Endings and Beginnings

All good things come to an end.
This is how we felt this month when our good friends and neighbours packed up their home at MAF Dodoma and left Tanzania to return to their native Sweden.
There were several farewell events to say our goodbyes- and it became harder and harder to keep dry eyes as we prepared for another painful parting of paths.
A family farewell with friends:

And the MAF staff farewell in the hangar:

Esther will especially miss their eldest daughter. Before she left, the 2 girls shared a fun "sleepover" weekend at our home and had a fun morning at the Dodoma Hotel in town:

Ben will miss boyish antics with their eldest son:

Joel will no longer have the 2 youngest boys to play with, including little David who was born just 2 days before Joel- and I miss my good friend Mirjam. Goodbyes are harder here, somehow; perhaps because the likelihood of meeting up again is so slim.
The week our friends departed, Andrew also did some travelling. We took him to Dodoma's busy bus station to wave him off on the bus to Dar es Salaam: 

 From there, Andrew went on to South Africa for a week's training course with MAF. Whilst he was away, my friend Alison arrived from England- bringing with her a most exciting suitcase of UK goodies just for us!! I had so much fun unpacking this amazing treasure trove at the beginning of Alison's visit!

 So many treats!!! Gifts from Mum + Dad sent via Alison, with a Jubilee theme to keep us in the loop of events in England...and many essential gifts from Alison, specially requested, such as Tesco washing-up sponges, dishcloths, English tea-bags, English chocolate, decaff coffee for Andrew, a drinking beaker for Joel to replace the one he threw down the toilet (!!)...and Alison also kindly brought many goods we had ordered online and had sent to her address- shoes for the boys, leggings for Esther, DVDs in French to keep the French language alive in my fuddled brain...An exciting beginning for me at the start of Alison's visit!

It was wonderful to have Alison with us. She was here when the school year ended for Esther and Ben. Ben has now ended his first year of school and will be starting Reception Class in August, whilst Esther has left Year 1 and looks forward to a long 5 weeks of holiday before starting back in Year 2.
We went for ice-creams at Dodoma's "ice-cream parlour" to celebrate the ending of the school year and the beginning of a 5 week school holiday: