Last Saturday we had to take our favorite elder, Elder Kapata, to the airport and tell him good-bye.  He has been the zone leader for the last 7 months that we have been serving in Bujumbura.  In fact, he flew with us from Lubumbashi to Bujumbura when we first arrived.  We have worked closely with him, and we are really going to miss him.  He speaks English, plays the piano, and has a beautiful singing voice.  Also a really cute giggle for a young man over 6 feet tall!

Elder Kapata

When a car breaks down here in Bujumbura, they leave it sitting in the middle of the road where it 

broke down and attempt to repair it in place.  If the vehicle must stay in the road overnight, there are young men who sleep on the ground next to it or underneath it to it to protect it from would-be thieves.

It sometimes takes several days just to change a tire.

Even the great big semis will sit in the middle of the road while they are repaired.  We saw a large truck that was having its rear axle replaced sitting in the road for about 3 days.  You just go around it!

Here is another vehicle that has been swallowed be a gutter.  It is a 17 passenger van that is used for transport around Bujumbura.  There really is not room for 17, but that is how many they cram into  it.  The cost for a ride in one of these vans is about 33 cents.  Or at least that is what we have heard.  We have not experienced it first-hand!  (And probably won't!)  I don't know if we could stand the aroma of 17 hot and sweaty Burundians smooshed together  in a vehicle without air-conditioning.

And now, for good measure, some HIPPOS!  They are always a welcome sight.  We took these photos from the car on the road that runs along the lake.

I still get excited when we see these huge animals, it still makes my day1