Last Wednesday, a full week ago now, was Kids Day at the BKB
office. Our friend Beate Mundt brought
her brand new 4 month old grandson to visit.
He is very beautiful and so mellow.
His dad is German and his mom is Tanzanian and they live here in Iringa. Beate is moving back to Germany and leaving
this adorable little guy is very hard for her.
I can relate to that! Also that
afternoon, Dennis Ngede brought his two boys, Shalom and Derek, for a
visit. Shalom and I have played cards
etc. in the past but now the boys go right for my iPad and iPhone to play the
games I have. It is so funny that they
like the same things my grandkids like.
They love Grandpa's Workshop and Grandma's Garden and love being
congratulated for "getting it right!"
Shalom (9) loves Angry Birds and Derek (6) loves games connected to the Wheels
on the Bus app. They had been here about
2 hours when Shalom complained that it was cold in the apartment and could he
have some tea? So then Derek wanted tea
as well and could they have a piece of bread with peanut butter on it? Typical growing kids wanting a late afternoon
snack. Kids and babies are the same around the world,
meant to be loved and played with and feed and cared for. Those of us who get the chance to do this are
really lucky!
Last Saturday, Ken and I finally made a trip to the market
to stock up on some things for the apartment. We also spent time buying fresh
produce in the market place. I have had
a good teacher (thanks Julie Rogness) and so I feel very comfortable selecting
things and looking for good quality. I
usually buy from the women in the market (again, thanks Julie) because for many
of them it is their family's income. The
"grocery" store we shop at has moved its space since last year. They are back in the space they originally
occupied. They had expanded to a new
store front that was twice as big as the original one but the rent was too
expensive and they had to go back to their first spot. Sound like home?
Went
to a wonderful church service on Sunday morning at Mkwawa Congregation, the
church Incarnation is partnered with here in Iringa. Great music and the
pastor is a female. She gave an inspired sermon (through interpreters for
us) and we really enjoyed it. There was an older woman who sat in the
front row and played a huge drum made out an oil barrel and animal hide.
She was SOOO into the service and everything, you just had to wonder what the
Spirit was whispering in her ear! Ah, Africa....I have always wondered how the Africans can wear white shirts that look so pure white and are pressed within an inch of their lives when everything else is covered with the red dust of the earth here. The choir on Sunday morning was wearing white shirts and black bottoms and the shirts virtually sparkled! I don't get it. They must know something. I have tried to wash out some of my clothes here and end up putting in the wash basket for the house girl to do because she does a better job. It might be hanging the things up in the sunshine. I don't know but it puzzles me.
On Sunday night, Ken and I hosted the group from Incarnation here in the apartment for dinner. It is one of the traditions taught to me by my BKB mentor Julie Rogness. Everyone loves to come over here and sit and visit and eat something that does NOT include rice. No matter where you eat here, there is usually rice. It is great rice, but after awhile... We try to put an American spin on some of the things we can get here. I bought some ground beef from the kitchen at the Lutheran Center and we made Tanzania tacos using chapattis instead of tortillas. We had chopped green pepper, onion, tomatoes and grated cheese. Ken made guacamole and we had cucumber salad with dressing and fresh papaya. It really turned out great and the group seemed pleased. We were well prepared and enjoyed it as much as they did. They have a terrific group and we hope to see them again when we get back to the US. For those of you from St. James who are reading this, one of the group is from Cambridge and knows Leon and Marilyn Carson. Small world.
On Monday night we hosted the group from Lake Park that was here delivering all the medical equipment. They have a little bigger group plus we had four additional guests. We went up to the Italian Cooking School run by a Catholic nun and bought some meat sauce and ravioli and made that for supper along with cucumber salad, guacamole and pineapple. I bought a jam roll-up cake as well for dessert. The day was busier than the day before and there were some other things that had to get done so I wasn't quite as prepared as I would have liked to be. I was feeling a little pressure and throwing myself into preparations (like boiling water to make the ravioli and heating the meat sauce) when the power went out. Okay...this is Africa. The blackout is all over the area so the group coming to eat knows that it may be guacamole and chapatti chips and fruit by candlelight. No worries. And then the power comes back on at 6:55, just before they are to arrive, which means I still have to cook!!!!! Well, it all worked out okay (always does), the food tasted great (thanks, Sister Seraphina) and everyone was so appreciative of being invited over to visit. I have learned that there is always enough food and people will take care of the rest. The only drawback? A mountain of dishes today. Good thing work was quiet for Ken and I so we could get them done. Here is another interesting observation. At home, Ken and I never do dishes together. They generally go in the dishwasher. Here, one of us washes and the other dries. Makes me think of what it might have been like for my folks, visiting about the day over the chore of doing the dishes. It really made the mountain into a molehill in short order.
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