New Beginnings

So, Kirsty and I finished our month long internship at the rural clinic about 30 minutes from our new village.  Here is most of the clinic staff that we got to know quite well during our time there.

After leaving the rural health clinic, we moved to our new village, "Turtle Beach."  Here is what our back courtyard looks like.  The first blue door to the left is Kirsty's room and the second one is mine.  To the right is our outdoor bathroom...it has no roof...we can't wait for the rainy season...haha! :)

Here is our living room as viewed from our front door.  If you continue through the curtained doorway ahead, you will find our kitchen.

And here it is!  Nearly all of our neighbors have outdoor kitchens, but as you can see from the photo of our courtyard above, we have no place for a kitchen outside.  So, we turned this second living room into our kitchen.  We are blessed to have been provided such a place!

To end the house tour, here is my room.  Compared to my old mud hut room, I am living in the lap of luxury!   Blessed beyond words!

We are making friends in our new village.  One friend in particular is committed to making us feel like we belong.   Not long after we arrived in the village, she took us with her to see her fields.  We weren't allowed to return empty handed.  We brought back a homemade sack of coconuts, several bunches of green cooking bananas, and some cassava root, which is starch staple here.

Here I am using a coconut grater on one of our recently acquired coconuts...I never walk away unscathed...the graters teeth are quite vicious!  Thankfully my tetnus shot is up to date :)

Lastly, here are our two ferocious rat killers :)  Because we live in a village known for it's turtles, it was only right that we name our cats in honor of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: meet Michelangelo and Donatello :)