Day #3 (Tuesday) Our first full day

Day # 3 (Tuesday)
What a great feeling to wake up next to two beautiful children. We had our first breakfast together, and played with the children in the dining room.

Later in the morning, we were able to take the children and go with a couple other people an hour or so away into the bush country. Along the way, we moved from the devastated city, through endless markets and thousands of peole lining the streets and out to villages comprised of only bamboo and grass huts. We arrived at our final destination which was a village that looked like it was straight out of National Geographic. It appeared to have about 50-70 people who lived in beautifully hand-made bamboo and grass huts packed with mud. As we walked through the village 20+ children followed behind touching us, asking us to take their pictures and laughing joyfully when they could see themselves in the digital camera. We walked past a woman cooking berries in a large kettle over an open fire, a man sitting in the dirt weaving a basket with strips of bamboo he had shaved. One teenage boy was cutting the hair of a man by squeezing a straight razor blade anda comb together. Two men were making beautiful chairs and benches from bamboo stalks they had just cut down. There was a naked little baby sitting on the ground between two huts who began to cry inconsolably when we passed by, most likely because we had been the first white people that he had ever seen. we spoke with the people from the tribe who were very friendly, and very curious about us. E and another girl sat down at the end surrounded by this time by over 20 children and I asked the children if they knew any songs. This began about 20 minutes of some of the most beautiful praise songs i have ever heard - it was just incredibly touching. My heart broke as I saw seated amongst these children - dirty, wearing a few scraps of dirty old clothes - my two children washed, dressed in new clothing and with full bellies singing along with them. We will never forget this experience for the rest of our lives - we wished we could adopt them all.

After we returned home and had supper, we walked a couple blocks away to the corner to purchase some fresh pineapple, sugar cane and roots from some street venders. We are having a difficult time blending in : ). We sure can draw a crowd wherever we go, everyone we have encountered is pleasant, and they are very kind, waving as we pass, always trying to sell something and wanting to make sure we know the national handshake (which we practiced and now know quite well). W rode on my shoulders for the first time as we took this trip. it was great as he giggled and shook around. He is about 1/2 the weight that I am used to. E and K walked ahead holding hands with some of the other ladies. It already feels like we have been doing this for years.