we're coming home

Tonight at 9 pm (1 pm for all your CST people), we will be boarding our first flight home. We are due to land in the States via New Jersey tomorrow afternoon...so if you would pray that the weather does not interfere with our landing and taking off at 3 pm (EST), that would be awesome!

We are due to land in Houston at 6:00 pm (CST) on Wednesday night, where we will meet my mom, sister, grandparents + aunt for our first meal in the USA...any guesses where we will go???

If I tell you that I have missed salad more than anything...would that give you a clue???

Then it is off to Nacogdoches, where we will spend 2 weeks with family, friends and food :) Then we will go to Arkansas to spend time with the rest of the Newlins until January 2nd...when we will move into our NEW HOME in Arkansas...never a dull moment for The Newlin Weds, for sure :)

See you soon!

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

tomorrow, tomorrow...

day

I cannot believe we begin our journey home tomorrow night...I am not very good at waiting...and I really thought this day would never come...but alas, here it is! Christmas celebrations and wonderful family time are only three plane rides and a night's sleep away...crazy!

I saved the best for last...what we will miss the very most about Rwanda are our new friends...Azizi Life co-workers and other volunteers that we have crossed paths with during our time here. We have had many laughs and joyful moments, as well as shared in despair and homesickness...God truly blessed our 4 months with quality people with beautiful souls to share our time with.

I hope to keep in touch with everyone of them...and thanks to Facebook, I think it will be possible!

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

dos

 days

We will miss seeing people carry everything from an electric keyboard to a bed frame on their heads. I am reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (the fictional story of a missionary family in the Congo in the 1960s? and this quote describes this wonder perfectly...

"The usual bypasser is a woman sauntering slowly down the road with bundles upon bundles balanced on her head. These women are pillars of wonder, defying gravity while wearing the ho-hum aspect of perfect tedium. They can sit, stand, talk, shake a stick at a drunk man, reach around their backs to fetch forth a baby to nurse, all without dropping their piled-high bundles upon bundles. They are like ballet dancers entirely unaware they are on stage. I cannot take my eyes from them."

Although the large, unusual objects are mesmerizing...I think I enjoy seeing a woman carrying her own purse on her head, rather than on her shoulder, the most

I almost didn't post today...we had a fun night that caused me to forget to countdown! Friends, Dutch Blitz, homemade pizza and brownies will do just that.

Much love,

Emily Elizabeth

just a few more...

days

until we start our journey home

We will miss Rwanda's mild weather and falling asleep to rain hitting the tin roof. Before we came to Rwanda, people told us to get ready for unbearable heat with no relief. Luckily, Africa is a pretty big place...and we got to spend 4 months in its paradise.


Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

4 days to 4 months

days

We will miss walking 70 yards to the corner shop complete with bottled coke, toothbrushes, fresh fruit and veggies, cooking spices, bread, tea and other items Rwandans would consider a staple. Not only did we not have the choice to hop into our car to run to the store...we didn't need to! We could just grab our shoes and be there in two minutes (and be greeted by friendly faces along the way)

I am almost finished wrapping up my work with Azizi Life. I have set up the website page for the new Azizi Life Advocate Home Party project and am almost done with the Advocate guide! Super exciting! If you check out the website and are interested, the Advocate role will be officially open for your participation in January...so hang in there! If you want more information, in the mean time, email me!

And I have found time to help Geri with her cultural tourism project...I created the logo below.

I also helped set up the Azizi Life Experiences web page.

Today, I took some time to look back at all the projects that I have completed while here in Rwanda (with Azizi Life AND school)...God has really helped a girl out...that is the only way to explain the productivity over the last 4 months!

I wonder what all will happen in the next 4 months...

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth


Check out our 6 Days + 5 Days post, too!

times a ticking...

days

We will miss the beautiful views...from every window...and every hill...siiiiiiiggghhhhhhh 

Luckily, we are moving to the 2nd most hilly place I know of...Arkansas! But there are so many trees, you don't get a panoramic view at every corner like you do in Rwanda.

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth

less than a week...

days

We cannot believe that we are under a week, and at the same time, we are wishing the time would go by faster (talk about emotional roller coaster!)

So, to help our mindset, Jon and I have decided to list one thing each day that we are still here that we are sure to miss when we are gone. So for today...

We will miss the children...especially those who cannot contain themselves and wave excitedly when we walk past...and the ones that scream "Thank You Very Much!" because I am sure this is 1.) The newest phrase they have learned in English or 2.) All they can remember from their English lesson...either way, it fills my heart with delight. 

This weekend we will start packing and share some of our sweets with our friend Mariana (and maybe even paint our nails :)) We are taking it easy...does that make us boring? Maybe it does...but I think I am too brain dead to do anything else...grad school work is done...and what do I have to show for it? :)

Much love,
Emily Elizabeth