He's not dishonest. He is opportunistic!
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(Please note that blue text is a hyperlink in case you want more information about something in my blog.)
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The end of our second full day in Dar es Salaam (pronounced Dars-Slom) has
arrived. It is game night here at the Seconded Conference. In case you missed my first blog post, the Seconded are Bible translators who are part of Wycliffe that work for SIL. We have Texas Hold 'em, Spades, Scrabble, or early to bed. Some of the parents of small children opted for the latter. So many experiences and conversations the first two days, I will try to summarize.
We are staying at Landmark Resort in Dar es Salaam. The room is very nice. The food is good, what there is of it. The pool is not functional for the season, and the beach is a bit on the shady side. At low tide, you can find razors, syringes, trash bags, etc. amongst the debris that washes up. At high tide, all of that stuff sinks to the bottom and is not visible. The lifeguards rake up the flotsam and bury it beneath the sand so it isn't visible. Otherwise, it is a great beach.
You might be wondering about water. We are so used to drinking water from our tap, and using it without regard in the US, that it is a difficult habit to break. They do treat their water here, but it is not necessarily potable (drinkable). The hotel provides us two bottles of . . . well, bottled water a day for hygiene purposes. If we have water at meals, it is also bottled water. Water for coffee and milk for coffee are boiled before serving. Think about how you automatically turn on that tap when you brush your teeth or just want a quick sip of water. Yep! It is a hard habit to break.
The breakfast buffet is a real treat. This morning we had clear beef broth, baked beans, beef dumplings (gob of brown meat with gravy), an omelet that were as thin and long as spring rolls. Nothing rolled in them. They were fried and rolled up. The little omelets
weren't bad. Fresh pineapple and watermelon were also available. For the kiddos, the highlight was baked beans for breakfast. What about coffee? We have a can of powdered instant coffee, hot milk (economically valued), and hot water. Yes, Tanzania is known for Peaberry coffee (small coffee beans). Apparently, it is all shipped outside of Tanzania. What does "economically valued mean? It means they put 1/3 milk and 2/3 water in a warmer and put it beside the coffee. It is cheaper for the hotel to do that. Dishonest? No opportunistic.
We have met translators and Wycliffe workers from New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands, Texas and North Carolina. Interestingly the couple from North Carolina prefer Texas BBQ. There are several folks who are coming back to the US because Tanzania will not renew their work permit. There are three from Mosoma, north of Dar es Salaam who are leaving because of work permit issues. I am told that will bring translation for the people in that region almost to a stop. Prayer would help, but they are at the point they have to leave Tanzania and return and try again. Praying they don't give up.
We met a New Zealand couple who just finished their language training in Swahili here in Dar es Salaam. Kevin and Jillian are in the mid to late fifties. They will be working in southwest Tanzania in what we were told is "lion country." Think Hatari! with John Wayne. They would greatly appreciate your prayers
We will be in Dar es Salaam until Wednesday or Thursday,
depending on when Josh (our missionary contact) gets a front end alignment complete on his van. Will let you know.
We are starting tomorrow to teach Bible study methods to the missionary kids (MK's). They have absorbed and loved what we have done far on prayer, worship, giving and scripture journaling/mapping. Keep them and us in your prayers, please. We are using our phones only when we have WiFi. Soon we will have new SIMM cards ($1 each) and phone service (6 GB of data is $5 per week). Message us on FB if you have questions or need information from us or have information for us. Please thank Jeff and Gracie Snellgrove for posting the podcast during my absence.
(Please note that blue text is a hyperlink in case you want more information about something in my blog.)
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The end of our second full day in Dar es Salaam (pronounced Dars-Slom) has
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| Tanzania Sunrise |
We are staying at Landmark Resort in Dar es Salaam. The room is very nice. The food is good, what there is of it. The pool is not functional for the season, and the beach is a bit on the shady side. At low tide, you can find razors, syringes, trash bags, etc. amongst the debris that washes up. At high tide, all of that stuff sinks to the bottom and is not visible. The lifeguards rake up the flotsam and bury it beneath the sand so it isn't visible. Otherwise, it is a great beach.
You might be wondering about water. We are so used to drinking water from our tap, and using it without regard in the US, that it is a difficult habit to break. They do treat their water here, but it is not necessarily potable (drinkable). The hotel provides us two bottles of . . . well, bottled water a day for hygiene purposes. If we have water at meals, it is also bottled water. Water for coffee and milk for coffee are boiled before serving. Think about how you automatically turn on that tap when you brush your teeth or just want a quick sip of water. Yep! It is a hard habit to break.
The breakfast buffet is a real treat. This morning we had clear beef broth, baked beans, beef dumplings (gob of brown meat with gravy), an omelet that were as thin and long as spring rolls. Nothing rolled in them. They were fried and rolled up. The little omelets
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| Breakfast Buffet |
We have met translators and Wycliffe workers from New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands, Texas and North Carolina. Interestingly the couple from North Carolina prefer Texas BBQ. There are several folks who are coming back to the US because Tanzania will not renew their work permit. There are three from Mosoma, north of Dar es Salaam who are leaving because of work permit issues. I am told that will bring translation for the people in that region almost to a stop. Prayer would help, but they are at the point they have to leave Tanzania and return and try again. Praying they don't give up.
We met a New Zealand couple who just finished their language training in Swahili here in Dar es Salaam. Kevin and Jillian are in the mid to late fifties. They will be working in southwest Tanzania in what we were told is "lion country." Think Hatari! with John Wayne. They would greatly appreciate your prayers
We will be in Dar es Salaam until Wednesday or Thursday,
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| MK Youth VBS |
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