order the part that is needed.

playing Sorry! with S and J....they had fun at first until the game started to live up to its name.

J...looking a bit bored

S- feeling sorry...it just wasn't her game. Sorry! can be brutal, as the name suggests.

WATERMELONS!!! So delicious...there was so much produce available in the "big city"!

Sushi for M's birthday celebration

We even found some sparkling grape juice imported all the way from Spain! it was delicious!

Our friends are working on agricultural development here. We had fun checking out the work there...and even got to help with the some planting.

M planting beans

farming...reminded me a little of my childhood

We also found some fun wildlife....

rhinocerus beetle

toads

 Checking out the tree-planting project:

cool old truck

they were planting trees as part of a research project to improve food stability here

cute