Goodbye car

The hospital needed ambulances so we ended up giving our car to the hospital and getting a new (used) car that was being sold in Bamako. It was hard to give away our sweet car that held precious memories. It was our favorite place in Mali for the first year here. :) I kid you not. We would go and sit in the A/C and just enjoy a moment of peace. Good memories.  But a car is a car so we have moved on but not without some pictures. :)

 

Brett wanted me to take a pic of the car before we gave it to the hospital. It ended up being a Silas photo session and since they were funny, I had to post them.

 Jeremi wanted his picture with the car as well before it left the MacLean household. 

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.