Category: Other Page 88 of 180

except the Traffic

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On December 22, 2012

In Other

I recently saw this t-shirt:

Oh yes.  That is my life as a resident of Dar, but even more so as an adoptive mama. 

A bit of relief has been felt in this household in the past few weeks, as we have acquired two new passports:

If you could only understand what goes into procuring these precious little books of paper.  Bringing home Lily’s Tanzanian passport turned into a much bigger undertaking than expected, or necessary.  But such is life.

Last week I realized that in order to track down this passport, I would need to go to the immigration headquarters building in downtown Dar es Salaam.  I had only been there once, and my perception of it was that it was far, far away.  Never never land.  Like, the kind of errand that would take me the better part of an entire day to complete.  Needless to say, I was not looking forward to it.

I also did not remember how to get there.  Gil told me to look it up on Google Maps.

“You can do that here?” I said.  I was incredulous.  I didn’t believe him.  But he was right.

I didn’t know a lot of those streets even had names.  But my main shock in seeing these directions is that it told me that it is only 25 kilometers (15 miles) from our house to Kurasini.

15 miles?  15 miles!  Like, if I was in America, I could jump on the freeway and be there in 20 minutes?  Like I said, my perception was that this place was in Never Never Land.

My second shock came from Google Map’s estimation of how long it would take to get there:  34 minutes.

At this, I had myself a good long laugh.  Obviously, that little satellite up there, looking down on good ol’ Dar es Salaam, has no idea that 5 million people live in this city.  5 million people on roads that could handle about 250,000, give or take a few.

34 minutes.  Ha ha HA.

So when I left for the trip, I set my clock.  90 minutes later, I arrived.  90 minutes for 15 miles.  No wonder I thought it was so far away.  And it took at least that long to get back home.

But at least, we are now a 7-passport family. Can’t wait until we are an 8-passport family, when Lily has her U.S. passport.  The day that I am done acquiring passports will be a Day of Celebration.  You will be invited.  But it will take you at least two hours to get to our house from the airport.  (Google Maps:  17 miles, 46 minutes) 

English Lesson

By

On December 12, 2012

In Other

I remember the first time I heard the term gobsmacked.  I was in a HOPAC staff meeting a number of years ago, with a British principal, and when he said it, all the Americans just stared at him.  What did you say? 

 

It’s rather amusing, working in an enviroment with Brits and Scots and Irish.  We all speak English, but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.  The Revolutionary War did more than just make two separate countries; it also created two separate vocabularies.  And even in a school environment, sometimes we have difficulty communicating. Until you get used to it, there are a lot of blank stares.

 

Some examples:

Invigilate = proctor

Rubber = eraser

Full stop = period

Penultimate week = week before the last

Fortnight = two weeks

Squared paper = graph paper

Mark exams = grade tests

Dust bin = trash can

Maths = math

File = binder

 

And so on.

 

Then there’s food:

Aubergine = eggplant

Biscuit = cookie

Sweets = candy

Pudding = dessert

Crisps = chips

Chips = French Fries (which they also like to stick between two pieces of bread with mayo and call a sandwich)

 

I could go on. There’s more….oh, there’s so much more.

 

This leads to some rather hilarious conversations.  For example, last week I was with some friends and we were discussing how the British say bum pack when the Americans would say fanny pack. The reason for this is because the British find the word fanny to be extraordinarily crude. (Very sorry to the Brits reading this post and forced to see this word in print.)  The laughter that ensued from this conversation (which included both Americans and Brits) was jolly, indeed.

 

Another example:

 

When Americans hear the word pantomime, they think of this:

 

 

 

 

But when Brits hear the word pantomime, they think of this:

 

 

 

A British pantomime is always a humorous twist on a fairy tale, the lead characters are always played by the opposite gender, and it is always performed at Christmastime.  There is most definitely talking (and singing) involved, and the audience always participates by booing and hissing and cheering at appropriate times. It is a important British tradition and the local theatre in Dar always puts on one, every December. 

 

And yes, that is Doug B., for those of you who know him. 

 

Since our friends were directing/starring in the pantomime this year, Gil got to be the photographer. 

 

 So just remember:  If a British child asks you for a rubber, you needn’t be gobsmacked, he just wants an eraser. 

 

Grade 1, Term 1

By

On December 9, 2012

In Other

She has: 

A teacher she adores, someone dedicated enough to leave country and family to move halfway around the world and teach her.

 

Friends from literally all over the world, a multitude of cultures, backgrounds, and religions. 

 

So many opportunities to practice loving and leading.

 

Lots of wiggly teeth.

 

 

 

First grade assembly, Term 1, doing their Ultra Super Cool Creation Rap.

 

Josiah Makes Sure I Don’t Take Life Too Seriously

By

On December 6, 2012

In Other

 

Incalculable Joy

By

On December 3, 2012

In Other

By surrendering yourself totally to God’s purposes, He will bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next.  Francis Chan

I just turned 36 on Saturday.  It was a crazy busy sort of day; it was the Christmas Fair at HOPAC and I was in charge of the carnival games.  So I was sorting through the supplies and points and tickets and schedules and coordinating teenagers to run the games and the couple hundred hyper kids who wanted to play them.  I was so pre-occupied that I was startled any time anyone wished me a Happy Birthday. 

That night we were to go out to my favorite Lebanese restaurant, and then found out that the traffic was horrific on Saturday (like 1-mile-per-hour kind of horrific, which happens every now and then in Dar).  So I made my own birthday dinner.  Dar es Salaam wins again.  I would have been more upset if I wasn’t already used to this kind of thing happening so often. 

Yet as I lay in bed that Saturday morning, thinking of all that was ahead of me, I couldn’t help but think that I am one of the most blessed people on this earth. 

It’s not an easy life.  Constant heat and power outages and crazy, crazy roads and inconveniences.  Thursday I spent 5 hours searching stores for basic items for the Christmas Fair that could have been solved in one simple trip to Walmart.  Spending Thanksgiving and Christmas away from our families….again.  Recently there have been anxious situations going on at HOPAC that have kept me up at night. 

There have been many days these last ten years when I have been so ready to be done.  Days when I have cried with homesickness or frustration.  Times when the criticism we have received has been intense.  Times of conflict and exhaustion and guilt. 

So why is it, that when I think back on all that has happened these last 10 years, I just feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude and joy? 

Maybe because I live in a place where so many have so little.

Maybe because there’s nothing compared to living a life with meaning.

Maybe because the pain and tears and death and beauty and music in this life all make sense with Jesus Christ.  Maybe because the hope of heaven is stronger than anything this life can throw at me.

There is an incalculable, faultless, eternal God who loves the frail beings He made with a crazy kind of love.  Francis Chan

It’s worth it. 

It’s worth it.

It’s worth it.

Risking it all, living a life that is not always safe, giving up what I was going to lose anyway….

It is all worth it.

Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.  Tim Kizziar

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