Mario Party

On Friday, Josiah turned 7, and we celebrated with a Super Mario Brothers birthday party.

The Birthday Boy

The Cake

FriendsGames

Gifts

Happy Birthday, sweet Josiah! We love you so much!

"Summer" Holiday Recap

Last Monday, Josiah and Anna started back to school after 5 weeks of "summer" holiday. However, since it's technically cool season in Tanzania at the moment, I should probably call it "winter" holiday.

Josiah started Standard 2, and Anna entered the Reception class. So far, the kids are really enjoying their classes, and we're all happy to be back in some sort of routine. (Yes, we are one of those families who thrive on routine.)

Having a few weeks of unstructured life was nice, though. Here's a brief recap of our "summer" activities.

Everyone's favorite activity was traveling to Kenya for our organization's annual conference. Each year, members of our branch gather together from our locations around Tanzania and Uganda for spiritual refreshment, fellowship, relaxation, and business meetings.


The conference theme this year was "Following Faithfully." The conference speaker, a former missionary in Tanzania, spoke to us out of the book of Mark, and both Paul and I appreciated the opportunity to sit under great teaching again.

Paul was asked to coordinate and lead the conference worship this year too, which was a lot of fun.

The kids loved getting to reconnect with friends, and spent LOTS of time swimming, even though it was cooler and rainier this year than last.

Anna had a blast playing in the sand nearly every day with her friend, Abigail.

The kids' program was also a huge highlight for our kids. Anna cried the day after conference ended because she couldn't go to her VBS class. Apparently, she had a good time.

Once we returned home to Tanzania, the last few weeks of the break weren't quite as exciting. But we had several fun play dates, did lots of coloring, and Josiah learned to ride his bike without training wheels. OK, that was pretty exciting!

It was a great "summer"!

Water Problem

Last week (the day we had a group of ladies from the States arriving to visit us...of course), we noticed that the water pressure in our house was quite low. We also remembered that we hadn't heard our water pump run for several days either.

Our water pump brings water indoors from the town water supply or from our large underground tank when the water from town is off (which it was that day). So, we called the maintenance men from MAF and asked them to come take a look.

Unfortunately, this is what they found in our underground tank:
The roots from a tree on our compound had grown into the tank, clogging our pipes and causing our water pump to malfunction. Unfortunately, it was late in the day when the maintenance guys came to check out the problem, so there was nothing they could do until the next day.

We had hardly any water in our indoor tank at that point, which meant that we wouldn't be able to flush our toilets, have much water flowing from our sinks, and showers were definitely out of the question.

Thankfully, our visitors were very understanding of our water problem and got to experience the joys of flushing toilets with buckets of water collected from our neighbor's house. Oh, and the power was off when they arrived too. :)

I'm happy to report that the men did come back the next day to remove that huge pile of roots from the tank, and the water was flowing again by lunchtime the next day.

Growing an International Vocabulary

One of the benefits of living and working among a community of international expatriates is the effect it has on your vocabulary.

Before I came to Africa, I had a mostly American English vocabulary. Yes, I understood that people in other English-speaking countries used different words than I did to describe certain things, but my working knowledge of those words and phrases was limited.

That's not the case anymore. I've lived among English-speakers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and others for long enough now that my international English vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. I even find myself interchanging my Americanisms for the way others might say it when I'm in an international group.

See how my vocabulary has grown:

• You don't wear pants, they're trousers. Pants are underwear.
• You don't have fries with your hamburger, you have chips. Potato chips are crisps.

• That red, tangy condiment you put on a hamburger is tomato sauce, not ketchup.
• You don't put jelly on bread, it's jam. Jelly is gelatin. (Side note: I've discovered that many of my non-American friends think that peanut butter and jell-uh, I mean, jam together is gross.)
• You don't push your baby in a stroller, you push him in a pram.
• You don't trim your bangs. You trim your fringe.
• You don't put food from the market in the trunk. It goes in the boot.
• You don't look under the hood of your sedan. You look under the bonnet of your saloon car.
• Living here in the land of huge thorns and horrible dirt roads, we've had more flat tires - I mean - punctures than I'd care to mention.
• You don't mail a package, you post a parcel.
• You don't give a kid a cookie. Give that kid a biscuit.

• You don't use an eraser to erase a mistake , you rub it out with a rubber. (Um...yes, we'll have to have a gentle conversation with our kids about this one before they enter the American school system again.)
• You don't love your mom. You love your mum.
• When a child get's his first bicycle, it comes with stabilizers not training wheels.
• You don't hang out your laundry with clothes pins. You hang out the washing with pegs.
• When you need to wipe your face during a meal, you use a serviette not a napkin.
• You change a nappy, not a diaper.
• The baby sleeps in a cot, not a crib.
• If you're making Mexican food, add some coriander to your salsa, not cilantro.
• You don't let your dog out into the back yard, he buries his bones in your back garden.
• You don't go on vacation, you go on holiday. (I think this one might stay permanently in our family's vocabulary. It just sounds more fun and luxurious to go on holiday than vacation.)

• If you're exercising, you put on your trainers, not your tennis shoes.
• Garbage doesn't go in the trash can, rubbish goes in the dust bin.
• You don't watch a movie, you watch a film.
• If your friends invite you over for tea in an international community, you'd better make sure you understand what they mean. They might only be serving you a cup of tea and a biscuit, or they might be expecting you for dinner/supper.
• And after tea, it's always polite to ask your host to help with the dishes - I mean - washing up.
• You don't take a turn kicking the soccer ball, you have a go kicking the football.
• If you're cold you put on a jumper, not a sweatshirt.
• If you head over to the pool, don't forget your swimming costume.
• If you're taking a hike, you need a rucksack, not a backpack.
• Kids don't learn to go to the bathroom to pee, they go to the toilet to wee.

• And, finally, one of my all-time favorite new vocabulary words: During that hour before the evening meal when your kids are frustrating and unmanageable, they don't whine, they whinge. I love that! I just sounds appropriate.

So, there you are, mates. Aren't you proud of how my vocabulary has grown?

The Daily Obstacle Course

Lately, my daily drives to and from town to take Anna to school seem like a bit of an obstacle course.

Why? Well, because of these, mostly...

Rainy season has basically come and gone now, leaving potholes big and small in most of the paved roads. (I won't even mention what the rains have done to the dirt roads.) Because of this, even on my short 10-minute drive, I feel like I always have to be "on my game" to avoid slamming into potholes. And hitting a few is simply inevitable, especially on the road through our neighborhood (above).

I will never complain about Missouri roads again.

Curves

Can I just say that I love living in a culture where manikins shaped like this are the norm, where hangers curve out to make wide hips, where curves are desired and appreciated?

Not sure I'd ever buy this hideous specimen, however.

Begging for Broccoli

A couple of weeks ago, I witnessed something amazing.

We were in a supermarket in Dar es Salaam stocking up on a few items that we can't get in Dodoma. As we strolled casually through the refrigerated section, my kids started jumping up and down and clapping their hands.

"Oh, Mom!! Please, can we get this? I miss this sooooo much. Please!!!!"

No. They weren't begging for a sweet treat like ice cream or flavored yogurt. They were begging for broccoli (of all things).

Broccoli is one of the items we can't purchase in Dodoma. (As a broccoli hater, you won't hear me complaining.) We can get lots of other fresh vegetables, though - tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, green beans, and lettuce (sometimes). But broccoli is (dare I say it) a treat.

Well, what kind of mother would say no to kids who are begging for a healthy, nutrient-packed vegetable? This mom didn't. We bought them a package and made their day.

Back home in Dodoma, we steamed up that begged-for broccoli and melted some cheese on top (the only way I can choke the stuff down).

They loved every bite.

Who knew a kid could miss a vegetable?