Hiatt's in the Congo

I went into the office today!  It's really my only outing of the house.  When I go, I stay all day, so I take stuff for me to do when I am not working.  I pray that the Lord blesses me with patience to withstand not being able to go ANYWHERE by myself.  I'm either home all day, by my self, or at the office.  I will never take for granted the ability to drive somewhere whenever I want.  I would love to take a drive up the canyon and go for a hike, or even just take my puppies for a walk around my neighborhood.  It is not an option to go outside the compound and go for a walk, even if Cory came with me. Meet Marcus...She is the office cleaning lady and she is amazing!  She comes in every day and cleans the office: 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, board room and 6 offices.  She mops the floor by hand and doesn't get frustrated when one of the guys comes in with dirty shoes, she just recleans it! I'd be yelling at them and telling them, wait until the flo...

  I can count on one hand how many times Cory has stayed home because he is sick...today was one of those days.  Sunday, he started feeling pretty yucky with a sore throat and sinus congestion.  That night was a rough night, he didn't sleep, his head was pounding and he was just miserable. He didn't go to work, I drugged him up and he went to sleep in the guest bedroom.  We brought with us some medicine in case we needed it while we are here.  Now, let me interject, I am not one to just take antibiotics at the first sign of sickness, I am a pharmacist daughter and have been taught well (thanks dad). However, I could tell with Cory, medicine was needed.  We started him on an antibiotic Monday morning and by that evening, he was starting to feel better.  Tuesday morning he said it was a night and day difference from the previous morning and he went to work! Cory was going stir crazy after being home all day so he worked on the puzzle with me during dinne...

 Today in church, Ella came and sat on my lap and cuddled, I loved it!! Cory snapped this picture, isn’t she the cutest! After a Sunday nap, we worked on the puzzle for a little bit. I know it doesn’t look like it but we spent about 40 minutes and we got about 20 pieces put together so we took that as a win! This puzzle is a beast!   Almost every night, I make a hot honey lemon drink. The lemons here are very juicy which makes it even better. As a side note...I laugh every time I look at the cooking babies in the kitchen! My sweet neighbor (in Mapleton) girl, Harper, loves my dogs almost as much as I do!  She loves to take them for walks and while Kaylee & Aaron are on their cruise, she’s taking Buddy for nightly walks. Woke up to this picture from her mom. I’m so grateful for the amazing friends I’ve made that help all along the way 🫶🏼

 Now that the whole Westland team is here, we all went to lunch at an Italian Restaurant!  I was so excited to go out…Cory and I use to go out to eat at least once if not twice a week, but we haven’t been here.   They set us up under a tree in the middle of the courtyard. It was beautiful! They had a playground just off the side of the table so it was perfect for the kids to play on and stay entertained throughout dinner. There was a pool table and ping pong table inside for the older kids.  One of the workers came and started teaching Junior how to hold the cue.  Sisca made the cutest treat bags for all the kids! The food was amazing here! Cory and I are excited to go back and try new things….and an added bonus, the menu is in English! We got a pineapple/orange drink Appetizers were a charcuterie board, bruschetta, and rosemary focaccia! Richmond, one of the Ghana guys, got this steak kabob and I want to get it next time I go…it kind of reminded me of Tucanos. ...

  Every morning I look forward to playing the New York Times Wordle and Connection game and sharing Katie.  It has turned into a little joy and I love playing any kind of game! We do it on the What's App because I don't always have internet but my DRC phone has data!

Lauren and Ella have been wanting their nails painted so we had a nail painting party today.  Ella was so excited to choose a color, she decided on purple for her nails and blue with silver glitter for her toe nails.  Lauren chose a lavender color for her nails and blue with gold glitter for her toes. I didn't get pictures of the finished producty!   Lauren taught me how to make popcorn on the stove top, it was delicious.  I'm making Cory stop at the grocery store on his way home to pick up popcorn kernels. Junior made the yummiest bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was so fresh.  Jason loved it so much he was drinking the last of it from the bowl.

There is not a store here that is a one stop shop, like Wal-Mart or Smiths.  If you want a wide range of groceries, you have to go to multiple stores.  Plus, it should be noted, what you found at a store once, might not be there the next time.  It is so frustrating!   Cory came home yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to the grocery store.  Of course I did!  It was my first time out of the compound in 2 days.  While there, we found 3 big finds! 1. Chunky peanut butter, which is equivalent to smooth peanut butter with a few nuts thrown in! 2. Chicken bouillon... I'm going to make some homemade chicken noodle soup, while it is winter here!   Cory was excited about this one, Choco's... It is a chocolate cereal kind of like coco pebbles but in a thick flake form.  Plus... it came in a big bag which is the closest thing to buying in bulk.  And Bonus... it was buy one get one free so we got 2 bags!

 Well…A milestone happened today!  All four of the Kabwika kids can ride bikes!  The two older ones (Laurene & Junior)  had never been around bikes so Sam bought one and they have been practicing and Laurene finally mastered it today!! She keeps saying “riding bikes is so fun” and she can’t wipe the grin off her face! I just wish they had a bigger place to ride but, someday! We are also trying to figure out how to make a basketball hoop for the compound or if by some miracle we can buy one. Junior and the security guards practice dribbling every day!

 Because we are below the equator we are living in the southern hemisphere! That means some cool things, to my nerdy, geography mind!  To begin with, when we first got here I thought, “oh good, our bedroom faces north so we won’t have direct sunlight!”  I was wrong…because we are below the equator it’s opposite from up home. The north gets the direct sunlight during the day and the south is in the shade! The seasons are opposite here so we are just at the end of winter and headed into spring. But, because we are so close to the equator, our temperatures don’t get too extreme. Winter is lows in the 50s to highs in the 70s and VERY dry! Won’t rain from end of April until November. Then the summer season begins and it gets warmer, maybe in the low 90s and rains almost every day until April.  Even during the 6 month dry season they are not in a drought. They have so much underground water here! Another thing that happens because we live so close to the equator, the amoun...

 Again, for those few of you that are actually following along on this journey, I am using this as my journal then I can print if off and have all the memories so skip over things as you wish! This Sunday, we got to church a little early so I was able to grab a few pictures on our way in.  This is the baptismal font.  When they have a baptism, they open the lid, haul in water and then they can baptize!  This is the Young Women's room. Justin, who is the one who travels around Lubumbashi when a General Authority visits to translate, is in our ward and he gave Cory and I a hymn book in French.  I love listening to the members here sing.  There are probably around 60-80 a week at church but they by far out-sing any ward we have ever been in back home.  Justin was also teaching Gospel Doctrine and he asked Cory to say the opening prayer.  It was the only thing I understood at church today!  During the lesson, I don't understand what is being said...