Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Tall and the Short of it


Another week draws to a close.  It has been such a lovely week weather-wise.  It has warmed noticeably during the evening hours and the days are mild and sunny.  I no longer require socks or cuddle duds when I sleep and have managed to not need my rice bag in the evenings.  Hope I didn't make a mistake not bringing any short sleeve tops. 

We had a new group arrive on Wednesday evening right after the large groups left on Monday and Tuesday.  Three adventuresome women from Christ the King White Bear Lake came to visit and are spending this weekend in their village which is quite a way south of here.  Bea Jones has been here once before and the other two are new and seem to be thoroughly enjoying everything.  They brought me a box of brownie mix and some salad dressing mix to help me expand what is in the cupboard here. 

The two young men who came here in the early part of July to volunteer at Huruma Orphanage and teach at Image Secondary School came back to Iringa from Image on Tuesday.  They are leaving for home on Saturday after six weeks of working and living with the people of Tanzania.  Connor taught economics at Image and Lars taught English.  They are both very charming young men and they loved their work here.  Both young men are also very tall!  They command a lot of attention just walking down the street.   When back in the States, Lars will be a junior at Gustavus and Connor will be returning to Loyola in Chicago, after he spends the next semester in Italy. 

We also have two young women staying with us in our apartment.  Kaia met Ken when they both attended a disaster response conference through the University this spring.  In conversation Kaia mentioned that she was volunteering for a month in Kenya and then going to Tanzania to visit a friend who is in the Peace Corp in Mbeya, Tanzania.  Ken invited the two young women to be our guests here when they came on Safari.  They arrived on Tuesday night and will be leaving on Saturday as well.  Kaia will be heading back to the US to return to medical school and Zoey will head back to Mbeya for her second year of commitment to the Peace Corp.   Last night we had all four young people over for dinner which was fun.  I made beef stew (sort of) with potatoes, carrots and beef I purchased through the Lutheran Center.  Not too bad for my first effort with that.  (Ed. comment: it was fabulous! kpo) We spent the rest of the evening playing Farkle which brings out the competition in everybody.  Lots of laughing and smart talk!  What energetic and selfless young people doing amazing things!

We finally have made connection with our dear friend John.  He has been busy with his companion congregation Shepherd of the Valley and their group from the United States visiting here.  John has many friends from many churches.  He is a cheerful, helpful person who has served as interpreter for many of us.  We are so excited that he will be coming to Minnesota at the end of October and will be staying through the Fall Festival.  There will be lots of people wanting to see him.  He is a little nervous about his first plane ride.  I don't blame him.  It is a long way through some very large airports.  He will do fine though because he speaks very good English and will be able to sort out any problems he might run into. 

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