easing in

Well, it’s already been wiki moja (one week) since we left the U.S., and I’m happy to report that everyone seems to be handling our new environment relatively well.  We have had some bumps along the way, but all in all, our transition has been smooth.  But, as I alluded to in the title of this post, we are still enjoying some creature comforts and are hardly living life in the bush just yet.

Our first stop in Tanzania has been at a guesthouse of the Benedictine Fathers here in Dar Es Salaam.  This location serves as an entry and exit point for many missionaries and religious persons who are assigned to mission sites throughout Tanzania.  The guest master is a German Benedictine priest, and I suspect that because of his presence, the meals here have much more German than African influence.  We have enjoyed fresh salads and cheese, various meat dishes like fried chicken and sausages, and lots of delicious fruit including pineapple and watermelon.  Not quite the lean, plant-based diet we were expecting here in Africa.

Our accommodations, while modest, are clean and more than adequate.  All six of us are sleeping in a single room, but we have the luxury of a much-appreciated room air conditioner and our own bathroom.  And although we are taking weekly prophylaxis against malaria, we have also started the practice of sleeping under mosquito nets, as the mosquito population is highest from dusk until dawn.  The kids love the nets and say that they feel like they are camping.

Additionally, most people on the campus here speak English, so our Swahili knowledge has yet to be really tested.  But I will admit that trying to converse with native Kiswahili speakers has been humbling.  There is a big difference between a theoretical study of a language on Rosetta Stone and actually stumbling our way through a live exchange.  Recognizing and pronouncing the words, knowing the placement of the subjects and verbs, and the use of the appropriate tenses are a lot harder in person than on a computer screen.  Everyone here, however, has been incredibly gracious, kindly correcting our mistakes and often encouraging our enthusiasm in trying to learn this completely new language.

Though we are enjoying some creature comforts, air conditioning in the car is not one of them.  And because Tanzania is sub-equatorial, winter time here is in June-August, so we’ve arrived at the hottest time of the year.  So while everyone back in the U.S. faces brisk, sometimes freezing weather, we are surrounded by sunny, warm, humid days, without any rain since our arrival.  

Living for a week in the heat and humidity made finding this little roadside treat extra enjoyable. 

Joshua had been on the lookout for “dafu,” or fresh coconut, from which you can drink the delicious and light coconut water.  The kids all enjoyed watching the roadside vendor cut the top off of the coconut, allow us to enjoy the cool, refreshing liquid inside, and then cut out the coconut “meat” with a small knife he carved from a stick as we waited.

When it was time for lunch, we followed the recommendation of a well-meaning new acquaintance here, and found ourselves in a very touristy, American-style restaurant with a menu full of burgers, fries, and ribs, and a sound system piping Michael Bolton tunes through the speakers.  It was like Applebees had been plopped into the middle of Dar Es Salaam--not just kind of surreal, but really not at all what we had in mind for our first meal out in Africa.  So after a few uncomfortable minutes, we decided to start over.  We politely excused ourselves, asked our wonderful driver to take us to a yummy local eating establishment, and ended up here...

We ate at a plastic table behind a simple open air restaurant, where our waitress spoke almost no English and where the food took over an hour to be prepared.  We also happened to be just a few feet from the wonderfully blue Indian Ocean, from which we enjoyed a warm breeze while we dined on some of the most incredible seafood we have ever tasted.  We had fried calamari, shrimp with noodles, grilled shrimp, whole fried fish, rice, and calamari curry.

It was an amazing meal and (because what good is a blog post if I can’t learn something from it?) we were reminded of the importance of being true to what we feel called to, be it in the great, big, life-altering decisions, as well as the small (sometimes culinary), yet still important ones.

  

we made it!

Well, after making our way through 4 airports, 3 layovers, and 24 hours of almost continuous air travel, we arrived in Dar Es Salaam last night at 9:00pm.  And now, just ten hours into our life here in Africa, I’m not quite sure what to say (the massive sleep-deprivation may have something to do with that, but I suspect that it’s also just all too big to articulate just yet).  

We are feeling good--relieved, so grateful, and excited to have arrived safely and to begin this new chapter.  I am especially thankful for four incredible kids who made a rather exhausting journey seem almost easy.  Truly, the older three kids amazed Chris and me with their enjoyment of the flights and the layovers, their ability to entertain themselves and one another, and their willingness to help or to wait or to just sit when those things were asked of them.  They did enjoy some fun movies and video games on the planes, but they also paused and rested when requested.  And now, as Chris and I (having enjoyed about 3-4 hours of decent sleep) try and process all of this newness, they are sleeping soundly in their mosquito-netted beds, cooled by an unexpected and lovely room air conditioner, oblivious to the sounds of the scooters and buses and roosters and daily life in this bustling port city.  “Jet lag?” they say.  “What jet lag?”

And that sweet baby Jacob.  Oh my.  He was a champ from takeoff to landing on all four legs of our trip.  I, of course, had my many concerns--about the air pressure changes and his potential ear discomfort and nursing on a crowded plane and whether he would sleep and how the diaper changes would go and how we’d keep him entertained, and on and on.  And once again, my sweet little one reminds me to just relax, to lean into the experience and enjoy the journey...and know that all will be well.  And it was.  Jacob played happily, nursed every few hours, and slept so very well once he got into a comfy bassinet on our longest stretch, from Zurich to Dar Es Salaam.  He too, slept (and is still sleeping) so comfortably last night.  Thank God.

The toughest part of our journey was, as anticipated, the very beginning.  After having relished one entire month with my parents and sisters at home in Louisiana, separating from them was not easy.  At all.  My kids had received gourmet Indian food, undivided attention, and the chance to play many games and basketball and tennis and to enjoy bike rides and day trips and so much fun with people who love them like crazy...and that made this particular leaving especially hard.  I had had more support and help and laughter and connection and silliness than I’ve enjoyed in a long time, so my goodbyes were difficult as well.  But even as we all hugged and wept and finally spoke those things that people only say at departure points, we all (well, the adults anyway) were so reassured with the truth that the challenge of this separation is only a small part of a much larger, and very good, whole.  Chris and I have received support from so many friends and loved ones, but the whole-hearted joy that I see in my family of origin gives this entire experience a great sense of peace and goodness and contentment.  Thank you so much, Mom, Dad, Maggie and Michelle.

And so when my sweet, tender-hearted children, especially my girls, cried in New Orleans and again in Zurich and then once more in Dar Es Salaam, sharing with me their homesickness and how much they miss Amma and Appa’s presence and home and food, and how they loved sharing Kiki and Shell’s rooms with them, and how this new phase is so, well, new, I do my best to reassure them...and myself.  I remind them, and myself, that we have been called to this journey, and that God has promised to go before us, and watch over us, and stay close to us.  And I remind them, and myself, that while there is great work to be done in and through us, there is also a great adventure ahead of us.  I remind them, and myself, that just the fact that the six of us are together makes this whole experience so amazing--and that I know that there are incredible joys and fun times and fabulous days ahead.  And then I remind them, and myself, that having so much love poured out over you that it hurts to be away from it, is not such a bad problem to have.  And so it’s okay to miss the good and the familiar, and mourn the end of the extraordinary time we had these past few weeks, and we will rest in the knowledge that with the gift of time, those things that are so strange and new right now will become familiar and good and extraordinary as well.    

So now we are giving ourselves a few days to get oriented, catch up on our sleep, and become acquainted with our new surroundings.  We will be in Dar Es Salaam for about a week, and then next Friday we will travel to Arusha (near Mount Kilimanjaro) for three weeks of language classes beginning on February 4th.  And as we head towards Arusha, the majority of our stuff will be heading to Ndanda.  We all know that one of the most pleasant parts of walking out of an airport into an unfamiliar city is finding a friendly face to greet you.  We had just such an experience when, after all that travel and then visa and customs proceedings that kept us in the airport until close to 11pm, we walked out of the airport into the warm Tanzanian night to find the very friendly face of Charles, our hospital administrator waiting to welcome us.  He had traveled the 500 kilometer journey from Ndanda to receive us last night, and today he has packed up his van with 9 pieces of our luggage to take back and keep at our home in Ndanda, awaiting our arrival there in late February.  He was most supportive and patient with our many questions about our eventual home in Ndanda, and he too reassured us that, indeed, all will be well.

And so, the adventure begins :)

                     

 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

siku kumi

Ten days. That's what "siku kumi" means in Swahili (...I think). Ten days--that's how many days we have left until our departure to Tanzania.

Wow. Wasn't it just last week that we were saying we were still a year away from leaving? And didn't we just yesterday comment that we were still six months behind our mission formation classmates who departed to Africa last summer?

And now, all of a sudden, the time is here. We have had--and are still having--a wonderful time with our family in south Louisiana these last few weeks. Everyone seems to be acutely aware of how rare and precious it is to have this extended time of visiting and sharing space. I know that we will look back fondly on these days, where we simply enjoyed the routine of spending our days together, with a mindfulness of what a gift this time has been. But I also know that the goodbyes with my parents and sisters will be hard. We will plan regular Skype dates and emails, and they will visit us for sure, but it will not be easy, period. I am praying for the grace to walk through those goodbyes with gratitude rather than a lot of sadness.

Apart from that, however, there is much excitement about what lies ahead. This is a step that my husband and I have considered for close to two decades now. It's a move we've prayed about so very many times. Our timing has been delayed and our patience has been grown, but now it's almost time to step out onto this journey with our four sweet kiddos and see what God has in store for us. I'm certain that He won't disappoint.

And for those who might want details and want to perhaps (please!) keep our travels in your prayers, our travel will begin next Thursday, January 24th. We will arrive in Dar Es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania, on the morning of January 26th. After spending a few days there (and hopefully recovering from our jet lag), we will fly on into Arusha, where we will attend language school for three weeks. We've heard great things about the program, as there are specific classes and activities for both adults and children. After that course is complete in late February, we will finally head onto our destination and home for the next three years, Ndanda, Tanzania.

Thanks to all who are keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. "Asante sana" (thank you very much), truly!

jacob at 4 months

With our move to Africa approaching in just over two weeks, I don't really "have" time to post about Jacob's 4th month of life.  Yet when I take a minute to realize how quickly this precious baby is changing, and I remember how very soon our other little ones are becoming such big kids, I know that it's well worth it to "make" some time to record some of our family's recent memories.







Soon after Jacob turned 3 months, he celebrated his first Thanksgiving.  Because my parents were out of the country visiting family in India at that time, we spent the holiday with our friends in Houston.  It was a nice, low-stress time of giving thanks and relaxing.  The kids helped Kathi with some decoration and food prep, and I was in charge of baby Jacob and a brie...not a bad deal at all, I'd say.  Chris was busy on call the night prior, but made it home in plenty of time to enjoy a delicious meal with all of us, including this happy little butterball :)







Once my husband completed his work after that Thanksgiving weekend, we were given the gift of two weeks in a row with him at home with us.  What better to do with that kind of time than load up the whole crew and hop in the car for a cross-country road trip?!  Our trip to South Carolina deserves a blog post unto itself, but I will say that it was a wonderful time of reuniting, sharing, and catching up with many dear, dear friends.  Those days were full of so much joy and laughter, all made even richer because we were able to introduce our sweet Jacob to so many friends back at "home," which is what Greenville continues to feel like for me.
 

Before we went to Greenville, however, we spent almost a week in south Georgia, where we enjoyed a quality visit with Chris' parents.  It was a treat to hear stories of how much Jacob reminded them of Chris as a baby, as well as to watch our older kids' relationships with their paternal grandparents continue to grow.  

We enjoyed lots of meals together, a visit to a bookstore where Grandpa let the kids each pick a book for themselves, and some time outdoors enjoying the mild southern winter.

This time was especially meaningful for Chris and me, not just because of the connections between generations, but also because of the wholehearted support we received from both Grandma and Grandpa as we embark on our missionary journey.  It takes a whole lot of self-giving love to be able to say, "I'll miss you like crazy, but I'm so glad that you're doing what you feel you are called to do."

Since Chris' parents do not do much on the internet, we left with lots of hugs and promises to send handwritten letters at least once in a while.  This is a habit that I am so hopeful we will all adopt when we are overseas.  It's just too easy these days to dash off an email or text.  While terribly useful, and honestly almost indispensable, such communication is also fairly easily forgotten.  But there is nothing like receiving a piece of mail written just for you––no carbon-copying or forwarding or cutting and pasting.  No spellcheck or autocorrect.  Just a beautifully simple reminder that someone you love has taken the time to pause and share a bit of his or her life with you.

Once we returned to Houston in early December, the remainder of our time there was spent getting back into the groove of homeschooling (who was I kidding carting all those books with us on that trip?), and preparing for our move back to Louisiana.  We fell back into a pretty good rhythm, and Jacob has continued to enjoy the doting affection of all of his siblings.

Our youngest reader is undoubtedly the one who most enjoys sharing the gift of books with baby Jacob.

 And he loves every minute of it.

I really appreciate those of you who've sent well wishes, hoping that Jacob is sleeping better these days.  I wish I could say that he was.  Really, really I do.  In fact, on the morning of 12-12-12, I suddenly awoke with the realization that Jacob had slept a full seven hours and had not made a peep.  What a glorious feeling that was.  Rest!  Rejuvenation!  Normalcy!  And then he slept through the next night as well!  But I have been a mommy long enough to know that a couple of good nights does not a great sleeper make.  And we haven't had another long stretch of sleep since.  So yes, Jacob and I still greet each other once or, ahem, twice a night for a quick feed.  It's not ideal, but really, do I have any room to complain?  Just look at this face...  

There are worse things in the world than having to hug this angel baby a couple of times a night :)

And, just for memory's sake, he weighed in at his 4 month check-up at 16 lbs and 2 oz (apparently only 50th percentile?!), and measured 26 inches (which is at the 97th percentile!).  Yes, he does continue to wear mainly 6 and 9-month clothing and fits into it just fine, thank you.  He is getting better at rolling over on his own, is still babbling and cooing a lot, and has an amazingly sweet belly laugh.  And when you hold him, he loves to be held upright, where he can show off his awesome head control and reach right up to the nape of your neck to grab a nice handful of hair while you hold him.

I'm just sticking in the picture below because it is so typical of our lives right now, but I imagine that in years to come, my kids and I will look back and laugh at the fact that Jacob sat in his car seat, right on the table, while we enjoyed a meal at a (clearly rather casual) restaurant on our recent trip.

And while we're talking milestones, our road trip also provided Jacob with his first trip to Cracker Barrel.  While a stop at that country store slash restaurant may not seem like a big deal to most, it's been a bit of a tradition for our little family.



Ever since Joshua was an infant, my drives back home from Texas to Louisiana with our one, then two, then three kiddos almost always included a stop at the ole CB, where I knew I could get a good meal, a clean bathroom, and a safe, friendly place to take a break...Geez, I should get a commission for that kind of an endorsement :)

  
Anyway, it was fun to share a meal as a family of six at this favorite spot.