Just thought I'd throw in some random shots of Bujumbura before I begin:

                                                             We had Jonathan (young, Canadian UNICEF worker) and Delphine (Diana Ross look-alike) over to watch a movie last week.  We popped corn and watched Dances With Wolves, a movie neither of them had ever seen.  Only problem is, for some reason, this copy of the movie is without sub-titles, so whenever the Indians are speaking, you have no idea what they are saying.  Kind of reminds me of living in Burundi!

     We were invited back to eat dinner with the family who is here at their hotel until the end of the month.  When we went there for the first time, she, Beatrice, told me that you are only a guest the first time you come to a Burundian's home.  After that you are family.  And she means it.  When we arrived for dinner, we found out family complications/problems had come up,  preventing her from being home to prepare dinner.  So she called her sister who lives here in Bujumbura and asked her to prepare dinner for all of us!  We went to her sister's house rather reluctantly, feeling as if we were imposing and thinking we should probably should just go home and try to come for dinner another night.  Beatrice wouldn't hear of it.  She gave us chocolate from Belgium called Galler (Jared's favorite from his mission) and the movie Frozen in Blue Ray with a French version available.  Her sister prepared a very nice meal---chicken, rice, linga linga, peas with plantains, avocado/tomato/onion salad.  Dessert was yummy sweet pineapple and Japanese plums, which were something we had never tasted before.  The brother-in-law is a retired surgeon, and he and his daughter spoke very good English.  Conversation was comfortable.  After dinner we had lemon grass tea.  She picked the lemon grass from her garden.  It was excellent, especially with a spoonful of sugar.  The background music was upbeat, Congolese music, she said.  The host family, whom we had never met before, tried to give us a king-sized mosquito netting because in dinner conversation we were talking about our current netting having some holes.  They immediately got up, went to their closet , put one of their own mosquito nets in a bag and insisted we take it home with us.  We didn't, but how generous and what great hosts they are!

More random shots: