Holy Mwaro!

Today we took a day trip to a land of rolling green hills, where the banana beer is always flowing, the skies are always blue and all the children are all good-looking.  This magical land is called Mwaro, and it may be found in rural (did I  say rural?  I meant R-U-R-A-L) Burundi - and it just so happens that this is where our friend Claude was born and spent his years as a little tyke.  The highlight of our little jaunt to the countryside was definitely the time we spent with his family.  But first, we had some business to take care of! 

Here we are hanging out at Claude's property in Mwaro.  He has a cute little house built on it.  The land itself is breathtakingly beautiful.  It's cool up there in the mountains, and the air feels crisp and clean, like an apple orchard in autumn.

Then, we dropped in on the governor of Mwaro to say hello.  Incidentally, she was on her way out the door for lunch, so we joined her and got to hear about some of the neat things going on in the province.

Here is the governor - she is a good-natured, friendly kind of lady and we were glad she wanted to hang out with us.

Did I mention that it was cold in Mwaro? Here we are at lunch huddling over our hot tea to keep warm.  A nice change from tropical Bujumbura!

Next we went a few miles down the dusty road to visit Claude's family:

Saying hello to an aunt (I think?)  

One of Claude's littlest cousins - adorable!

She's a beauty, folks.

We got to spend time with various aunts and cousins, including the lovely Aunt Leoni, who is second from left.  She's been living with us this summer and hanging out with Claude and Kelley's kiddos.  She is a good Kirundi teacher and has a master's degree in keepin' it real.

Claude's uncle in the yard with a few of his cows.

....and the afternoon starts to go downhill with some homemade traditional Burundian beer.  This is the real deal, folks.  This stuff was thick and dark and was still fermenting and bubbling in the bowl.  The long straw is some sort of hollow plant branch. Men have to take a sip to be polite.  And Ron took a very, very little sip.  But still...

Driving to Mwaro involves lots of time traversing hilly, winding roads with hairpin turns at breakneak speeds.  Throw in some fermented beer in the belly and what you end up with on the ride home is a pea-green Ron.  He barely made it home in time to upchuck in the bushes.  Poor guy.

Africa Lesson: Do not mix home-brewed alcoholic beverages with Burundian driving.

Status:  Learned.