Door-to-door salesman

Sometimes in the afternoon on a weekend day we'll hear "Hodi!  Hodi!" in front of our house.  In Tanzania, saying "hodi" is the equivalent of ringing a doorbell.  Usually we moan and whine and shuffle to the gate to see who is there.  We've had people come by selling fish and baskets, people looking for work, and people asking for money for all sorts of needs like school fees and funerals.  So when we saw a man carrying things and setting them up on display by leaning them against our car, we sighed and went out the door, prepared to explain that we aren't really interested in buying anything.

When we saw his paintings, though, we suddenly realized that this guy was pretty good!  Recognizing that he would be a great illustrator for literacy books, we got his name, number, and people group so we could contact him later.  Since both of us liked his work and we have some empty walls in our house that are begging for decor, we started discussing together which one we'd like to get.  Because Andrew and I were speaking to each other in English and were obviously debating something amongst ourselves, he drew the conclusion that we liked his work but were debating the price.  Without us even asking, he lowered the price on his paintings!  We chose the one pictured above and have hung it in our living room.

A little excitement came about when we went inside the house to get the money to pay him and he spotted a large snake under our car.  It disappeared, but he and Andrew tried their best to find it to kill it.  I hid myself elsewhere, as snakes aren't really my thing.  At all.  Door-to-door salesmen aren't really my thing either, most of the time, but it worked out quite well this past weekend!

Mowing the Lawn

Cutting grass

Sweeping cut grass and leaves

 We don't exactly have a lawnmower here, but we do have grass that needs to be cut regularly.  How does that work, you might wonder.  What we have in place of a machine is a piece of metal about three feet long that is bent a bit for its last six inches.  Those six inches are sharpened and voila!  A lawnmower!  Cutting grass with this implement is a bit beyond our skill set, so we hire someone to come to our house every couple weeks to whack it all down for us.

Since the grass is not tidily collected in a lawnmower bag, Andrew does this part of the task.  With a broom made of stiff dried grass and a stick for a handle, he sweeps our yard to collect all the cut grass and leaves that have fallen off our trees.  It's quite the task, but our yard looks very nice afterwards!

And the disciples gathered in the upper... rock?

Rocks off the coast of Lukuba Island

From the vantage point of on top of a large rock, you can see the surrounding rocky terrain

In both Luke and Acts, there are several verses that say the disciples gathered in an upper room.  Jita people don't build multi-level homes, so it was quite the challenge for the Jita translators to figure out what word to use for an upstairs room.  They finally decided to use the word for a big rock resting on top of another large rock.  Houses with several stories might be scarce among the Jita, but big rocks are all over their land, as you can see in these pictures.  A unique feature of the topography of this area of Tanzania is the very large rocks, many of them resting on top of each other.  So it might seem a little strange to say that the disciples gathered in the upper rock for their last supper with Jesus, but to a Jita reader, this is something they can picture quite readily.

Coca-Cola - it's everywhere you want to be



 Visa's slogan might be "it's everywhere you want to be," but let me tell you, Visa has not quite yet reached the roadside shops where I buy things here in Musoma!  There are no Burger Kings or McDonalds in the entire country of Tanzania, and Wal-Mart hasn't opened yet around here, but you know what is everywhere I've ever been in the world?  Coca-Cola.  I've done a fair bit of traveling around the planet and there's only one thing I've seen everywhere I've ever been - Coke.  I heard (from someone somewhere - this might be a rumor) that the guy who invented Coca-Cola wanted anyone, no matter where in the world they were, to be able to get a Coke to drink if they wanted one.  I think he succeeded!

Sodas are pretty important in Tanzanian culture.  No gathering is complete without sodas being offered to all!  At events with special guests, the way to show that they are special is to give them two sodas (or even three if they are very honored) instead of the usual one.  I never drank much soda before coming to Tanzania, but it's become a fairly regular part of life here because it's rude to turn one down when it's offered.  And since it's not safe to drink the water, bottled soda is a very good option for what to drink when out and about.

We have some interesting kinds of soda here that aren't available in the States.  From left to right in the picture: Sparletta Stoney Tangawizi (Sparletta is a brand made by Coca-Cola) is a very strong ginger drink.  Take small sips and drink at your own risk!  I love it, but it isn't for everyone.

Fanta Pineapple is part of what I like to call the "Fanta Family", a Coca-Cola branch of fruity sodas.  There are lots of flavors, some better than others: blackcurrant, passion, pine nut, pineapple, and orange.  Orange is the most popular and it is second only to Coke itself in the places I've been in Africa.  Andrew likes pineapple, and passion is my favorite.

Krest Bitter Lemon is, you guessed it, a soda made by Coca-Cola.  Krest drinks are only 300ml and most sodas here are 350ml, but they cost the same amount.  I guess Krest is Coke's high end drink line or something.  Anyway, bitter lemon is kind of like bitter fizzy lemonade.  It actually has a tiny bit of quinine in it, which is what gives it a distinctive sharp flavor.  Kind of like the ginger drink, bitter lemon is not for everyone, but is beloved by some.

Fanta Passion is the fourth soda in line.

Coca-Cola the king of sodas is last in line.  It tastes a wee bit different here because it's made with a different kind of sugar than in the States and it's in a bottle instead of a can (I honestly think this makes a difference).  I think it's better - I am not a big Coke fan, but I like the East African version better than the US kind.

Other kinds available in town but not pictured: Sprite (the third most popular drink after Coke and Fanta Orange), Sparletta Citrus, the other Fanta flavors, Coke Light, Krest Ginger Ale, Krest Tonic Water, Krest Soda Water, Pepsi, and very rarely 7-Up and Mountain Dew.

So come on out to visit us and we'll share some bottles of soda with you!  And maybe like me, you'll be someone who called it pop previously in life and you'll change.  I never said "soda" in my life till coming here, but since the Swahili word is "soda" and it's just what everyone says, I got in the habit.

Serving God

Something I (Misha) was thinking about the other day is that if I were here in Tanzania to serve the translators, I wouldn’t be here. As much as I sometimes really enjoy them, sometimes they drive me absolutely crazy. After all, they are a bunch of sinners, and sinners and their sins can be pretty annoying. (I’m sure I drive them crazy at times, too, since I’m also a sinner who sins.) I have my moments when I’d like to fire them all. (Side note: I don’t have the authority to fire them and wouldn’t actually do it even if I did; I’m just saying that there are times when I wish I could.)


Something I knew before I came here is that cross-cultural relationships are difficult. The longer I stay here, the more I realize how true that is. The translators and I have our fair share of comical misunderstandings that leave us all laughing, and we also suffer through some painful episodes that could have been avoided if we were quicker to realize that the problem is one of cross-cultural miscommunication and not us intentionally hurting one another. Over the past couple years we’ve wasted a lot of energy getting upset with each other over cross-cultural misunderstandings.

So when I was thinking that my purpose here is not to serve the translators, I thought, “The Scripture we’re translating is for ALL the people of these language groups, so really it is these large groups that I’m here to serve.” But that idea quickly let me down. Sometimes if I meet a Zanaki person and tell them that I’m working to help translate the Bible into the Zanaki language they get quite excited and are appreciative of this work. But a lot of the time they don’t really care. After all, many of them are not believers, and why would a non-Christian start celebrating scripture translation all of a sudden? And some of them don’t really see the point of translating it into Zanaki, either because they don’t value scripture or they don’t value their own language. So if I were trying to encourage myself to persevere because of serving these Bibleless people groups, well, that would last about a day before I lost heart!

As for me being here to serve Wycliffe Bible Translators or the Uganda-Tanzania Branch of SIL, yes, I would hope my being here would be of service to those organizations, but that’s not my reason for what I do. Organizations and businesses, even Christian missions, let you down. They are run by imperfect people and without a doubt will fail you at some time or other.

I’m here in Tanzania because God has called me to be here and because I’m serving him. When it comes right down to it, my reason for being here actually has nothing to do with me believing in the value of mother-tongue scripture, my work with the translators, or a desire to strengthen indigenous churches. It’s about God. I’m here to obey God and serve him. If some good comes out of my being here, that’s just a bonus. If he’d like to use me to bless people with his Word in their languages, that’s great, but that’s not why I’m here. Out of obedience to him I will try to serve the translators and other people around me and my mission organization, but if I let that be my motivation for service, I’m going to run dry on motivation pretty soon. Only God can replenish me every morning to do his work!

Flood!

This morning we woke up at about 3:00am to the sound of rain pounding against the windows.  It had rained a significant amount the day before, so the ground was already quite drenched.  We were not surprised to find that the electricity was out when we got up in the morning.  Andrew left early for work (not much to do at home without hot water or Internet) in hopes that the generator might be working at the office.  I stayed home, since I'm still sick and supposed to be resting.  We hoped that the rain would stop soon because we were expecting guests on the afternoon plane, and because Musoma has a dirt runway, the plane skips landing here if it is very wet.

The rain only got harder and I started to become concerned about the drips coming from the ceiling - the roof was obviously leaking quite badly.  But before I could get too worried about the small streams pouring down from the ceiling, I became very worried when I glanced out the front window and saw a mighty brown river rushing through our front gate!  Our front door is level with the ground - there are no steps up into our house, and the door does not seal tight against the concrete floor.  Suddenly, water started streaming in under the door and flooding through the dining room and living room and pouring down the two stairs into the bedroom!

I ran to the door leading to the back porch and was relieved to see the water go that direction, where I knew it wouldn't cause too much damage.  I grabbed electronics and Christmas cards off the floor, snatched towels out of the closet and tried to stop the water from coming in under the door and prevent it from going into the bedroom.  I called Andrew in a panic and asked him to come home and help.  I called our landlord and let him know we had a flood situation.  And then I went a little crazy and couldn't figure out what to do for a bit, but finally figured out I needed to move the couch and then start bailing out the bedroom to try to save the bed from sure disaster if the water level rose too high down there.

Andrew managed to get home (we live down a very long dirt road with several small, broken-down bridges barely holding parts of it together, so this was a dangerous challenge) and Holly, our dear friend and neighbor, came over to help.  We mopped, scooped, and used towels to get all the water and mud out.  It never did stop raining until 3:30 in the afternoon!  I can't believe how much water got in the house and how much work it took to get it all back out again!

Much to our surprise, the electricity returned in the evening and nothing in our house seems to be permanently damaged.  A few towels are much worse for the wear and a pillow might have to be discarded, but nothing major was ruined.  We are very thankful for God protecting us and our house and for keeping the damage minimal.  The yard will take a while to recover, but no trees fell and if it's sunny for a few days, everything will dry out okay.

Malaria

Some people bring back keychains, coasters, and postcards as their vacation souvenirs.  I decided to do things on a bigger scale and brought back malaria with me.  When I started shivering at work yesterday evening and developed a horrible headache, I got a bit suspicious that something wasn't quite right.  One is not supposed to shiver in Tanzania and I'm not prone to headaches.  Sure enough, I then got muscle and bone aches and my fever continued all night.  This morning I went to a clinic in town and had them check my blood, which confirmed that I do indeed have malaria.  It takes 7-14 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito before developing symptoms, so I most definitely got it while on vacation, since I was away that entire time period.

I find that there are a few misconceptions about malaria.  The last time I had malaria, I think some friends in the States thought I was near death, because we always hear statistics about how many Africans die of malaria every year.  Yes, malaria CAN be deadly, but that's only if you don't get treated.  So while I don't want to discount that many people, especially children, die of malaria every year around here, only a small percentage of the people who get it die from it.

Also, it's not every mosquito that carries malaria.  One the females of one species of mosquito are even able to carry it, and they have to bite an infected person first.  Despite using bug spray every evening on our trip, I still got a lot of bites, so I can't say I'm too shocked to have gotten sick.  Mosquitoes just really like me!  It seems like I get a lot more bites than other people do.  I'm just so sweet, they can't resist me...

Malaria is actually very easy to diagnose and treat.  It's nice in a way that the medicine is just a three-day series of pills and that one starts feeling better pretty soon after taking them.  Some diseases take you out for a long time and the recovery is slow, but with malaria you can go from feeling absolutely horrible - fever, aches all over your body, exhausted, and a killer headache - to feeling quite normal in just a couple days if you get the correct pills.  There are lots of different malaria medications, but some are more effective than others.  I went for the top of the line best drugs when I bought them this morning and they cost me just under $2.00.  The test cost about the same amount, so at least while malaria hurts my body a lot, it's not hurting my wallet too much!

So I feel pretty crummy right now, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be doing a lot better by tomorrow and I think I'll be able to go to work on Monday.  Malaria is nasty, but short-lived.