This past week I had the opportunity to raft the Nile. My guide Tutu, who had been rafting the longest on the river with the original rafting company let me guide 3 of the last 4 rapids. I didn’t do to bad if I do say so myself having never been on those rapids and having been given instructions like, “First go a little to the right and the left. Paddle hard and you’ll be fine.” I was in the “extreme boat” and loved every minute of big water and flipping intentionally. SO MUCH FUN.
And then we were off to Tanzania. After spending 38 out of 48 hours in a bus, We made it from Jinja, Uganda to Moshi, Tanzania. For those of you who don’t recognize Moshi, it is a city at the very base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I was able to spend only a very brief time there recovering from the first bus ride which was 23 hours long. I had a seat in the very back which didn’t recline. Our bus was supposed to leave at 9 am and didn’t show up until 6:30pm turning our trip into an overnight and forcing us to cross the border at night. Not the best idea. There was very little shut eye for those of us in the back row since we sat behind the rear wheel well and every time we hit a bump, we got serious air time. I’m talking 2-6 inches, no exaggeration. I thought it was the worst travel experience of my life.
I was wrong.
I hopped on another bus at 6 am to Mwanza where my team is staying for the month. I am a ten minute bus ride from the beautiful, parasite ridden Lake Victoria. After being hassled about not being allowed to put our bags on the bus unless we paid a quite unreasonable amount, our new Tanzania friend got us on the bus and we were on our way. I would like to take a moment to describe this bus experience.
This bus is the size of a long distance grey hound. Instead of two people on each side of the aisle, they make the seats smaller and squeeze five seats to a row. We quickly learned that this bus line oversells seats and people bring 30 gallon water jugs and sit on them in the aisles in line with each row of seats bring the count to six persons in a row across the bus all the way to the front. This doesn’t include small children and babies sitting on laps, making the count for some rows about 7-8.
I stand about 5 feet 6 inches. Sitting normally, my knees banged into the seat in front of me. You can only imagine those who are even a bit taller than me had an even more comfortable situation. These seats do not recline, they sit permanently straight up. People in Africa do not move out of the way on buses. You must climb around them. This is especially excellent when the bus hasn’t stopped for 5 hours and you have to pee and your seat is in the back of the bus. I ended up climbing out of the window which is about ten feet off the ground and ripped the seat of my pants to do so because, as I mentioned before, people don’t move out of the way. It’s still a little unbelievable when I think about it. We sat like this for about 15 hours.
Looking back, it truly could have been worse. I mean, it was rough, don’t get me wrong. I had a window seat from which I was able to get moments of moving air when we weren’t flying down a dirt road and filling the bus with dust. However, I honestly wouldn’t trade the experience. Fortunately, at the end of the month I get to do it all over again on our way to Malawi. Woot!
I absolutely am in love with Tanzania. I am so excited to be living with a pastor and his beautiful wife and six children. I was able to introduce them for the first time to American food and traditions. My team celebrated the fourth of July by cooking fried chicken, hunting down macaroni and cheese, baked beans and watermelon for them. We sang them our national anthem before dinner, showed our host family segments of The Sandlot to explain the American tradition of fireworks and baseball and most importantly, how to make s’mores. We then took them outside and made s’mores over a charcoal fire pot. The fourth of July is my absolute favorite holiday and this one was simply incredible. Being able to take pride in being American and sharing some of the best aspects of my country with Tanzanians was an amazing experience they both Americans and Tanzanians enjoyed.
Oh by the way, that chicken we fried, I PICKED it, NAMED it, KILLED it, PLUCKED it, GUTTED it, CHOPPED it and then passed it to Nate who breaded and fried it. It definitely beat KFC for sure!
This month we will be partnering with our Pastor’s church doing Bible studies, youth programs, hospital visitations and choir worship. I’m so excited to continue working on my swahili. I’m trying to make the most of these last days and milk them for all they are worth. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has to teach me this month.
Do keep us in your prayers still
Pray today for
My former squad leader, Michael Sanders and financial provision in his life. This man has poured a lot into the squad and myself and I want to cover him in prayer.
For the work the Lord is doing in my heart.
For no sickness or malaria in my team and squad
Praise the Lord with me
for continued safety
God’s provision
my amazing team: #Winning! (Yep, that’s our name this month)
