earthquake

this weekend has been one of the strangest in a long time.

Friday was a public holiday so a few of us ODIs were planning the great escape from Kigali...options were Uganda, Tanzania or traveling within Rwanda...Rose and I decided on Dar Es Salaam for the weekend. I was completely excited by the idea of a weekend in Dar partly because of the different culture etc. but mainly because they have a cinema!!! We were going to spend a day in Dar and then a day at the beach just outside the city with people Rose know from when she grew up there. So I sat in Bourbon cafe eagerly sorting out the flights and enjoying my sandwich. Little did I know that that lovely sandwich was going to ruin the plans for Dar. I went home on thursday night and proceeded to vomit the sandwich and some other things. No Dar Es Salaam for frances this time round. Rubbish.

To cheers me up from the misery of not being in Dar, Alex and I watched DVDs all day on friday...the best way to spend a public holiday when you are feeling ill i think. But joy was brought into my life again when I got a phone call to say that my patio furniture (see last weeks entry) was ready for collection!!! a whole 2 weeks early!!! yipee!! So this week's entry is coming to you from the comfort of my gorgeous furniture from which i cannot be parted from. My patio is my new living room...and as you'll find out, possibly the safer than my living room also...

The weekend got stranger this morning. I was sitting on my incredibly comfy furniture reading a book before church, when the door started to shake...them the house...then my chair..until i realised that the ground was indeed shaking. It stopped after less than a minute and no damage was done to me or the house, thank God. I have officially survived my first earthquake. The epicentre was a long way away in Lake Kivu and the real damage has been done in Cyangugu in the south of Rwanda. Get more info here.

I was at the Achtzehn's house this evening for bible study and various nationalities were getting phonecalls from embassies advising that there may be a stronger aftershock between 8pm and 12am tonight. Their advice was to stay outdoors during that time. The Achtzehn's kindly let me join them in watching 'Born Free' in the back of their car, rather than sit on my own at home.

However, it is now 11:50am and no aftershock yet. I am back in my own wee home but the door is in easy reach and unlocked, should the worst happen in the next 10 minutes. then i'm off to bed.

p.s. I would really appreciate prayers for the East African region at the moment. Between this earthquake and things in Kenya seemingly getting worse and worse, this area and its people are suffering at the moment and only God's intervention can bring lasting peace.