And We're Off! almost

Today is our last full day in Geita before we start making our way to America for furlough.  For the last week we've been scrambling trying to get our house ready for our teammates, the Groens, to move in while we're gone.  We've finally got shelves in all our closets, albeit with no rods or doors, but that's ok.  The important thing is that there won't be waist and shoulder-high piles of boxes and things lying about in the corners of rooms.  It takes a bit longer to do things like this here than in the States.  I'm sure most of you would not have lived in your houses this long without closets.  But you have to do everything yourself here.  Brett goes and orders the wood and then gives measurements to the wood cutting guy.  Hopefully, that guy cuts the wood to the correct size and then you can begin the process of installation.  Brett has spent the last two weeks gathering every screw and fisher plug in Geita.  The city actually ran out before we could get everything up so we still lack a few things.  Also, you have to wait for a day when there is electricity so you can run the electric drill.  No hammering here -- we have concrete walls.  So anyway, it takes a while and I'm glad it's finally done.  It makes me feel a bit more organized.

We've managed to pack up most of our things to give the Groens some room and after dinner tonight with the McNeals we'll head to Mwanza tomorrow, pick the Groens up from the airport on Friday, spend a nice day with them, fly to Dar on Saturday, fly to London on Sunday, and fly to Atlanta on Monday, where we will finally be able to hug our family and friends and eat an Arby's roast beef and curly fries.

See you all in a week!