Mango Crepes

Sometimes it's difficult to find a way to celebrate special events here in Musoma. Our options are limited! Another tricky thing is figuring out how to meet cravings for foods that aren't available here. This morning, I think we were pretty successful at both in one go.

For seven years Andrew has faithfully been paying off his student loans from Oregon State. It's a good thing he loved the school and did really well in his classes, or else he might've started to get a bit bitter about sending money to the U.S. Department of Education every single month for years and years! This morning was the final payment, and it seemed like a great moment for a little celebration.

On a different note, both of us have been missing peaches lately. There's just something so sweety, juicy, and altogether wonderful about peach pie, peach cobbler, fresh peaches with a little sugar on them, and everything peach. I've been wanting to try using mangoes like I'd normally use peaches and see how it went. This morning I gave it a go...

And the result was fabulous! I whipped up some crepes using the exact same recipe my parents used when making birthday breakfasts in past years (back when they ate 'evil' foods like milk and eggs...), and they were perfect. Then I sliced two mangoes and cut them into small pieces. With a little water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, salt, and cornstarch added to them and boiled for a while, voila! We had perfect "peach" crepe filling right here in Musoma.

Since I grew up associating crepes with birthday breakfast celebrations and Andrew only remembers having had crepes once in his life, they were quite celebratory and we enjoyed making this morning special to mark the end of payments to the US Dept of Education and we got a fruity treat at the same time. Hurray for a Saturday morning!

Hymn Sing

Beginning in January 2007, I have spent just about every single Sunday evening (unless I'm not in Musoma!) on this back porch singing hymns. The porch belongs to Dusty and Kim Hill, and they have two great kids, Tessa and Jack. Since there is no English church around here to attend, we enjoy having some worship time in our mother tongue every week. The Hills have a stack of hymnals and everyone who comes gets to choose one or two they want to sing. I've learned a lot of new hymns since coming to Musoma!

Hymn sing attendance changes a bit as missionaries come and go, but there is always a little group gathered here on Sunday evenings. The Hills were in the States for a year and it still continued every week - their housesitter was in charge of being home every week and hosting it in their absence! It wasn't part of the housesitting job, of course, but he wanted to do it.

Andrew likes to sing, so we drive the 10 minutes out each week and really enjoy the fellowship. I'm the one in the group who isn't all that skilled at staying in tune, but fortunately they still let me come and take part. Each week we're encouraged to carry on in the strength of another week, bolstered by songs such as "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah", "Come Thou Fount", "How Firm a Foundation", and "There is Power in the Blood".

Wedding: Part III

Originally, I had thought that Wedding: Part III would be about the rehearsal scheduled for Thursday the 14th. However, Shem (the groom)'s uncle died Wednesday late afternoon and so he and Sara had to pack up and head out to his family's home village for the funeral, and the rehearsal was cancelled. On one hand, we were grateful to not have to go to it, but on the other hand, it made things a bit more spontaneous and less polished on the day of the wedding!

I will post pictures tomorrow - we didn't have our camera with us, so I need to get some pictures from others to put here.

Saturday morning Shem brought Andrew's suit and my skirt and top to our house, since because of the funeral he hadn't had a chance to deliver them before then. Fortunately, they fit! Since we had no time to make any adjustments, this was a very good thing. Well, Andrew's suit trousers are rather wide in the thigh, but this was to be expected, since that's just how Tanzanian men wear their clothes. Also, the jacket isn't at all fitted - it's cut straight down from the shoulders to the hips. Maybe the tailor was allowing for him to grow a big paunch out front someday.

My outfit was surprisingly great - I'm guessing I'll wear it again when I have to get dressed up around here sometime. It was quite comfortable (albeit a bit warm inside) and I'm very pleased at how it turned out.

Since we were in the wedding party, we made sure we showed up right on time at 9:30. Well, true to Tanzanian stye, we were the very first ones there. People started trickling in and the pastor showed up, and then at 11:30 the wedding began. Even though I've lived here for years and know things get going later than the proclaimed starting time, I still haven't quite adjusted. Church, school, work - these are areas of life when people are right on time. Social gatherings, weddings, funerals - these start later than announced.

Anyway, apparently it is supposed to be the "besty" - the term used for best man/matron of honor - who puts the veil on the bride, but I wasn't quite sure how the comb was supposed to work in the bride's hair, which was piled enormously high on her head in an elaborate work of fake-hair-art. Rukia, one of the Ikizu translators who was there attending the wedding, saved the day. Right before the wedding, the bride, me, and the woman who was holding the bride's train out of the dirt (she's Futakamba's wife), and Rukia trotted out to "hide" behind some of the cars. Speaking in rapid Ikizu the entire time, which the bride understood and which is Futakamba's wife's mother tongue, Rukia put on the veil, asked my opinion, gave me fake flowers to put in the bride's hair, and told me what to do later in the wedding if the veil got messed up. Fortunately, the bride was speaking Swahili (she understands Ikizu, but doesn't speak it) and I was able to understand enough Ikizu to follow along a bit. I think Rukia just forgets that I don't speak Ikizu, and she thinks I ought to learn, so Ikizu it was. Anyway, language issues aside, I was grateful for her help.

Since we missed the rehearsal, we had to wing it going down the aisle. Instead of going in one at a time as we'd discussed, the bride and I walked in together. Shem and Andrew came halfway down the aisle from the front of the church, and she and I came from the back and covered the other half. He lifted her veil (which I smoothed into place), and we all walked to the front together.

Now, when I say walking, I don't mean actually walking! Weddings are all about walking super, incredibly, excessively slowly. You put out one foot, kind of tap it, shift your weight back and forth, and then take a step. And mind you, that step should only be about as half as long as your foot.

Andrew and I sat facing each other in green plastic chairs covered with white cloths during most of the wedding. The bride was next to me and the groom was next to him. It was hard to not talk to him during it! There were two choirs, one behind me and one behind him, and they each sang several times at the beginning. There was a sermon for about 30 minutes, vows (we stood for that part), an oath they read, and signing of the certificate. No kiss. The only time they touched was to put on each others' rings, and then they only touched the ring finger itself. Considering that this couple already has four children and have been together for 18 years, that seemed a little funny to me, but hey, who needs PDA at a wedding, anyway?

After it was pretty much all done, everyone in the audience paraded forward to shake all of our hands, which was the first of many shakings of the day. There was an offering taken, and since I was sitting behind the basket, I could see who actually put money in and who just faked holding money and pretended to drop it in the basket, which was kind of interesting. A little advice: if you need to fake giving money at some point, lower your hand all the way to the bottom of the basket before opening your fingers, because then it's harder for others to tell if you are really giving or not.

We then recessed (very slowly), led by the same group of dancing girls who danced in front of us when we entered (I forgot to mention that detail). Everyone shook all of our hands as they left the church for shaking #2.

Although the reception was being held just a minute's drive from the church, we drove really slowly through town in a parade of five vehicles, honking all the way and going incredibly slowly. Since we live on a busy road, we sometimes see these processions go by in front of our house, and most don't have five vehicles! I guess Shem thought it was pretty fun to have missionary friends, since we all have vehicles and could make a parade for his wedding.

Upon arriving at the reception, the sound system they'd brought over from the church wasn't set up yet, so we just hung out in the car for about 20 minutes, which was incredibly hot. Once they were ready, we paraded in (slowly) with the girls dancing ahead of us again. The first item on the agenda was cutting the cake. Shem and Sara fed each other a piece, and then Andrew and I fed each other, and then Sara fed me one and Shem fed Andrew one. I think Andrew thought that was a little weird to be fed cake by a guy, but hey, it's tradition! Then one of the cakes was given to the bride's family (we paraded it over) and one to the groom's family (also paraded), and the remaining one (about 9"x9" in size) was cut into tiny bits and the guests were given some on toothpicks.

Next came "cheers". Somehow that English word ended up in Swahili, and what it means is that everyone at the reception comes forward and clinks soda bottles with the wedding party. Meanwhile, we're all dying of thirst! We got thirsty about the time the wedding began, and now it's about three hours later. It was absolute torture to hold this glass full of soda and clink it with everyone's bottle and not be allowed to drink any! All I could think about was ingesting fluids.

Finally, we went to the head table and sat down. All four of us downed an entire bottle of soda each within minutes, so I guess they were pretty thirsty, too. In the course of two hours, we all drank a lot of water and soda - 3 bottles each!

There was a gift parade (and hand shaking), some songs from the choirs, a couple short speeches, including one in which a man said, "The best advice I have to give you is the typical marriage advice. You all know that, right?" There was a murmur of consent in the room and several people said the same phrase. Then he said it, "The man should love the woman, and the woman should obey him." Apparently this is the standard marriage line of relationship advice in Christian culture in Tanzania. It made me think of how many couples in the west take the word "obey" out of wedding vows, and here it's just how life is. Oh, that reminds me of something the pastor said during the sermon - that if the wife wants to be a good wife, she needs to take care of her husband. His examples for taking care of him were things like putting the toothpaste on his toothbrush in the morning and getting up early to make him breakfast before he leaves, or else he'll be justified in going over to the neighbor's house to see if a woman there will take care of him instead. The point was the wives need to be good wives, which is fine with me, but I cringed when he made it sound like if you don't help him brush his teeth, it's not his fault if he goes looking for some other woman. When we first came here after getting married, I was given some advice by Tanzanian women here about how I need to take care of my husband. I guess they were concerned that I might not take such good care of Andrew. For example, it bothered one woman that I make Andrew shower all by himself without helping him. I tried to assure her that he was okay with being left alone to clean up all on his own. Another wanted to make sure that I cleaned the house every day so he wouldn't go look for a harder-working woman who was a better house cleaner. I can't say I clean it every day, and I don't think it bothers him, but explaining this to her was a little tricky.

Anyway, there was music and the guests danced whenever they were supposed to come forward for something, and a couple good emcees, including Eliud (see previous posts about his son Zadok). Give Eliud a mic and an audience and he's in his element! The food was surprisingly nice (roasted potatoes, roasted beef chunks, fried bananas, and samosas), and the whole party moved right along on a nice schedule. We shook heaps of hands - some people up to six times during the course of the party! I enjoyed seeing some of the translators having fun and being more free than I usually see them at the office. The two Ikizu translators loved the whole event and were in very high spirits, which was great. Talk about quiet and businesslike at work, that's those two, but yesterday they were like different people! Rukia and Kitaboka were laughing and dancing all day. Shem's Zanaki co-translator, Futakamba, was working in the back the whole time lugging around soda crates and putting out food and cleaning up. I teased Shem that he'd just been waiting for a day when he could be the king at the front of the room and make Futakamba his servant for the day. He thought that was hilarious and agreed with me. But joking aside, I was really impressed that Futakamba let his wife and children sit in their nice clothes and enjoy the party while he worked hard.

So, at about 5:20 the party ended and everyone left. We shook some more hands and drove off, totally sweaty and exhausted, but pleased with how the day went. It was actually pretty fun at the reception! Andrew was happy that we hadn't been called on to give any speeches, and I was happy that we not on survived the day, but even enjoyed it.

Wedding: Part II

Today was the send-off for Shem and Sara's wedding, and we didn't really know what to expect. It turns out that send-offs involve lots of waiting, dancing, and money.

To be more specific, here's what we did today:
10:00 - headed out to the village with several passengers, changing some of them along the way as some got off and others got on. Futakamba, Shem's fellow Zanaki translator, and his wife stayed in the truck with us the whole time. It was nice to have some folks we know along for the trip. It was also handy for Andrew during the day to have Futakamba around, since he speaks English fairly well. He was dressed in a gray suit and sunglasses, which cracked us up, because with his freshly-shaved head and pot-belly, he looked like a dictator.

11:15 - we arrived in Kiabakari village and went to Sara (bride)'s parents' house. Her dad is 99 and her mom 85, and both are still quite agile. Her dad danced at one point and her mom was lugging buckets of water around. He has three wives, each of which has 10 kids, so Sara has lots and lots of siblings, many of which were in attendance.

10:16 - immediately upon arrival, Andrew was whisked away to go sit with Shem, Futakamba, and some other men around the corner of one of the houses on the compound. I was whisked away to go sit with Sara, Shem's sister, and Futakamba's wife inside another house.

1:35 - we're still sitting in those exact places. By this point, we've chatted about politics (there is a presidential election at the end of the month, so it's a hot topic), greeted a lot of guests, and watched people cook (Andrew) and watched people dance (Misha). In order to check in with each other, we've texted back and forth, but we haven't been together at all, since the bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other, and we're supposed to stay with them. Considering that they have been "married" for 18 years, this is a little odd to me, but tradition prevails. My highlight of this waiting time was watching the old folks dancing. There was a generator and DJ there with some loud music, but at one point he played some old folks music and those grannies and grandpas got out there and starting going for it!

1:45 - a HUGE downpour starts right as lunch arrives. We women huddle in the dark and eat. The men have already eaten and they go sit in our truck, the driest place around. I guess they end up talking about how condensation forms and Andrew explains the science of it to them. I have a nice conversation with Futakamba's wife and get to know her a bit.

3:30 - the party starts! We parade out in our finery and a ceremony of giving money begins. We have no idea what is happening and just follow along as best as we can. Shem is very insistent that we don't give any money of our own and gives us money of his to put in the basket. This is very impressive, considering it's basically a big fundraising party! People come up in groups - young men, older women, etc. and try and make a big show of giving money, dancing all the while. Sara kneels to receive the gifts given by the older women (see picture).

5:00 - the part is just getting going and apparently will keep going for hours, but Shem tells us it's time for us to leave. We scurry out and drive home with Futakamba and his wife. Shem leaves, too, but Sara stays for the party.

6:30 - Soon after we arrive home, Shem shows up at our house with a bunch of bananas as a thank-you gift for us. Once again, we're rather shocked at his generosity. I love bananas, so this is a great gift.

7:00 - we crash and I write a blog post. :-)

All in all, it was a good day. It was long, but never unpleasant. I feel like I got to know the wives of the translators with whom I work, which I enjoyed. It was a good cultural experience!

Dishwasher

Sometimes when the water has been off for a day or two, our dirty dishes really pile up. But then when the water returns, it's time to scrub! We have two dish drainers and both get filled regularly, but since this one is against the wall, it can become a work of dish balancing art at times. There are days when we really wish we could just load them up in a real dishwasher, but most of the time we're just grateful when the water is running and not too dirty. Also, we're always very grateful when Rose, our 2x/week househelp, comes and creates clean dish art like this! This picture was taken one evening when we returned home from work one evening. She'd been cleaning at our house that day and maybe she was shocked by how many dirty dishes we had stacked up, but we were certainly a bit surprised to find how many clean ones were awaiting our return!

How does your cat sleep?

Well, I don't know how your cat likes to sleep, but one of ours prefers snoozing on his back. This is Clive, who is a bit of a unique character. I think he missed out on the feline instinct that tells him that sleeping with your whole tummy exposed might not be safe. Also, while some cats might rest on their back on a hot day, most don't enjoy being petted on their bellies. Not Mr. Clive! Don't these pictures make you want to reach out and rub those furry spots? Well, he'd love it if you did. He'd flop his legs even more and close his eyes in delight, with nary a thought of seizing the moment to kick or bite you even crossing his wee brain. He's a cutie and really good with kids and strangers, which redeem his other lesser qualities (being noisy, climbing screens, and stealing food top the list). We love him most of the time. Bless his manipulative heart, he loves us all the time.

Wedding: part 1

Well, this looks to be a three-part series, so keep checking here for Wedding: part 2 and Wedding: part 3! I expect to write part 2 sometime next week and part 3 the week after that.

So, here's the scoop: it's pretty common in Tanzania to have a local-style traditional "wedding" but not to fill out the legal government marriage license or have the official church wedding. This is due to money issues - church weddings cost a lot. Anyway, Shem, one of the Zanaki translators with whom I work announced to me a few weeks ago that he's getting married October 16. I just stared at him, not sure what to think! I mean, he's been "married" for eighteen years now, and has four kids!

Then, as if I weren't already processing some cultural info and figuring out what to say, he then asks me if Andrew and I would do them the honor of being their best man/matron of honor in the wedding! So, long story short, we ended up agreeing to be their witnesses/attendants. The way it works here is that the couple getting married asks a married couple (usually an older couple who have been married for a while) to stand up with them, and this couple then has responsibility to mentor and help the newlyweds. However, since this is more of a "blessing the marriage" kind of wedding, they are tossing tradition a bit to the wind and asked us, who have been married for all of one year.

Yesterday (Saturday the 2nd) was the rehearsal. We showed up right at 10:00 as requested. Well, the pastor forgot about it, so didn't come till 11:00. Then he proceeded to give them a pre-marital counseling-type sermon for an hour and a half! He said that usually pre-marital meetings require several days, but since they've already been together for 18 years, they got the short version. I have to say, it was a little funny to be sitting there with them on this wooden bench with a pastor preaching about marriage for 90 minutes! Now, I know this is usual in Tanzania, but experiencing it is different than hearing about it. I just never imagined I'd be sitting in on someone's pre-marital pastoral teaching time.

Then it was time for lunch with the pastor, and I was pleasantly surprised that Shem paid for our lunches, too. It was nice to go out with a Tanzanian and not be asked for money, and, in fact, have them spend money on you. We'll give them a nice wedding gift and they won't be badly off financially for having paid for things for us, but in the meantime it's encouraging to be treated like they would treat Tanzanians.

After lunch we returned to the church for the rehearsal. There will be another rehearsal two days before the wedding at which the choir is present, so we can practice with them, but in the meantime it was just the four of us and the pastor. He took us through the entire wedding service, having them say their vows and everything! I know in the States the pastor skips that part so that they aren't actually married at their rehearsal, but apparently such worries aren't such a big deal here. I definitely needed some practice for the processional, though - you have to take special little steps walking around the church for the procesional. It's put out one foot, tap it, rock back, then step forward, repeat with the next foot. If you think wedding marches you've seen are slow, wait till you see a Tanzanian one when it takes a full two or three minutes to get down the aisle!

After the rehearsal, we went shopping. At first we weren't totally sure what we were shopping for, but figured it out as we went. Andrew got measured for a suit, which a tailor in town is making. Then we went fabric shopping, and the bride and I picked out satin material for our dresses. We'll have two each - one for next Sunday, when we're going to her home village for a party with her family, and another for the wedding itself. I was surprised that they simply asked me what color I wanted! I mean, I expected the bride to have an idea in mind of what she wanted at her own wedding. So, I chose a light green (the choices were limited) for the pre-wedding party outfit, and then the groom and Andrew get shirts to match. Then I went with a cornflower blue for the wedding day. Shem and Andrew will have purple shirts that day, and I think blue and purple will look okay together. If I'd known that I was picking two different fabrics, I'd have reversed them and worn the green for the wedding and the blue for the party, but that's okay. Next we went to the seamstress for her to measure us for our outfits. Once again, Shem paid for everything, much to our surprise. It wasn't cheap, either!

So, at 5:30 we stumbled home exhausted. We couldn't even stay awake for our usual evening routine and crashed at 9:00 sharp under our mosquito net and slept for a long time. Being in a wedding party in Tanzania is a lot more work than being one in the States, we're discovering!

We'll keep you posted and show some pictures once we get our outfits!