Christmas In A Foreign Land

Our first Christmas Overseas was strange to begin with but ultimately great. Usually Christmas Day is spent with either Anita’s family or Graham’s. So this first Christmas in Tanzania was always going to be different. The weather added to the unusualness of the day with high temperatures throughout.

We tried to keep up as many traditions as possible. The day started with stockings for the kids – though the lack of Satsumas and the limited range of little gifts made for depleted stockings overall. Then it was breakfast, as usual we indulged in our Christmas Breakfast of Kidneys and Bacon. The former Beef Kidney from the local butcher and the latter expensively purchased from the nearby supermarket at price of 11000 TZS (over £3). We also added in Oyster Mushrooms (somewhat cheaper at 5000 TZS), our first fresh mushrooms since our arrival.

After Breakfast we opened our presents. Many of these were vouchers for electronic downloads, these were a welcome addition to the physical presents which we had for each other and thanks to my Sister-in-Law. Whether real or virtual we thank all our relatives for their kindness – thank you emails / letters will follow in due course. We are looking forward to choosing and downloading our Books, Music and / or Videos in the coming days.

One major frustration was the internet. Our WiFi contract ran out at 10am, as we had used all our data. Not only did this prevent us from immediately downloading anything from our Christmas Gifts, but also destroyed any chance of a FaceTime chat with my family scheduled for noon. As we scrambled around to sort out an update the remaining 3G connection was too slow to support either video or audio and we gave up. Meanwhile Anita managed to source a top up from the local duka (shop), then embarked on the process of adding credit to the modem (not a straight forward process).

Then began the process of peeling, chopping and preparing vegetables for our shared compound Christmas Dinner.

Four families were going to gather together for a meal, along with relatives from the UK. We created some of our traditional family favorites including Mulled Red Cabbage (courtesy of a smuggled in red cabbage, locally sourced beetroot an apples and red wine with Zanzibar spices!) and Carrots with Orange and Coriander as well as Roast potatoes, ratatouille and peas. Others brought pork and Chicken together with stuffing, sausage meat, parsnips etc. We were also on puddings, the planned Compote of Oranges morphed into Spiced Orange and Plums due to the variability and poor quality Oranges we had. Even so it was delicious as was the Ginger and Mango upside down cake! Others brough Christmas Pud and Ice Cream as well as Chocolate Hedgehog. All in all a great feast  by 18 people in our living room (the largest on the compound ).  A power cut and heavy rain did nothing to spoil a great meal.

After dinner  (and washing up!) we embarked on an afternoon / evening of games including Wink Murder, the Elephant Game, the Chocolate Game and the the Cereal Box Challenge. These were all great silly fun helped by some wine, Kantagi and Amarula to liven up proceedings (in moderation of course!). All in all it was a fabulous party and for all of us made being far from home and loved ones a little less difficult, also creating closer bonds between the different family groups.

After everyone had gone home it was a chance to watch Doctor Who on iPlayer at 9:15pm local time. Sadly although we had restored our WiFi there was so little bandwidth that it kept buffering resulting in an unwatchable program. We resorted to downloading overnight for watching on Boxing Day. A Christmas tradition delayed!

There was however enough Bandwidth to allow us the chance to FaceTime my family again (Anita’s were sadly unreachable on Christmas Day, being away and out of reach of any form of broadband). It was great to speak properly and see everyone at home.

In the end Christmas here was a bit different to usual, but with a sprinkling of tradition and some new experiences to make the day better for all. We certainly miss our families but the ability to contact them using video chat makes things a lot easier.

We hope that all who read this blog wherever you are in the world have had a great Christmas and we wish you all (not for the last time) a Happy New Year!

A Zanzibar Nativity

Saturday in Mwanza

T + 14

Two weeks ago we arrived in Mwanza – it seems like we’ve been here forever. Last night we met with a whole bunch of expats, mostly Americans but with a few Brits and Canadians and Germans. All are Christian development workers who meet on the first Friday in the month for food and fellowship. It was a great time and a good chance to meet other folk.
After a long first week of teaching it was nice to have a bit of a lay in today.
Just after 9:30 we met with a carpenter who is going to make a bench for us, for the patio – our neighbours Stéfan and Rachel had one made and we like the design – should we with us midweek.
Then it was into town with another neighbour friend Aletta for a bit of shopping.
Mwanza is a busy town with a variety of shops but first stop was a local café to meet John and John. These Tanzanian guys met Anita and neighbour Liz yesterday. They are artists who do work to sell and provide support to a local orphanage. . Anita had been given to paintings overnight with a desire to buy one and return the other today. As skeptical as I was initially they both seemed really genuine guys.
After coffee and cake we set off around town – the main items included a toaster (I miss toast!) and surge protectors, saucepans, tea strainer (loose leaf tea here), material for making some clothes for the family (we have commissioned a tailor).

After a few hours of walking we ended up at the only ice cream parlour in town.

Here we met Joel one of the folk at last night’s meeting, who kindly gave us a lift home.

SMB

T Minus 33

Today we will get ready as usual to go to church. We are members of St Mary’s Church Bletchley (SMB) a lively Anglican Church in South West Milton Keynes. It’s a routine which I have followed for almost 26 years. To quote from an earlier post

I came through the door of St Mary’s at about 11am in early November of 1988. I had chosen the wrong service!

I was looking for a lively and engaging service – but found something old fashioned and a little dull. I might never have returned but for a friendly man in a red sweater by the name of Tony. He suggested that I might prefer the 9:45am service as it was more modern than the 11:15 I’d just attended. He gave me a service book so I could see what it was like as long a I brought it back next week.

Of course I did and so started a relationship with the church that has spanned more than a quarter of a century.

St Mary’s is not stuffy, it is not old fashioned, it has a wide range of people of all ages, from a range of backgrounds and cultures. It is not a stereotypical Anglican Church. Having said that it doesn’t completely espouse tradition, thus throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

Anita and I were married there, we have brought up family there. We have shared in the ups and downs of church life (no church is perfect!), but we have been happy there. I have taken my share of responsibilities and roles; youth leader, drama team member/leader, sides person, deputy Churchwarden, webmaster, PC operator, volunteer present wrapper for Christmas Food Cupboard, member of the Christmas Choir and above all member of the PCC. Anita has played in the music group and served in the crèche and on the “Sunday School” rota. Matt has helped out with the same.

As we bid farewell to so many friends and familiar faces it is going to be strange and sad. More than any other last we have so far this is the biggest.

We will share a lunch with some of our friends at St Mary’s at the end of the 11am service – it will be a great send off but a “bitter sweet” experience I am sure.

God will still be there wherever we go but we will miss our St Mary’s family very much. It is highly unlikely we will ever be part of another church for so long (as a couple for 20+ years).

Whenever we return (and we will when we come back to the UK) it will be as visitors. Nonetheless the wonders of modern technology will allow us to be visitors from afar throughout our time in Tanzania. In that sense we will always be part of SMB.

Update: It was great to chat to so many SMB folk today and say our goodbyes. It was lovely to share a meal with some of them and to read their comments in cards.
We were presented with a lovely photo of SMB which we will place in our new home – a reminder of the place I have called home for a quarter of a century.

Busy Day

T Minus 34

Today was an opportunity to day goodbye to our MK friends. We held an open house notionally from 10am until 5pm. Our last guests arrived just before 5 but it was great to everyone. A mix of folk from Church, neighbours, friends from Bekah’s school and their parents. Even friends from Singapore (now living in St Albans). A great day – lots of coffee, tea and cake was consumed. Exhausted now but it was worth it. At the same time we lost the patio set, a nest of tables, a TV, a keyboard. The house is looking barer now as it should.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Day of Rest and Reflection

T minus 181

Not much to do today so taking a rest. Chilling out watching the Lion King – we’ve not seen it in ages – but it seemed a good time to watch it.

We have caught up with family too – it was good to see Mel and the cousins this afternoon and to good chat

We are resolving to make more opportunities to catch up with family and friends. Bex in particular had some excellent quality time with good friends from church.

The morning was spent at St Mary’s where the sermon deliver by Emlyn was right on target and confirmed in us that we were making the right choice. The image of Moses stretching out his staff across the Red Sea and not knowing what was about to happen was very powerful. We had done excellent chats with folk after the service and feel encourage. Thanks to Emma and David; John and Sue; Gill and Rosemary in particular.

For those who remain troubled by our choices we appreciate your care and concern, though we remain resolved.

On the preparation front yesterday we eventually got around to clearing the lounge cupboards – more to dump and sell. Anita is planning an eBay frenzy in coming days as well as using local methods to advertise items.

Back to work tomorrow – probably a break in blogging for a few days too.

Until next time!