New Slide Show!

My Picassa slide show, shown to the right, is full of fresh photos, showing what I've been up to with school, family, and friends these months before departure!

My goal is to update the slide show at least monthly when I'm in Tanzania.

Pros & Cons

The principal at my new school, HOPAC, recently sent us new-hires a letter. He was giving us a heads-up on the things we can expect in Dar, both pros and cons, so none of us are taken unawares. I thought I'd share:

Pros:
• Electricity
• Internet
• Swimming pool
• Whitest beaches with bluest sea, nearby
• Supermarkets
• No McDonalds or Burger King (Why did he list that as a con?!)
• Amazing sunsets
• Stunning butterflies and cute geckos
• Long handshakes
• Participation in all of my students’ day, including art and PE time
• Staff meetings are prayer meetings
• God and prayer in the classroom

Cons:
• Electrical outages
• Quality of internet connection at times
• HUMIDITY
• Traffic… roads behind advance of car ownership
• In-stock items fluctuate at supermarkets
• Language barrier
• Malaria
• Filtering water
• Less planning time during school hours, so more hours overall
• Queueing… he said he would tell us what that is later… I think it has something to do with waiting in lines…

Biking & Packing



Me and my whale bike...
replacing the Mermaid Mobile!

I just got back from a lovely biking trip on Orcas Island, WA with my now-ex-roommate, two of her friends, and my brother. We had a lovely time together, going up and down hills, eating some very healthy and tastey meals, and even swimming in a lagoon!

 Now I'm with my family in Vancouver, WA. One month from today I will arrive in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania! A little packing and other planning issues are in order, but mostly I'm looking forward to time with family and rest.

Packing.







Zoo-er-ific!!!

Wild drumming in the African villiage!

Flamingos strutting their stuff.

 I had the pleasure of going to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle this Memorial Weekend, with eleven of my favorite people! My house-mate, my brother, my close Sunnyside friends and their two kids, and my dear Gid Harbor friends and their four kids all met at the zoo. We loved the flamingos, copying each other in every wing flap and head bob. The tropical house had real live orchids growing on logs. My brother and I fed the giraffes. There was time to spend with each person, enjoying the sights and catching up. I'm so blessed with friends and thankful to have this time together before I leave... and look forward to the  the support and communication while I'm in Tanzania!

A Good Day

The lovely park and a duck.

I've had some hard days lately. I got sick, missed work and hung out with myself a lot one week. Also, hearing sad stories of deaths and troubles in the world darkened my days a little more. Then, my insufficiencies impacted me more than usual... unkindness, lack of wisdom, lack of boldness. I'm sure all this was compounded with the stress of packing and leaving all my family, friends, and comfortable known life...

Anyway, I had an opportunity to spend some time in the park by my house, presenting all my worries to my Father... in the way any child having a bad day does--with tears. God met me with a peaceful knowledge of His presence and His goodness, even when the world IS sad and I am NOT perfect. I wrote a poem... not a common activity for me. Here it is.

A Good Day

sorrow anger fear
crying
in the park
everything in me is wrong
as is in the world
yet still
Light shines on my closed eyes
and irises grow yellow
God is here
all is not good
but I offer my cares
one step around the park
at a time

friends' answered prayers
God's Spirit
on and in
an earthen vessel