Thanksgiving in Tanzania!!

We celebrated our very first Thanksgiving overseas this Thursday!  The other couple on our team and we decided to celebrate the holiday by preparing a Thanksgiving meal as a way to thank our Tanzanian workers for their very hard work this year!  We began preparations on Wednesday as Megan and I attempted to create green bean casserole from scratch....and I do mean every ingredient from scratch....right down to snapping the green beans, making cream of mushroom soup from scratch and trying to hold a candle to French's fried onions......and it was a success!!!

On Thursday we rose early to put our two chickens in roasting bags (not a turkey to be found in Tanzania!) and then Megan started mass producing chopped potatoes.....we soon had three pots boiling on the stove top and thanks to our electric beater, we were able to make mashed potatoes just like our mom's :)

While Megan was chopping, I was taking a stab at rolls....from scratch....for the very first time....at a very high altitude - they didn't rise quite as much as expected, but there were only two leftover, so I think it was okay!  Then, I started in on gravy (not from scratch thanks to some great mixing packets the previous missionaries had left behind).  After about 5 hours in the kitchen that morning, we hurried up to the dining room to serve our 24 Tanzanian workers!

food is ready to serve

Megan and Mike getting things setup in the kitchen

The workers filed in, we prayed together, and then we served them a plate filled with American Thanksgiving treats - we had chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls!!  It was so neat to see what kinds of foods they enjoyed and what they thought was a little weird - the stuffing threw a few of them off, but all were so kind and said they loved it!  After serving our workers, we dug in too and man did it hit the spot!!

some even decided to get seconds!

After eating, Megan and I rushed to the bathroom to change for our SKIT we prepared to tell the Tanzanians about Thanksgiving because many had no idea why we celebrated this holiday.  We talked about the pilgrims coming over and the Native Americans helping them get through the winter, which was celebrated the following spring with a meal to offer thanks!

Pilgrim & Native American

We wanted to show our workers the same thanks for helping us adjust to life here, continually making conversation with us in Swahili to help us practice, and for keeping this training center up and running, covering our ministry in prayer and being GREAT to work with!!  We thank God for them and loved sharing our culture and holiday with them!

Hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The culture of Tanzania is different than the culture in America. Neither is necessarily better than the other. They are different. And yet, each contains both good and bad qualities. Part of the training we do with our church planting students is to have them identify some biblical and unbiblical aspects of their culture. The answer most often given for the good they see in their culture is the respect Tanzanians show their elders. After only a few weeks in the country, we can see that respect is indeed evident in this culture.

During our first lesson of Kiswahili, we learned a very important phrase that we have since used every day here.  When we first greet someone who is older than us, before saying anything else, we say “Shikamoo” and their response is “Marahaba.” (The oo at the end of Shikamoo makes the sound like the o in Omega and Marahaba is pronounced phonetically). The translation to English means “I give you my respect” and the response is “I accept your respect.”  When children first wake up and greet their parents, they say Shikamoo. If grown adults visit their parents, they say Shikamoo. And especially, if we greet someone who is a Babu (grandfather) or Bibi (grandmother), we definitely need to say Shikamoo!

In addition to giving respect by saying Shikamoo, each of the 120 tribes in Tanzania has its own way of respectfully greeting someone. For instance, the Chagga shake hands with their right hand while placing their left on their forearm. In the Maasai, children give their heads to the adults who then accept this sign of respect by touching the child’s head with their right hand. And the people of the Sambaa tribe shake hands and curtsy to offer respect to each other.

Respect is so important in this culture. Disrespecting someone takes a long time to overcome. Thus, it is imperative that we say Shikamoo and learn the different ways to greet each tribe here so that we too can show the utmost respect to our Tanzanian brothers and sisters! 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

We heard it has been snowing a bit in the U.S. and thought you might be surprised to know it has been snowing here in Tanzania as well.....at least in the children's classroom :)

One of our teammates, Wendy, had some fake snow that says "just add water" so as a fun activity with the children, they got a chance to play with it & we got lots of pictures of their first time with SNOW!!  It was so neat because it was even a little cold!

Yosia

Jacquelyn

Shadrach

Ana

AND of course our wonderful teachers also used it as a learning experience for the kids to write their names!

Happiness

Naema 

Charles

Maria

Lights Out!

One thing I never thought about at home in the US was whether or not the power would work when I turned on the light switch. But, that’s not the case here. During our first week in Tanzania, the power was consistently off during the day, but back on at night. We learned that because of the serious drought here and with a lot of power generated hydroelectrically, there is a need to conserve energy. And to do so, they just shut the power off!! I guess that’s one way to do it!

Thankfully, we have a generator we can use if needed. For instance, last week as Michelle was typing our latest email update, the power was off and her computer was running out of battery. So, we switched on the generator and got an email sent out! Or, when we arrived home late one night with guests from the airport and couldn't see anything, we started the generator! To our guests we said… Karibu Africa (Welcome to Africa)!!

Michelle has gotten very good at starting up the generator!

So, we learn to plan for the unexpected. We are strategic about charging the internet device and our computers. We freeze bottles of water and transfer them to the refrigerator to help keep our food from spoiling. We store flashlights in handy places. And, if all else fails, we power up the generator!!