A trip to the South

This past Thursday and Friday, we spent in and around Butare..."the intellectual hub of Rwanda". We visited four different cooperatives to pick up orders and to talk about potential projects. Jon came along to video for Azizi Life, and I got to do some "on-site quality control" and photographing.

We experienced so much in this two day trip, that I feel like bullet pointing it may be the best way to share (since Jon is still working on getting a video together). So, here are some highlights:

-Bouncing down (and up) dirt roads winding around the Southern Hills of Rwanda with Christi fearless at the wheel and Emily getting to know Sheila and Jeannine (her Azizi Life coworkers) from bouncing around between them in the back seat :)

-Beautiful views from pretty much anywhere we were

-Ice cream!

Sweet Dreams in Butare...check out the documentary of the making of the ONLY ice cream shop in Rwanda here: http://sweetdreamsrwanda.com/

-Learning how make banana leaf twine (see my post on this here) and seeing the process of making a bag from the tree to the finished products.

-Teaching Jeannine and Sheila how to use "air quotation marks" to show sarcasm...and watching them use it in conversation three days later...don't know what "air quotation marks" are? Let Joey from Friends show you what they are not....Watch HERE

-Watching Jon interact (and sometimes scare) the neighborhood kids

Mose

-Getting to know more artisans and observing them creating their masterpieces

Mother and Daughter

-Children yelling "Mazungo" as we drove by...and by "children" I mean every child we drove by running to the edge of the road yelling, pointing and waving...

So, all in all, you see it was a very busy, productive, and educational trip (and a little fun, too).

I am beginning school work this week...which is basically a lot of reading, reflecting and note taking...I can't say that I have been looking forward to this part of my field semester...but I am SO close to being done with Grad School...so it's bearable.

Jon is making minestrone soup tonight...we have never made this dish for ourselves before, so it should be interesting :) We decided that we could have an entire blog on the things we make to eat here...we amuse ourselves regularly :)

I'm going to conclude with a HUGE

THANK YOU

to everyone who has asked about or already sent us a care package...and who have been leaving us kind comments, Facebook posts and sending us encouraging emails...they have meant so much to us and we look forward to them everyday. You guys (and gals) are THE BEST.

Much love,

Emily Elizabeth

Our House in Rwanda

This video is for family and friends asking about our living situation in Africa.  Enjoy!

Emily's famous (in Nacogdoches, anyway)

Before leaving for Rwanda, my grandfather called the local paper with my story...and they followed up! (in a pretty big way, I would say!)

We waited and waited for the article to show up in the paper...and all of the sudden...there I was on the front page! Whoa...

Here it is for your viewing pleasure...
Click HERE for Page 1
Click HERE for Page 2

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

name one of Azizi Life's new products!

Here is a way for you to be a part of the fun of being in Rwanda!

In Rwanda, when a new baby is born, the community comes together for a naming ceremony. Azizi Life invites you to be a part of our community in naming our newest product:

Please visit Azizi Life's Facebook Fan Page to submit your name suggestion. Later, we will take a vote on a selection of suggested names. The name most favored by our fans will earn the creative genius who thought of the winning name a FREE pictured product!

The chosen name will be appear in our EXCLUSIVE Etsy shop...and then in the Azizi Life catalog and website!

To get in on all the fun, first you have to be an Azizi Life Fan, so "like" us here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Azizi-Life/155542227837660

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

I was working away on my computer today...

...when I looked over my shoulder and saw these little guys...watching me

Aren't they cute? We had more visitors come shop at the office store today, and these little dove ornaments were in line to be purchased. I am sure they will enjoy their new home in the UK!

You can give one a home as well! {Just click here}

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

Rwanda Questions

In response to a few questions I've received:

If you purchase an item from azizi life, you don't get a picture of the person who made the item, although that might be able to be arranged.  The weather here is in the eighties, and it gets colder at night.  It is supposed to be the dry season right now, but it has been raining quite a bit.  There was a wild thunderstorm last night.

Most Rwandans do dress like Americans.  In fact, many of them wear second hand american clothes.  The other day, I saw a guy wearing a "born to ride in America" shirt with a motorcyle on it.                                                                                                        

I haven't seen many pets, but I have seen kids walking goats on leashes, chickens and roosters in people's front yards, and the other day I saw a man walking a pig.  Below is a video of the pig.



Most people eat a diet of primarily rice, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, some carrots, and cassava (a root plant).

They speak Rwandese, and the little children are learning English.  The children will often yell out "Good Morning!" as I walk by them.  Some people know a little French as well and will say "bonjour" to greet me.

Rwanda - Week One

a view from my "office"

Oh, are the bars in the way????...here's a view past the windows...

You would be right to be jealous :)

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

first day on the job

Today was my first official day as an Azizi Life intern! Along brainstorming about all the different areas and projects I could get involved in during the next four months, I got to set up the office shop. Groups that are visiting the country and make their way to Azizi Life have the privilege of perusing our products...and you can too, well...digitally 

Traditional Rwanda Peace Baskets, woven bowls, Christmas decor and trays

Baby toys, accessories and ornaments

Dove mobiles...these little doves are so cute!

Giraffe and zebra bookends

Christmas ornaments and mini Rwanda Peace Baskets

Bracelets 

Coin purses (I'm buying one of these tomorrow...lined with beautiful, traditional fabric)

Bowls, bowls, bowls

So these are all of the wonderful products I get to spend the next four months with! If anything peaks your interest, check out www.azizilife.com for more info...or comment on what you like!

Much love,

Emily Elizabeth

Traveling to Rwanda

getting to know Rwanda

We have been here only a day...so "the land of a thousand hills" still has a lot to show us...but we got off to a good start.

I really have not been feeling well since our Ethiopia flight (that we were not even suppose to have)...so it's been a slow start for me...but Jon, however, has hit the ground running and has embraced immersion...as Christi (my first contact with Azizi Life who has been in Rwanda for 4 years now and is from PA) taught us greetings in Kenrwanda...Jon did not hesitate to start trying them and has done really well...the people we have spoken to have appreciated his effort...I don't know that too many "mazungo" try to speak the language.

Christi amazes me, though. She is so comfortable in her own skin and speaks fluent Kenrwanda. God has gifted her with hospitality and language...perfect for her role with Azizi Life as Marketing and Communications Director!

Tom, Azizi Life's Director of all thinks business is also wonderful. Very welcoming and easy to talk to. My first English friend ever :)

We took a walk about town today to see the post office, community center, a few convenient stores, and to get a feel for the roads (which are very hard dirt roads that somewhat remind me of East Texas)...I didn't feel totally out of place, but being stared at brought me back to living in Chicago during Mission Year. Jon and I are novelties here...I suppose a Rwandese would be in East Texas too, though...

So, to end this post...I decided to make a time line of what getting to Rwanda was like for us...let's just say that the next time, I need to put more than a 2 hour layover between flights...

Wednesday, Aug 10th:

6:30am: Leave for Houston Airport

8:00am: Arrive at the airport with four very oversized bags...the check-in attendant only charges us for one ($225)...our first Airport Angel

11:15am: Our plane from Houston leaves for our first stop, Montreal, Canada

2:00pm (eastern): We arrive in Montreal, eat lunch...hunker down for our 3 hour layover

5:00pm: Find out our plane is not leaving on time due to a hydraulic fluid leak

9:30pm: Finally get on the plane headed to Brussels, Belgium...knowing we will miss our next flight and anxious of what our new arrangements will be

Thursday, Aug. 11th:

11:00 am (Brussels time): We arrive, knowing that our flight straight to Kigali, Rwanda left of 10:40am, are bummed to recieve our new tickets for a flight at 8:00pm that night...to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from which we will connect for our final flight to Rwanda...

11:01am: set off to find a phone to call Christi with our travel changes and email whoever we can...we meet Jemy, a beautiful Canadian woman traveling to Kigali for a wedding, and become travel family :)

11:45am: after going through customs and all over the airport, we finally find the phone...only to discover that I have written down Christi's phone number with one number missing...so I try to email her...only to realize that my password won't go through on Belgium's Gmail...what, did I have to translate it into French?

12:00pm: Jon emails with his account successfully and I call my contact with Eastern to email Christi with our changes, just in case...our never ending layover begins...

12:30-5:30pm: moving from place to place outside the terminal to sleep

5:30pm: check in with our flight...just to be told that we must change our return ticket in order to board the plane...

5:45pm: Met Mike, a friendly Belgium airline clerk who helps us figure out how to change our ticket...Airport Angel #2

6:15pm: Finally make it through check-in

8:50pm: Board our flight to Ethiopia...which is our 2nd overnight flight of the trip...

Friday, Aug. 12th:

7:00 am: arrive in Addis Ababa's small, smokey, dirty airport for another layover...find a place to sit and rest my swollen feet

10:50am: Take off on our last flight to Kigali...

12:15pm: Arrive in Rwanda!!! Finally!!!

1:00pm: Made it through customs, got all 4 of our bags (one oozing with shampoo due to USA security check people just throwing everything back in my bag...thanks a lot) and are greeted by Christi!

We then took at taxi to Gitarama, our home until December...settled a bit, took a nap and then went to a local restaurant for dinner...Jon enjoyed the beef kabob and chipatti bread with a potato, I was feeling not so hot at this point, so I won't judge the food just yet :) We walked back home in the dark and then got in bed...which has never felt so good in my whole entire life...

So there you go...that pretty much updates you till now...I am finishing this post up in the dark, due to the power going out...a lot to adjust to, but not nearly as much as Jon expected...so that is good :)

Speaking of Jon, he is working on a video to show you all what I have just talked about...should be entertaining...stay tuned :)

Much love,

Emily Elizabeth

We're here!

and I'm not even sure I ever thought the day would come!

More details to come...but I need a nap...so more later!

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

see you in Rwanda!

Jon + I leave for the airport in Houston at 6:30 am tomorrow...why must we live so far away :)

We get on our plane at 11:00 am that will take us to Canada, then get on another one that will take us to Belgium, and then on our last plane that will bring us to Kigali, Rwanda at 6:50 pm on Thursday, Aug 11th (9:50 am central)...we will let you know that we have safely arrived as soon as we can get online on Thursday.

In other news, Jon has accepted the senior pastor position at Wickes Church of the Nazarene in Wickes, Arkansas. What a gift to have a job and a loving church community waiting for us when we get back in December! God is so good, and I look forward to seeing what He will do in Jon during our four months in Rwanda, and what He will do in Wickes as they prepare for new leadership.

Thank you to all of those who are checking in because they received a prayer card. We are excited to share this adventure with you!

And a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mother, who will be another year more awesome on Thursday! We love you!

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

ready to go?

Check list after check list and I can't wait to see what item we will wish we had not forgotten...

We are down to three days left before the biggest adventure yet...but we also are praying about what will be waiting for us in the States when we get back in December...If you would keep Jon and me in your prayers, not just for Rwanda, but also opportunities when we get back.

More information to come, I'm sure!

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth