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Hello All,
Jarod here again. So for those of you following the Betty story, I am sorry to inform you that Betty no longer is employed at the Ring house. After being caught in a few other lies and things that just didn't seem to add up, we had to let her go. Well, actually our counter-part let her go without really asking us even though we would have done the same. The sad thing is, for the next several days after the whole debacle, she was waiting outside our gate in the morning to ask for her job back. She apologized many times, said she wants to start over and try again, that she is sorry she lied and will do better. The even more said thing is...we will probably end up taking her back. To be honest with you, it is probably just foolish but we really like having her around. She is an amazing cook, amazing at cleaning, is always happy and fun to have around and she understands our sketchy Kinyarwanda as well as we can understand hers because she talks slow for us. Who knows...we will see what happens. So for those of you rooting for Betty, don't give up hope an she still has a fighting chance. Okay...that is all for now. Later!
8.20.2010
8.13.2010
HOLY GUACAMOLE!
Hello all! Sarah here. It's 1:14 am and I should be sleeping but it's Friday and I took my malaria pill today so that means no sleep for me! I just wanted to update everyone on the package situation. First of all...wow! You guys are insane. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives.
Today we went to the post office to get our packages. Another PCV called and said she thought we had 2 at the PO so we needed to go and get them. When we arrived they were trying to charge us this huge amount and we were really confused so we went and got our supervisor. After they explained to him what they were charging us for he said...they are 600 a piece and we were like ok but we only have two...and he said no you have 6. That's right. 6. I just stood there and I was like no we aren't taking all of the PCVs boxes...just ours. The lady said "ok but you have 6." I said ... no, you are mistaken...we have 2. She said no, they are all Jarod Rings. I just stood there. I had my hands on my face and I was almost in tears and I said "WHAT". We have six!! Seriously. We are TOO blessed by you guys. I had packages from people I didn't even know had time to send packages!! I am amazed. So...as an update we got packages from the Strieglers, family worship center, my grandparents, and jarods parents. wow!! You guys are so good. We haven't opened them all yet as we are saving most of them for opening in Banda. :)
I also wanted to update our list...we do NOT need anymore spices or seasonings.I mean wow...we have ever spice/seasoning known to man! I've been cooking up a storm with them all. Also, we have enough deoderant, toothpaste, toothbrushes and chapstick to last for at least 6 months...at least!
We decided to add a few things to spice it up. Any kind of nutri-grain bar. Wasabi peas. Salsa. Rechargeable batteries (specifically AAA and AA). The church got us this handy dandy solar battery charger but we can't buy rechargeable batteries here! So any of those will be helpful. I think that's all for now. You guys already do sooooo much for us.
We are so thankful for everything you guys have done for us. I can't even put it into words. We love you all and realize more and more everyday how incredibly blessed we really are!
Also...little update for anyone with an iphone...turns out it isn't free for me. So....unfortunately I won't be texting really anymore. I will text our parents but that's about it...sorry!!!
Ok...I love you all but should really get some shut eye! Have a wonderful evening.
Today we went to the post office to get our packages. Another PCV called and said she thought we had 2 at the PO so we needed to go and get them. When we arrived they were trying to charge us this huge amount and we were really confused so we went and got our supervisor. After they explained to him what they were charging us for he said...they are 600 a piece and we were like ok but we only have two...and he said no you have 6. That's right. 6. I just stood there and I was like no we aren't taking all of the PCVs boxes...just ours. The lady said "ok but you have 6." I said ... no, you are mistaken...we have 2. She said no, they are all Jarod Rings. I just stood there. I had my hands on my face and I was almost in tears and I said "WHAT". We have six!! Seriously. We are TOO blessed by you guys. I had packages from people I didn't even know had time to send packages!! I am amazed. So...as an update we got packages from the Strieglers, family worship center, my grandparents, and jarods parents. wow!! You guys are so good. We haven't opened them all yet as we are saving most of them for opening in Banda. :)
I also wanted to update our list...we do NOT need anymore spices or seasonings.I mean wow...we have ever spice/seasoning known to man! I've been cooking up a storm with them all. Also, we have enough deoderant, toothpaste, toothbrushes and chapstick to last for at least 6 months...at least!
We decided to add a few things to spice it up. Any kind of nutri-grain bar. Wasabi peas. Salsa. Rechargeable batteries (specifically AAA and AA). The church got us this handy dandy solar battery charger but we can't buy rechargeable batteries here! So any of those will be helpful. I think that's all for now. You guys already do sooooo much for us.
We are so thankful for everything you guys have done for us. I can't even put it into words. We love you all and realize more and more everyday how incredibly blessed we really are!
Also...little update for anyone with an iphone...turns out it isn't free for me. So....unfortunately I won't be texting really anymore. I will text our parents but that's about it...sorry!!!
Ok...I love you all but should really get some shut eye! Have a wonderful evening.
Again we're alone...
8-8-10
Man! Once again, we’re the only white people in our village. The group left this morning. They were pretty awesome. It was a group of 10 students from the US Virgin Islands. They have been fund-raising for 2 years to come year and they were so helpful. I really enjoyed getting to know them. They were aged 16-19. They helped the community so much. Just the smallest things. They bought ALL their food here which helped the market tremendously. They bought ALL their fabric here and had dresses and skirts made which helped the vendors so much! They also bought lots of souvenirs from our small gift shop which is always something they need. They helped paint the walls in the nursery, plant trees in our agriculture fields, and so much more. It was really awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed their time here.
On a personal note, one of them totally surprised me when she gave me a pair of 7 jeans. Those jeans are soooo expensive and she just gave them over. They fit perfectly too. Oh happy day. I was sad too though because the girls were talking about watching Eclipse… and of course I haven’t seen it so it made me very sad. All the little things I’m missing makes me a little sad but I know I’m helping so many people that makes up for it. The rumor around the mill is one of the girls here had her brother send Eclipse as well as a million other movies that are brand new on a hard drive and it should be here soon so we can watch it. And of course, as soon as my movies come out on DVD I’m going to be buying them!! I can’t wait.
Man, nothing really exciting has been going on. Well, I think I have bed bugs. I’m not sure because I wake up every night itching TO DEATH and Jarod is sleeping away. He hasn’t been bitten by a single thing the WHOLE time we’ve been here and I am bleeding from whatever is sleeping with me! It doesn’t make sense….we wash our sheets every week, and put our mattress out in the sun frequently (which is a requirement here in Africa). It doesn’t make sense because if it was really bed bugs…Jarod would be bitten but NO! Just me. Who knows. Maybe I’ll claw myself until I have no skin left….maybe not. My counterpart says I have parasites. Maybe? Who knows! Oh the perks of Africa.
We are actually leaving here soon. By the time you get this, obviously we’ll be out of Banda but we have an In-service language training the 14th-18th so we’ll be back in Nyanza where we had our 10 week training. Maybe we’ll have a good internet connection…but also we’ll be in Kigali that weekend because of Jarod’s birthday. I haven’t the foggiest what I can get him here in Africa. It’s so different! Ok, I think that’s enough for now. I’m gonna go cook or something. Have a wonderful Sunday and I’ll talk to you all soon. I love you guys!
Man! Once again, we’re the only white people in our village. The group left this morning. They were pretty awesome. It was a group of 10 students from the US Virgin Islands. They have been fund-raising for 2 years to come year and they were so helpful. I really enjoyed getting to know them. They were aged 16-19. They helped the community so much. Just the smallest things. They bought ALL their food here which helped the market tremendously. They bought ALL their fabric here and had dresses and skirts made which helped the vendors so much! They also bought lots of souvenirs from our small gift shop which is always something they need. They helped paint the walls in the nursery, plant trees in our agriculture fields, and so much more. It was really awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed their time here.
On a personal note, one of them totally surprised me when she gave me a pair of 7 jeans. Those jeans are soooo expensive and she just gave them over. They fit perfectly too. Oh happy day. I was sad too though because the girls were talking about watching Eclipse… and of course I haven’t seen it so it made me very sad. All the little things I’m missing makes me a little sad but I know I’m helping so many people that makes up for it. The rumor around the mill is one of the girls here had her brother send Eclipse as well as a million other movies that are brand new on a hard drive and it should be here soon so we can watch it. And of course, as soon as my movies come out on DVD I’m going to be buying them!! I can’t wait.
Man, nothing really exciting has been going on. Well, I think I have bed bugs. I’m not sure because I wake up every night itching TO DEATH and Jarod is sleeping away. He hasn’t been bitten by a single thing the WHOLE time we’ve been here and I am bleeding from whatever is sleeping with me! It doesn’t make sense….we wash our sheets every week, and put our mattress out in the sun frequently (which is a requirement here in Africa). It doesn’t make sense because if it was really bed bugs…Jarod would be bitten but NO! Just me. Who knows. Maybe I’ll claw myself until I have no skin left….maybe not. My counterpart says I have parasites. Maybe? Who knows! Oh the perks of Africa.
We are actually leaving here soon. By the time you get this, obviously we’ll be out of Banda but we have an In-service language training the 14th-18th so we’ll be back in Nyanza where we had our 10 week training. Maybe we’ll have a good internet connection…but also we’ll be in Kigali that weekend because of Jarod’s birthday. I haven’t the foggiest what I can get him here in Africa. It’s so different! Ok, I think that’s enough for now. I’m gonna go cook or something. Have a wonderful Sunday and I’ll talk to you all soon. I love you guys!
A Bunch Of Randomness and A Whole Lot Of Nothingness....
8-2-10
Packages!! Woo hoo. We got some packages today from the church and from nanny! They were amazing. I can’t even tell you how exciting it was to receive 3 packages at one time. They had the most scrumptious items in them! We got some really delicious and yummy things from the church. We got books! We are SOOO grateful but I know Jarod wanted to write about those so I’ll talk about my nanny and papaws package…we loved it!! We are so grateful. It was amazing. My supervisor picked it up and was like, “what is this? It is so heavy? Who are these people who keep sending these boxes?” My nanny packed over 20 pounds into one of those boxes! We had pens, paper, balloons, crayons, stickers, a jump rope, Frisbees, etc. It was incredible. I can’t believe so much fit into one of those boxes! One of the other PCVs called and said we had more packages too at the Post Office! You guys are spoiling us rotten!!!! We can’t even express how grateful we are to be receiving these packages. We miss everyone and every package is like getting to talk to someone or be close to them even if only for a short time. Thank you thank you soooo much!!!! We love you all.
Oh…funny story of the day. So Sunday, we were sitting in church and I felt something crawling up my arm (under my cardigan) so naturally I think it’s a spider and start slapping at my arm. All of a sudden, right below my armpit something starts BURING like crazy. Of course, we’re sitting at the FRONT of the church over looking everyone (because we’re always considered the guests of honor) and I’m like what do I do, to Jarod. My arm is on FIRE! Finally I can’t take it anymore and I rip my cardigan off and there sitting on my arm is a bee. What! I know. How in the world a bee flew up between my shirt and cardigan, I can’t understand but he did and then he stung me. It wasn’t fun. So now I’ve gone from never being stung in my life to being stung 2 times in 2 months! Man, so after I squirmed like a little girl and I saw EVERYONE was staring at me….I just got up and walked out. Man. It’s always something here! Ha.
It’s time to do a shout out to all our Augusters…..
Happy Birthday to my Laila Bug! August 2nd….I can’t believe you’re 6 years old. Dassah. Happy Birthday on the 5th….1! Aunt Dana and Uncle Gary…congratulations on 18 years. It’s wonderful in todays society to make it past just a few!! We’re proud of you. My amazing hubby! August 20th, happy birthday! I love you soooooooo much and wouldn’t want to be spending this time with anyone else. Dustin…happy birthday on the 20th as well. Hope it’s great. We love you guys and think of you so much.
Packages!! Woo hoo. We got some packages today from the church and from nanny! They were amazing. I can’t even tell you how exciting it was to receive 3 packages at one time. They had the most scrumptious items in them! We got some really delicious and yummy things from the church. We got books! We are SOOO grateful but I know Jarod wanted to write about those so I’ll talk about my nanny and papaws package…we loved it!! We are so grateful. It was amazing. My supervisor picked it up and was like, “what is this? It is so heavy? Who are these people who keep sending these boxes?” My nanny packed over 20 pounds into one of those boxes! We had pens, paper, balloons, crayons, stickers, a jump rope, Frisbees, etc. It was incredible. I can’t believe so much fit into one of those boxes! One of the other PCVs called and said we had more packages too at the Post Office! You guys are spoiling us rotten!!!! We can’t even express how grateful we are to be receiving these packages. We miss everyone and every package is like getting to talk to someone or be close to them even if only for a short time. Thank you thank you soooo much!!!! We love you all.
Oh…funny story of the day. So Sunday, we were sitting in church and I felt something crawling up my arm (under my cardigan) so naturally I think it’s a spider and start slapping at my arm. All of a sudden, right below my armpit something starts BURING like crazy. Of course, we’re sitting at the FRONT of the church over looking everyone (because we’re always considered the guests of honor) and I’m like what do I do, to Jarod. My arm is on FIRE! Finally I can’t take it anymore and I rip my cardigan off and there sitting on my arm is a bee. What! I know. How in the world a bee flew up between my shirt and cardigan, I can’t understand but he did and then he stung me. It wasn’t fun. So now I’ve gone from never being stung in my life to being stung 2 times in 2 months! Man, so after I squirmed like a little girl and I saw EVERYONE was staring at me….I just got up and walked out. Man. It’s always something here! Ha.
It’s time to do a shout out to all our Augusters…..
Happy Birthday to my Laila Bug! August 2nd….I can’t believe you’re 6 years old. Dassah. Happy Birthday on the 5th….1! Aunt Dana and Uncle Gary…congratulations on 18 years. It’s wonderful in todays society to make it past just a few!! We’re proud of you. My amazing hubby! August 20th, happy birthday! I love you soooooooo much and wouldn’t want to be spending this time with anyone else. Dustin…happy birthday on the 20th as well. Hope it’s great. We love you guys and think of you so much.
Let Us All Take A Moment...
7/29/10
Today is a sad sad day. We need to all take a moment and remember today. It is a day of great loss and tragedy. We all have these days in life where we lose something or someone that means everything to us and we must take the time to slow down and remember. Remember what they meant to us and how much better our life is because of having them for whatever amount of time we did. So with that being said…let us all take a moment to remember.
Silence…
Thank you! What you may ask are we remembering? Today, on this 29th day of July…I consumed the last of my vanilla oreos. May they rest in peace. They brought so much joy for the 2 weeks I had them. I stretched those dudes as long as they’d last and man were they ever so delicious!
Ok ok maybe that was a bit dramatic but lets be honest…did you expect anything less from me? So wow. Life is insanely busy these days. We actually are working. I think pretty hard. We have started updating the sponsorship program which has proved to be a pretty large challenge because so many of these people don’t know their own birthday or even birth year. Many of them have never written their names either, so however it sounds….that’s how they spell it-phonetically. So it’s a process but we’re working away. I can’t believe it’s already August! Wow. We haven’t been able to update since June so I apologize for the delay in posting the blogs. As soon as we get internet…you’ll be reading this!
We have a group coming from the US Virgin Islands soon. It should be pretty good and I’ll let you know how it goes. I miss you all and hope you haven’t forgotten us! We love you….
Today is a sad sad day. We need to all take a moment and remember today. It is a day of great loss and tragedy. We all have these days in life where we lose something or someone that means everything to us and we must take the time to slow down and remember. Remember what they meant to us and how much better our life is because of having them for whatever amount of time we did. So with that being said…let us all take a moment to remember.
Silence…
Thank you! What you may ask are we remembering? Today, on this 29th day of July…I consumed the last of my vanilla oreos. May they rest in peace. They brought so much joy for the 2 weeks I had them. I stretched those dudes as long as they’d last and man were they ever so delicious!
Ok ok maybe that was a bit dramatic but lets be honest…did you expect anything less from me? So wow. Life is insanely busy these days. We actually are working. I think pretty hard. We have started updating the sponsorship program which has proved to be a pretty large challenge because so many of these people don’t know their own birthday or even birth year. Many of them have never written their names either, so however it sounds….that’s how they spell it-phonetically. So it’s a process but we’re working away. I can’t believe it’s already August! Wow. We haven’t been able to update since June so I apologize for the delay in posting the blogs. As soon as we get internet…you’ll be reading this!
We have a group coming from the US Virgin Islands soon. It should be pretty good and I’ll let you know how it goes. I miss you all and hope you haven’t forgotten us! We love you….
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