March 3, 2011 (IE: the worst travel day in the race so far)
4:00 AM: Wake up to leave for the bus station at 4:30.
5:00 AM: Arrive at the bus station, and find out that the bus we had hired (a 2 by 2 semi-luxury bus) was broken down, and we would be taking a bus that has 5 seats across with no room to move, and seats that felt like they were made with wood covered with cloth.
6:00 AM: Supposed to leave, but we don’t leave until 6:40
8:18 AM: Finally make it out of the city, and stop for gas and to use the toilet (a hole in the cement).
9:00 AM: Take Ibp to help my back…not sure how I am going to make it another 6 or so hours
3:00 PM: Second toilet stop, and are able to stretch our legs. Don’t get me wrong, in between 9 and 3 we stopped. We just stopped on the side of the road to pick more people up on the overly crowded bus, or to for who knows what.
5:00 PM: Arrive in Iringa. Praise God!
As you can see it was an awful, uncomfortable and painful day. None of us were happy, and were in a pretty bad mode. But, I tried to dwell on praises instead of the bad things of the day as we sat on the bus for 12 hours. There were many blessings to be counted, and it helped take my mind off of the situation. For instance, as we left Dar Es Salaam it was cloudy, and for a good portion of the trip the sun didn’t make an appearance (of course, when it did my left arm that was squeezed against the window turned tomato red but that just means the farmer tan on the arm is gone!). The drive was absolutely beautiful, and as I was finishing reading Return of the Kings I felt like I was journeying with Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, etc. The region is very mountainous and filled with meandering rivers-this by far has been the most beautiful scenery. I loved seeing God’s creation no matter where I looked, and for a good portion of the trip I just stared out of the window. And because of the mountains, it was cooler outside. I did not roast in the bus like I had on the journey from Kenya to Tanzania. Thank you God for putting me in an area that is cooler than Dar. At one point we were winding our way the mountains with a cliff wall to my left and a sheer drop off on the right (like in NZ, mom and dad). All I could see was the wall, but on the wall were beautiful, brightly coloured lizards in hues of red and blues-almost like a sunset.
One of the biggest praises that I could think of was that one of my best friends from Houghton lives in Iringa! That means I get to see a familiar face, the face of a friend I didn’t think I’d ever see again. In college we would talk about TZ, and that perhaps one day I would be able to visit her. Of course, I never thought that would happen. And now here I am! I am so excited to see her, and cannot wait to give her a huge hug.
When life is giving you a bad day look to the praises and blessings in your life-they are there if you look hard enough. I have a friend who is very sick and the doctors do not know what is wrong with her. She has a bad day almost every day and hasn’t left the house for almost 2 years now. Yet, she still has the joy of the Lord in her. One thing that she does when she is able to write (as her body is wracked with pain) is to keep a blessings book. When she has a particularly horrible day, one where there doesn’t appear to be much hope, she looks in the blessings book and remembers all that God has done for her.
