Holidays (again!)

David and the newest calf in the barn

 Eid Mubarak!

It’s another holiday in Tanzania, finally officially announced last night at 7:42 pm. That’s the trick with Muslim holidays: you really can’t make serious plans around them because they could always be delayed if some imam somewhere doesn’t get a sight of the moon. Anyway, we’ve got two more days with kids home from school (right after a week of half-term holidays last week!).

I just came in with the kids from a good activity that David came up with: we carried a soccer ball and frisbee down to the field on our compound to play a bit. On our way, a bunch of the Tanzanian teachers’ kids who live on the compound also spotted us. It was fun to just kick the ball around a bit with some of them and lend the frisbee to the others to help build their Ultimate Frisbee skills. We don’t often have good ways to connect with these little kids but playing with them in the field was a good activity for all of us.

Petting puppies

And then there’s spending time in the barn: another thing that David has been loving during his holidays. For now, there are six funny looking puppies being kept in one pen. They are flea-ridden and kind of dirty, but still a lot of fun to cuddle and pet. The two older cows and three younger heifers are also fun to interact with – as much as you can with cows! And then there’s a month-old calf who has stopped being so skittish and loves David to get in her pen with her, so that she can lick or eat his clothing. The three older guard dogs sleep in another part of the barn during the day but are happy to wake up to have their ears scratched. And there are also chickens. And large rats. And the smell of a farmyard in the clothing that follows us home. 😉

Last week during the holidays, I was able to take two lieu days to be with the kids. Poor Paul was in the office all week, trying to finish up a research paper on Maasai women’s delivery decisions. 

Lego robots

One morning I picked up the boys’ friends Sammy and Harry and took them to do two hours of coding and building Lego robots. Then they had some time hanging out at our house, playing games. 

On another day, Oren went to visit his school friend Abraham while David came with me to a ladies’ bible study. 

And on Friday, we met some of our family bible study friends at a great local playground. It was so nice to have a time to talk with the ladies here and there, in between tending to the toddlers. 

Our kids really like the fried fast food they can get at IBES. and I was also able to take some measurements of the safari car we hope to install in our church playground, in memory of the Sunday school teacher who died suddenly last December. 

Lake Duluti

Our past weekend also included a nice afternoon trip to Lake Duluti. Oren and I opted to walk around the lake.

I always enjoy just getting to talk with Oren without pressure. I learn a lot from him about movies and video games, and what he does during his electives at school. He asked me to explain the origins of ISIS. 

Meanwhile, David and Paul bought some worms and fished for tilapia. They caught many, up to 6 inches long, but released them all.

On Sunday, after a busy morning at church, we took Paul to catch the shuttle bus to Nairobi. He is there all week, attending an MCC conference for staff involved in health projects. We are a bit jealous of him getting to stay at the Mennonite guesthouse there – a location we love! But it’s also not bad to be here and just keep things going on the home front.