Christmas Walk 2013

We're pretty minimalistic when it comes to traditions, but we've got a few things we try to keep consistent every year, no matter where we're at when Christmas rolls around.  One of them, speaking of rolls, is cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast.  This is a tradition both Andrew and I grew up with, so it is not like we had to choose sides or anything when it came to deciding what to have for our own family's Christmas breakfast!

Another tradition that we have is going for a Christmas day walk.  It's a great tradition for folks who might be anywhere in the world December 25, because you can (almost) always go for a walk.  In 2008, on our very first Christmas together, (side note: this was two days before we were engaged) we were in Olympia, WA, and it was really snowy.  We bundled up in hats, scarves, boots, and all of that nasty junk and tripped and stumbled around the neighborhood where my parents live, wading through the drifts and trying not to slip on the hills.

The next year we had been married for five months, and were between our time in England and moving to Tanzania as a couple.  We were in Arch Cape, OR, with Andrew's family for Christmas.  We went for a short little walk, and I don't remember much about it.  I think it was raining, but we toughed it out for a wee while.

In 2010, we were living in our first house in Tanzania.  For lack of much else to do that day, we decided that since we had gone for a walk both of the Christmases before, we should do another and call it a tradition.  (To read about Christmas 2010 and see pictures from our walk: http://www.amsandeen.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-2010.html.)

We kept up the tradition in 2011 (in Tanzania), in 2012 (on the Oregon coast for a beach walk with Andrew's sister Karen and her family - although we confess we did that one on the 26th due to Christmas day logistics and two tiny babies involved in the event), and in 2013 - see pictures below!

The little strip of blue just below the far-away hills is Lake Victoria.

The lake really is huge - this is just a wee inlet of it between two peninuslas

Zarya loves going outside!  As squished as she appears here, she's really quite happy in her carrier.

I love the ginormous rocks around here!

Hi everybody!  I can walk!  Zarya got to walk the last bit all by herself.

December cold snap

Walking!

Zarya is now walking everywhere - crawling is like, you know, so totally for babies, and she's a big girl now, you know.  I wanted a picture of her walking, but she kept following me, so I took this picture while speed-walking backwards.  Her forehead got trimmed off, but it's the best I could manage under the circumstances!

Playing with Baba and CowCow in the morning

As you might have noted in the picture above, Zarya is sporting long sleeves and shoes.  It's pretty cold here this week!  This morning we woke up to a 70-degree house, so had to pull out the fleece and socks and shoes.  It feels like a true December day, with us all bundled up to endure the cold snap.

So cute!  We love our baby. :-)

What to do if you think you might be ill and you're in Musoma

This is a post without pictures, because, trust me, you don't want pictures on this one.

Well, who can resist a cute Zarya picture?  So here you go, a not-really-related-to-this-post picture:

Anyway, so I thought y'all might like to know what we do around here when we suspect we might be ill. Unfortunately, I've got two recent examples.

The first took place several weeks ago.  I had been feeling uncomfortable in my interior regions all day, gradually getting worse.  That night, I spent a fair amount of time in a room other than the one where my bed was, if you know what I mean.  Unfortunately, we were scheduled to go on a trip, leaving early the next morning.  I was acutely miserable and was 99% sure of what was ailing my guts - amoeba.  And so, not having time to do anything else before leaving town, and anticipating a four-hour-long trip with no rest stops possible (well, possible - there were bushes), I went online.  Who needs a doctor or pharmacist when you have the internet?  I found out which amoeba medicine is okay to take when nursing, and then on our way out of town, we stopped at a pharmacy on our way out of town and picked up my drugs.  They cost about two dollars.

The other example is from yesterday.  Zarya had been showing some signs of perhaps being sick, but I wasn't sure if she really was, or what it was.  All I knew is that what I was finding in her diaper looked a little different than normal.  (I told you this post was better without pictures!)  So, I got a toothpick and scooped out some evidence and put it in a plastic bag, strapped Zarya into her carrier, and changed into my outdoor flip-flops.  Then she and I went off on a three-minute walk to the other side of the compound where we live, where there is a little medical clinic.  We carried her sample to the young man who runs the laboratory, who looked at it under his microscope.  He told me that he didn't find anything out of the ordinary in it, so we paid our thirty cent fee and walked home again.  At this point, I am not sure if she's sick or not.  Maybe it's the kind of sickness where you need to do a test other than looking at poo under a microscope, or maybe the young man just missed it.  Or maybe she's perfectly healthy and just ate too much fruit.  I guess we'll see how she does over the next few days.

Masatu wedding

George Masatu and Amanda Swift got married on November 30, and it was one fun party!  I was honored to be the "besty" - matron of honor/bridesmaid/attendant/witness for the occasion.  It involved a lot of smiling, standing, sweating, eating, waiting, dress-carrying, and even some kneeling.  I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the festivities.  I played a tiny role in getting George and Amanda together, so feel very successful as a matchmaker now - only twice (that I remember... but successes are easier to remember than failures) have I tried to set folks up, and twice they've ended up getting married.

This is me and the bride standing at the back of the church, waiting for the wedding march to begin for us to start going down the aisle (we walked in side-by-side - the bride's family is at the front of the church during the wedding, but don't parade down the aisle in TZ weddings).  I was very surprised by how so many people crowed up right behind and and were actually pushing against us, stepping on the back of the bride's dress and squeezing in between us at times, trying to see into the church.  I mean, like, hang on folks, this is the bride you're shoving!

Amanda's parents and family attended the wedding via Skype at about 1:00am their time.  Helping them attend was the gift of a few fellow missionaries who held this computer up, carrying it and applicable cords and antennae around for the entire wedding and reception.

Rings!  I like how they hold the hands and rings up while putting them on at weddings and engagements here - it's a big deal, so why not act like it?

Gift-giving is a big part of the reception.  People come up in groups (this is the choir that sang at the wedding, thus they are dressed alike) and gift group gifts, for the most part.  If a large piece of cloth is part of their gift (and many were), they are draped around the bride and groom.  I think there is some humorous significance to wrapping the wedding couple up in sheets at the front of the reception hall, but it being a very proper wedding, no overt jokes were made (as is I think more normal at some types of receptions).  But everyone had a good time, and I think dancing your unwrapped gift up to the front of the hall with everyone watching has a few fun points to it, although I don't think the idea will take off at American weddings.

We wish the Masatus all the best in their new marriage!

Wedding shower fun

These lucky ladies got their picture taken before the art project began

Praying for Amanda

Pretty soon you'll get to read a post here about our friend Amanda's wedding, but first you have to hear about her wedding shower!  It took place ten days ago, but I haven't been online much recently, thanks to load-shedding power cuts.  Oh yes, power cuts.  Just in case you're not familiar with what load shedding is, let me explain.  You see, sometimes the electricity goes out because there is a storm and a power line gets knocked down or something.  Then when the problem is fixed, the power comes back on.  That's the sort of power outage with which you're probably familiar.  And then there are power outages when there is some sort of issue that needs to be fixed, so the electricity company cuts your power for a wee bit while it's repaired and then it comes back on when they finish.  That's kind of like the storm-caused outage, except there has been no storm.

And then there is load shedding.  That's when there simply isn't enough electricity to go around, so the power company turns off half of the town for ten hours or so, then switches to the other half.  And, sometimes on special days, they turn off the entire town/region/country.  Right now we're in the midst of ten days (or so... one can't count on these things finishing exactly on time!) of such power cuts.  Apparently there is some problem somewhere that requires extensive repairs or replacement or something, so the whole country of Tanzania is enjoying a severe electricity shortage while the issue is dealt with.  It's pretty fun.  Ha.

Where was I... Amanda's wedding shower!

So, in honor of our dear friend Amanda's upcoming marriage, our ladies' Bible study group threw her a wedding shower.  Amanda wanted some of her Tanzanian friends to come, too, so I had to figure out some games that worked across language barriers.  I went searching online for wedding shower games, and found a few fun ideas that I could use as a starting point.  Not being one to follow recipes when cooking, neither am I one to follow game instructions to the letter.

One game turned out so well and is so multi-purpose that I thought I'd mention and recommend it (or a variation of it) here.  Here's what you do:

-Collect a bunch of pieces of paper that is blank on at least one side (ours had a draft of the JESUS Film in the Kabwa language on the other side, because that's the sort of scratch paper we cool missionary types have lying around)
-Collect as many pens as people in your group
-Collect books of the same number
-Choose a topic and judge

Distribute all of the above items and then tell folks that they are to draw a picture of the bride on her wedding day (or whatever else works for your group - a Thanksgiving turkey, a Christmas tree with presents, the new mother and baby, etc.).  A few artistic types will like the idea and everyone else will be annoyed that they have to draw.  Then tell them that they have to do it on their heads with NO peeking (see pictures above).  At this point everyone will be kind of annoyed.  But once they start, they'll all start laughing and it should be a good riot.

There is no time limit - when you finish, you're done.  It won't take long.  Give all the papers to the judge, who can hold up each one, talk about its merits (few) and issues (which are likely many), and choose the best (meaning, the picture in which the bride's head is actually attached to her body).

However, after saying all of that, I must confess that in our group, artistic talent did come in handy, because it was the art teacher in the group who had the best picture.  We all had a good time creating our scribbly pictures, but there was one picture that looked better than mine would have even if I'd been looking the entire time!

Hearing knocks

In the NIV, Revelation 3:20 (an excerpt from that verse, that is) says, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door..."

Have you ever wondered about the relationship between knocking and hearing someone's voice?  It doesn't say, "I stand at the door and call out," and it doesn't say, "If anyone hears me knock."  Something seems to be off in this verse, because last time I checked, one shouldn't hear voices (in one's head or otherwise) when somebody knocks on a door.

When working on this verse with the Ikizu translators, I was prepared to discuss the above issue with them to try to come up with a solution that was both accurate to the original and yet made sense. The first time I saw their draft, though, I couldn't help but smile.  I had been so caught up with the issues this verse creates in English that I had forgotten that Ikizu people don't normally knock on doors.  In Ikizu, the verse says, "I stand at the door and call..."

If you go to an Ikizu village and want to enter someone's house, you call out to them that you are there.  It's nice, because not only do you know somebody is at your door, but you also generally know who it is (if you recognize their voice, that is).  Indeed, I think that is the meaning Jesus has in this verse, that it's not just by chance that somebody opens the door when he knocks, but they know for whom they are opening the door.

I suppose it makes sense that sometimes translating a verse into Ikizu is much easier than translating it into English!

First birthday

Hello, my name is Zarya and this is my first blog post, and today is my first birthday!  I had a party with all of my best friends from the missionary community here in Musoma.  It was a really fun party!  Mama and Baba made lots of nice food for the grown-ups, and they all got sodas, too.  The other kids and I got apple juice for our special drink - it was my very first time to try apple juice and I really liked it!  I chugged my entire sippy cup full of it down to the very last couple drops!  This is a picture of all the food for the big people and bigger kids: 

My real aunts live really far away in America and one is even in Guam, but my special Auntie Ronit lives in Musoma and came to my party!  She's the funnest EVER.  I mean most fun.  Isn't she pretty?

I got to get dressed up in brand-new clothes because it was my birthday.  They are size 24 months, but they were only a tiny bit too big.  Most of the clothes that fit me right now are size 18 months.  I guess they size baby clothes for normal-sized babies, not really tall ones like me.  Baba and Mama measured and weighed me this morning.  I was 31 inches (78.7) cm) tall, 21 pounds (9.5 kg), and my head (can you believe they even measured my head?!) was 18 inches (45.7 cm) around.  Mama checked online, whatever that means, and said that means I'm in the 93rd percentile for height, the 45th for weight, and my head is in the 65th.

I got to eat lunch on the back porch with the other kids.  The adults all had to sit inside.  I think my friends had more fun watching me eat than they did eating their own food!  Maybe they were jealous that I got special food that was different from theirs, because it had a lot of different vegetables and some legumes in it.  Because it was my birthday, Mama gave me extra carrots, since they are my favorite!

There are three of my best girlfriends.  They are all big girls, aged 7, 5, and 3, but they still like to play with me.  I'm one now, at least I finally have an age, so I'm almost a big girl!

I guess when it's your birthday, you get presents!  Who knew?!

Not only were there presents, but there was this weird new food called cake.  The presents were fun, but the cake was kind of scary, because they stuck a candle in it.  I cried a little bit.  Baba and Mama didn't help me eat it - they didn't break off little bites for me or anything!  I was stuck there on my own, this weird cupcake in front of me (at least they took the candle out), and I had no idea what to do.  Surely this purple thing wasn't food!  I poked it and some of it stuck to my finger, so I licked it clean, and then I discovered it tasted okay.  Sugar, I guess it's called.  I picked at it a bit after that and got some more frosting.  Baba seemed kind of sad that I didn't make a mess, but Mama seemed sort of relieved.  I don't know why they didn't just give me some more carrots.  Grown-ups, seriously.

As a final treat, I got to play with Miss Holly's watch.  She's married, so maybe I should call her Mrs. Holly.  Anyway, she has the nicest watch I've ever seen, and I want one just like it when I grow up.  I really want to have awesome curly hair like her when I grow up, too, but I don't think that's going to happen.  Miss Holly used to live next door me to me, and I'd visit her almost every day.  She moved away last week, though, and I'm kind of confused as to why I don't see her all the time now.  But all the same, she is still one of my bestest friends and her watch is my favorite.  And you should see her new house - it has lots of space to crawl around in, and pretty soon, I'm going to be walking and running all over it!  I took my first steps by myself the other day and might take more soon if I'm in the mood someday.  Oh, and Mama and Baba told me that I'll have new neighbors soon, Mr. George and Miss Amanda, so that'll be fun.  Miss Amanda was at my party today and I played with the envelope from the card she gave me more than any of the toys I got!

So now you know all about my very special first ever birthday party.  I wish you could have been there!  It was so wonderful - I had a really great time!  However, I had to take a nap at 2:00, so I had to tell everyone bye-bye while they were still in the living room having fun.  Being the first to leave your own birthday party is kind of lame, but Baba and Mama don't budge much on naptime.  And you know what?  I really was pretty tired after all that laughing and playing!  Birthdays are a lot of fun!