Hi,
Life is certainly bitter sweet here!
I have just spent the last couple of days with a friend in Dar es Salam. She has sadly left and returned home to Australia now as her three month excursion is now at an end. However, we tried to make her last couple of days as special as possible.
We could have decided to splash out and spend our couple of days in Muzungu luxury and i must confess i was tempted but instead we bunked with a couple of the girls whose host family had looked after my friend while she was in Iringa. This was an interesting experience. While the girls were lovely, Christian and great hostesses i had a great shock when on the first night not only did we not have a shower i didn't have a hot bucket of water to wash with either! Dar is incredibly hot and humid so we were STICKY!!! After telling myself to 'man up' and bare it I realised i had forgotten shampoo and clean underwear - what a nightmare! The bitter part was starting to sting. It was not what i wanted to face after a 9 hour bus journey to a very busy city. Then just to rub it in; we had no electricity. I tell you what when you literally have to pray about every little prospect in your life it stretches your prayer muscles.
After an incredibly restless sticky night, accompanied from 6am onwards by load noises and the smell of charcoal i felt quite negative about the day ahead but decided to give it to God. To which He told me the Irks and Burdens in life were a means of showing me His plan and purpose. I should look at them as opportunities, se God's hand in all things and give Joy. Instantly i started to sing, i can't remember which song but i felt my mood lighten. At that moment God answered a plea of my heart; that i could join the Harts in going to the CMS conference in Nairobi this week! God had certainly come through for me; yet again!
What followed was a day of fun and adventure. We went to a beach called Pococo. It had white sand which beautifully reflected the bright blue sea and sky! It was perfect. We watched fishermen catch fish and after about an hours walk, a quick drink and walk back we ate freshly caught fish and chips on the beach; it felt oddly English. Yet at the same time we were eating a fish with its head and tail still attached and pealed it from the bone. No batter in sight. Bitter-sweet.
After our amazing time at the beach the girls wanted to show us their highlight; the supermarket which is in a shopping mall. We tried to explain we have these everywhere at home but they were so proud. We took a bajaji and walked along a very hot dual carriageway to this shopping mall. It had some names we recognised and a cinema. Right at the other end was this supermarket. As my friend and I were cooking the girls a western meal that night we bought the ingredients and decided to buy each an ice-cream too; which was very melted but enjoyable. I also decided to check out the toilets which were very western. During which the power cut out twice; bitter-sweet.
After a long hot but fun day Amanda (my friend and I) tried to cook toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches over a coal stove and made homemade coleslaw. The coleslaw was fine; the toasties a nightmare! They either burnt or didn’t cook at all. After an hour and a half we got there- just! And they said they liked them. Pudding was much easier; melted chocolate over banana – yum! Bitter-sweet.
After a worse night than the one previous; if I didn’t think that was possible I was wrong! We got a bajaji and a dalla-dalla and the girls took us to their university. If I thought that would be boring I was wrong! Again it required walking in heat but when we arrived we were the only white people in the building. The girls proudly showed us their lecture theatres and seminar rooms; very like those at home just more plain. They were delighted when we told them that. The queue for admissions was inspiring. Later Amanda and I commented that we would never show anyone where we went to university, perhaps while we were there but not now. Yet here were two girls who loved to show us where they were educated.
We took a walk past the presidents house; i.e. their white house. Then got on a very busy ferry, which coast all of 4p each! 5 mins later we were on the other side and took a taxi to south beach. Here each beach has a resort attached which means you have to pay something but it goes towards any food or drink you order and you can use the toilets, benches and, as we found, showers on a beautiful, clean, white beach with blue sea and sky. To make it the perfect environment it was surrounded by palm trees. Amanda and I wasted no time in getting into the sea and having a swim before eating some lunch and reading in the sun. We were worried the girls wouldn’t cope with a muzungu esk holiday but they loved it. They got a volley ball and played for hours. They would never have experienced anything like that and neither had we. At the end of a beautiful day Amanda and I enjoyed a shower, cold but a shower! And we watched the sun-set, while being eaten alive by mossies – bitter-sweet.
I have to say I was starting to panic at being out at night when we have been told not to but the girls seemed to think it was ok. Sure enough the boat was crammed with people and the dalla-dalla afterwards. I was surprised Dar’s night life was quite so manic but wasn’t fazed at all by it when we were in the midst of the chaos. Back at home we packed and ate before saying goodnight. Amanda and I chilled for a little while before I dozed off, hot and sticky once again. Bitter-sweet.
3.30am the next morning I gave Amanda a tentative hug (we were both sunburnt) as she headed off to the airport. I will miss her. Three hours later I came back to full consciousness after, yet another bad night, and faced an unknown day of travel. I was to get a bus to chulinsie and sit and wait for Andy and Susie. One of my host girls cooked me omelette and I grabbed the opportunity to have banana and peanut butter again for breakfast. As I contemplated that they had no running water and rarely had electricity, only had a bed and a wardrobe in each bedroom and yet had two huge sofas and an arm chair, a t.v. and speakers in the lounge it seems to me that it is not just I who has an entirely bazaar existence here. Bitter-sweet?
Thankfully my host got me on the right bus and by the Grace of God I was only waiting 20 mins when Andy and Susie found me. They were as relieved as I. Further down the road we met our co-car and I had a changeover of cars; definitely the better option. I got to know the other missionaries a bit better and it turned out the other car had problems, they were delayed by about an hour. All the while we trundled on through picture perfect African landscape and arrived in time to chill a bit before everyone else descended. I was surprised to find I was sharing a room with Rosie and Grace but it has turned out ok. I slept much better and we have a shower. Yes it was supposed to be hot and I had a cold one but it was a shower and I have been able to properly wash my hair for the first time in 5 days. Bitter-sweet?
We have been stuck here all day while the car has been fixed. However, I have seen Mount Kilimanjaro from the ground now as well as the air, been swimming in an outdoor pool, eaten ice-cream and Chinese. Perhaps a bitter-sweet day?
So what is God teaching me through all this? He is good. We all face things we find difficult but with every bitter edge there is a sweet side even if it doesn’t look like it. Ever bitten a lemon? It is immediately sour and as soon as you pull your mouth away you shiver but it tastes sweet in your mouth. This is like life. It is more extreme here I am sure but it is good for all of us to see how far we can be pushed before we crumble and sometimes we need to crumble to totally rely on God; this is a hard lesson to learn.
Please keep praying for me as I try to discern what God is telling me and learn as much as possible from my daily adventures here.
Please let me know if I can pray for you in anyway; please know you are all on my heart and mind anyway and I daily lift you in prayer to Him. Please share your side of the adventure with me.
Love and blessings, Deborah ><>
No comments:
Post a Comment