The Newest Addition to the Family

So most of you probably saw the title of this post and immediately assumed that I'm dedicating a post to my adorable new nephew Caleb. I know you're shocked, but this post is actually not about him (Stacy...don't be offended). Now while he is definitely worth writing about, I'm actually talking about the newest addition to my Ugandan family. Let me introduce to you, Goretti, or Gigi for those of us who still struggle to roll the r's here like you're supposed to.

All of the missionaries here have workers that either do yard work for them or help with some of the cooking. Most foods have to be made completely from scratch here, which tends to make things more complicated and time consuming in the kitchen. For example, let's say you're craving some chips and salsa? Well, that craving is going to wait a few hours while you make the chips....from scratch. Then you have to whip up the salsa from scratch as well. Yeah, let's just say that we don't eat those a lot. Desarae and I are not exactly what you would call skilled in the kitchen, but I have to say that we've done pretty well for ourselves so far. We're definitely not wasting away to nothing over here. But when the opportunity arose for us to hire Gigi, we jumped at it.

Gigi has been a worker for the Fouts' for the past nine years. She became really close to them and is just another member of their family. We've gotten to know Gigi really well over the past few months from spending so much time at their house, and we've come to love her a lot. Not only is she one of the greatest cooks in the world (the greatest according to the Fouts' kids), but she is an incredible woman. She makes us laugh a ton, and she's really become a close friend in our time here.

Gigi owns a hotel in town, but the business is pretty slow. She's kind of lost and without her family now that the Fouts' are gone, plus she has taken a big cut in pay since she's no longer working for them. Des and I don't necessarily need a worker, but we saw this as a great opportunity to help a friend, and be blessed even more by having her around our apartment. We know that she could use the financial help, but even more, she could use the companionship.

So as of last week, Gigi is now working for us. She comes two days a week to make some staple foods for us, and maybe even some posho chips and salsa when we're having one of those cravings. Gigi is such a blessing to us, and I couldn't be more excited about the newest member of Beco Hostel. I just hope I don't gain too much weight as a result.