Finally Here!

What a day! It started when we finally got to the guesthouse where we're staying and got to bed about 3am. The word 'guesthouse' is probably putting images in your mind that don't actually apply here! It's not bad by local standards but the Hilton it ain't.

We had a great morning (why can you never sleep in when you really need to?) showing the kids around the business where we'll be working. It was neat to watch them finally put a face to the place! It was great to meet other staff members who we didn't know and catch up with those we already did. Jarrod from Beachlands (NZ) showed up as well so we've also been able to hang out with him some today.

K and A showed us around the new building and we saw which rooms we get to make livable for us. There's a LOT to be done before we can move in--like making floors out of empty holes in two rooms!!! But we love the location and think it will be ideal for our family when it's finished. It's not a huge area(the priority of the building is room for the business to grow)but since it's a few small rooms on two stories, it will give some space for our family to spread out and it's actually more square footage than we were expecting to have!

Last night a 20 year-old woman died just across the alley from the new/old building when the roof of the makeshift structure that she lived in collapsed. The whole area is quite old and derelict so we're pleased to see all of the work already done on the building to reinforce it, etc. The teams that have been coming to help have done great work, too!

We'll post some 'before' shots of our own space soon.

It's been a bit of a sensory overloaded day of unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells. Right now the sounds is highest in my mind as I still hear loud traffic outside. In the words of our Adam, "People in _________sure love to honk their horns!" Aaron was also impressed to blow his nose tonight and find that things the color black came out. That's kind of the way it is every day here!

The kids say they love it here already! We've got a LOT to learn but it's good to be here and be on the way!