Little by Little

There is a lady at our church who comes up to me every Sunday and greets me (in French of course).  Then she asks about my French studys and reminds me that I will get it “little by little”.  I have found that the people here are really patient and know that we will be able to talk to them at some point, but it will come “little by little”.  I was thinking about it today and we are making steps in adapting.  It is good for us to notice the little steps, because then it makes the mountain seem a little smaller.  Here are some of the ways I see my family adapting to life in Africa:

– I no longer change out of my skirt first thing when I walk into my house.

– The boys are adapting to the food.  Tyler has started to enjoy peanuts as a snack and Ethan ate rice with onion sauce today (and liked it).

– We no longer wake up to the 5 AM call to prayer, or the roster on the roof next door, or even the goats next to our bedroom window.

– We are starting to eat our lunch later.  We still aren’t eating at 2 like most Africans would, but we usually make it until 1.

– The mild heat doesn’t bother us.  We find ourselves requiring a fan less often and have even slept a few nights without a fan blowing on us.

– The boys have adapted to the transportation here.  Bus = nap!  The boys are often asleep 5 minutes after the bus takes off.  Which is good, because bus rides are cheap, but long (especially if they aren’t very full, because then they wait for more passengers).

– Computer = phone: We are so thankful for skype and the connection to family it gives us.

– Our apartment is becoming a home.  We have now begun putting pictures on the walls and had our first company over for dinner.

– We have made some friends and are having fun here in Africa!