More From The Crusade

September 26^th-27^th:Saturday-Sunday

I have been really tired lately. Also I have had a slight headache the last two days and my ashma has been acting up as well. I hope I am not getting sick. Better now though than in a week.

Saturday morning I caught a ride into town with Unity and spent a while at easycom. I walked back and by 11:00 was out the door on a run. Decent run. Really tired but put in an ok time. After that I helped shell corn with the guys. Had lunch. That after noon I crashed in my room and listened to music and napped/dozed. Can’t believe how much I am sleeping.

Sunday morning I got up and did devotions and then before church I listened to a sermon and fell asleep in the middle of it. Church this morning was really good. During the sermon as is now my habit I read the bible. Read of Joseph and Daniel. That afternoon I went into my room and tried to listen to music but fell asleep again. Can you develop narcolepsy? Apparently it was Grace’s birthday this last week but she didn’t tell anyone because she was missing Amen and Gloria and no one knew. Not even Unity. I guess the cultures really are different. Wish this attitude was prevalent in the US because I can never remember peoples birthdays. Anyway she made some delicious cake so we have had that with everymeal. Breakfast lunch and dinner. Great culture.

The Crusade has been interesting. I think there are probably a couple thousand people at this thing. I spent Friday trying to get a good approximation. Some highlights. At one point in the “service?” the main speaker guy gathers all the people who need to be healed up front and then he calls down the Holy Spirit. Well usually he starts babbling in tongues and the interpreter then starts to. I guess he needs to translate the incomprehensible babbling into other incomprehensible babbling. I think he just gets so caught up he doesn’t realize that he doesn’t need to try to translate that. Another cool thing. A guy came Friday and said that Thursday he had been unable to pee and give a urine test at the hospital. However after coming to the crusade Thursday he was able to give a sample the next day. A mighty miracle. Another thing the speaker does is after a particularly amazing miracle, like the peeing man, he will chant “Je, Je, Je, Je” and the crowd will cry “JESUS!”. And then “Ye, Ye, Ye, Ye” and “YESU!”. Reminds of when I played football and before the game we would huddle up and put all our hands in the middle and chant “Go, go, go, go, Cowboys!”

My Leg Hurts And A New Crusade

September 23^rd-25^th:Wednesday-Friday

At school I have been helping in the classrooms and playing with the kids at recess. I am glad to say that the novelty of me has worn of at least to the point were the kids have generally stopped fighting over who gets to hold my hand. Its amazing how well you can get to know someone or at least thing you know someone when you can’t understand a word they are saying.

I had a really good run on Wednesday. Put in an excellent time and was very happy. However, I have been having some issues with running. First there is a tendon/muscle thing in my leg running along the inside of the shin on my left leg that is swollen and aching after I run. I can’t figure out how to stretch it. Also my feet hurt. I think/hope these are symptoms which are simply the result of my poor footgear. However with kili coming up in a little over a week I took Thursday and Friday off from running to try to give everything a chance to heal.

Thursday marked the first day of the new crusade. This one is considerably larger (I think because the speaker is white) and is held in a large field about a mile and a half from here. The stage is larger with a decent sound system and they have set up lights which is nice although they turn them on at around 5:30 when it doesn’t get dark tell 6:45-7:00. I would say there are several hundred people there every night so far. Rough estimation between 400-600 people. I mean it’s a lot. Maybe I’ll count them since I generally can’t follow the speakers tirades. He is very focused on proving things and telling the crowd of the mistakes and false ideas of others. He talked about evolution and some other stuff the first night. I have actually done quite a bit of research on the evolution problem and I felt he did a lot more insulting the other side then actually saying anything worthwhile. The second day e proved that Jesus is God, because his body is human but his blood is holy. He also proved that Jesus died on the cross and not an imposter for several reasons. First, Pharisees do not make mistakes so they would not have sentenced the wrong man (doesn’t he believe the Pharisees made a mistake believing what they believed?). Second and third neither the apostles or the roman gaurds would have defended/arrested the wrong man in the Garden. Lastly Mary was there at the crucifixion and because they stripped Jesus almost naked Mary would have recognized her son, and I quote “You can’t fool a mama!”. I find this speaker very aggressive in pointing out the faults of others and I don’t think speaks the truth in love. Interestingly he sounds exactly like Max in the old Get Smart show.

Friday after the crusade ended we were all waiting around for Unity and I played with a little girl who is somehow related to all the people that make up Unity’s extended family. For the ride home we all piled into the back of Unity’s Truck. He has an extended cab so the bed is very small. We crammed more than a doze full sized people and a couple little kids into the back of the truck. It was a great ride home.

Pastor Unity Tells a Story

A cool thing happened to me a while back. One morning while we were having breakfast Pastor Unity told me a couple of cool stories. While he was in bible college in Nairobi Kenya the students where sent out for ten days to various areas so they could be challenged and serve in a place they were unused to. For instance he said those from the country would be sent into the city and vise versa. He said these ten days had ten years worth of trials.

His first time he was sent into a slum in a city near Nairobi. He said that this church he was sent to had ten members. The place he was given to stay was about 3 meters by 1. it had a small bed that had bed bugs and a table. he would eat at these people’s houses, each day a different church member would be in charge of feeding him. he said they would eat in these tiny “houses” little bigger than his room, the walls and ceiling made from sheet metal so it was incredibly hot during the day. Also the narrow streets were also where people went to the bathroom and it was the rainy season. I can only try to imagine. He said he stayed the ten days and went back healthy and no one could believe he went there for ten days because he looked so good. After he went there the pastor of the church left and Unity took it over. He loved that church and continued to pastor there until the slums where demolished.

The second time he went out he and nine others went to the driest part of Kenya. they had been there only two days when seven of the men had to be taken by helicopter to the nearest hospital because they were so sick. He and three others stayed but after five days the other two had to leave. He stayed for the full ten days though and didn’t get sick. He said they would drink hardly any water at all. They would have a tiny glass, like a shot glass full at meals. He said the water was the color of the table, a dark brown. He said if you tried to tell them that water was clear they would say no that it was brown.

School Starts Again and I Use An Unusual Word

September 21st-22nd: Monday & Tuesday

I have had trouble sleeping lately which is really unusual for me. One of the things I am most thankful for is my ability to sleep pretty much anywhere when I am tired. However I the last two nights I haven’t been able to fall asleep tell past 1:00. Sunday I didn’t run so I guess I can understand how I managed to stay up tell nearly 3:00 but Monday and Tuesday both I put in a good run and had gotten up fairly early in the morning. It’s very strange. Perhaps it is simply the illusion that I am not sleeping since I have been having crazy dreams that tend to blend into waking. Perhaps I simply thing I am still awake because my brain is dreaming and churning.

Monday was a holiday from school (some Muslim thing) so I spent the day in town on the web. That afternoon I helped shell corn with a bunch of the young people from the church. They spent all day shelling corn, sorting the harvest, etc… had a fun time. I love listening to them chatter in Swahili although I really wish I could understand what they were talking about. Jimbo called which was good. We were able to talk for about an hour the entire time I was standing outside the house/compound and these two little kids, Willie and someone where hanging on me and playing with the fire that was burning the waste from the harvest and hitting each other with cornstalks.

School started up again Tuesday. It’s good to be back. I love hanging out with these little kids. They don’t judge me by the fact that I am white and they don’t try to exploit me. Honestly I was a little burnt out when school took a break a couple weeks ago but I am very thankful to be back. I have a little buddy. He’s my favorite. I like him because he doesn’t get angry and fight with the other kids when he can’t sit in my lap. He doesn’t demand attention and he is perfectly happy just to sit on my lap or stand by me. Plus he doesn’t drag/yank/jerk/pull/jump on me. Also he is adorable looking. Whenever I’m in his class or he is walking by he’ll give me the thumbs up sign. Pretty cool little dude.

Running was really rough Monday. I went right before dark when everyone was walking home from work/school/lounging around. Honestly I took a lot of abuse and I was really mad and frustrated. Did a hundred lunges and put in a good time though. Tuesday was much better. I went earlier in the day and although I fagged out in the first couple miles I stuck with it and did a solid 6 miles. Much less comments as well.

Racing Children

September 18^th-20^th: Friday-Sunday

Running has been really interesting lately. In terms of actually running I have felt great. Friday I put in a good run. Saturday I ran a 6 mile loop that combined a few different runs. Felt great. Thought I put in a really good time and kept up a good pace etc… that evening then a quarter after six I ran again. This was a short 4 miler. In terms of pace it was the hardest run I have done here. I pushed it the whole way and just cruised. Wings on my feet. However after the initial shock of seeing a white guy running people seem to have taken me as a great joke and never pass up a chance to mock/laugh at me. the one up side I suppose is that the kids will race me when I come especially if I say “twege” which means “let’s go”. So that is a plus I guess.

I have been doing a bit of research into maybe being able to travel to Zanzibar while I am here. Maybe take a couple days and go hang out there. It would be more fun if I had someone to go with but I don’t think I can just let an adventure like Zanzibar pass me by without taking a stab at it. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive. Its funny quite a few of the sites I have looked at concerning Zanzibar are for honeymoon/romantic getaways. So they go into “romantic evenings” and “self-contained beds”. Not the information I need/want but thanks.

Saturday after my run I went into town and did a few hours of email/web surfing. I wondered around a bit and ended up at Deli Chez where I ordered sushi. Prawn and squid. Sat alone and tried not to watch the couples. The prawn was really good and the squid was a bit chewy but fine. Not my favorite but not bad either. After that I walked around and bought some roast corn from one of the vender guys. Very yummy. After dinner on Saturday we watched a really good football game. Liverpool and someone, I forget. Really close but Liverpool managed to win 3-2. great game.

Sunday I slept in for the third day in the row. It’s really easy to sleep in tell 7:30. all you have to do is set your alarm clock to like 6:00 and then just ignore it. I listened to an Alfred sermon before church.

That evening I finally finished Alfred Hitchcock’s’ Rebecca. A really good movie. Great plot twists and suspenseful like all of Hitchcock’s movies. After praying that night I went to bed at the normal time but couldn’t fall asleep. Lay awake for about an hour and then gave up. Watched the Bicycle Thief an old foreign film. Actually watched about 20 minutes of it before I managed to switch the language to English. Apparently you have to start the movie and then turn it to English, not vice versa. A really good movie. Raw, emotionally that is. Actually a stunning movie. I suggest it to anyone. Finally fell asleep around 2:00am Monday morning.

Of Sliced Bread and How To Win White Women

September 16th-17th: Wednesday-Thursday

African sliced bread is very interesting. The heels of each loaf are generally at least an inch wide if not wider. It seems to me it would be more practical to cut the loaf into more slices but it seems that is not possible. maybe the bread people think that if there are less slices then people will have to buy more loafs. Perhaps it’s a calorie counting thing. Because one big slice of cake has less calories than lots of slices right?

Running the last two days has been really rough. I have been waking up early and running in the morning. On Tuesday I did 100 lunges, 5 sets of 20 reps, in my run. I have been so sore the last two days I can barely run. I don’t seem to have a lot of energy either.

Thursday I went to town to explore a new part of town where I say some very promising looking book stores. Hopefully one of them has a map of Tanzania. On my way into town I got a buddy. As a white guy I tend to get theses guys who come to me and talk very nicely but they always have an agenda and their trying to get something out of me. Well this guys name was Eddington (haha) and he tried to get me to give him several things. First he tried to get me to write his book report for school. No joke. I have no idea why he thought I would agree to do this for him. It’s definitely the strangest request anyone has ever made of me. Second, after that failed, he tried to get me to buy him lunch. Fat chance.

After that our conversation changed to women. He asked me if I had a girlfriend. I told him no. he didn’t believe me. He apparently had never met a white guy without a girlfriend. Haha. I asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said no. I asked him why not, he was 17 so he was old enough (he also told me you had to be 25 before you could get married in Tanzania). He said he wanted a white girlfriend. Then he subtly asked me if I had a sister. Smooth Eddington. Eventually he told me in not too many words that he wanted me to hook him up with a white girlfriend. This out of all the requests I’ve had is actually the one I couldn’t have done if I wanted to. I don’t know any white girls in Tanzania. I told him if he wanted a white girlfriend he needed to buy some chocolates and flowers and go and give them to the girl he wanted and she wouldn’t be able to say no. I hope he tries it.

During this time I had tried several book stores I had located in an unexplored part of town and come up empty on a map of Tanzania. What kind of country doesn’t even have a map of itself? By the way these book shops on Africa are the most depressing things ever. There little and generally there are maybe 200-300 books in them and most of them are school books and weird Christian books. Finally Eddington helped me locate a book store with several maps. Woohoo! Victory! Thank you Eddington. After that I went to the internet café where Eddington followed me inside and sat down next to me as I got on the computer. It was kinda awkward. I had to turn to him and ask him to leave. Weird. After that I went to the Mo Town Car Wash and sat down in its restaurant and drank a soda and watched a football (soccer) game.

In Which I Watch Several Interesting Movies

September 13^th-15^th: Sunday-Tuesday

Sunday morning at church I felt much more comfortable and at home. I knew all but one of the songs and I got into it and had a really good time singing and praising. Another mzungu showed up. His name is johny I think. He left right afterward so I didn’t get the chance to talk to him. Mrs. Johnson preached (Morris Johnson’s wife). Honestly I agree with almost nothing that her and her husband believe and preach. They preach a health and wealth gospel that promises no more sickness and success in all our undertakings. She said that in order to be spiritually fir you must fast at least once a week. Frankly they downplay the sinful depravity of man and by doing so lessen Christ’s power and sacrifice.

That night I watched The Pianist which is one of the movies on the DVD I got in Moshi on Saturday. I’ve never seen the movie before. It was really good though especially because I had just read Mila 18 which is also about the Warsaw Jews in WWII. Unfortunately I didn’t watch it with subtitles so I will need to rewatch it sometime.

Monday and Tuesday Unity thought that some people might show up for an English lesson led by yours truly in the morning but it seems that no one is interested because no one showed up. Which is a bummer because I was really looking forward to getting to do that.

The last two days have been really rough running. Both days I just felt exhausted almost as soon as I started. I seem to have no energy at all. Tuesday I ran the long route, clock tower to west side, and did 100 lunges in 5 sets of 20. I’m going to feel that tomorrow. Ugh.

Monday around 10:30 I went with a bunch of the kids from the church into a church in town where Morris Johnson preached. He arrived nearly an hour late so for nearly two hours we sang songs which would have been alright but for the blunt fact that Africans have no idea about sound systems. They can set them up fine but they always seem to get an unbearable amount of static through the system. Their response seems to be to crank the volume up all the way. Then in order to further deafen the audience the speakers seem to be under the impression that the proper use of the microphone is to hold it very close to their mouths and yell/sing at the top of their lungs. It reminds me of that scene in the third Harry Potter book when Ron Weasley calls Harry on the telephone and is screaming into the phone. Well after a couple hours of that I had a headache. Luckily the kids where just as bored and they ran of into the lobby to play. Well someone needed to watch over them so I graciously went and played tag for two hours while Morris did some faith healings and caste out a few demons.

Tuesday I watched another one of the movies on the DVD. This one os called The Man Who Loved Women. Its about this eccentric Casanova kind of guy who sleeps with an amazing amount of women and his life. The dispription on the back calls it a romantic comedy but I think it’s a tragedy. This guy wants to be loved and he worships women but he never loves one of them. Despite his many affairs and mistresses he is always alone. He dies alone, never having loved. It reminds me of that bible verse, “If I speak in the tongues of mean and of angels, but have not loved love, I am only the resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysterious and all knowladfe, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Co 13:1-3)

A Day On Moshi Town

September 12^th: Saturday

Saturday I have the day of from any responsibilities because school is out and there usually isn’t any prayer or bible study in the afternoons. So this Saturday I decicded to have a day on the town. Try to find a western restraunt.

I got up shortly after 6 and started running by 6:30. I did the clock tower west side run which I figure is around 7 miles since it takes me a little over an hour. Great run. It was cooler in the morning and less crowded. I took a shower, did my devotions, ate breakfast, finished my blog and was out the door shortly after 9. I walked out past Moshi to a cloths market on the way to Arusha. I wondered around and marveled first at some of the quality of the cloths and all the American football jerseys. I guess here some people actually watch American football. Kinda crazy. I started hoofing it back and on the way I stopped at a graveyard that the road passes. Unlike any other place I have been in Moshi there was no one there. It was incredibly peaceful. White gravestones standing out against the green grass. Long rows of trimmed hedges and tall slightly mournful looking trees.

I walked into Moshi by a new route and explored the small market in town. Had fun haggling with a guy for a football jersey. He tried to sell it to me for 28,000. I told him it was robbery and said I’d pay 6000. he was affronted but dropped to 20,000. no way I told him. he told me that this nicer material was worth at least 20,000. but I refused so he dropped down to 16,000. the very bottom he said he could go. I said I would pay 8000for it. He asked my name. then he said, “for my friend Hacobo, 14000” as he stuffed it into a bag. I told him my last price was 10,000. he refused and I started walking away. He caved. I got it for 10,000, nearly 1/3 of the original opening price. Cool beans.

I ate a late lunch because I did an hour of email before I ate. I went to a restruaunt called Chez Deli. It was in the tourist part of town so I figured it would have some more western foods. The resturaunt is amazingly nice. I went upstairs and ate on the balcony. The menu is huge. It has everything from Chinese to Indian, continental, Pakistani, and Japanese dishes. I started with a strwberru milkshake and was subsequentally disappointed. Unfortunately like most milkshakes in Africa it consisted of cold strawberry flavored milk. No ice cream. Bummer. However I did find sushi on their menu. I ordered the snapper for an appetizer. Then I ordered prans (which look like shrimp to me) in pilipili sauce (spicy) and chow mien noodles with vegetables. The sushi was amazing. Not the best sushi I have ever had but definitely good after three months without any. The rest of the meal was pretty good although the prans weren’t spicy much. It was a little strange sitting with a bunch of mzungus. Generally I don’t see mzungus very often so it was a little strange to suddenly be sourounded by them.

After lunch I went to a nearby supermarket and bought an ace cream bar and ate it while I picked up a few things. I got a dvd with four movies on it. I also bought a sci-fi book from a street vendor. I was walking down the street when I heard a crash. I looked across the street and saw a matatu’s (15 seat buses used for transportation) sliding door had fallen off. One of the funniest things I ever say. Over all it was a really good day. The worst part though was I was alone had no one to share it with.

Confusion of The Metric System and More Tormenta En Paradisio

September 10^th-11^th: Thursday and Friday

Woke up Thursday after dreaming of brownies. Dreamt I was at a party with Josiah Bartlett and a table was laid out with platters and platters of brownies. Woke up with the worst cravings of my entire life. Is this what being pregnant is like? I suppose if I was pregnant I would have gone and thrown up.

Thursday and Friday at school were good. I have been helping the kids and teaching some. I don’t feel completely useless because there are three teachers and three classes so if a teacher is ever gone yours truly is promoted. After this week primary school has a two week break.

Friday I say Mt. Kilimanjaro for the first time since my first day. It’s incredibly beautiful. Went running on Thursday. Did my Mo-town loop which follows our neighborhood westward and then loops around and follows the southern most road of Moshi town before the tracks and loops back around east of us and I follow it down to njoro. Took me 43 minutes. I wasn’t happy with that time at all so I did it again Friday and knocked it down to 39 minutes. I figure it’s about a 5 mile, 8 kilometer route since I could do 4 miles in a half hour in Uganda. Say a sign when I was running.

Honeymoon Guest House

Self Contained Beds

Big Bed 6x6

Now I thought that’s pretty funny on its own. However, if you think about it this country uses the metric system. What does 6x6 mean? 6 meters by 6 meters? That’s 19.5x19.5 ft. that’s almost 400 square feet.

Thursday afternoon a bunch of us went to a church west of us and sang with some guys from over there. It was pretty fun. On the walk over I learned a bunch of new Swahili words. We finished around 8:30 so Unity came and gave us a ride and I got to ride in the back which was a lot of fun. You can see all the stars here.

Friday afternoon there was the first of several crusades here. It is based around a guy from the US, Morris Johnson. So at around 5 walked over to where it is being held at a dirt soccer field between here and Moshi town. Singing and dancing until Morris showed up. Then he gave a brief speech and then healed some people. After that I spent a fun Friday night sitting in my room listening to music, eating Pringles and losing more games of solitaire than is healthy for my self esteem. Stayed up really late, tell 10:00.

Some more favorite lines from Tormenta en Paradisio. “I am a free spirited man, the only women who could tame me is Mermaid, and she is gone forever.” “Its going to be a hard day, I’m going to go take a bath!”

In Which I Encoutner English Swear Words And Have A Confrontaion With A Bathroom Attendant

September 7th-9th: Monday-Wednesday

This week I did a lot more teaching in the school. Monday I taught the middle class some English words. Stick, leaf, stone, etc… on Wednesday then I was put in charge of the uppermost level class for pretty much the whole day. It’s really hard because I don’t speak Swahili and these kids don’t speak almost any English. I corrected their math assignment that they were assigned that morning and then taught them the English words for several fruits, apple, banana, strawberry. I thought I did ok but I had to break up a fight in class between this boy and girl. Put the boy in the corner by himself. I hope I can be these kids friend but also that they can respect me as an authority.

Tuesday afternoon I got the help of Gladness, Lightness, Winnie and Neema , who were all hanging around, to help teach me some Swahili. I just asked them some words and phrases. They would spend some time though arguing amongst themselves before they all agreed on what word it was that I actually wanted to know. It was really fun. Monday I walked for a couple of hours to track down that National Geographic magazine. It was definitely worth it. Talked to Unity about his plan to have me teach an English class. For conversational English. He says that it will be made mainly of secondary school (middle-school and high school) age kids and a bit older most likely. He thinks we should start next week so we have time to get the word out and also the kids have two weeks off school the next two weeks.

I have been running regularly here. I have a lot of extra time on my hands so I like to go out and just explore. Monday I ran about 4-5 miles and explored the tracks and the “suburbs” to the west. Tuesday I did almost the same thing but to the east towards Kili.
Wednesday I put the two routes together and did around 8 miles I think. It was really fun and a great run. A few experiences from running in Moshi Africa. Monday I ran past a guy riding his motorcycle who said, “Hello, how are you?”. He said it in this aggressive demanding fashion a lot of Africans seem to have when they talk to westerners. It was towards the end of my run and I was pooped so I failed to answer. As he passed me by he muttered “f—k you”. Glad to see the impact the west has made here. Tuesday I ran past three white girls in enjorro (the “suburb”/slum where I stay with Unity and his family). Double take. The first mzungus I have seen on foot in enjorro before. I’ve seen a few vehicles with what looked like teams of volunteers or something.

The food here is good although eating rice, beans, noodles, and meat sauce for every meal does begin to get a little boring. I live for the fresh fruit. Maybe the best watermelon I have ever had. The watermelon here is about the size of a cantaloupe in the US. And little “finger bananas” and fresh oranges. Tuesday I was wondering around Moshi Town and I stepped into the bus station to use their bathroom. I got out and this guy stopped me and demanded I pay for the use of the bathroom. 500 tsh. (Tanzania shillings). Well that struck me as a load of bs if I ever heard any. I asked him to show me some identification. A badge or booklet, anything. he didn’t answer. So then I asked him to see his boss. He grudgingly replied he didn’t have one. I asked him if he owned the bathroom. He said no. by this point a few of his countrymen had gathered. I told him I wouldn’t pay since he didn’t use the bathroom and he couldn’t shoe me any identification. He didn’t say anything and I walked away. Mzungu:1 Fake Bathroom Attendant Guy:0. whoohoo!

I have been diligently keeping up with Trouble in Paradise. My favorite line from this week is “Now we know that a criminal needs only a few seconds to commit a crime! I swear I’m going to kill that b------d when I find him!”

Sunday In Swahili

September 6th: Sunday

Weird day. I slept in a bit this morning. Had breakfast at 8 as usual then went with Grace (Unity’s Wife) to Sunday school for the children. At Ten we went into the larger room for the service. Started out with singing. Then Rev. Unity gave a sermon. After that we sung for at least an hour and a half. During the singing a lot of the women were crying and wailing. Some of the guys were yelling and beating their chests. Everyone prays out loud and some tend to yell. All of this was in Swahili. After the service went back and had lunch and then I layed down and listened to a John Piper sermon Dez left on my computer.

That afternoon at four we all piled in thee truck and went to another church service which best as I could understand as a group/community church service for the churches in Moshi. It was a really nice building and very large. Everything was again in Swahili but the guy who gave the sermon spoke in English and Unity translated. This little guy was very passionate. Honestly I think he talked a lot of fluff about now its time for Moshi (the town). I don’t know what he ment. He reminded me of one of my coaches from little guy football giving a pregame peptalk. He didn’t mention Christ or the Gospel at all. When he got really excited he would switch to Swahili and Unity would have to switch to English and then he’d calm down and switch back.

Bit of a rough day. Today seemed to simply compound gap, the barrier that the language and culture provide. Missed my church more today then ever before. I need prayer for this situation. I don’t feel at home or comfortable in the services and I’m not getting anything from the sermons or teachings. On a brighter note though most of the singing is repetitive so I can pick up on that and that has been a joy and a blessing.

In Which I Discover Signs Of Civilized Life and Have To Say Goddbye

September 4th-5th: Friday-Saturday

Friday I went and helped out at the school as usual in the morning. That morning the kids learned colors in English which was really hard. Some of the kids picked it up really quickly but some of them really struggled with it and I’m not sure they ever got it. Break time was a bit hard on Friday. Dave, another volunteer was gone so I had all the kids crawling on me. Also they kept getting into fights which is hard because I can’t understand why because they all speech Swahili.

Saturday there is no school. However Amen and Gloria are going back to school today. They go to a Christian boarding school about a half hour drive from their house outside of Moshi. That afternoon I came along with the rest of the family as we dropped them off and got them registered. They realized they had forgotten toilet paper so Unity and I went back and had to buy some at a little supermarket by the road. While we were there I saw a National Geographic. September 09. I didn’t have enough money to get on me but I’ll track one down somehow. Now that I know they are in country. I only brought two books with me to Tanzania and I have been reading a lot more here sop I have finished one and am about half way through the other. I’m going to need some reading material very soon.

That night at dinner and that evening was a lot different with Amen and Gloria gone. I am really going to miss those guys.

I almost forgot. Saturday morning I went to the internet café and on the way I was offered pot. I think. This guy passed me in the street and he says “Hey brother, want to smoke some (I have no idea what he said but it sounded like) maushi?” I smiled and shook my head and he yelled after me, “Come on man you got to smoke something! you can’t just smoke s—t!” potheads are all the same all over the world.

Of My Life in Tanzania and I Am Reminded What a Horrible Singer I Am

September 1st-3rd: Tuesday- Thursday

My days here have taken on a certain pattern. I generally wake up between 6:00 and 6:30. I do my devotions in the morning and try to keep up on my blog and listen to music. I have breakfast generally with Unity and Amen and Gloria. Breakfast is peanut butter, jam, and blue band (butter) sandwiches and African tea. Also sausages, fruit, fried bananas or g-nuts depending on the day. Then I go to the school which is in the same building as the church. I help Gladness or Ella two of the teachers there. I can count to ten so I can help the kids with math and then at break time (recess) I become the jungle gym for all the little guys. The kids seem to be between ages 4 and 6. After that I have lunch at the house (left overs from, dinner) and then in the afternoon I am free to walk around hang out with whoever is around or go to town to get on the internet. In the late afternoons 4 or 5 there is generally singing at the church or bible study or prayer or something. Dinner is generally rice or noodles with a meat sauce. There are chapattis (sort of like tortillas fried in oil), g-nuts, salad (more like steamed vegetables), chips (French fries), or fruit depending on the meal. In the evening we pray and then watch a really cheesy Spanish soap opera called Terrible in Paradisio (Trouble in Paradise) and you need a degree just to follow what’s going on. I generally go to bed early because I can’t keep a straight face very long. My favorite line so far is “I won’t let those women mess with me in the bathroom!”

Unity’s family consists of his wife Grace, his daughter Winnie who is my age I think, Amen and Gloria. Amen and Gloria are going back to school (boarding school) on Saturday. Then there are several others staying with them. Gladness is a teacher at school and I think she’s around 20. Lightly just graduated from secondary school (middle school and high school combined basically) and is also 20ish and is waiting to go to university. Then there is Mbeni (sp?) who is 18 and in secondary school and Patrick who is a bit older but also in secondary school. Then there are a bunch of other kids and young adults who hang around during the day.

All the Africans here are really good singers. I mean they all can just belt it out. I just sing very softly and hope I don’t mess anyone up. Most of the songs are in Swahili but luckily they are pretty much all repeating one line with one lead singer changing and everyone else staying the same. When we pray in a group everyone prays out loud. It still takes me a minute to start just because it’s so strange to me but I really like it. Maybe I wouldn’t like it as much if everyone was speaking English and I could understand what they were saying.

Mostly I love being here. Living with an African family is opening me to a whole different view of Africa then staying on the mission compound. I do hope though that God will provide me with more ways to help. Unity I think is really making sure I take it slow and get comfortable and settled before I do too much but I hope there is more for me to do than just “help” at the school which isn’t really helping at all.

Tanzania: Arriving and Stuff

August 31st: Monday

What a day. Today I left Uganda and Traveled to Tanzania. For those who don’t know I am staying with an African family in Tanzania for about 8 weeks. My Dad will come in the first week of October and we will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro together. I am staying in Moshi a city very near Kili and the Kenyan border.

The Eldeens took me to the airport at 10:00 where I said goodbye. Then I went through security. Africans have an amazing ability to look completely bored and uniterested with what they are doing. They sort of give the impression that what they are doing is far beneath them and they are doing you a favor by not falling asleep out of pure boredom. I had a couple of hours to kill at the airport because my flight didn’t leave tell noon. Walked around some gift shops and then had a beer. It may be my last beer for a while if Unity’s (Rev. Unity Msame) family doesn’t drink.

Bordered my flight. We flew across lake Victoria and touched down on the other side briefly were we changed some passengers and then continued on to Kili. Amazingly beautiful country. Landed in Tanzania shortly before 3:00 didn’t take me long to get through security and I got a three month visa no problem.

Rev. Unity and two of his kids Amen his son (I think he’s about 12 or 13) and Gloria his daughter (9, 10?). it was anout a 40 minute drive to Moshi so we were able to talk the whole way there which was really nice. I’m glad I didn’t even change time zones when I flew. Moshi is a pretty big city. Bigger than Mbale but smaller than Kampala I think. At least that’s my impression. Unity says they get a lot of climbers here for Kili so it has many hotels and its somewhat touristy. The part of town where Unity and his family live is called Enjorro and is south of the main center of town. Its about a 15-20 minute walk from town. His neighborhood is dirt roads but pretty nice buildings. Its dirty but not a slum at all. Unity says its very safe to walk around during the day.

On the way there I say Kilimanjaro. It rose above the clouds encircling its base. Peaked in snow it towered above everything. It is truly vast. It took my breath away and I thought “I’m going to try to climb that.” Talking about it was one thing. Looking at pictures and maps and reading about hits height but to see it there. It draws me. I can’t wait to take a stab at climbing it.

I have own room at Unity’s house and I moved all my stuff in that afternoon. Africans generally have dinner really late. Between 8 and 9. Unity sensitive to me had dinner with me shortly after 6. that night before everyone else ate we gathered together and prayed. Unity’s family does this every night. Everyone gets together and someone shares something from the bible then everyone sings a song and then prays. Everyone prays at once out loud. It is rather strange to me but it saves time and its kinda cool.

In Which I Experience Time Travel And Eat Ice Cream

in Which I August 28th-30th: Friday-Sunday

Bob Wright has strained his back recently. So keep him in your prayers and me too. Now that Bob shouldn’t lift anything heavy I have had to carry around the mig welder which weighs something like 80 pounds or something equally insane. More than half my weight actually. Friday and Saturday we extended the roof over the workshop which means hauling up the welder so Bob can weld all the support beams in place. It actually hasn’t been that bad I am just complaining.

Saturday afternoon I the Tricaricos got back from their family holiday in Jinja and they brought me two packages that had arrived for me. One from my Family contained some candy and a few miscellaneous things I had forgotten. The other was completely unexpected and came from my cousin, Carrie Jean and her husband Mark. It contained more candy and some flavor packets and two key chain-nerf guns with a dart refill pack with glow in the dark darts. It’s better than Christmas. So thank you guys for thinking of me.

That afternoon and evening I packed. Deciding what I needed to take and what could be left in Karamoja; Jim promised to keep the stuff I’m leaving. Jimbo came out with James to keep me company which was really nice because packing to leave was getting me down quite a bit. I finally finished packing everything at about 9:00 that night after taking a break for dinner. It’s amazing how much stuff it seems like I have when you put it all together but it still is about two big suitcases and a backpack.

Sunday Craig, Kris and I left right after church in order to get to Entebbe before nightfall. Church that morning was really cool because a whole bunch of people showed up. A lot of people from the clinic came which really encouraged me because they as a group hadn’t come in a few weeks. The church was packed and overflowing. A great way to leave.

The drive down to Entebbe takes about 8 hours. We left before noon and arrived shortly before dark so about 7:30. Driving down is kind off like time traveling. You begin in Karamoja a land of bows and arrows and were pants aren’t a necessity and you travel to Mbale were you can see people dressed in western clothing and driving cars. Then on to Jinja where you see some factories and a tourist trade and finally you reach Kampala of skyscrapers and fancy hotels. Or you can see the evolution of the road. From a nasty dirt road full of pot holes then into a really bad paved road still with bad potholes. Shortly after Jinja lines on the road make their first appearance. Then before Jinja the road makes the evolutionary jump to a two lane highway. Finally in Entebbe you see three lane highway and roads. Throughout the entire evolution of the road though the bad driver has remained the same. Oh he may have changed from a beat up jeep to a shiny new sports car but he still has no idea what he’s doing and he’ll cut you off anytime he feels like it. Jerks resist the evolutionary drive.

That evening the Eldeens and I ate dinner at a Chinese Resturaunt. I had sweet and sour chicken with fried noodles and vegetables and eggrolls. It was really good. We stayed at Entebbe flight which is about a 5 minute drive from the airport. I crossed the street after dinner and went to the pearl supermarket and picked up a few things I needed. Razor, fingernail clippers, ice cream. The essentials. That evening I watched international football (soccer) tell very late.

I Eat Indian Food Twice And Am Attacked By Shoe Ladies

August 26th-27th: Wednesday-Thursday

Jinja is one cool town. Located at the edge of Lake Victoria it boasts the source of the Nile and Nile beer. I think its sort of a center for commerce and trading. A much bigger town than Mbale but smaller than Entebbe. Here in eastern Uganda all the towns seem to get smaller and smaller the farther you go north.

Jim and I got up really early to drive into Jinja and get an early start so we could spend every available minute shopping. Before we entered Jinja the road makes the transformation from single lane highway to a shiny new two lane highway. Wow. Pretty fancy. Jinja is divided in two by the river; I think it’s the Nile, or at least the source river for the Nile, whatever. We are staying at the Kingfisher for the night and boy is it nice. I mean. No dirt floors. Very, very clean. A pool. Everything is repaired and looks nice. I feel a bit out of place actually. I mean in America this would be a middle of the road kind of joint but to me it seems kinda like a palace or something. The Kingfisher Safaris Resort overlooks Lake Victoria (ooh fun fact: Lake Victoria is the second biggest fresh water lake second only to Lake Superior, guess that’s why it’s superior. Please pardon the bad joke.) And is about a ten minute drive from the center of town.

Jimbo and I spent the morning in the Jinja market which is like all the markets you see in movies and stuff. Booths piled high with everything from fish heads, mangos, cloths, shoes, and pretty much everything else. We spent the morning haggling for cloths which was actually pretty fun if you overlook my encounter with the shoe ladies. I bought some jeans, a few shorts, and a shirt for Tanz. All I needed were some shoes since all the shoes I own I am either saving for kili or are more dirt than cloths and rubber and are holier than the Virgin Mary which if your protestant isn’t saying much but they do have more holes than a pound of Swiss cheese and their odor resembles month old cheese left in the sun.

So I needed shoes. Jim and I found the shoes section of the illustrious Jinja Market. A dark shadowy looking corridor between towering piles of shoes. We entered and immediately felt the lurking of evil. Dark figures (I’m not trying to be racist but it was kinda dark and even a Swede would have looked dark) hovered in the shadows watching, waiting. I glanced at some shoes on sail. The owner of the booth pounce moving as swiftly as a drink down an Irishman’s throat (ok that was racist). Scary shoe lady: “you like these?” she says holding a sparkling clean white soccer shoe. Incidentally the only shoes for sale are black dress shoes generally of the ugly Latino style and bright white soccer shoes. Either way you lose. Either color is going to show all the dirt and grim that you step in that day. It’s a catch twenty-two. “You want to buy? You want to try on?” Me: “uh…” Scary shoe lady: “try them on” she cackles as she yanks of my shoes and forces me to try on a sneaker at least four sizes too big using a plastic bag as a sock and making me stand on a piece of cardboard so as not to dirty the bottom of the shoe. The other shoe ladies sensing prey swept in and forced me to try on more shoes than I can count all the wrong sizes and kinds. Jim and I broke our way free gasping for breath and fled into the underwear section. I rally my final reserves as courage turn towards the shoe section. It’s not enough. I rally my final reserves of stupidity and once again enter the abysmal corridor of death.

I try to ignore the shoe ladies who like sharks sensing blood in the water tail me. They can sense fear. They try to drag me of to their own booths and shoe me shoes that neither fit me nor want. The air is full of their war cries “you take these!” “Try these on!” “What size are you?” “Are you going to buy?” A truly harrowing experience. Finally I bought a pair of very white and cheap shoes (I’m not kidding they weigh about two ounces each and the shoe laces feel like those packing peanuts and if I pull on them I think they’ll just snap) from the man at the end of the aisle.

The rest of the day after a very yummy lunch at an incredibly America-like coffee shop and restaurant called Flavors Jim and I wondered around the more touristy part of Jinja and bought Christmas gifts for his family. Ooh, I also had a strawberry milkshake at Flavors which was cold and made from real ice cream. Which is surprising because usually “milkshakes” in Uganda is warm flavored milk, or at least I’m told.

That evening we swam in the very clean pool at the Kingfisher and ate dinner at a restaurant called Two Friends. Very nice food. Really nice bathroom. You could flush the toilet paper! The next morning we woke early and watched the sun rise over Lake Victoria. Beyond words. Then we took a boat ride to see the source of the Nile and see the local wildlife. In case your wondering how we saw the source of the Nile our guide stopped the boat at about the point wear the river leaves Lake Victoria and said “here it is”. I guess there used to be falls and stuff before they built the damn downriver. Must have been a little more exciting back then.

We picked Jenny up from the Tricaricos and then headed up to Mbale for lunch. More Indian food. Yeah. The best Indian food I have ever had. Some pumpkin thing and then this amazing yellow dal with dumplings and yellow rice. Wow. That night after we got back to Karamoja we ate at the Eldeens house. Good trip.

On the Road to Jinja

August 24th-25th

Monday there was a mission meeting so all the missionaries from Mbale drove up in the morning and Craig and Bob went to attend. Before they left they sent Tom and a couple of other boys to go get some stones for cement. Moses, Iriama Paul, Lokwii Bon and I dug holes for posts outside the workshop for poles to help support the extended roof. We had to dig three feet down and two ft. by two ft. I dug two holes before the three Africans had finished their one. After the mission meeting ended that afternoon I cut some wire mesh for some partitions at the clinic and then painted the finished pieces.

That afternoon Jim and I went on a really fun run. Then after dinner we watched Bella. Man what a great movie. I love it because of the themes of grief, and regret but also of hope and redemption. It is a very sad movie but it has hope too. Also the soundtrack is great.

Tuesday I worked until 3:00 with a break for lunch and then went and changed and packed for Jim and my trip to Jinja to pick up Jenny. Jenny is a nurse who is coming for about a year. She is fresh out of medical school and she is staying in the Eldeens house while they are in America so she needs to get up here so Craig and Kris can show her around. The Tricarico’s are taking her as far as Jinja and then they are going to have a family vacation there. Jim and I are going down to pick her up and also pick me up a few nicer cloths for Tanzania.

Jim and I left Karamoja around 4:30. The drive was very nice. We followed a rain storm all the way into Mbale so there wasn’t any dust although the roads were a bit slick but only in one or two spots. Jim and I talked all the way down. Pretty much constantly for about two and some hours. Sharing our feelings. Very manly. In the ditches in the side of the road there was water running. It’s amazing how fast water here disappears. It can be gone in hours after an incredibly heavy rain.

For dinner that night we ate at the landmark with Andrew and Derek who administrates the children’s’ hospital, Cure. He also brought two medical students who had been he helping him. Excellent meal. Very nice. Derek is a really cool guy and he reminds me of a PE teacher I had in high school. Tall, lanky, and a really laid back personality.

After dinner we went back to Andrew’s house to crash and I had a hot bath for the first time in heavens knows how long. Absolutely an amazing experience. Almost religious. I found a couple dead cockroaches floating in the water. Presumably living in the drain. Lovely.

I Love Bollywood

August 22nd-23rd: Saturday-Sunday

Wow. The Wrights had Jim and me over to Saturday and Sunday night to watch the Bollywood movie Krrish. It was amazing. An epic combining the movies The Matrix, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, E.T., Sound of Music, Batman, and The West Side Story and a host of other movies. Possibly the best and worst movie I have ever seen. I recommend it to anyone with three hours to kill and an open mind. Don’t take it seriously because you may injure yourself. Instead just enjoy it for the jewel that it is.

Sunday afternoon was really fun. After bibles study and prayers Jim and I walked over behind the clinic and visited J.B. it was really fun. We sat and chatted with him and his two sisters and his wife. Their kids were really shy but were funny. J.B. said some encouraging things. There have been some meetings and bad talk about the clinic headed by two brothers. That Sunday morning there was a meeting to complain about the mission and JB went and he spoke up in our defense and even when we visited him he was still very upset. JB pretty much always has a smile on his face and he is always joking but when we first got there he was really down. J.B.’s wife whose name is Joyce made Jim and I some roast corn which is just corn cooked just over the fire until slightly burnt and it’s delicious. It was really fun to talk and hang out and I hope I can do this more often.