Binder Park Zoo

Sara Zwart, me, Julie Esch

Andrew givin' a little love

The Tanzania flag and a couple Tanzanians

Giraffes at the zoo get a bit closer to visitors than ones in the Serengeti...

A weaver bird, a common bird in East Africa, making a cool woven nest

Chinese Red Panda

While we are in the States, Andrew and I are traveling around a good bit to visit people whom we haven't seen in years.  We're spending about a month in the Midwest, two weeks of which are in Michigan.  I went to Hope College in Holland, MI, so I have quite a few friends who still live in the area.

On the day these pictures were taken, we were in Battle Creek (think cereal) catching up with a Hope friend, Sara Zwart.  Julie Esch, who lives in Ann Arbor, was also along for the zoo trip (we'd spent the previous weekend with her and her family and we were sneaking in one more day together).  We all went to Binder Park Zoo, which was fun and interesting and the animals all looked happy and healthy (just look at that red panda - he's thinking life in Battle Creek is pretty good on a sunny afternoon!).  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about visiting a zoo after having been to the Serengeti (giant national park in TZ full of lions, wildebeest, zebras, etc.), but it turned out to be a great day.  After all, we got to walk all around the zoo instead of having to stay inside a vehicle all day!  I even got to rub a giraffe's nose (turns out they are kind of oily and might benefit from some facial cleanser).  And, of course, the very best part was spending all day with Sara and Julie (and Andrew).  There is something really wonderful about being together in person instead of relying on e-mail for communication.

Blackberry fever!

Berries are one of the foods Andrew and I miss the most when we're in Tanzania.  We can get all sorts of fabulous tropical fruits in Musoma, but there are NO BERRIES!  One of my highlights of being in the States (thus far) is that we're here for blackberry season.  Berries are dripping off the vines all along the road near where we live.  It's so fun to pick them, and I can't get over how nice it is to be outdoors without anyone noticing or bothering me.  And best of all, they are free!  Imagine: beautiful, ripe berries a mere 1/4 mile from your front door, just begging to be picked.  We're busy filling our stomachs and our freezer with blackberries and I'm having a terrific lot of fun doing it.  I feel so American!

Oh, and if you have a really good blackberry cobbler recipe, please e-mail it to me!

Baby registry

I've debated for quite some time about putting this post up here, because I don't want y'all to think that I'm getting pushy and asking for baby gifts.  However, I am aware that some of you are the type who would really like to give wee Zarya a gift and want it to be something I actually need.  So, in the interest of helping you be practical and knowing what sorts of things we would find useful and have to have before we return to Tanzania in January, this is the link to where I'm "registered".  It's not really a registry, but an online wishlist: www.wishcentral.com.  You can look up my list under the name "Michelle Sandeen".  If you decide you'll be getting one of the items there, you can mark it as reserved so that others know it's already been claimed and avoid duplicates.

Culture shock?

We've now been in the States for one month and during this month we've been asked pretty frequently if we are experiencing reverse culture shock.  I know that many people who have spent extended time away from their home culture have a time of transition and cultural readjustment after returning, but I don't think we are very much.  What we are experiencing is a heightened awareness of noticing things.  Things that seemed very ordinary to us before going to Tanzania, we now notice.  A few are good things and a few are bad things, but for the most part they are simply neutral, normal things that stand out to us a bit.

Things that catch my attention:

• The sun doesn't rise at 6:20 every morning and set at 6:45 every evening year-round like it does in Musoma!
• American people are all different colors.
• Drivers stop at traffic lights and stop signs even when there are no other vehicles at the intersection.  For that matter, there ARE traffic lights and stop signs!
• Americans are very focused on safety (or avoiding lawsuits, at least).  There are safety labels on nearly everything, warnings in all sorts of places about possible hazards, and hundreds of street signs noting upcoming curves, speed limits, and animals that might possibly be around.
• Weather is a common conversation topic here.  It's about the same in Tanzania every day, so why discuss it?
• You can recycle in the States.  Don't just toss that can in the trash!
• There is pavement all over the place!  I haven't driven on a dirt road yet.  Even people's driveways are often paved!
• Groceries are really expensive in America, and there are simply too many choices for everything.  Do you want 15-grain, 100% whole wheat, double-fiber, seed & nut, or honey oat bread?

And the big one...

It's so CLEAN here!!!  Everything is just fresh and spankin' CLEAN - where is all the dust?  Where did the bugs go?  How about the trash, gecko droppings, and critter crud?  I just cannot get over how very, very wonderfully clean American homes and streets are - I guess all that pavement has a purpose.

The story behind the name Zarya Jill

Since we announced that we're expecting a girl and that her name will be Zarya Jill Sandeen, many people have asked us how we chose these names.

Zarya - Although the name Zarya looks and sounds like it might be a name from East Africa, it's actually Russian.  It should be very easy for Tanzanians to say, though, which is important to us.  But for the story...  Back in 2008, my sister Alyssa's friend Dorothy was pregnant and wanted an unusual name for her baby.  I've always loved names and coming up with interesting ones, so Alyssa e-mailed me in Tanzania to see if I might have suggestions.  I had a very fun time making a long list of unusual biblical names, names from East Africa, and even making a few up.  I played around with sounds and syllables and invented a few that I thought were pretty, and one of these was Zarya.  Alyssa's friend didn't end up using the name Zarya, but she did quite like it.  I remembered the name and kept it in the back of my mind in case some friend in the future was ever looking for an out-of-the-ordinary name.

Andrew and I were engaged on December 27, 2008, and on January 1, 2009, I flew away to Tanzania.  We communicated as best as I could by Skype phone calls and e-mail, but it was pretty difficult to have a long-distance relationship.  Sometimes we just wanted to do something fun together!  One day we came up with the idea of picking out names for our future children.  We both said, "Well, I already have a favorite girl name."  So we agreed that we'd each just say the name we liked and then start looking at other options and be honest about what we thought of the other person's idea.  So on the count of three, I said, "Zarya!" and Andrew said, "Zorah!"  He immediately said, "Zarya?  That's an awful lot like Zorah, except prettier!" We looked it up online and found out that it was a Russian name that means "dawn" or "sunrise", so it turns out I didn't actually make it up.  Our wedding had a sunrise theme, so it seemed perfect.  We considered other names, but they never quite matched up to Zarya.  

Jill - Since Zarya is a bit of an uncommon name, we wanted something short and familiar for the middle name.  When we found out we were expecting a baby, we started working on figuring out a good middle name to go with Zarya.  We came up with a list of options, but weren't too keen on any of them.  Then, one afternoon when we were listening to music, a song by Jill Phillips came on my iPod.  Andrew and I don't have quite the same taste in music, but we both love Jill Phillips and her songs.  I said, "Hey, what about the name Jill?"  Andrew was quite positive about it and looked it up, and discovered it means "sweetheart".  Who wouldn't want a little sweetheart daughter?  We continued to brainstorm about other names for months, but consistently came back to Jill, and a few days before we found out we were having a girl, we agreed that Zarya Jill it would be if we had a girl.

A girl!

Just in case you have not seen the news on Facebook... it's a girl!  We had an ultrasound that confirmed not only that our baby is female, but that she looks healthy and like she's developing well.  Little Zarya Jill Sandeen has been very wiggly lately and seems to be enjoying swimming around in her little womb-world.  She's not due to make an appearance until October 31, but we'll see when she's ready to leave her wee swimming pool.

A week off

This is where we've been living this week - "The Intrepid".  It's docked in Winchester Bay, OR, and we're enjoying a week off.  We tried to take a little time off right before leaving Tanzania, but that didn't work so well.  Somehow it's tricky to take time off when there is lots of work to be done that we know we could and should be doing.  But this week we're far away from the office in Musoma and from everyone we know, and  it's suddenly not so hard to fill a day with activities like taking a nap, going for a long walk on the beach, reading a novel, and eating a lot, and not feeling guilty that we haven't been more productive.  Our job this week has been to rest and recover, so napping is suddenly on the to-do list for productivity!  We're both now fully over jet lag and feeling a bit more ready to enjoy life in North America for the next six months.