Paris in the Summer time...and Rennes, too

Two weeks ago Tom left for a 2 week ministry trip into the interior of our country.  That gave me the perfect opportunity to hop on a plane and go to France for a bit.  Lindsay had spent the summer there and was on her way back to Kansas so we overlapped for a few days to see the sights in Paris. Melissa joined us for 2 of those days.  What a wonderful time it was!  

Melissa had found a cute little hotel for us to stay in and then we became tourists for 3 days.  What a massive city and soooo many people.   

Lindsay, with map in hand, did an awesome job of getting us to where we wanted to go. 

 I have no idea how many kilometers we walked.  But it was many, many.

We had no deadlines so we could spend our time how we wanted.  

I was surprised to see so many McDonald's but getting a coke with ice was a welcome treat.  

We traveled the massive metro system,

 drank coffee at the cute cafes along the street, well,  the girls did...I had my coke WITH ice from McDonalds!,

indulged ourselves at the bakeries with yummy pastries...(maybe too much!),

  and took every minute we had to talk and talk and talk.

We watched artists painting, 

we saw musicians set up shop on the side of the road to entertain us,  hoping for donations, 

 and a pick up chess games played on the street.  So much to see.

One day we spent several hours exploring the beautiful gardens at the home of the painter, Claude Monet.

After 4 days, we left Paris by train bound for Rennes, where Melissa lives, leaving Lindsay to board the plane for Kansas after her 7 weeks in France.

It was absolutely wonderful to spend time in Melissa's lovely city.  Her apartment is homey and she was so welcoming.  I could have stayed a lot longer if I didn't have my "dearest" back in Africa waiting for me. 

The region of France where Melissa lives is full of history:  castles, cathedrals,  medieval architecture and beautiful flowers.  We visited several villages close by that were simply charming.  The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the flowers we saw everywhere. 

Crepes made a great lunch at a quaint cafe.

 

 I did learn a new vocabulary word in French:  "la canicule" meaning "heatwave", which, evidently, they were experiencing while I was there.   I guess it's what you get used to... the weather was gorgeous.

With our family living on three different continents, time together is rare and very precious.   I'm so grateful for these days.

The Shipping of The Cow or Sunday Entertainment

Mr. Tom  and I were having a very pleasant Sunday afternoon promenade when we looked to the East and saw the dark clouds rapidly approaching.

 Not wanting to walk in the rain (rainy season HAS started) we quickly turned around and rushed home; but alas, the rain never came.  So I joined the neighbor ladies outside for "a bit of air" and some chatting.

I was about to go inside, when a pick-up pulled up with a live cow tied down in the back.  I knew immediately that this was a blog post in the making!

With one cow already loaded and ready to go to the butcher shop, they had stopped in for another at our next door neighbor's.

 This poor soul must have understood what was in her future as did not go willingly.  As she was pulled from the yard with a long cord, she charged in our direction which sent us women all running for shelter behind a electric pole!

 But her energy wore down within minutes as she was tugged, pulled and finally lifted onto the back of the pick-up.  I really don't know what they would have done without her tail.

 
 Three legs tied together and it was all over.  A few more adjustments in order to get the tailgate shut and they were done.

Sunday afternoon entertainment in front of the gate at the Dorsches!

P.S.  In spite of having grown up on the farm, I really have no idea if this animal was a he or a she.  It is just so much easier to say "cow" than to determine if it is a steer or a heifer!  Please, my dear farmer brothers, don't be too mortified if I have been mistaken.

"It's Raining, It's Pouring, the Old Man is Snoring..."

Yes, yes, yes!  It's RAINING!  A long anticipated rainy morning...and without a dust prelude!  The windows are open and we are soaking in the cool breeze, ignoring the rain splashing in through the screen...the tile floors will dry soon enough.  The beautiful sound of raindrops on the tin roof is music to our ears.  The water pouring off of the roof is a dirty brown color, as the months of accumulated dust gets washed off. We can hear the joyful shouts of the neighbor children as they dance and shiver excitedly in the cool, first rain.  The streets are empty. The neighbors are smiling.  Happy day! Absolutely glorious.

But the "Old Man" is NOT snoring, he's out "playing" in the water!  Actually, he's trying to dislodge mounds of garbage and branches and months of accumulated trash from the drainage canal in front of our house in hopes that the massive amounts of running water will wash it all into the river. Sorry hippos.

With help from our favorite neighbor boy and an old rake, they finally got some of it to move on down the canal.

The neighbor's goats obviously didn't enjoy the rain as much as we did.  They stood perfectly still with their noses pressed against the wall.  What fun is that! 

The neighbor kids love to run in our yard and "shower" under the water running out of the drain spout from the roof.

Thanks to our gracious God for His gift of rain.

Did I Ever Say It's Hot Here?

What to do when it's 98 degrees inside the house and 110 degrees outside with no electricity to run fans and no water to take a shower? It's time to go outside the walls where everyone else is!

Since my neighbor was working on her embroidery, I picked up mine and joined her.

The slight breeze outside, as well as the company, helped the time to pass more pleasantly.

The busy highway and well-traveled sidewalk in front of our house also lends itself to many interesting sights (and pictures) and mini-conversations with passers-by.

The houses across the street from us: 

 With the water shortages, these yellow/orange 5 gallon jugs are a common sight all over town. We keep a stock of water on hand for those long water outages.

The neighbor boy was filling them at his spigot and then taking them to sell to those without water in their courtyard.

Camels are a common sight along with the cars and motorcycles.

This moto was getting a serious cleaning.  The wheels were scrubbed until they looked like new.

 The walking clothes rack vendor passed by.

 Always scores of kids...

Tom's favorite sight--the closest he gets to seeing farming.

 Delivery of new furniture to someone down the road.

These hot days too will pass.  It's easy to whine and complain when there are many hours/days without electricity.   The rains should be starting soon.

We're not in Kansas anymore

Twenty six glorious days in Kansas.
Soooo different from Niamey in every way.
Two extremely opposite worlds.
In every way.

We were refreshed by the cool air.  It was snowing when we landed!  Unbelievable.
We feasted our eyes on green:  the green grass and green wheat fields.
I'm beginning to think that green is my favorite color.
The perennials in our farmhouse yard all began to bloom:  irises, peonies and daisies.

We packed a lot into those 26 days.
The first event was Erika's pinning and graduation from Hesston College with a nursing degree.

We are so proud of her.  A week later she passed her state boards, so she's officially an RN.

Erika's biggest surprise on the eve of her graduation was in opening the car trunk to find her big brother inside!  You did it, Andrew.  She had no clue that you were coming.  (It was easier to get in than to get out!)

Kyle (Erika's boyfriend) took Tom for a plane ride and I, very willingly,  stood in our yard
and took pictures as they buzzed overhead.
 Maybe next time I'll be braver, Kyle. 

We celebrated Lindsay's birthday.
We also got to spend a few hours in her classroom  answering questions from her French students.

We did so many things that I don't have pictures of:

road tripped to western Kansas to see Tom's mom
had lovely evenings with friends and family
missed having Melissa with us
road tripped to Minnesota to see Andrew and dear friends
saw the dentist and the doctors
planted grass and a few native oak trees
took walks
did a bit of shopping
surprised a dear friend on her 50th birthday
had a sister day, which made us miss Donna so much
played croquet--why does Tom ALWAYS have to win!
mowed lawn and pulled weeds.

We packed as much in those 26 days as possible and enjoyed every minute of it.  Now we are back in Niamey.  Our second home on the other side of the world.   Another kind of beauty here.