Our Friends, A Heatwave, and Some Buffalo

I haven't posted in awhile because there's been a lot going on here lately. Last week I started taking French lessons from my friend N'doumbe (more on that in my next post) and I've had to do some fancy footwork (phone calls, paperwork etc.) to get our health insurance extended for a month. But the most exciting part of this past week is that on Wednesday our friends Lauren and Carlos came to visit!! They live in Seattle and had never been to Montana. Since they'll be leaving soon to spend a few months in Spain with Carlos' family, this will likely be the last time we'll have a chance to see them before we leave for Guinea in November. I tried not to think about their visit in this way. It was nice to just focus on how great it was to see them and how fun it was to be with them. Carlos took some photos of all of us that I'm posting here. (As a side note, I decided to hold off on getting a camera until I get some info about tech stuff in Guinea from some recent Peace Corps volunteers there).

Matt, Carlos, Lauren and me in our home in Missoula

Unfortunately for Lauren and Carlos, they came to Montana during a record-breaking heat wave. On Thursday it hit 107 degrees- a temperature that Montana hasn't experienced since 1973!!! Given that this is rare here in Montana I feel like we weren't quite prepared for it. It really did take us by surprise. and of course, on that day, during the worst of the heat, we found ourselves at, of all places, the buffalo range. I don't know if any of you have been to a buffalo range, but I can tell you this much, there are no trees and lots of dust. We took the long loop around the National Bison Range to see more wildlife and while we saw some amazing things, we were all pretty much dying by the end of it. Not even a huckleberry shake at the end of the tour could cool us off.

Lauren and me in front of a stuffed buffalo in the visitor's center

Two buffalo in the wildlife preserve

Other highlights were our tubing trip to the Blackfoot River, our hike up the mountain near our home to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July, a marathon Bohnanza playing evening, and getting to see the movie *Sicko* (which I highly recommend). And, somehow, everyone survived the heat.

It was a fabulous few days and Matt and I were both sad to see our friends pack up the car and head back to Seattle. While we'll have many chances to talk to them before we leave for Guinea, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was the first of a series of goodbyes awaiting Matt and me in the near future.