Ode to Purr and our other two cats

When we returned from Burkina, we realized that our animals were costing a bit of money and we decided to look at decreasing our numbers. Since we brought an animal back with us, you can see we do a good job at limiting ourselves. :) We started giving away rabbits as we were up to 12 and that was just too many. Our plan all along had been to give them away when they had babies. So through these discussions our kids knew we wanted to decrease our animal load. Call me crazy, over 20 animals is just a bit too much.

Well, we decreased our amount this past week but not like I wanted, though Dawson made sure I knew I shouldn't have ever wanted to get rid of some animals. All three of our outdoor cats died. The culprit: rat poison from the neighbor's yard. I'm not sure really if they put it out to kill rats or to kill our cats (they had complained to our guard about the number of cats congregating in an abandoned house near them) but alas, it killed our cats. 

It started with the youngest, Purr's daughter that I watched be born. It was sad but we thought it was something random that she died of. 

But then Mittens fell sick. When Mittens passed away I noticed Purr was thinner and not as well. He wasn't eating. 

I called our friend who knows a vet. He came at night which was quite nice, gave a shot and said he'd be better tomorrow. This didn't instill much confidence. It was during that night that we realized it was rat poison but there was nothing we could do at that point. 

The next day I couldn't find Purr in the yard. I went looking for him. As I started climbing the tree I heard this awful meow. I saw him in our neighbor's yard (not the ones who put out the rat poison). He saw me so he purred. I went to him and realized he was dying. I lost it. Partly because it was sad to seem him suffer and be unable to do anything but I think there was probably some other feelings of loss that have occurred over the past few months that must have found their way to the top. But I bawled. Like a baby. The wiping your snot on your skirt kind of crying. The kind that left me with a roaring headache for over a day. Thankfully, the kids weren't at home at the time and didn't see their mother out of control. I felt stupid when our house guy came to me to see what was wrong. In a country where they aren't to cry for the death of a child, he was unsure of what to do with me crying over the cat. But we are those crazy Americans. I couldn't leave him. I would rub his head and rub his head. If I stopped to leave, he would flip his tail as if to say, "keep rubbing, stay here with me." And so I did.

Purr was the sweetest cat I have ever known. I never liked cats much. They always did their own thing, seemed a bit snobbish to be honest, so I just never got into them. But Purr changed my world. He was so incredibly sweet. He would always sit in our laps. He would suck on the boys' ears. He was a GREAT cat.

The boys did come home and were able to spend some time with Purr. They took it well overall. Right after this kiss Kenan sat up, began to cry and said, "He was my favorite." He cried for a little bit. I held him. Then they went inside to play. They asked about Purr but handled it well when he finally passed. I love the resiliency of children.

We miss our kittens and cat. The yard somehow seems empty, even with all the animals still around. Thankful for the time we had with them, especially my favorite, Purr. 

Waterfalls, Camels, and Goodbyes

 Found more pics from our time in Burkina. 

There was a beautiful waterfall not far from where we were staying. It was a little hike to get to but so worth it. The kids could have stayed there all day.

Falling off the edge with Aiden.

They decided to have a boat race. Each team made a boat and then they raced. The production of these boats consumed much time and energy, especially for the length of time they lasted. :)

This was all Becky's idea. She had done boat races as a child. I think she was more into it than the kids.

Dawson and Ella's boat, made from a nest of some kind.

So the boats went in and immediately flipped over. :) So much for all the hard work. But we were able to watch the pieces race. The nest beat the strands of leaves by a hair. It was a close race. :)

As our kids played their that day I couldn't help but think how cool their life is. They get to see the world. They go places not many kids have gone. They get to experience things not many do. The weather was nice that day. It was incredibly peaceful. It was one of those times when I am overwhelmed by the blessing it is to be here. What more could one ask for?

As we left the hotel to stay in another city, we passed camels on the road. We don't get to see camels very often so of course we did the logical thing anyone would do. We pulled off (into a ditch I might add) to turn around and follow the camels and ask if we could ride them.

  Anna rode it too but I guess it was on her camera so this is all I have of her and the camel.

This was the last day of school for the boys with Anna. 

Anna was a wonderful teacher and a huge blessing to our entire family. She really became part of our family and we feel that sense of loss. Glad for her that she is where she needs to be but sad that it took her away from us. We will be forever grateful for the love, time, energy, sweat and tears she put in for our boys. She impressed me greatly with her strength and determination. She is a jewel and we miss her!

And this is what happens when mom takes over schooling. Needless to say it didn't go quite as well as with Aunt Anna. :) And I may be smiling here but it wasn't before I had shed some tears. I think school lasted all of an hr, if that, the first day. But at least it ended with art. :)

And surprise, surprise, we picked up another animal in our time away. She was too cute to leave so we took her from her mother as she nursed (I kid you not, terrible, I know) and made her part of our family. I fed her day and night for several weeks. She is doing well and is affectionately named, Burkina, as a reminder of our time of displacement and waiting.

Hippos, Rocks and Mangoes

This post is a bit overdue. 

While we were away we managed to have some fun which included going to see hippos. Now why we left "danger" to go ride in a tiny little boat with hippos only a few feet away, I do not know. But to make sure it was safe, we sent the girls out first. :) Anna and another teacher, Renée, with their trusty guide.

Have to catch the sweet moments while we can get them. We were huddled in the boat trying to keep warm while not moving much so we wouldn't rock the boat.

With boys, sweet, calm moments don't last long.

Finally seeing them! They made a lot of noise and we enjoyed watching them move in their habitat.

                                                                My number one man

                         Showing off my beads that got added to my hair as the week went on.

We then headed off to a Baobob tree that you could walk inside of. It was naturally hollow in the inside. Really quite interesting. When tribes fought each other, the women and children would hide inside the tree for protection. It became a spiritual site where sacrifices are made.

                                                        Seeing how high they could climb.

Another day we headed off to an area where there were all of these rock formations. We met up with some friends who live in the same area. They worked hard to hold up the rocks.

                                                           This cannot be more Kenan

We also enjoyed being in the land of more fruit! Mangoes had already come out which the kids wholeheartedly enjoyed. Strawberries were also in abundance- good thing since my boys ate 15 kilos in 10 days!

                                 The last night before some of our team members left for good.

Anna's last night we went to the streets to celebrate Burkina's second place finish in the Africa cup. This was a huge accomplishment and you would have thought they had won it all by the way they celebrated. Anna chose to believe it was just her going away party. :)

This doesn't even do the craziness justice. People were standing on their motos while riding, ghost riding their cars (leaving the car in neutral and sitting outside of the car), making sparks by leaving their kick stands down while driving, screaming, celebrating and being plan crazy. I kid you not there were times I feared for my safety. It was insane. We could not come up with anything that would cause such celebration in America. Pandemonium. The police did nothing to stop this behavior. I admit the atmosphere was electrifying and intense and one could not help but celebrate with them, at least when the dangerous and crazy people were past. :) I wish I could better describe the scene as it was almost riot-like yet in excitement rather than anger. One of those times I was glad to be there to experience it yet also wondering if I had lost my mind to stand out there amidst it all.

Only in Africa

There are times when I am reminded that life is a bit different here and if I stop and think about what has just occurred, though it would seem quite odd to an outsider, it somehow makes sense when you live here. In recent months there are three experiences that stick out, unfortunately I only have pictures of two of them.

Our team biked out to the "pig farm" the weekend of Thanksgiving. The pig farm has no pigs, of course, but it does have a stream (depending on the time of the year) and rocks to climb, so our boys and a friend, Joel, wanted to hang out longer than the rest of the group. We assured them we would be fine and they could go on without us. I mean, what could go wrong? We were only three adults with 2 kids on bikes and 2 being pulled behind a bike 13 kilometers from home. Like I said, what culd go wrong? We played for an hour or so and headed out to leave where we found Joel's back tire completely flat.  We tried making him ride it but that didn't work and we feared it would mess up the rim. Because Brett was pulling the youngest two, we felt it best he go on ahead and get them home. We called Joel's mom, Alison to see if she could come get us. She was willing but her husband had the car at a wedding so she had to call him to come home. Meanwhile, Anna and I walked along with Dawson and Joel, all pushing our bikes. We decided this would take too long so we put Dawson on my bike with me, Joel on Dawson's bike and Anna on hers pulling Joel's beside her. Two strides down and we realized that didn't work. Next up: Dawson on his bike, Joel on Anna's and Anna on mine with me while I pulled the bike. Another failure. 

And while I knew help was on the way eventually, being stranded in the middle of nowhere with kids and bikes made me feel a need for a solution. I thought if only I could get the bike down the road a bit that would lighten our load and make our travel possible. So I waved down the next man on a moto I saw. He stopped without hesitation. I explained our situation to which he quickly replied, "Drive my moto." I told him that I couldn't and he didn't believe a white person who could drive a car couldn't drive a moto. I continued to express that it was without a doubt true. Still, his response was, "Drive my moto." Now a mother will do many things for her children, more than she ever thought possible. So in a sense of (unnecessary) desperation, I hopped on the moto. He gave me a quick rundown of how to drive it and jumped on himself, holding the bike above his head. If you've ever learned to ride a moto (motorcycle- really it was a motor scooter) you'll know having a person on the back isn't always the best way to learn, especially when that said person is holding a bike over his head. But I looked back once at Dawson, Anna and Joel and off I went with a man I had just stopped along the road, because, well, I was desperate to get that bike further down the road. We went off, little by little, toward the left, then right. And then the bag of grain that had been between the man's legs that was now between mine fell onto the road because I had no idea how to hold it and drive, as my feet were spread out on both sides as if I were trying to balance the moto with my legs. In reality, I had no idea where to put my feet and since the man trusted me to drive his moto I thought this was a finite point that didn't need to be discussed. But when the bag fell, I realized a change had to be made. So instead of asking where I put my feet, I grabbed the bag with my thighs for dear life and kept driving. Soon those I had left were out of sight and it was just me and this guy on his moto on the road. And good thing, since I swerved all over the road to keep us moving forward. But then, we needed to slow down as there was a bump in the road. Problem was he didn't tell me HOW to brake. I don't know, call me crazy, but this is important to learn BEFORE one is driving a moto. I knew there were hand brakes so that is what I used. He got us off the moto and explained, with hand motions, that if I used the hand brakes to stop us, we would flip head over the bike. Do remember this whole tutorial was in Bambara, which is not my first language, so I was admittedly thankful for the hand motions. :) After this we moved forward and I actually began to feel comfortable driving a moto with a man holding a bike over his head, even when from time to time it hit me on my head. Soon enough our salvation arrived as I saw my friend's car coming down the road. I feared she would miss me and all this effort would be in vain. Luckily, she stopped but to my surprise she was dying with laughter. I feared she have would miss me but as she said, "How would I miss a white woman holding on for dear life as she drives a moto with a Malian man behind her holding a bike over his head?" I guess we were kind of obvious. :)  We got our kids, threw the bikes on the roof and went home.

In January I went to Bamako with a friend to pick up Anna from her visit to the US. We made great time and were only an hour from home when we came to the bridge we needed to cross. There was a line of cars stopped in the road. I, of course, ignored them and continued forward only to find that there was a reason for them being stopped. The bridge was closed. They were working on it and it was going to be closed for a couple of hours. 

Being American, I just could not accept this answer. I needed to get home. I didn't need to sit on a road in the middle of nowhere for two hours. So I walked up to the bridge to talk to the workers, surely I could convince them to let me pass. And this is what I found.

So, there was no hope. They wouldn't let me pass. There was nothing I could do. There was no detour. The water below was too deep. All I could do was wait.

So what do you do when you are stuck on the road waiting for the bridge to be fixed?

You dye hair of course. I mean, the bridge was out. It seems as logical to me as 2 + 2 = 4. 

Bridge out + being stuck on the road = dying hair  Like I said, totally logical. :) As I sat in the middle of the road, having purple hair dye (go bold, or go home, right?) put in, an armed army guy came to talk to us and see what we were doing. I explained and he continued to talk to us, waving his gun as he talked which was at the level of my face. I thought to myself that this had to be one of the weirdest moments of my life.

Where did we wash out the color? In the village beside the road. We walked down and asked if we could use some water from their well. They were happy to help us out as we no doubt provided them entertainment for the day. While we waited for the color to set, I sang songs to the kids that I knew in Bambara and French, only adding to my crazy status. When the time came for us to wash out the color, the amusement continued. We were pouring onto the ground so if I stood upright or even bent over, mud splashed everywhere. It was decided that it was best if I stood in plank position while they washed out the color. Soon the color was out and we noticed that cars were starting to pass on the bridge. Perfect timing. And like that we left the village and continued on our journey.

And yet another hair story because, well, hair is important. :) Anna and I decided to have our hair braided. The temperature was starting to rise here so we decided it was best to go ahead and get it done. We started on Jan 19th and spent the Saturday having our hair braided. To give each other a break, Fatu, the girl doing our hair, would do Anna's for a couple hours and then switch to mine. Anna had made the comment the night before about what if we got evacuated while getting our hair done. Well, you know what happened then. About 4 in the afternoon we got a call that we were to have an emergency meeting to talk about leaving the next day. Since both of us still needed several hours of work, we decided it best to take Fatu with us to the meeting. So as we sat to discuss our plan, Fatu braided. 

Anna got her hair finished, I wasn't so lucky. Since I had to pack up my house to leave for most likely a month I had to stop in the middle of the braiding, very much to Fatu's dislike. So here I am on the way to Burkina with my unfinished hair. At least it gave me something to do while we were sitting in Burkina. :)