The Dry Season

 Officially it's the dry season here, but yesterday afternoon the sky got black, the loudest thunder claps we've ever heard scared us out of our wits and the rain fell in buckets: a preview of the rainy season.  It's not supposed to rain now.  The brick makers were devastated.

You've seen the exterior of our Mbuji-Mayi home.  Now for a tour of the interior.

This is the bedroom with mosquito net big enough for 15 people ( we brought it with from REI) and natural fiber African art on the wall.  We bought 8 for $10 each to spruce up the place.

This is the view into the garden from our bedroom.  We feel a little bit like prisoners

The gueset bathroom.  Notice the shower stall excellently placed for our sponge baths.  The big blue barrel contains water for flushing #2 with the smaller blue bucket.  The light blue bucket is for rinsing hands and tooth paste  spit and sponge baths.  Large pink towels. TP and hjand soap upper left.  Not pictured upper right is the cute handtowel with kitties for the sponge baths.

 Kitchen.  Blue plastic garbage can with plastic bags that can be tied shut between use.  (When full I give the garbage to Simba, our gardener, and he disappears our the front gate and returns with the empty.  Garbage is buried in the back yard when the ground is not too hard or burned on the ground)  Notice the 2 yellow 50 liter water jugs (formerly used for cooking oil) with the water pump leading to the water filters.  We have 12 water bottles that we refill.  The yellow pitcher is for rinsing. The white cup for drinking (old yogurt cup from Lubumbashi).  The white container for peels (the new yogurt containers from Mbuji-Mayi.  The sink now drains so doing dishes we first rinse, then soap, then rinse with our pure filtered water.  Not pictured: a nice 4-burner stove with oven that really cooks fast, our rice cooker, and an electric tea pot that's really fast (for hot water for oatmeal.

The unisex urinal in the main bathroom.  Do your business, scoop a little water from the bucket, and rinse that yellow away.  No flushing required.

The back door with two locks

Our washing machines (plural).  The green one is tried and true.  We haven't tried the microwave.

 

Guests.  These two elders ate lunch with us on their way home after completing their missions in Kinshasa.  Since Elder Moore is the 3rd Counselor in the Mission Presidency, he released them (easier and cheaper than flying to Lubumbashi to be released by President Packer).  In a couple of weeks they will have their own stake president and won't need us.

Same guests

Other residents:  This little guy is about 2 inches long.

This blue crested lizard (sporting a yellow head to match the wall) was about a foot long

This fellow checked in but didn't check out. 

To Elder Moore's great relief, the huge spider that kept hiding behind the drain board turned out to be the black plug.  There were no lights (until yesterday) in the kitchen so Sister Moore mistook the plug for something with long black legs.

As you can see we are doing well.  Life gets a little better each day.  The power is more regular.  Internet is promised for next week.  This 3G modem works OK but we hope the internet will work better.

We pray  that you recognize the Lord's blessings in your life too.

Elder William and Sister Ann Moore