Bwana Asifiwe! (Sun 6/21)

It was cold last night. The single blanket I had did not suffice and I woke up a couple of times shivering. It’s been cold in my room before and my blanket did more than enough to keep me warm those times! I believe it got extra cold in my room last night because of the tapestry I moved back covering a window to hang up my clothes. I’ve never hung clothes in that spot before so I’m thinking it must keep in the heat or block a breeze or something of that nature! 

Nevertheless, Paul woke me up as usual, but for breakfast and tea time. He’s never served breakfast as the three women at the kitchen always do. I think it’s because he felt bad that I didn’t get dinner last night. He woke me up early so I could keep him company while he cooked, but since I didn't get the best sleep I asked for just five more minutes in bed. Of course, five minutes never is truly five minutes and I fell asleep for another thirty or so…  When I realized I had fallen back asleep for a while, I jumped out of bed and into the room where he was cooking. I felt bad and Paul made sure to tell me that I was late! 

For breakfast we ate naked spaghetti noodles with tea. The tea was different from the other teas I’ve drank here as this one was made from what appeared to be a random grass that was recently cut from outside and brewed. It had a lot of sugar which paired well with the sweet taste of the grass. I’ve never had spaghetti for breakfast but I’m always up for new things!

Following breakfast, I needed to boil myself water, but since the kettle was used for tea, I had to use the propane stone. This meant another bucket bath with very little hot water to spare! I could boil another small pot to give myself more wiggle room while bathing, but that takes a good 15 minutes that I didn’t have (it was already pretty late into the morning). I get about three full cups of water before I’m scraping the bottom of the bucket which turns out to be just enough: one to get wet and soap up and two to get the soap off! I’m not sure of the exact measurements of the cup, but it seems like 3/4s of a standard 16.9 oz water bottle!

After the bucket bath I got all ready for church and was informed that I would be going to Eli’s house to go to church. I’m not sure why Paul wasn’t going and didn’t ask as it can seem rude to question things. I always find it funny when Paul says Eli’s name as “Eli” is difficult to say for most people here, therefore it turns into “Elok” most times; it’s like a caveman name!

I’ve never been to Eli’s house so I needed an escort from Paul to get me there. It wasn’t too far away from our house and had a great view of pine tree forest. I was welcomed by Luka’s wife and I went inside when Paul left. I went into Eli’s room and hung out with him over a second breakfast of rice, bread, and tea (no disrespect to Paul but the tea here was amazing). Here I learned that Luka was going to a funeral along with most other hosts. This meant that Eli and I were walking to church by ourselves. It was us against the world! Eli finished getting ready and we were off on our way to the church.

Once we arrived, we were directed to the front to sit and began the usual Sunday routine of events: we worship for an hour and a half (get to dance at the front and get our ear drums blown out) along with tithing followed by lots of prayer, a sermon, and testimonials. The dancing was a blast as always and Eli got to experience it fully for the first time! We’re often placed near the speaker which is blasting as loud as possible. There’s nothing wrong with praising the Lord with everything we’ve got, in fact I enjoy it quite a lot, but I also love having my ears not ring for the rest of the day! 

We went up several times to dance as Moses invited us with each opportunity! At one point, Eli was picked out by one of the women dancing and was brought to the front to dance; the look on his face was hilarious. Moses even had a song of his own and man can that kid sing! His energy was amazing and it was so much fun to dance to his song! Eli and I were pretty sweaty when all things were said and done when the sermon started. 

To explain everything a little more, I’ll break down how a couple of things work. I’ve already explained the worship a lot, but besides the dancing and very passionate singing, there are “acts” so to speak. Sometimes there will be a group that comes up in matching outfits or based on age. Instead of singing a song, they will dance and lip sync a song! It’s fun to watch! The tithing ritual consists of some sort of worship/dance happening at the front while everyone comes up and gives their money. The prayers after worship is a very soul reaching moment as we all say our prayers out loud for several minutes. I like praying this way as it feels like I’m having a genuine conversation with God! The sermon is similar to ours with a specific book and chapter being the main focus. Following the sermon, I believe there is some sort of testimonial session as random people will come up to the front, say something, and then everyone claps! That’s the gist of church here!

Today’s sermon focused on 1 Peter 4 where we talked about how suffering is needed to be a good christian. It was hard to know exactly what the pastor was saying as Moses’ translation was very quiet, but I think I got it! I think this message is so applicable out here and reminds me how important it is to suffer for the Lord to glorify him! Towards the end the pastor spoke to us in English about how “love is a commandment, but the choice to make friends is ours”. I think that’s such a powerful statement! Every once and a while I would check to see if anyone else from our volunteer group was there and it was just Eli and I! There was a kid with autism that sat next to Eli that kept messing with him, but Eli was a good sport about it all and helped the kid focus on the sermon.

The service ended as usual (we got told to leave by an old man at the front as it’s time for an elders only meeting) and we went to the same house I’ve been to several times to eat lunch. Moses was with his friend Joseph from school who was fun to talk to! Unlike Moses, who loves to dance, Joseph hates dancing which was a topic we joked around a lot about. 

Lunch needed a little more time to be made so us four walked to the nearby primary school to pass the time. The school had a wonderful soccer field, garden, and a cool hand operated water pump that worked well! (photos)

I learned that one of the leafy greens that they grow here and have eaten many times is called “chinese” (such a funny name for a plant that has nothing to do with China). 

Soon enough we walked back to the house and lunch was ready. We ate rice, beans, greens, and avocado with salt. I’ve got to say that avocado with salt has got to be one of my favorite things out here! To further add to the hospitality, a large pitcher of water with cool looking glasses was brought out for us to drink. The cardinal rule in any foreign country is to only drink bottled water, but both Eli and I were quite parched from all of the dancing and walking that we took the risk. It looked very clean and tasted completely normal so I’m sure we’ll both be fine. 

To be safe, I only drank a small glass. During lunch we talked about all sorts of things and answered a lot of questions about America! In the middle of our conversation I learned from Moses that Eli and I would be staying until the evening! Both of us were a little shocked to hear this, but of course made no fuss and went on with the rest of the day.

With lunch finished, we walked with Moses and Joseph to what I presume is Moses’ house. We sat in the front room that was furnished with couches and a TV (this is the same room Michael and I briefly sat in last week). Moses put on some horribly dubbed Indian movie which made Eli and I laugh so much. One guy dubbed every single actor which made no sense and was so chaotic. The warm room and comfy chair made me sleepy so I took a quick nap! 

While “watching” the movie, Moses’ mom (I assume) came in and served us cow intestine soup. I’m a firm believer that everything must be tried before judging (the soup looked weird) and I gave it a taste! I don’t want to be rude or ignorant to Tanzanian culture but I found the soup extremely disgusting and gagged the moment it went in my mouth. I forced myself to swallow and immediately claimed I was too full from the previous meal (which I partially was) to eat the soup. I wanted to like it but I genuinely could not fake it! 

Eli observing my reaction claimed the same reason. Following the not-so-tasty soup, Moses’ young sister brought in a weird looking fruit for us to try. It’s nicknamed bloodfruit here, but after further research it’s also known as a tree tomato. You bite off the end of the fruit and suck/push out the contents. It tasted like a fruity tomato that was very tart which wasn’t my favorite (I don’t love tomatoes).

After all of the interesting food, it was time for us to go on a little adventure. Moses was tasked with getting some cash from the village so we went with him (Joseph tagged for a little while longer). It was an absolutely beautiful day to walk through the village. 

We weaved in and out of trails that ran between the brick houses. It feels like we’re trespassing, but that’s just how life works out here in the village! Strolling on the village road was fun and it’s all becoming a very familiar environment for me! There were lots of ads for Coca-Cola so Eli and I got to talking about all different types of drinks out here which got us feeling very thirsty. We both regretted not bringing any money of our own to buy something in the village! Eventually Moses got the cash he needed, and being very nice, bought us drinks! Eli got Mo Extra, an energy drink akin to Red Bull and I got a different brand of Embe drink. It wasn’t my favorite as it had a weird dingy aftertaste. As it stands, Azam Embe is #1, Tunda Embe is #2, and U-Fresh (the one I just drank) is #3; I’m becoming an Embe connoisseur! 

With the drinks in our hands, we walked back to the church for the evening service where everything commenced in a similar fashion. Unlike church back home, the second service was not the same as the first so it was all fresh content for us! Moses had Eli and I (along with his friend I did not know), went up for an act of our own. All of the dances were improvised by us, but not for Moses of course! We definitely looked silly up there, but I enjoyed it a ton! 

When it was time for the sermon, we focused on James 5 and the concept of patience in suffering. I believe this was an extension of the first sermon but once more it was hard to understand Moses. It was a different pastor preaching this time and he was on fire for the Lord. One moment he’d be yelling at the top of his lungs, and then the next saying “Bwana Asifiwe” (meaning the Lord be praised) quietly where we all responded with “Amen”. Before we knew it, the service was over and Eli and I were thirstier than ever (the drinks bought for us only made us thirstier!). Moses and Joseph walked us back to the main office which I found to be a very kind gesture as the walk back isn’t the easiest (pretty big hill). Mainly Eli and I talked to each other about Mines and the upcoming semester.

We made it back to the office and the clock just hit 5:30pm! A long day to say the least, but one I am very grateful for. Michael and Miraclin were very surprised to see us and thought we were dodging them both all day! We had to explain everything that happened! Moses and Joseph said goodbye and I was given an avocado as a parting gift, a very kind gesture! We continued our conversation and I found out that the funeral was for a baby that died in the village. I remembered seeing a small casket on the back of a motorcycle when I was in the village three days ago :(. Henry showed up too so we filled him in on all of our adventures as well. 

Now connected to the internet, I realized it was Father’s Day (thanks Mom!) and was able to share “Father’s Day Song” by Abochi. It’s a fun Father’s Day song by an African artist! Eventually Paul showed up with a volleyball (the one Mr. Chesco had brought) and we were kicking it in the back of the office. We made quite the ruckus until it was time to leave and were quickly reminded why balls belong outside (close to breaking stuff)! We all parted ways and Paul and I went home. I had the WiFi router on me so I played some Swahili tunes on the way down to the house. The song of choice was Watu by Marioo which is a very fun song!

We got back to the house and I just hung out with Paul and John in their room. We all did our separate things: Paul was working, John watching comedy videos, and I played on my phone. Dinner time came, yet Paul already made the food! I believe we had to wait until 8:00pm to eat so we’re less hungry deeper into the night (they stay up pretty late). It was rice and beans and I helped warm them back up! I also made some more grass tea we had earlier that day. The food was very good and I ate my gifted avocado with the meal! Seeing that today was such a glorious Sunday, I cracked open an Azam Embe that I had saved as well to finish off the night! Before I went to bed, I asked Paul how much beef is as I’ld like to have some tomorrow and have lots of shillings just burning a hole in my pocket! Depending on the cut, 7,000-10,000 shillings!

I went back to my room, relaxed, and blogged! I’m wearing some more layers tonight and making sure my windows are sealed. I’m hoping to stay nice and warm tonight!