Thoughts on Walking

It’s a beautiful holiday Monday – Columbus Day – which means I have had the day off and have been able to hang out with Eric and Orion. We got up early (no surprise here, O wakes up about 6am every day) and had a quick breakfast and cup of coffee and headed out for a walk. On the weekends we try to walk a few miles in every direction of the house so that we get to know our neighborhood better. Rwanda is called “The land of a thousand hills” and let me tell you this is no joke. Kigali is really hilly with the “downtown area” being at the top of the hill. We live in Kiyovu a neighborhood that encompasses the downtown area – but we live a little down the hill from downtown. This means that walking downtown is really an aerobic workout. Nothing in Kigali is laid out on a grid so being able to walk the hills has helped me figure out where I am in relation to things.

Today we walked a long and winding route that took us past a little restaurant I have never noticed before – advertised itself as a pizzeria. This sounds promising and we decided to put it on the list of places to check out. You really get the chance to better inspect your surroundings when you are walking. I get to see what people have done with their yards – what plants are in the garden, what kinds of fencing they have used to keep my prying eyes out. Everything grows here – everything grows here like a weed! The weather is so mild that it is really an effort to tame the gardens. Kinda like trying to tame blackberries in the Pacific Northwest. Walking also lets Rwandans better inspect the Ali Family. We definitely stick out like the foreigners that we are – Eric’s dreds throw people a curve ball and we often hear “Rasta, Rasta, Rasta” that along with Orion’s stroller really make us a spectacle.

There are always many people on the road and this morning was no different. We were quite alone until we turned right onto a major road and seemed to be joining a parade of people. These folks were dressed up and walking down the side of the road. I didn’t see any signs or banners so I couldn’t really tell what the purpose of the march was. Maybe it was a church or a school event or maybe it was just a really busy street. Orion loved this – there were kids who walked with us for ½ mile or so – talking to him and giving him parts of the snacks they were eating. A super cute little 3 year old girl gave him a cookie. Yes, it was a parade!

I have been trying to place an Amazon order all day. I just kept checking our internet connection hoping that it would pop up – finally I called the folks that installed the system and through much repeated “pardon, excuse me, sorry” I managed to figure out that there was a problem with their connections. I really didn’t realize how much not speaking French would affect my ability to figure things out. At work – it’s not a problem my patients are English speakers – but out and about – holy smokes it can be a really daunting process to understand the when’s, whys, and what’s, not to mention the how much’s. One of the perks of working at the embassy is that anyone can sign up for language classes – our embassy offers English, French and Kinyarwandan classes. I guess it’s a good thing I signed up for French classes.

Did you know...

That there are bulldozers in Brussells? Orion is obsessed with heavy machinery of all types and on our brief stop in Brussells - what do you suppose we came across?

On a side note - everytime I log onto blogger it is in French. Is that because I live in a French speaking country? I am a horrible speller but you will just have to learn to live with it because everytime I try to spell check something everything I have written is highlighted in yellow.

I turned Two!

I can hardly believe that my little boy made it to two! What an accomplishment for his mom and dad. We had a celebration for O on the Sunday before his birthday - we invited all the folks from the embassy that had children around his age over for cake and ice-cream. What a turn out - I counted 31 people of which half must have been kids. The noise decible was through the roof but I think everyone had a great time. The cake got eaten, the cookies were demolished, the candy almost finished off and we sent everyone home with a treat box. All in all it was a successful birthday party.

I spent many hours last week thinking of my pregnancy and O's birth. The birth of a child, a mother and a father. When he turned one I was still too busy just surviving - but something about two was super sweet. I still think I couldn't have chosen a better place to have a child. The wide open blue skies of the Southwest, the community support of Fort, the mellow pace of life - they all came together to create such an amazing experience. A trike came in the mail from PopPop's - he loves it!

No birthday is complete without crazy pointy hats

One table of kids - there were two others inside!

Homemade decorations at their best

On his "real" birthday morning - still looking a little sleepy but he got a candle in his banana!

Happy birthday baby!

Pictures

I managed to get these pictures loaded - one at a time - and it took about 15 minutes for each picture to load. Pretty painful but now at least you can take a look at our house. I have not taken any pictures of the gardens or the fruit trees but will do so soon.

Front of the house - the front door is on the right

Through the doorway in this picture is the kitchen - there is another doorway off the dining room that leads to a hallway with the bedrooms and the bathrooms

The view from the front door - behind me is the other orange wall and the office

You enter from the front door to the left of this picture - in the back is a little room we use for an office

Hip Hip Hooray!

We finally have internet at home. What a long strange trip its been to get it. I can't say its the best internet connection but at this point in our lives you won't hear us complaining. It's past my bedtime already but I had to try and post some pictures of our home. I still have some great ones from our short stop in Brussels and the flight over...not to mention Birthday Boy pictures. So...more to come soon.

I have now been trying to upload onto blogger for over an hour and NOTHING! AHHHHHHH! Better luck tomorrow night. Peace Out!

Rwanda Update

I tried posting this letter that I had written about our first month in Rwanda but I am not technologically savvy enough. Please see the link to the RIGHT under pages - Rwanda Update. My friend also found this great blog that talks a bit about living in Rwanda - check it out here.

So I Thought

I was being a super organized girl. It was my job to pack up the computer stuff and all the cords and such. I went through and put the computer camera and the digital camera cord into the suitcase so I would have those in the midst of chaos. The rest of the stuff got packed up and loaded up and hopefully is making its way to a ship somewhere. So I sit down tonight to post some really cute pictures and what the heck...I have the WRONG CORD! Why does it always work that way? Why, when you think for once you really got your shit together you realize sorry charlie you really don't. So there goes my plan for this posting.

On another more exciting, scary, overwhelming and crazy note. We leave on a jet plane for Rwanda tomorrow (are you singing the song in your mind?). It seems absolutely amazing that we have been in the D.C. area for almost exactly two months. We just spent a great week with MB. She helped us out so much and made it that much easier to get things done. Dropping her at the airport made for a sad sad day.

Alright folks - until I figure out our Internet connection in Africa - here's sending you a ton of love and kisses from the Ali Crew to you!

11 Days to Go

It has been a stressful couple of days - feels like so many little things to do and so little time. We each have a mile long to-do list and slowly but surely things have gotten crossed off but not without our fair share of "Eric and Stacy Bickerson". After work today we walked to dinner and talked about how we will have had 3 moves in 6 months. No freaking wonder we are the Bickerson's. Our lives have been in a state of chaos and we are sooo looking forward to getting settled into a place for at least a couple of years.

I got an email today from our sponsor in Rwanda. Like the military, the State also pairs people up to give you someone to answer your million questions, offer advise and get you settled while all of your worldly possessions are in transit. Her email was so upbeat and friendly. It made me forget all the craziness and a feeling of excitement came over me again. What an emotional roller coaster this has been.

My MB comes for a visit in 2 days - she will stay for a week and leave the night before we do. She was worried about the timing and I told her she would be a good diversion. I love my MB and am excited to share what little we have discovered about Falls Church with her. I also bought her a fab Christmas present that I am so excited to share with her. I know she will love it!

The pictures are from our newest favorite park - The Longbranch Nature Center. It's a FAB place!

What A Find

Our walk to the park this morning was great. The weather was beautiful - not too incredibly steamy hot and pretty dewy. We walked back through the neighborhood and came upon a little bull dozer parked on the side of the street. Orion was in heaven - it was all I could do to stop the stroller before he was trying to jump out. I figured it wasn't too crazy to get a picture of him on the dozer.

Roger and Joy

We met such great people while living in Fort - those kinds of people that you may not see for years and then when you do see them KABOOM its like you just saw them yesterday. Our friends Roger and Joy are like this. They were on vacay in Pennsylvania and drove down to spend a day with us. It was fantastic and just what the Ali Crew needed to boost our spirits. We headed to downtown DC in AC comfort (gotta love their mini-van rental) and checked out the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Gallery of Art. It was really nice to spend some time wandering around and reconnecting. We got caught in a torrential downpour and found ourselves in the middle of the National Mall with bolts of lightening striking down around us. It was really crazy and a little scary as well. Roger and I - see how wet my shirt is?!

Eric and Joy

National Museum of the American Indian - Fantastic building

O had no time for the Degas but he loved the vent covers - beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Tall and O chilling in the museum

Better then the real thing!