Christmas day delivering gifts and sharing the Christmas story with kids at the hospital
Ultimate frisbee game on Christmas
Hike to Kibuye Rock for an arial view of the hospital
Incredibly powerful and beautiful waterfalls complete with downpour in rainy season (four different waterfalls we hiked to in these four pics!)
Visiting the southernmost source of the Nile River with friends
Touching the Nile River
Pyramid at the source of the Nile built by the German explorer who began walking in Egypt and discovered the source of the Nile here four years later in the 1930s
My mom jumped right into our elementary school teaching students and teachers
Christmas Eve dinner with friends and family
Quite the crew at Kibuye for the holidays - likely the largest group of expats in the country these days - the benefit of living outside Bujumbura in a peaceful rural setting
Christmas morning church service - we even formed a "choir" and sang ourselves to the entertainment of everyone :)
My view from the front of the church as we sang "Joy to the World" in English and Kirundi
Visiting the babies and mothers in the nursery on Christmas with new hats and blankets. My mom and I are holding twins wrapped in new blankets which my sweet 5 year old niece purchased with her own money for the babies.
Gotta love the Christmas tradition of watching "It's a Wonderful Life!"
Christmas morning after our singing debut
Lots of "friends" on our Boxing Day hike
Loved having these amazing houseguests. Not sure who was welcoming whom as they cooked for me and helped organize my house and even made coffee every morning - so sweet!
While my mom was teaching kiddos, my dad loved getting to go on the weekly construction tour and see all the progress around the hospital and housing area
Beautiful Burundi - picture on the continental ridge
The first fire in my fireplace!
My dad helping with our satellite internet
Both my parents enjoyed going on rounds with me and seeing my work firsthand for the first time
New church under construction
My mom enjoying the kids during the frisbee game
First day together in Burundi on the shore of Lake Tanganyika
They took lots of pictures of me, too, in the nursery...
...and during my Grand Rounds presentation to the hospital staff...
...at Bible study with the med students in my home...
...on rounds...
...and in Radiology.
My parents are both curious about new places and cultures and asked great questions. Here's my dad learning about Busoma (the grain we manufacture here) in the old site (above) and the new (below).
And here's my mom learning all about the exciting plans for the new school building
As all the Burundians said, I have young (and fun) parents!
Lots of cooking together
My mom engaged well with the 100 outpatient malnutrition program kids as she shared the Christmas story through a translator
And we will always remember our rainy adventure in the hot springs - and the fact that we discovered there were snakes there after we got out!
Thanks for visiting, Mom and Dad, for a fabulous Christmas together!
