Summer Vacation-- Midway

Burj Khalifa displaying World Cup score.

This is overdue I think. I generally try to give a weekly update, although I am less inclined to do so on vacation, as we are visiting many of our readers. Also, for anyone who has come home for a short break from overseas. you know how over-programmed each day can be. We are about midway in our summer vacation at this point.

The first 10 days seemed like a whirlwind. But it is worth trying to go back and recount some of it, if for no better reason that being able to read over it in the future. Our journey home was a bit of an adventure in itself and may be pique the curiosity of others. We have been planning this vacation for over 6 months because getting on the work calendar and securing some kind of reasonably priced plane tickets takes quite a bit of planning. We spent a long time looking for a good deal and finally found one on Air Emarates. It involved a hop from Arusha to Dar, then another longer flight to Dubai, where we would be laid over for 10 hours then board a gigantic A380 (double decker plane) and fly to Dulles in 15 hours non-stop. It was daunting but the price was right.

We also decided that it would be fun to have a look around Dubai as long as we had a long layover. We knew it was the shopping capital of the world and wanted to see what it was like. We had to leave our house about 5 in the morning and got a cab to the airport. The first 2 flights were on an airline called Fly Dubai, which was by far the most cut-rate airline I have ever flown. the plane was a very old 737 on which nothing seemed to work. (In terms of all the in-flight entertainment.) It also needed a paint job. We only saw the flight crew pass through once, and offered no service unless you had pre-paid for something. The saving grace was that we were 4 of about a dozen people on the whole flight. It kind of reminded me of those Las Vegas flights that are super cheap to get you to the casinos. (I took one once for a job interview.)

The comparison to Vegas did not end there, because Dubai is like a super-gigantic version of Las Vegas (without the casinos.) It might be hard to imagine Las Vegas as a small provincial kind of town, but that is how it seemed. Like Vegas, Dubai is built in the middle of a desert. I don't even know how they create enough fresh water for it, but it has the feeling of a lush oasis, despite the 110F temperature we landed in at 6pm. I have to say, I have never seen anything that looks so big, super modern, and yet entirely Arabic. Every detail of architecture. It was like being on another planet.

It is also a very odd juxtaposition of traditional and modern, especially evident in the clothing of women there. Many were dressed from head to toe in  black burkas, completely covered. Others wore cut-offs and sleeveless shirts. All of them usually had noses buried in a cell phone or tablet.

We decided to take public transit, which was very nice to the Dubai Mall. But we were constantly flumoxxed about where we could stand. As a man, I was often in a separate section of the bus of subway from Rebecca and the children. It was also rush hour which made staying together tricky.

We finally got to the Dubai Mall which was like nothing I have ever seen, in terms of size. (And I have been to the Mall of America in MN!). The place had ice rinks, cinemas, and an aquarium the size of the largest tank in the National Aquarium in Baltimore, complete with sharks and numerous other sea creatures. Every brand name store in the world had an outlet there. The Apple store was 3 stories tall.

But the biggest attraction was right outdoors as the mall was right next to the Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world at 2700+ feet is over 1000 feet taller than the new One World Trade Center building in NYC. We were there in the evening and it offered an astounding light show that included all the fountains in the large ponds that surrounded it (gushing millions of gallons of water), and the tower itself had special effects lights from top to bottom. I included a short video clip at the bottom. The whole place is so absurdly excessive, it really has to be seen to be believed.

We returned by metro to the airport and got on our flight. Since the plane was so gigantic I was expecting that the flight would not be full. I was very disappointed to find that not only had every seat had been filled. But our family was not together. 3 were in one row, but we did not have the 4th seat. I sat in the row behind in the very middle of the middle with no aisle access. It was quite uncomfortable because I like to walk around on long flights but the guys around me were like logs and never moved-except begrudgingly-when I asked. Despite the more than 300 movies, shows, games, etc, available, it was not a good flight for me because I got sick on the way--fever, chills, cough. I arrived with a bad cold.

One of the problems with a flight that large, happened to us. Since there are more than 850 people on board, if 1 person has a problem, the flight cannot leave. That happened on the runway, someone was having heart problems. So the plane had to turn back to the terminal. Getting a medical crew then off-loading the person and also their baggage took an hour and a half and the plane also had to refuel. So we had to add that time to our 15 hours. I basically put myself into a state of suspended animation that I have learned from riding a very crowded bus for 16 hours across the Serengetti from Arusha to Musoma. I arrived feeling quite worn out and sick.

Building a bird house

We stayed up the first day since we arrived in the morning, and by the time we fell asleep we were able to sleep through the night. So we got on schedule pretty well. Our first full day was a Friday. The kids were thrilled to be here, we were picked up by Rebecca's mom, Jean and we stayed at Dave and Jean's house in Fallston, MD. We had dinner with my parents the first day at their retirement apartment, and it was good to catch up with them as my mom had been having issues with her eyes. They also gave us use of their Honda Fit which has been a Godsend to get around in. It was great to see them. David and Oren immediately got busy doing things they love to do on Grandma Jean's 'farm' including harvesting vegetables; David started work immediatly on building a bird house; berries were picked, kids helped with chores like washing the van, and driving the tractor mower.  A trip to nearby "Annies Playground" a neighborhood fixture close to Dave and Jean's house was also de rigeur on day 2.

My presentation at CCIH

Despite being sick, I spent the first two days attending a conference. It was the annual conference of the CCIH (Christian Connections for International Health). I actually planned this as two work days to extend our vacation so it was not unexpected and was very satisfying to be part of. It is always inspiring to be among some of the great pioneers of global community health. (Including my father who was there as well.) I was honored to present a paper on MCC's work in maternal and child health in Ngorongoro conservation region. It was very well received as some of the funding comes from a donor who was in attendance. I was very happy to have been able to get some data from clinics just days before I left as the project is fairly new and we are waiting to see results. The conference lasted 2 days and I felt very affirmed about the work we are doing, and inspired to see many projects at a much greater scale that are being done by Christian health and development organizations around the world.

My brother Jonathan and his wife Emma and son Fletcher arrived from Nashville on Saturday. We caught up with them on Sunday at church. (We went to North Baltimore Mennonite Church-- our home church on the first Sunday back.) It was great to catch up with many friends, and no one enjoyed it more than the cousins: Miriam, Oren, David, Gabriel, Fletcher. On Sunday evening we had a big Birthday gathering for Rebecca and Oren (who had had Birthdays), Rebecca's brother's family, my brother Jonathan's family, and both our sets of parents were there. It was a very nice reunion and we grilled a ton of salmon and corn on the cob and asparagus--things that we cannot get in Arusha.

Grandma Jean and kids
at aquarium.

We spent the rest of the week with my brother Jonathan and cousin Fletcher. Fletcher stayed the night with us at Rebecca's house several days. Going to the National Aquarium on Tuesday and Hershey Park PA on Wednesday were among the highlights. The aquarium was one of our favorite places to go when we lived here and it was great to see all the exhibits, pet the hermit crabs, and rays, gape at the sublime, gorgeously lit jelly fish exhibit , and cringe at the toothy sharks slowly circling in their gigantic aquatic rotunda, inches from our faces.

Oren and Fletcher
in line for roller coaster.

We took cousins Miriam and Gabriel with us to Hershey Park the next day. We spent about 13 hours of the day there from 10 am to 11pm. It was a blast for everyone. I even tried all of the most crazy daredevil roller coasters. I have to say, the technology has changed a ton since I was a kid and it takes nerve to be willing to strap yourself into a seat for most of them. David enjoyed the water park area the most which is quite vast as well. We ended the day with a trip through a model of the chocolate factory, then headed home and got back after 1am.  It was a hard drive back. Fortunately I was pretty wired after all the roller coasters.

 At the end of last week, we spent the last 2 days with my brother Jonathan and Fletcher (Emma had to go back early for work) at a house on the Chesapeake Bay. This was a place generously lent to us by Rebecca's cousin Dan (who was also a childhood friend of mine). It was a beautiful waterfront property with a dock. We had a very relaxing 2 days there, reading, playing games (Werewolf), swimming, kayaking, and fishing. Fishing was excellent off the pier and David loved to use his little net to catch minnows, then use the minnows on a hook to catch bigger fish. He caught a half dozen fish easily as he is quite a natural. We actually went swimming at a nearby beach as jumping in was possible right in front of the house, but there was quite a bit of sea grass there. We did go kayaking right off the pier as that was not a problem for the grass in the water.

David picking blueberries

We returned Friday night and had pizza with my parents at their retirement apartment, with Jon and Fletcher as it was their last night there and they left the next morning. David still had the fishing bug on Saturday and we went out to the little Gunpowder near Rebecca's parents' house to try to catch some trout. Rebecca and her mom took a very long walk in the woods in the area as well. What was amusing, was that we did this all despite a steady rain that fell the entire day. No one really seemed to care about gettting wet as it was not too cold.

Saturday evening, we made a move. We packed our stuff and came over to Rebecca's brother's house (Paul and Gwendolyn). They were going with their kids Miriam and Gabriel to a softball tournament somewhere down south and left us their house for the week. It is great to have a place to ourselves for a change, but even better, it is in our old neighborhood, about half a block from our own house which we are renting to some Ethiopian friends. It is good to be able to do some things we like in the old neighborhood. David immediatlely ran down to the stream and started catching minnows. We took them out dutifully to Loch Raven, a favorite fishing reservoir and tried to catch some bigger fish. It was not going badly, but we did get rained out again after about an hour.

We went to church again this past Sunday and Rebecca ended up leading music because of someone being sick. It was good again to see many friends, especially because people are in and out in the summer. We had lunch with the Stutzman's whose kids Jacob and Lizzie were some of Oren's best friends. They had a very good time together.

David Jack and Hallie

We have plans to meet with friends every day this week, pretty much every meal. Oren is currently playing with Roman, another neighborhood friend while David visits Jack and Hallie, two kids who lived across the street.

It is quite interesting to see how much children change in their age groups, everyone has become much taller and more mature. I am also struck that despite the difficulty. The move to TZ has been good. Oren and David did well in school and were able to make new friends there. I also see that many of the things that they had taken for granted or even treated as rights here, are now seen as the privileges and opportunities that they are. I hope, when we return for good in 2020, they can remember the simple things that are good here, like friends, family, sidewalks, properties without walls, playgrounds, parks, and long summer evenings.

Bonus Movie, Burj Khalifa light show