Village Visit

Chicken anyone?

These pics are from a village I visited recently. The sweet baby girl in my arms is over 5 months old and still under 7 pounds. Mom is young and loves her baby very much, just has a lot of misconceptions about proper nutrition. This is very common as health education is not typically taught in school and there are little public health initiatives to promote awareness and prevention.

Takin' a Walk

A friendly game of tug-0f-war...

The watering hole. Everyone is thirsty after the long walk!

These girls were so cute! Their head coverings were made to look like butterflies. You can see the wings in the back and the front had antennas : )

Check out these tough guys! Don't miss the driver's bleached out beginner's mullet!

Enjoying a brisk, morning walk with the neighborhood as part of one of the many Independence Day celebrations. They also have lots of parades, but instead of marching bands they just march in costumes which range from p.j.s to cross-dressing...it's interesting : )

Ants are everywhere here, including our house! I found an army of them in a corner this morning devouring a giant cockroach...gross! Thank goodness for pesticides!

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Pickin' Papaya

I am now a skilled papaya picker. When one of the papayas on our trees gets ripe, I climb up our rickety ladder and use the neighbor's oversized tiki lamp to pluck it off. The fruit of this labor is quite delicious!

Viva la Visa

My visa came today and I'm booked to leave August 6th...woot! I'm scheduled to fly out of Houston, which is perfect because this is the city where Dad first spoke to me about going overseas with Him. Nine years later and I'm on my way!

The Tale of the Telex

After a month of delays, the long awaited telex has finally arrived! I Fed-exed it to the Embassy yesterday and hope to have a visa in 3-5 business days. PTL!

My next task: repacking. The goal is to leave with 2 suitcases, but it may end up being 3 if I don't cut some weight soon. My luggage is in serious need of a fad diet...

August 4th is my expected day of departure so I have 10 more days to chill with family and friends and hopefully see the Royals win at home. I'm 0-3 so far but anythings possible, right? :)

Well, this concludes my first official post. Don't worry...there will be much more exciting news to come!