Jambo!

The journey and backstory of this trip will have to wait a little longer; this serves as a partial journal for our current trip to Tanzania and to keep you updated if you're interested. :)


I will offer apologies to the employees of the airline that brought us here. Both of my children threw up violently in on the plane and immediately after arrival in Addis Ababa, and we would have missed our connecting flight had we stopped to clean up.

When we arrived and recognized our driver, I cried. I probably would have cried if he had not been there too, but it was such a relief to see him and know that the airport portion of our journey was over for awhile. He lashed our baggage to the roof, loaded us in the truck, and patiently drove the hour or so (in very heavy traffic) to our lodging in Mbezi Beach. Dar is a beautiful, vibrant city. The people here are very proud of their haven of peace and take good care of it.

After a couple of hours to refresh and settle in, we walked down the road to our friends' house and enjoyed watching the YL staff play soccer - East Africa versus West Africa. Nobody is sure who won, but they were very competitive! One striking trait of the staff is that regardless of their cultural differences (they are from all over Africa), they love each other deeply and after the game we enjoyed a wealth of home-cooked Ugandan food prepared by Harriet, Simon and Lawrence. There are about 50 of us here; many have been here for a month of training that is just winding down, more are coming in every day, and it is like the best family reunion you've ever imagined. Great fellowship, food, love, wisdom.

Our kids, Baby and Wild Man, are quite an attraction everywhere we go. Africans don't know what to do with white children and curly hair! Lots and lots of loving on them.

After dinner on Saturday, the group gathered in the big house for singing and worship, and we left due to the extreme fatigue we were reeling from after over 24 hours without sleep. (more on the flights later) It was a good choice; we woke refreshed and the children were in much better spirits on Sunday morning.

Baby and Wild Man loved the ocean yesterday. We are right across from it and all of our meals are overlooking the calm sea. Kids made sand castles and played in the surf, we ate well, and have moved from knowing nothing about anything to knowing very little about anything. It is quite intimidating to be so NOT in the know. We're planning a couple of little excursions this week to see if we can get around competently. I'll let you know how that goes.

Yesterday (Sunday) was truly a day of rest. It is hot here before you get up, and things are very slow until later in the afternoon. We do find that the ocean breeze is a refreshing place to hang out, whether eating, meeting or playing.

Feeling ambitious this morning, I took the time to wash my hair in the sink. All the water in our room is cold, and the water pressure is a trickle, so I needed to get up early to accomplish this. My hair is so happy! Then, I got greedy and took a shower. It felt so good to be clean, even if only for a moment before I started sweating again.

After we were ready, Len and I took the children to our friends' house and left them with a wonderful friend who watched them while Len was in meetings and I went with the other ladies to an orphanage where deaf women make paper bead jewelry. It is beautiful! You would never guess that the beads are made from colorful magazines. We then went for a special treat of cappucino and juice at a little restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean. The place was down a long path of lush foilage and wonderful little seating areas made from old wooden fishing boats.

There is one computer available here and it is almost always busy (I am missing lunch to type this!) so I will post when I can. This is a beautiful place and I'm so glad we're here!