Tanzania at Last! by David

Tanzania at last!
As Judi has mentioned, we had significant expectations… some not so good, steeling ourselves to deal with the potential high costs of excess baggage, loss of cases, delays… all experienced daily by a considerable percentage of this continent's population.
Anyone flying through Jo’ber as a departure point, transit or arrival destination, is strongly recommended to have secure locks, straps and also the whole case ‘cling-wrapped’! They have little stations around the airports in SA where they’ll do a case for $5.
We felt a little vulnerable as ‘the wrappers’ weren’t up that early (is God???) leaving us with our soft valises which presented little resistance to anyone with as little as a blunt pen-knife or nail-file. We had been praying about it all, and for all our expressions of concern, had a peace that all would be OK. And it was…
Our other expectation was to be able to see the countryside of Northern Tanzania, perhaps a glimpse of Mt Kilimanjaro as we flew south on our last, very short leg scheduled to get us in comfortably for supper.
We ended up being grateful that we made it before breakfast!
We got in close to midnight and were so glad to crash out in our delightful new home.

After a restful sleep, comforted by the occasional, gentle caress of the mossie-net, I was initially woken by loud bird noises around 4am. I drifted off again… then, a couple of hours later, the worship started. Across the compound, the trainee teachers started their morning singing. A mix of classic African harmonizing, random celebratory shouts and the ubiquitous tone-deaf individual assured me that we were indeed in a new place.
Welcome to East Africa, a place of extreme contrast - stunning beauty and great pain.
I walked out onto our verandah and worshipped. What a privilege to be here!

Then came exploration time as we got to meet the other missionaries, who in turn introduced us to numerous workers, mainly Maasai, who warmly welcomed us in their native Swahili.
The missionaries organized a schedule for us to eat with the different families for the first few days, enabling us to get to know them much more quickly. We arrived the evening they were finishing a 3-day team fast. They then launched into the beginning of Christmas celebration. Some would call it timing… (how ‘unspiritual’)!
We’re getting into the spirit of Christmas with our own variation of tree – a 6ft sisal clipping, wrapped in tinsel, with baubles, Maasai beaded stars, topped with a black hand-made angel from South Africa and flashing string lights… what more could you want!

The base is ‘littered’ with bougainvilliae(?) of every imaginable hue, frangipane, hibiscus etc… Our yard has banana, custard apple and mango trees with two decks overlooking an awesome view of the lower slopes of Mt Meru.
We’ve also been introduced to the lovelies of the insect realm. Truly amazing variety of bugs etc… There’s the Nairobi fly, a long-bodied skinny runt that can slip through nets and if threatened sprays an acidic substance that burns the skin. Nothing serious, just uncomfortable, and unattractive if on exposed parts of the body!
Then there’s the tarantula hole we found in our yard the other day… now we’re talking about more than uncomfortable and unattractive!
Then there’s a stunning blue borer bug/fly. When it bores it cuts a quarter-inch hole that looks like the product of an electric drill. Truly a different world here…