Retreat and a Very Full Advent

Golf loving baboon spectator

This weekly report is feeling more and more like a an act of obedience. This could be due to the fact that the kids being out of school means they are going to bed later. We have been playing games and reading an Advent devotional story every evening. But by the time they drift off, I can barely keep my eyes open.

The last week began with an MCC team retreat at a place south of the town of Moshe. The place is called TPC and it is a gigantic sugar-cane plantation and sugar production factory. In fact the whole town seems to be a complete bi-product of the sugar cane factory. They have their own railroad, post-office, medical center, and seemingly unlimited access to scarce resources of electricity and fresh water.

TPC, perhaps because of its access to these resources also has a small resort on the backside of the sugarcane factory. It is quite vast and has beautiful gardens populated with flame trees (currently in full bloom), frangipani, lillies, and vast flower beds of perinniels. They also have a pool, tennis courts and, almost flaunting the extravagance of water, they have a very nice, well-irrigated, 9 hole golf course. It is quite beautiful and almost has the feel of a vast oasis in the otherwise dry savannah.

Our team, which included Sharon, our country rep. Chrispin, our ag coordinator, Neema, program administrator and her 3 children, Lucia, our finance officer and her two girls, our family,  and Zoe, our SALT volunteer. To support us we also brought Amina and Johanna, the two German volunteers at the Tanzania Mennonite church (they did child care), and Pat and Joannie, a couple who have been her about a year supppting an Eastern Mennonite Missions family that are working here. Pat and Joanie were our reflection-time facilitators. We were 18 in all going down in a fleet of 4 MCC vehicles.

We arrived on Monday afternoon without incident, and got settled in on Monday evening. On Tuesday we had worship and a time of reflection after breakfast. Joannie had some interesting team building exercises including one where 4 of us had to try to stack up cups using string. We were not allowed to talk to each other. It was quite amusing and thought provoking as well.

Tuesday, after worship we played a game with the kids in which a group of people try to move a hidden stuffed animal down a field without revealing who has it to the person who is it and can make them freeze. In the late afternoon, after a swim, we returned to the golf course and we all played a round of golf! The club had all equipment for rent and the caddies and greens fees were quite cheap. Under $10 per person for everything. We went out in a number of parties and had an adult with every kid. David and I had gone out first and to my great shock, David was not a bad driver at all. He could hit pretty well and we moved through the course more quicly than I thought. He did poop out at hole 7 and we went right from there to hole 9 to finish up, but that was more than anyone else managed. One nice bonus of the golf course is the view of Mt. Kilamanjaro behind hole 4. It is also like a mini safari as the grounds are teaming with vervit monkeys and some baboons as well.

I think everyone had a pretty good time getting to hit the ball around. I felt like it was something I could improve at quite a bit given the chance to play more often. I am thinking maybe it is something I could take up here in TZ since it costs much less to play than in the US. And our caddie, who was a great coach, only charged about $2.50 to accompany us on our 9 holes. (He also had the clubs we rented.)

David relaxing back at the clubhouse

On Tuesday evening we played a game of Greed (also called White Elephant by some) in which we select presents one at a time and may 'steal' gifts from other people when it is our turn to choose one. These kinds of games are often a bit awkward in cross-cultural settings, in my experience. I did notice that the Tanzanian children seemed especially reticent to take a gift from another person. And David, who plays this every year seemed almost heartless when he would swoop in to get something he wanted. Despite some slight awkwardness though, it was quite amusing. Rebecca had purchased all of the gifts in advavce instead of having people bring them and she has made some selections that were particularly appropriate to people. Zoey and Sharon both ended up with very nice dresses, and I got a very cool Kamba shirt.

Rebecca and I took some nice long walks around the grounds and golf course in the morning on Wednesday before worship and reflection time. In the afternoon the kids enjoyed swimming in the small pool, then we had crafts including finger nail painting and watercolors. Adults and kids both seemed to enjoy these activities. The watercoloring was definitely something that had come from retreats Rebecca and I used to do in Burundi. (Rebecca was in charge of preparing the music as well as many of the activities we did.) On Wednesday evening we set up our projector in the outdoor lounge and watched Zootopia off of our computer. It was like going to a movie.

We left on Thursday after lunch. The food there was generally good as were the accomodations.(We did have a small ant infestation in our room, but they never acutally bothered us.) We got home in the late afternoon and took the rest of the day easy.

Friday was a work day, and since we have been getting all of our quartelry progress reports in over the past week, it was very busy for me. Friday evening we did our Gymkhanna routine although it was packed due to a Christmas party there. We finished the night off with a double feature of 'Merry Christmas Charlie Brown', and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.' There are still a few more classics we need to watch this year. (Polar Express to name one!).

Saturday we had a long over-due choir rehearsal to get ourselves ready for the big Christmas Lessons and Carols service this Friday. We really needed to go through a number of these sings, but they are starting to sound pretty good. We made Christmas cookies Saturday afternoon because we were invited to MCC Country Rep. Sharon's house for a Christmas party Saturday evening. We were told to bring some favorite holiday food, as well as a song or story to share. Rebecca and I worked up a nice duet and David sung The Friendly Beasts as a solo. There were a number of expats there including the two German young women who did child care for us. It was a very nice event which we had to leave earlier then we would have liked because the kids were getting tired out after a few hours.

Sunday was a bit insane, as there was a huge Sunday School Christmas party but the head teacher was very sick and could not come. Rebecca found herself in charge late on Saturday and had to squeeze in a quick shopping trip for food and beverages as well as works up some activities and music on a powerpoint. I was there to help with all thing technical.

Fortunately the teacher had planned to have a special guest come in and do a puppet show. It was very amusing, which was good, because there were about 50 kids in attendance that day, and keeping them in their seats for over an hour proved challenging.

We were exhausted when we left but had planned a very special afternoon treat. We went and saw 'The Last Jedi' which was playing in 3d at a new movie theater in town. In a word, it was AWESOME! We all loved it and talked about all the way on the long ride home.

When we got back to the house I pulled in the driveway and saw a hedgehog run into the garden. David promptly jumped out and caught it. Although they all look alike, this one was a dead ringer for 'Quiver' the one David set free. We kept if overnight, fed him some cat food, which he ate happily, then escaped out of his enclosure during the night.

Life is full here, and often amusing, for that I have no complaints.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all a good night!