The Much Awaited Arrival

After the week long unexpected vacation, I was rather excited to arrive in Dar and begin whatever it is that the Lord has called me to do here. Cathlen and I decided to arrive at the airport very early so as to have a greater chance to sort out the location of our baggage. After talking with many people and receiving a variety of different answers and information, we were finally assured that our baggage had been tagged for our day of departure and it was definitely on the plane. After hearing this, I was also pleasantly surprised to see on the flight schedule TV that our flight was indeed not cancelled and even better still, was actually on time! :-) So, Cathleen and I boarded our plane last Thursday evening at 7:20 PM for a 9.5 hour flight of virtually no sleep and great anticipation for Africa.

Upon arrival, a lovely man came to help us sort out our visa/residence permits with his working knowledge of Swahili and we were soon through the gates to baggage claim. The funny thing was- our four bags that were definitely on the flight were even more definitely not there! We were rather disappointed about this since we had already lived out of our carry-ons for a week, but we headed to the baggage inquiry desk to wait and process a report. While we were waiting, however, a major blessing and provision of the Lord occurred. One of the men at the desk yelled for both or us and told us that they had been storing our bags for the last four days beacuse BA had mistakenly sent them early! We were SO excited to see them (and even more excited to see the mold that had grown on some of our clothes from being stored for four days in a non-air-conditioned room with a humid climate! :-))

Anyway, we retrieved our bags and began our journey to our house (45 minutes from the airport). The drive from the airport to our house was even more sobering than I had expected. There were two things everywhere: people and garbage. The houses were delapitated beyond words and the 45% unemployment rate was evident in the number of people milling about. Children were sitting atop the piles of garbage selling bananas or cellphone minutes to try and achieve any means of providing food for their families. Since arriving here, I have been told that the average income here is $600/year and that most Tanzanian families are lucky to afford 1 meal per day. Let's just say that this is a very different world than most of us have grown up in.

In addition to the poverty, the driving is CRAZY! They drive British style (aka in the wrong lanes!), but even worse than that, they create their own lanes or drive into traffic until the last minute. Pedestrians (and chickens, goats, cows) also run right out in front of cars! I am so glad that I do not have a car and am not responsible to drive here! :-)

After all of these observations on my way from the airport, we arrived at our house, which is extraordinarily nice! I must confess that it is a bit difficult for me to live in a house of this quality and watch our next door neighbor live in a one room shack with a family of at least six. I know that we can come into 3rd world countries and live in the houses of the upper echolon because of the exchange rate and our general wealth in comparison, but I feel very strongly on the whole that doing so can often impede our work here. I do not want to be another rich white person who comes in to "fix" their country without living their lives. I also do not feel that this is the example that Paul or any of the disciples lived. However, at this point, I must believe that the Lord has blessed us with this house as a reason- either to be a blessing to others, a lesson to us, or more than likely both.

Well, that was a bit of a tangent, but essentially, my first day included wrestling through issues of poverty and wealth and how I fit into them in this place as well as meeting more people than I can count. The most important ones for the day were, however, our other roommate, Emily, who did a lovely job setting up most of the house before our arrival, and our neighbors Jess and Laura.

Since that day, there has been a lot of grocery shopping, a lunch by the Indian ocean, some market shopping, some banking configurations, a HOPAC tour, lots of visiting with other families, and getting to know our house guards, one of whom is a Massai warrior and wears his costume while guarding. One of these days we will check out the beach nearby. I keep hearing the Muslim call to prayer and my heart cries out to quicken the settling process and really delve into the work that God has called me to here. However, I know that the Lord values waiting and preparing and so I keep giving this time to him as a time to observe and learn, to grow in my knowledge of the culture and Swahili, and to prepare my heart, mind, and body for all that lies ahead. Thank you for your continued prayers!