Amy Medina

Those of you from Santa Clarita know what I’m talking about. Wouldn’t you miss Stonefire too? So I had leftover barbequed beef, and I attempted to remember all of the other ingredients…beans, corn, cilantro…. The only thing I didn’t have were the tortilla chips, which I can’t get here.

So this was my attempt at Stonefire’s BBQ Chopped Salad. I even made breadsticks on the side.

So on Thursday our new car had a tire blow out (happens constantly here). Thankfully it happened just before I got home. We then realized that we were missing the “spinner” to take off the bolts.

So on Saturday I used our old Suzuki (which is now finally running again well enough to sell after investing a heck of a lot of money to completely overhall the engine) to go try and find a spinner that would fit the bolts on our new car.

I first tried a little auto parts shop (more like a shack) and they didn’t have one. So then I went to a little place next to the gas station which has fixed punctures (“punchas” in Swahili) in our tires enough times that they recognize us.

Auto parts are not in my Swahili vocabulary, so this was interesting. But the guy knew what I was talking about and ran off to find me one. When he brought it to me, I asked him if I could bring it back and exchange it if it wasn’t the right size.

He didn’t like that idea. So he thought a moment and suggested that instead he come with me to my house, and I check to see if it was the right size. I thought a moment and decided that would be better than spending $15 on a tool that we couldn’t use.

So he hopped in my car; we drove to the house and discovered that it was indeed the right size, and then I drove him back to the gas station.

Can you imagine that happening at your local Auto Parts store???

If you keep up with the news, you know that our own U.S. President is touring African countries right now. And at this very moment, he is on Tanzanian soil. Oh my goodness. The excitement, the excitement. He’s here for four whole days. Apparently that is a long time.

They re-paved the road in front of the American embassy. Rumor has it that all of the new lines they painted on the roads are also in his honor. (Do you think he’ll notice?)

This morning at church we talked to a friend who works for the U.S. government. He said that Our President’s envoy is taking up the entirety of the three nicest hotels in Dar es Salaam. That’s hundreds of rooms. Apparently in addition to Air Force One, they also flew in ten (ten!) gigantic cargo planes that brought in helicopters and bullet-proof cars and who knows what else. Them’s your tax dollars at work, folks!

Sadly, we won’t be seeing him. But a few of our students whose parents work for the U.S. government will even get to meet him. Whew! Pretty exciting…..