It's no vacation!

So in case you’ve been thinking from the last few posts that it’s all fun and games here in Morogoro,..here’s a “real missionary” blog...

It’s been quite a week!  Last sunday during dinner. There was a loud pop and we saw sparks coming off the corner of the dining room as the power went out.  After some investigation, we found that a bat had flown into the transformer knocking out all the electricity for our base.  Monday morning we woke up to find that we had no running water.  The pump that gets the water from the pipes into the tank is electric so no electricity means no running water.....Sometime THURSDAY Tanesco the electric company decided to classify us as an emergency situation. on SATURDAY they finally showed up.  I was so excited to come home last night to power!!! I got back to the base and walked into my room and turned on the light.... nothing.... I tried

 again.... still nothing.  The only building on the base not restored to normal?  the English school....argh.... 

It’s amazing actually the things you learn how to live with.   Thankfully God was really good and it rained almost every

 day....wow you should have seen us all scrambling to get our buckets under a crack in the rain gutters around the school at the least sign of rain.  And this being the rainy season, even when it didn’t rain, there was enough in the well for us to use for toilets and showers and laundry.

Last weekend, Neema and I took my friend Bebe (in the middle) out to lunch for her birthday!  Bebe is from Rwanda and she arrived shortly after I did.  We’ve suffered through some of the same culture shock and difficulties adjusting to life here in Tanzania.  She’s become a good friend. 

There are three kids here on the base.  Mira is only a couple months old and still kind of boring if you don’t go crazy over babies, but 1 1/2 yr old Abi and her 6 yr old brother Mordecai are absolute stars!  Their parents Isaac and Deborah are some of my favorite people around here and the kids are the sweetest. but the strangest thing??? they took Mordi to the dentist about a week ago and pulled almost ALL his baby teeth... The idea is that they have to get rid of the old ones so that the new ones can come in... I haven't figured out yet whether or not this is normal in TZ or if it was just a crazy dentist but I know one thing.. Mordi has been scarred for life! poor thing.... 

This week marks the halfway point of the English school.. we are struggling a bit. Literally EVERYONE has been sick this week. Malaria, what they call Typhoid here but which is really not, parasites, all sorts of badness.  They are working hard but it's so difficult to pay attention when you are feeling bad.  It's a little overwhelming when I think that I am only two months away from leaving.  Half of me is desperate to get home and the other half is devastated at the thought of leaving.  I know that it will be time for me to be home for awhile and I can't wait to see my family and friends but I really do enjoy life here...It's the problem I face constantly. I sometimes wish I was made to stay put so I wouldn't have to go through leaving people over and over again but I know that the life I would be giving up is too good!  In John 10:10 Jesus says "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." I know that that is what I am living and experiencing everyday... life abundantly!