The days at Gamasara always start at 5:00 when the generator kicks in. Since I'd just decided to sleep here at the last minute, I really wasn't prepared. So, I was very unkempt when I jumped in our Nissan Sunny with William to take the kids to school.

Honestly, I didn't know a man could be as patient as William! Kids were jumping in and out of the truck while he was trying over and over to start it. Finally, he calmly wrestled the wired-together hood open and removed the fuel line. He siphoned a mouthful of gasoline and spit it on the air filter.
Wiring the hood shut again, he returned to the driver's seat which was occupied by 2 wanna-be drivers. He calmly pointed to the bed of the truck, got in, and started the truck. I clapped. The truck died.

William got the truck started again, and I began counting kids. It took at least 10 minutes to get everybody in the truck. Meanwhile, William kept his foot on the truck so it would keep running. And we were off!

After dropping kids off at 4 schools, we met Nate on the way to the mission house. We traded places because Nate and William needed to pick up the painters and take them to Gamasara.

I'd just walked in my door when I heard a quiet but insistent knocked on the gate. Who should be there but Bibi Leah! What a nice surprise!

But her face soon fell. She told me she came to say good-bye to Nate and Kate. There was a sick baby in her family who she needed to go take care of. That meant staying in another town until the baby was well. She wouldn't be able to come to N and K's party on Saturday.

Well, throughout the mixture of Swahili and English, there were lots of tears shed when she told Kate. We hugged and cried and hugged some more. I wasn't sure if I'd see Bibi again either, since I only have 5 weeks left in Tanzania. But if I get another chance to say good-bye, I wouldn't change a thing. "God bless you, my Sister," said it all.
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