"It isn't always like this!"
The whole time Mom was here, I found myself saying, "It really isn't always like this!" And it isn't. Our last ant invasion was in 1999! The last time we ran out of cooking gas in Tete was in, like, 2005! We usually have water and electricity and internet... but while she was here, we spent most of the time without one or the other. My kitchen was spread into the dining room to avoid having ants in my appliances. I had to cook on a little wimpy stove... that didn't exactly evade the ant infestation. We have to take people to the hospital only a few times a year. Our car usually works just fine! I vaguely remembered making the same statement while Mikael's parents were here in 2010. Then we had no water for about 2 whole days and I put a ban on washing dishes in favor of keeping other things clean! We had people passing through town who needed a bed for the night. We had visitors that needed meals and groups that needed greeting and meetings that neede