Final Sunday

Sunday, March 24, 2019

We won’t talk much about yesterday, as it was a day with lots of serious sorting and packing. First, I had to decide which items we were leaving behind in storage for next year, which items we could fit into our suitcases, and which things we would give away. The big purple box of basic housekeeping items we leave here was soon almost full, and I still need to fit in our Tanzanian phones, internet connecter, and surge protectors. Otherwise, we are in better shape than I thought we would be; there will be ample room in our suitcases for what we need to carry back to Spokane. So, by day’s end I felt very gratified, but also extremely hot and sweaty.

Mid-afternoon, we had a huge surprise when Sydney and Emanuel showed up with trays of food.  Mama sent us a huge plate of grilled goat meat, a large portion of ugali, and two kinds of relish to enhance the meal. It was too early for us to have dinner, so we set the goat meat and ugali in the oven and put the relishes in the refrigerator. At 6:00. all three of us crowded around our table and had a feast. The goat ribs were absolutely delicious, especially when eaten with the accompanying tomato and onion relish. MaryLou, who doesn’t like tomatoes, had an okra relish which she said was “okay.”

This would be our last Sunday at ACC until we return next January, so I prepared myself for many good-byes. There were also things I wanted to pass on to Margaret Kenyi, Terry Morton, and Sharon Mkisi. I only toted Margaret’s bag to church, as I knew we would be with Sharon and Terry for lunch again. If Margaret cannot use all the tops I gave her, she will pass them on to one of her student’s mothers who runs a second-hand clothing stall. MaryLou also had a bag of clothing for Margaret. After the service, there was a round of goodbye hugs with my homies and others I have gotten to know better this year. Strange as it seems to me, I am the one who is behind technologically and must learn how to use WhatsApp in order to keep connected to friends here.

Sunday's flowers were gorgeous.

I gave this young woman the Best Dress Award for the day.

After all the after service mixing and mingling, John, MaryLou, and I rode with Sharon for lunch at Andrew’s a new place for us. Terry and Chantelle, the French donor to Albino Peacemaker’s. took a cab to meet us there. This was a new place for us. It’s another former big home which has now been converted into a restaurant in an outdoor garden setting. The service was a bit uneven, and the menu seemed very limited, but there was more than enough to select. We ended up buying one and a half grilled chicken to share among us all, as well as mishikaki for everyone except Chantelle.  We all got excellent small salads with our meals, and John and I shared an order of chips, while Sharon and MaryLou had fired bananas. The meat was superbly spiced and there was more than we six could eat. We three brought back the leftover chicken and mishikaki to have for our lunch tomorrow.

Our last Sunday lunch together for 2019

After, lunch, Sharon brought us back to Kundayo. Then, we gave her a couple bags of things for Terry—books, sunscreen, etc.— and a whole 500 grams of very scarce butter we had hoarded and not used for her. We also passed Ngaisi’s layette onto Sharon, who will pass it on to her friend Diane, who is the director of the hospital in which Ngaisi is to be admitted for her delivery.

I really worry if Ngaisi will actually make it to the Kivulini Maternity Hospital here in Arusha since she lives quite a way off the highway up near Longido. The only way she can get to the hospital is to ride on the back of a piki-piki (motorbike) over very rough terrain to the highway and then travel 40 more miles to the hospital. It’s difficult to imagine a very young, first-time mother in labor managing that all on her own. We need Elizabeth!

During the latter part of the afternoon, I puttered about doing more packing and trying to catch up on some of my photos and blogging. However, when I went to post on the internet, there was a notice that my Smile hotspot was out of data, The internet here at Kundayo is too weak and sporadic for much posting of text and even worse for photos. So, my last blogs will likely need to sit inside my computer until we are back in the States. We leave tomorrow evening and are scheduled to land back in Spokane at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday. While I am eager to see family and friends again, I am not looking forward to readjusting to the time change—a flip of 10 hours—and much colder weather. My future garden is a great incentive for me to think positively about leaving Arusha for the next nine months.