Christmas 2011

The Christmas celebrations started with the staff at WR going to Costa de Sol, a great seafood restaurant across from the beach.


Check out this seafood platter with prawns, lobster, barracuda, calamari and more:


Christmas Day we were in church and then at home with a Korean friend. We forgot to take pictures! We had invited several others but for one reason or another they could not come so there was plenty of food left to eat the rest of the week.

Monday we stopped in to see our Cuban friends. Miss Debora is modeling a dress I made her out of two head scarves (with room to grow into it). I got the idea from the last church team that came. Ladies in the village are making them (and other items)to earn money for another truck for their agriculture association.



Then we were off to a great B&B at a farm in Swaziland. They have lots of litchi trees that are just starting to be harvested. I didn't know they could get this huge!


The hydrangea were also in full bloom. The Afrikaners call them Christmas Roses.


We spent time reading, and walking all over the farm on hiking trails.


On the way home we stopped at a small game park, Hlane. The animals were being shy, or maybe just lazy with the heat like these rhinos.


This dung beetle was certainly being industrious.


The giraffe family was fun to watch and almost close enough to touch as we drove by.


Anyone who has been to a park knows that the impalas are abundant. This time we came across two "nurseries" with very new babies. So cute!


We also saw a herd of waterbuck, wildebeest, warthog, kudu, hippos. It was a great mini-vacation.

Tribute to Steve's Aunt Mary

Steve's Aunt Mary passed away this week at the age of 86. This is our tribute to her - a gentle, wise and caring person who exhibited the fruit of the Spirit.

While I don’t remember the first time we met, I can only guess it was when you and Grandma N. stopped by the hospital in Elkhart to visit the latest arrival in the family. During my earliest years, you helped care for us as you did my other siblings when they came along as well. You were the one that collected the grade school papers and artifacts that others might have disposed of and sent us post cards from Chicago while you were on study leave there.

You came to our house quite often, but visiting your place was an unusual treat partly because of the challenges of getting the group of us corralled, cleaned up and put in the car and partly because there were so many unique things to explore at yours. You took us places that were special and it was special just to spend that time with you.

When you were at our house, there was always a clamor around the supper table as to who got to sit beside Grandma and Mary. Fortunately between the two of you, you had four sides and the majority of the demand was satisfied. Once you even crawled under the table so you could say you experienced what we did to make a quick escape from the corner nook.

After Grandma retired, you drove her to Elkhart 2-3 times a week, where she spent the day and then came back for the evenings events. I am sure it was a challenge to spend that much time on the road. Gas was 35 cents a gallon and US 33 was a long stretch of farm land, but you never complained.

We remember the many times you gave of yourself to the family by working in the garden, helping with homework, typing papers, snapping beans, playing games, encouraging, reading books, giving your time, donations and support and living a life of integrity and love for God and others.

You always had high expectations for us, but you never pressured us. You helped us through the tough patches by believing in us and reminding us that we could do it. You planted the seeds of the love of learning and watered them.

It is with much love and appreciation that we think of you now, hoping that we can be of the same encouragement to others.


Mary is on the left with Steve's Mom on the right.

All in a Day's Travel

Greetings from Mbeya Tanzania. It was an eventful bus trip, but not due to problems with the bus, from Mumba this morning. I arrived dusty with a suitcase covered with dust and something, not sure what, but it smelled a bit fishy. We went straight to a guest house, dumped the clothes that were not impacted on the bed and asked a guard to wash it “very” well. We took a small stack of clothes to the home of my hosts and they are washing as we speak.

I woke up early (5:30) so we could drive about 40 minutes to catch a bus passing from Sumbawanga to Mbeya. One of the mission contacts where I had been staying had pre-purchased the ticket. I was warned that this bus would be full, standing room only, but that I would have a designated seat and the conductor would make sure I had access to it.

When the bus came, I tossed my bag in the cargo hold and got on board. There were at least 10 people that I had to squeeze past, just to get to row 6 and sure enough my seat was occupied. The conductor chased someone out and since there were so many people in the aisle and I did not want to climb over two others, I thought no problem, I can sit on the aisle.

The first thing I noticed was the two babies to the left across the aisle and next, one came over the seat from behind to sit beside me on a young girls lap. This one was a bit older and not too compliant as it ended up fussing for nearly 2 hours.


The bus could not travel more than 40-50 kilometers per hour as the dirt road was pretty rough. There is a major project underway to put in a tarmac road but completion is several years off. The view was not all that interesting, so sleep seemed like a good option. The problem was one of the guys standing ended up with his elbow banging my head or hand gripping the seat where I was trying to rest my head. The bus also kept stopping to discharge and accept new passengers.



At one stop, we picked up two moms with two more babies, who ended up in the aisle right beside and in front of my seat. Five babies within arm’s length could get interesting. I started dozing, and woke up to find the one baby’s back side sitting on my shoulder as its mom tried to shift her weight around. OK, hopefully it won’t get closer. I went back to sleep. Suddenly, I felt someone rubbing the inside of my left knee. I came to, to find the mother in front of me trying to rub something wet and yellow off my slacks. I can only assume it was spit up and not the other end as there was no significant smell.

Since she had been standing for some time, she decided to sit on the floor, jamming my left leg up against the metal seat frame, which would not have been too bad had the road been smooth. However, it took a knock with every bump the bus went over. Of course since the one was on the floor, the other could shift around a bit more and I found that baby’s rear was suddenly in the middle of my chest and his back up against my face. So much for not wanting to inconvenience any one and sit on the aisle. The guy sitting in my seat by the window was sleeping un-molested. We had only been traveling 2 of the 6-7 expected hours!

Fortunately, after 3 hours we took a bush break (this is where the men go one direction and the women another). When I got back on the bus, I told the guy sitting by the window that I wanted to sit there and he obliged. The young girl took the aisle seat and started holding the baby that was so in-my-face and everybody has happier. I am grateful that I did not have to stand for the entire time.

All in a day’s travel. I guess that qualifies for the “willing to endure hardship” clause in my job description that I read sometime back. By the way, my bus ticket reads, “Sumry High Class.” Maybe it is the best thing going!


Roasting bananas along the road.