MOUTH ADVENTURES

I've made mention to my family of my struggles with food here. It is improving as I become accustomed to the tastes of Tanzania, but it remains something I will deal with, as I have a small appetite and Africans want to feed us and make us plump (evidently my husband is not taking care of me well because I am small). Their neighbours look at Bob and I and say, “Oh! Sweya's are not feeding their guests! It is shame!” Therefore we are fed enormous portions of food that I struggle to swallow. Some of it is incredible, though! Take a look through the list and guess which ones I like...

1. Bananas and pineapples straight from heaven – sweet like candy

2. Chicken (called “kuku”) - pretty tough, with a rubbery skin that stretches in your teeth

3. Rice – prior to cooking, it's called “mchile” and after, “wayli.” We eat this every day.

4. Ugali. A very stiff white porridge that you use as a spoon to gather up meat, potatoes, spinach, whatever. Rather dry. At least it's not rancid, like in some areas. Gord says it is sometimes so rancid it tastes like barf.

5. Juice – fresh papaya or passionfruit or oranges squeezed into a jar. My fave: avacado-passionfruit. WOW!!!

6. Matoke – plantain (special bananas for cooking) that are boiled with tomatoes and other things and taste kind of like potatoes. Only, I like potatoes and these are...well...different.

7. Mandaz – like Timbits, only better. YUMMY!

8. Ngombe (moo) – chunks of beef (very expensive and usually served only to guests) that are excessively tasty but somewhat over-cooked.

9. Mapote (“mapotay”) - beans and peanuts in a creamy sauce. Actually incredibly tasty.

10. Greens – slimy and leafy

11. Fish. Fish. Fish. Always fish. Fried, boiled, in sauce. Sometimes extremely tasty. The tail can be quite sharp and crunchy, kind of like chips.

12. Bamia – ocra, as we know it in Canada, though you'd rarely see it there. We had it fried, thank goodness. Evidently when boiled, it looks just like a pot of snot.

13. Senene (“saynaynay”) - grasshoppers. Fried. Haven't had this delicacy yet.

14.Daaga. You want the most common food in Tanzania? Good for calcium? Eat daaga. They look like minnows (same size, too) and come from Lake Victoria. Typically, their heads are cut off and they are dried in the sun and smell HORRIFIC. We ate them boiled in tomato sauce over rice – full-bodied. Bob said they were just like fries but even he struggled to eat them, with their beady little eyes glaring up at you and then crunching in your teeth. Unbearable agony for me.

Canadian taste buds are adjusting to Tanzanian cuisine. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to experience this change – and I will be truly thankful for a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce and Caesar salad!

Language Study

Habari za kutwa How is your Day?

That is one of the many greetings here in Bukoba. It is hard to believe that Crystal and I have been in Africa for five days (though it may be longer before we can get on the Internet again), since I am sitting in my room at Bwana (Mister) Sweya's House. Today we officially started six days of language acquisition. This is six days where we learn how to learn a language, using Swahili as the second language, so that after the six days, we can continue learning Swahili in a focused, self-directed way. The first day of this training had us becoming familiar with the tools/books we will be using and what is expected. We were also introduced to our language helper. What is different with this method of study compared to 'normal' school is we are not allowed to write out the words we are learning. Its focus is on listening to the people around you and training your ears to pull out different words. It is a slower pace of study to start, but as you get accustomed to the sounds, it is much faster. Also, we were challenged on our purpose of learning another language in this way. If our purpose to learn a language is just to learn a language, then chances are that we will not master it. But if it is about loving people, then communicating with them is the best way to love them. Your chances of learning the language are much better. Language is about relationships, and about how we interact in those relationships. The best way to learn a language is to be in relationships and that is the main focus of this style of language learning.

My language coach's name is Paolro (paul) Pambe (my Swahili spelling is a little off). He is the choir master and has lived in Bukoba for 3 years. Crystal gets to continue to build her relationship with Mama Sweya and is very excited to do so.

On a completely selfish view, I am the only one on the team that has had the chance to go swimming!! On Monday Crystal and I were invited to go swimming, but because Mama Sweya chose not to swim (actually, can't swim), Crystal chose not to either. The rest of the team members have not been so blessed. The best part of this story is not the actual swimming, though it was very refreshing. The Sweyas took us for a tour of Bukoba and the hills surrounding it! WOW! We had a great view of Lake Victoria which is supposedly 400 miles across and free like the sea when you cannot see land on the other side! Too bad we forgot our camera. Since they want us to teach them how to swim, I am sure we will be back there and this time, whenever that time, is we will bring our camera, though we may have to make our own trek!

Continue to pray that our language study goes well and that we are able to build good relationships with some people that we meet as we begin interacting with more people from the church, and within the community!!

Piki-pikis, Bucket Baths, and Squatty Potties

This is seriously the slowest internet connection ever - but I'm thankful we have internet at all. Since it took five minutes to load, and I think it will take five minutes to load the blog again, I'll write this point form.

* Arrived safely in Entebbe early Saturday morning, took a bus with a CRAZY bus driver for 6 hours to Bukoba. Had to stop at the immigration/customs, get out, show passports, walk to the Tanzania immigration office, wait for the bus. Guys with guns. Long fences. Scary.

* Were met in bus parking lot two hours after arrival by Pastor Cleo. All 8 of us squished into two taxis, including luggage.

* Bob and I are staying with Mama Sweya and Bwana Swaya, a very wealthy Tanzanian couple. Initial greeting difficult, as Mama Sweya speaks mostly Swahili.

* Accomodations:
- Cement floors
- red tile roofs
- Roosters VERY LOUD in the morning
- Frogs and crickets VERY LOUd in the evening. We haven't been fed crickets yet. That's to come.
- Toilets are squatty potties. For those of you who don't know, that means they are holes in the floor, and you stand on either side and crouch over them to relieve yourself. Quite the experience.
- Bathing, in the "cho" (bathroom) is in a cement room (again, with the squatty), with buckets and a small cup. We are lucky to have hot water in our home - but sometimes it's so hot we have to refill it with cold so we can use it. You squat beside the drain hole and pour buckets of water over you. Difficult to wash long hair (Caryn, I understand the braids).
- the man of the house is most respected. We have to hold our elbow with our left hand when shaking his hand.

* Church on Sunday: after church, you walk past a line of people, shaking their hands, and then take your place at the end of the line so everyone else can walk past you and shake your hand.
* At market today someone asked me to be his lover. I was very thankful to have a wedding band and a cute husband nearby!

* Meals: rice (whyli), fish, beef, chicken, and ugali

I gave Mama Sweya a book today called "Prairie Fire" (thank you very much, young Mr. Cook). She loved it! Is practicing her reading with me.

Whole team feeling healthy and fit so far. Language study begins on Thursday.

By the way, picture Bukoba: hills, lush green vegetation (coffee and banana trees), the beautiful Lake Victoria, and lots and lots of RED DIRT.

3 minutes left. Let's see how quickly this loads!

Assante sana, squashed bananas!

That means "thank you very much, squashed bananas!" in Swahili - something amusing to say and even more amusing to hear.

Well, we have basically completed our training here in Toronto. VERY EXCITED about leaving tomorrow! Today was all about cross-cultural experiences and interactions, which can frequently include significant miscommunications. Have to remember that other cultures are not "weird" - just different! But I got a huge amount of ideas for teaching with. Can't stop lesson plans, even from afar.

We spent the evening in Chinatown, after taking the Toronto underground (very dark, somewhat dismal, but still an interesting trip). This was kind of a "practice trip" - although the cultures are different, we still need to keep our eyes and ears open to understand why and how people communicate in other cultures. We walked passed one market that included a small, very smelly fish that resembles Daaga, something we'll probably eat in Bukoba. This I'm not that thrilled about. All else should be great.

Tomorrow we fly out at 8:00pm and arrive in London at 7:45am (London time). Should be a lovely trip. I've learned from Chris (team member) that the wings are supposed to bounce and turbulence is normal, so I will try not to be anxious unless I see Gord (team leader and former pilot) with a nervous expression.

Again, thank you for your prayers and support! If you feel like emailing, please do so - we'd love to hear from you.

Flowers in Toronto

Well, our flight was incredibly smooth, which made me excessively relieved and not dread our flight to London (even though it IS over the Atlantic and therefore we should expect more turbulence). We are living in a dormitory at Tyndale College/Seminary and enjoying the fragrance of the apple blossoms and lilacs as we take the odd stroll through the neighbourhood.

Mostly, we are enjoying meeting our fellow teammates. There are three teams leaving on Thursday: one medical team to Kenya and two ministry/development teams to Tanzania. The teams are 4, 9, and 8 respectively (we have 8).

Our training today has included personal safety/risk management and HIV/AIDS, the latter of the two being the more interesting (and distressing). No matter our work in Tanzania, we will be significantly affected by AIDS - we will meet people with AIDS or who have lost family members/friends due to AIDS and be involved in serving/helping them in some ways. Since we have never been significantly impacted by it, this could be challenging - who are we, anyway, to come in with comfort and "advice"?

At any rate, this will prove to be a very eye-opening trip.

Moms Rock!

Yesterday we discovered the power of mom-ness. Somehow, they have the ability to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary! Having finally finished school, we were using yesterday as our packing/cleaning day, and both of us knew we had a tremendous amount to accomplish. Enter moms. Both of our mothers spent the morning and better part of a sunny Saturday afternoon indoors, sweeping (dustbunnies in corners - evidence of busy-ness), cleaning, washing, wiping, and boxing up our lives. And today (Mother's Day), they are planning and cooking a barbecue. Could we be any luckier?

This afternoon, while at dinner with Bob's family, we were reminded that next Sunday at this time we will be sleeping in Tanzania after a long Sunday (church services there apparently last the day). My stomach did several little turns and one big flop. It's finally here! And since there's snow in Calgary's forecast for tonight, we're EXTRA happy to be heading warm-wards.

So our itinerary for you interested folks:

Monday (7am) - fly to Toronto.
Monday-Thursday - training and orientation in Toronto
Thursday (unknown time) - fly to London for 12 hours
Friday (about 19 hours after aforementioned unknown time) - fly to Entebbe, Uganda
Friday (who knows) - bus from Entebbe, Uganda to Bukoba, Tanzania.

In the meantime, I'm envisioning myself enjoying the flight and being completely healthy and rejuvinated (for those of you who don't know, my biggest fears are flights and vomit). Thanks for your prayers and support as we prepare for take-off! We will write again as soon as we have access to the internet. And perhaps then we'll even have photographs!

Sniffling our way to Monday

Sick
Sniffly, hacking, achy
Trying desperately to sleep
Dragging through school and endless chores
Cold

I've recently rediscovered the art of cinquain poetry, since it's the current unit for grade 7s, and these snappy little poems may come up occasionally as there may be no other succinct way of expressing ourselves - or at least, myself. I'm not so sure Bob would stoop to poetry. Then again, he's full of surprises.

Having just returned from a very intense and stupendous trip to Quebec with 38 enthusiastic teenagers, I am currently battling a small sniffle. Er, a big sniffle, which has resulted in one day at home to rest. One would think I could accomplish a lot, since we have so many things to complete before departure to Toronto on Monday, but no. I spent the majority of the day on the couch - as one should when they are in bodily battle. That said, I have the following prayer request:

* That I might heal from this cold before my yellowfever shot (Wednesday at 3:15 - that's tomorrow).
* That these last 3 days with my students will be healthy and fun

In other more positive news, we have completed our financial support! Thanks to those of you who are sharing in our journey in this way. Thanks also to those of you who have committed to pray for us - both extremely important. And a special thanks to a dear friend who has given us 92 encouragement notes - one for every day of this experience in Africa. God has been faithful and blessed us so much through you.


So...

Preparation
Packing, Praying, Persisting
Filling boxes and bags with clothes and photos
Only 5 days left!
Africa!