Extraordinary in the Ordinary.

In most ways my life here in Bujumbura is not that completely different than my life in Canada. I get up in the morning, go to the office for 7:30 until 5pm (long day!!) then go home. Some evenings I go out for dinner with friends, or I stop at a store for groceries on my way home. I might even stop for a cup of coffee somewhere. Sure, my breakfast is more likely to feature passion fruit and mangoes here than in Canada, and my commute to work has some more interesting sights such as goats playing on top of parked cars or people carrying huge loads of produce to the market on their heads, but for the most part my life here has largely become routine. Even ordinary. The exception is the weekends. I have the privilege of exploring a beautiful country and a new culture on my weekends. These opportunities and experiences are extraordinary. Here are some pictures from my fun Sunday afternoon hanging out with friends on a boat ride down the Ruzizi River, just a 15 minute drive from downtown Bujumbura.

Ready to spend the afternoon on the water.

Safety First! Rockin' the lovely orange life vests.

We saw three different families of hippos for a total of almost 30 different individual hippos!

It was a 'cooler' cloudy day so many of the hippos were out of the water.

Just a lazy Sunday afternoon!

We got really close to this family so they slipped under the water as we went by.

We ended the afternoon with drinks and some snacks at Bora Bora on Lake Tanganyika. A great end to a great day!

And now tomorrow it is back to the ordinary, day to day routine of work and everyday life. I'm enjoying the rhythms of life here, the pace and the flow of my days. Sometimes time seems to be getting away from me and I have a lot to do in the next couple of weeks with work, but then I get to pause over a coffee with a friend or at the beach in the sun and I remember to absorb these experiences and to live in this day, not worrying about what is coming next. I remember that I get to live the extraordinary, even in the ordinary things.