In pieces

So the pipes are being installed AS WE SPEAK for the pump, although we're still a little short on the final total, and within the next two weeks, we should have water for my babies! Woot! Seriously, it's shocking how much you appreciate that transparent wet stuff when it's not there. And, as soon as the water is in, I will be moving to a house directly between the orphanage and the hospital, which will be really nice since I'm constitutionally incapable of going more than 24 hours without missing those kids so much it's obscene. The move is earlier than expected due to a miscommunication with ELI, which caused kind of insane stress for a few days but is now resolved and not really worth talking about - just trusts me that this was a really, really long week. The house itself is HUGE, and it's going to be really strange and a little creepy to live in it by myself - several male Tanzanian acquaintances have already offered to come live with me, which will NOT be necessary thank you.

I have good news and hard news about Zawadi and Simoni - First of all, Zawadi finally has her first tooth, which means she is being a royal pain the butt but is still an exciting developmental milestone. Secondly, we got their x rays done, and it turns out that neither of them has hip dysplasia, which is kind of shocking, given that Simoni didn't walk until two and a half and Zawadi is just starting now at sixteen months. However, their delays and leg weakness are probably due to nutritional deficiencies (which is why I'm pushing the mamas to GIVE THEM THE DAMN VITAMINS even when we're not here to remind them), not just as kids but likely in the womb as well. This was further explained by Mama Pendo, who told us that Simoni's mother was a drug addict who abandoned him, and for all we know may still be alive, and probably didn't know the father herself - and Zawadi's mother was likely killed by her father. And then I picked them both up and buried my face in between them and cried, confusing them both and probably not really helping much of anything. But wow. I guess, even given the fact that the kids are in an orphanage and you know their background is rough, you STILL idealize it, with some loving family that wishes they could keep the kids but just can't and... sometimes it's not like that.

Yeah, I have no idea how I'm going to leave, either.

On an upbeat note, I finally received a letter sent several months ago by my darling friend Meghan, for my birthday, and it reminded me of something else I didn't appreciate at the time but now miss. For my birthday and approximately a month afterwards, EVERY DAY I got wished a happy birthday by at least five kids. The video below was taken two to three weeks after the day itself.

It's adorable but it did eventually get on my nerves and now... it's stopped and I miss it. Because I'm pathetic. Which is the moral of this post, I suppose - I am only halfway through and I can already see that there are going to be some serious, serious problems when it's time for me to go. Like maybe-it-makes-sense-to-marry-a-random-Tanzanian-and-adopt-them-all moments of insanity. My parents might have to drug me to get me on the plane. We shall see! At least it would make a good blog post.