LVLC Around the World

Every semester is different. This is one of the more stretched-out ones!

My co-teacher is in the States on furlough. One family is in Israel, taught by my former housemate with instructions from me. Up until last Tuesday I was teaching six kids in the LVLC building in Musoma. But two are on their way to the Netherlands for furlough. Their mom will finish up instruction for the semester.

So after Easter we start back up with four in Musoma, and the rest spread around the world! All the goodbyes aren't my favorite, but I love living and hearing about the adventures.

Different Views

A couple weekends ago I spent Sunday afternoon with Pascaria and her family. It's so lovely to have a Tanzanian home that feels comfortable. We sat around, exchanging news. We snacked. I felt tired, so they pulled out a mat for me to rest on the floor.

Pascaria took my phone and had fun taking pictures. I took it back and took some photos from my low vantage point. I've spent a lot of time over the years here sitting in that room, often looking out he door to life in the neighborhood, so I made sure to take a photo of the door.

Again, it's a lovely relationship. It was an answer to prayer for a Tanzanian friend, and Pascaria's certainly a friend.

I'd appreciate prayer for her, as she continues to support a large family, that God would be her strength and provide her needs.

LVLC Mural #2

Week two of painting! Despite a small squall, the kids thoroughly enjoyed seeing their design come to life. We're nearly done with the water side. Next to come is the land side.

It's been a fun way to end this portion of the semester. One family is leaving during the Easter break for a furlough, so it's good to have their input (such as monster and mermaid input!) and presence for this indelible project.

LVLC Mural

It all starts with a blank wall and some ideas from the kids about what would make that wall more beautiful. Then there's some planning and gridding of the wall. Then drawing. Then PAINT! (And maybe a little tree-climbing in between jobs.) More to come...

Visitors & Safari!!

My brother and his girlfriend are here for a visit! I met them after their Kilimanjaro climb and we drove across Tanzania through three national parks: Tarangire, Ngorogoro, and Serengeti. It's so fun to share this home with them. And our safari was full of marvelous sites: elephants galore, napping leopards and hyenas, FOUR rhinos (rare sightings!), lounging lions, and more. One of my favorite experiences was eating lunch by a hippo pool, surrounded by bright yellow bird weavers (who wanted our food). The hippos snorted and yawned and floated as we enjoyed the very unique dining experience.

Multiplication!

It's been quite exciting in my first math level of the day lately. Addition and multiplication are old hat. But multiplication!!! That's the coolest thing. One day you're doing repeated addition: 5+5+5+5+5=25. And the next day you're doing pure multiplication: 4x5=20!!

It's a pleasure to see the excitement and learning.

Experience of a Wedding

Last week I wrote Anticipation of a Wedding, and here is the follow-up, in pictures! If you read carefully, you'll see all seven of my anticipations became experience!

Waiting with the choir for the wedding to start.
It started a little late, and went on for 10 hours: ceremony, photos-at-beach, and reception!

The groom meets the bride and lifts her veil to check if it's really her:)
I didn't know that was a custom!

The wedding party dances the bride and groom to the front of the church.
The key to TZian weddings, according to the MC later at the reception, is TARITIBU!,
which means slowly and methodically... So walk slowly, dance slowly, eat cake slowly.
Maybe it's to make the special day last and be strong in your memory.

Mr. Sakwa is definitely happy.

The pastor shares a message. My favorite part was when he told Sakwa that his wife should be as shiny as him;
if he has shiny shoes, make sure hers are shiny; if his hair is shiny, hers should be too!
Somewhere in the sermon is when I saw Mr. Sakwa wiping the tears from his eyes:)

It was good to share the celebration with our other former guard, Jeremiah.

Me and the wedding party.

Wedding photos at the beach! I wish I could show you driving here...
I drove in the wedding procession with the best of them: honking, weaving in-and-out... and I learned:
it's customary to leave your hazard lights on the whole time.

My favorite photo of bride and groom.

Mama of the bride and Mama of the groom. Mama Sakwa and I hung out together a lot,
since I was considered his "dada" (sister).

We danced gifts up to and around the bride and groom.
The reception was full: cake cutting, speeches, dinner (pilau and soda included!), etc...
It was just harder to get OK photos because of the light.