Our new home: Sarfalao

So, you may have heard: we moved!  It wasn't a terribly long move, just across town.  Although it's somewhat old news now, we are finally getting a few pics and some info about the new place up here for your reading enjoyment.  But first, why did we move?  Well, the house that the congregation arranged for us was nice, but wasn't what we would really like long-term, especially after we got a chance to look around here and see what else was available.  We didn't exactly go out looking for this new house, though.  Once we decided to move, we were just casually looking around at new houses being built, and happened to have dinner with 2 missionary couples from different congregations.  At dinner, they both said that the C.O. has been saying for years how much need there is in the Sarfalao Congregation, and how nobody seems willing to move there.  So, with that encouragement, we called the C.O. and explained that we were going to look for a new house, and asked him if we should try looking in the Sarfalao territory.  He very emphatically said yes.  Just in case that wasn't clear enough direction for us, 3 days later the missionary (where we had dinner) called and said the house next to them was available, and it's solidly in Sarfalao territory.  It's a mirror image of theirs, which we loved.  Needless to say, a little discussion and some prayers later, we rented the house next to them!

As you can see, we have a lot of greenery in the courtyard.  That makes it so much nicer to come home, and much more enjoyable to spend time at home!  In addition, even though the windows may not look too large by American standards, by Burkina standards they are HUGE, and let in tons of light, which was one of the things we really wanted.

We have our very own mango tree in the courtyard (and they are yummy!)

As for the house itself, it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and at least three times the size of our place in Alameda!  There is even a shed where we can store our bike at night so it doesn't have to sit in the living room. (Alisa is very happy)

Our bedroom with our new 3 place bed (turns out that's roughly king sized)

With the new place, we could start decorating, and getting all the furniture that we need.  It took a couple months, but we finally have a dining room table now!  The table is 9' long with matching benches to allow for entertaining large groups.  We have managed to cram 12 people around it so far.  And to feed them, we have an actual western kitchen!  Not only does it open directly on the dining room, unlike our old house (where you had to go out the back door to get to the kitchen), but it actually has built in cabinets!  Trust me, that's more exciting than you think.  Oh, and we now have a puppy to live in our new and improved courtyard.  The idea is that he will help guard against thieves... but he seems to love everybody, so he might not be a good guard!

Living room and dining room as seen from the front door

His name is Wolo (Wulu), which means Dog in the local Jula language.
All the brothers and sisters get a big kick out of our choice in names.

As you already read, along with the new location, we are in a new territory and a new congregation.  What is it like?  Well, the territory is a little different.  We no longer have the downtown commercial area, but we do have the full spectrum of residential.  At one end, near our house, is the hotel district, with a few very large hotels and a lot of very large houses.  Service in this area is still good, but not near as many people home and willing to talk.  At the other end, we have "non-loti", which is basically the slum.  People build houses anywhere they can in this area, and usually not too permanent, because someday the city will come in and establish roads etc.  If the house you built happens to be where the city wants a road, your house has to come down.  This is by far the poorer area, because land is so much cheaper there.  Obviously, with that land there are no city services to pay for as well.  And in the middle we have, well, the middle.  All those ranging between the super poor and the super rich.

Where non-loti meets farmland

A road through non-loti.  As you can see, small and simple houses, and bad roads.

As far as demographics, there are many more Catholics and Protestants in this territory, apparently due to a Catholic mission having been established here for many decades.  Yes, we even see nuns regularly.  For preaching, this has pluses and minuses.  It seems like the Catholics are actually more opposed to our work in many cases than the Muslims.  But, it also opens up opportunities because ones who accept the truth often already have a base with the Bible and so progress faster.  Also, the Protestant churches have started teaching people to read and write in the Jula language, so the message can touch their heart in ways that wouldn't otherwise be possible.  Overall, the territory here is just as good as before, and we love it!

Our Kingdom Hall after a recent clean-up day

One of the main roads in Bobo, with the train station visible at the end of it.

One of our close neighbors.  This convention center is possibly the nicest building in all Bobo

Keep checking back, the next post will be all about the languages here, maybe it will even include some videos (if we can get some cooperative friends!)

Gecko wrangling and other African past-times

Let me begin by telling you about our visitor last week.  A gecko about 3 1/2" long had made it's way into our bathroom. Of course, when he saw someone coming, he tried to hide, as he had obviously forgotten to lock the door for privacy.  Well, he ended up getting cornered in the window, in plain sight. Now, I decided it would be good to encourage him to leave, as he's not really a welcome visitor.  True, there's a plus to having geckos around: they eat lots of bugs, which is another thing we would rather not have in the house.  However, geckos also come with a downside: they poop everywhere they go... And since they can go anywhere (the whole adhesive feet thing), that means they poop EVERYWHERE!  Needless to say, this little guy needed to leave, now.

My plan was simple: close the bathroom door so he can't escape and corner him, grab him, and toss him outside.  Unfortunately, I overestimated his girth as compared to the gap under the door....  He quickly saw my oversight and used it to leave me all alone in the bathroom.  After making his escape from the bathroom, he headed for our bedroom, where there are lots of great hiding spots.  My biggest fear was that he would make it into the open closet and use Alisa's dresses as camouflage.  Need I explain why that would be a bad thing?  Happily, I got to the closet door before him, and eliminated that possibility. However, he saw an option nearly as good: under our bed.  This bed only has about an inch gap at the sides, plus drawers built in under the mattress.  So he was able to slide right under the frame, and I couldn't possibly reach him.  So he thought.  As I lift up the mattress to get a clear view, I think "you're not so smart after all!"  That is, until I realize that my hands are too big to fit between the slats that the mattress rests on!  So I can see him, but still can't reach him.  Again thinking I've gotten the upper hand, I pull out the drawers and use a long handle to reach in and try to push him out.  Well, if I go to the left with the handle, he just sidesteps to the right under the frame, and if I go to the right, he sidesteps to the left, all the time giving me a look of disdain as only a gecko can.  It's clear to see that he realizes the advantageous position he is in, and has no intention of relinquishing it.  Again, I'm thwarted by an animal with a brain the size of a pea.  It's about this time that Alisa comes in to see what all the disturbance is.  Of course, she's not very pleased with his choice of hiding places either.  Did I mention that we were about to go to sleep in this very bed?  The idea of sharing our bed with a gecko isn't terribly appealing to either of us (remember how they poop everywhere?), so she joins in the chase.  Soon, the mattress has been removed and she is holding up the slats as I try to get a hand on our little friend.  Again, he escapes!  All told, he has been running me around for about 40 minutes before I finally get him outside the bed frame.  Finally he is in the open!  He makes a run for it, and I jump to follow.  Despite his speed and superior maneuverability, my greater size and determination finally prevail!  After all this, am I feeling very charitable with the little fellow?  Not at all, over the fence to the neighbor's yard he goes!

Needless to say, a lesson was learned that day.  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let a gecko run under the bed!!!

So the title of this post promised multiple past-times, but we don't have any other action packed stories like that for now.  Rather, we can share an experience that is normal in any "developing country", and definitely takes some getting used to.  We call it water conservation.

You know how, when you walk to the sink, you have complete faith that water will come out of the faucet?  That faith gets broken here.  True, by African standards, Burkina has an excellent water system.  They have water towers and meters and pipes all through the big cities, and the water is even safe to drink straight out of the tap (we still filter it, just to be safe).  However, what they don't seem to have is the capacity to keep all those towers and pipes full 100% of the time.  In our first neighborhood here, loss of pressure was a daily occurrence, lasting a couple hours each time.  Since moving, we have been rather spoiled to have water nearly non-stop.  Until 2 weeks ago.  On Wednesday morning the water was cut off.  Not a terribly noteworthy event, we didn't give it too much thought other than being disappointed that we had to use our water buckets to wash our hands.  As the day continued, the disappointment grew, especially as we again had to use the buckets to clean up before meeting.  It's amazing how much more enjoyable showers are with actual running water!  Anyways, not a big deal, as we have a 45 gallon can of water in our shed, just an inconvenience.  However, as Thursday moved into Friday, and still no water, the inconvenience grew.  We had people coming over for dinner Friday night, plus floor cleaning during the day, both of which use water.  You can likely guess, if the water had come back on, this wouldn't be much of a story... Of course, the water stayed off all day!  When our guests showed up, our reserves were at critical levels.  We had drinking water for the night (fortunately most everyone preferred beer!), but washing dishes was out of the question.  And, of course, practically every dish we owned was dirty!  Top it all off by having to take an ultra conservative bucket shower, and the knowledge that in the morning we would have to go out and search for someone selling water, Friday evening didn't end very well.  However, the story has a happy ending.... Saturday morning, we had water again!  So began the marathon dish-washing and water barrel filling session.

Once again, a lesson was learned: the following week we bought another water can, so our reserve is now over 100 gallons.  Not that we want to have another 3 day water shortage so we need that much!

Hopefully you have enjoyed this small taste of life here in Burkina!  As we have come to realize, there really isn't much here in the way of entertainment, so that's why you see us looking for excitement in these "non-conventional" areas.

Tanzania vacation part 2

Ok, now on to the mainland... We spent 4 hours in the airport in the capital, Dar es Salaam.... didn't exactly see the city!  From there to Kilimajaro airport.  As we landed, we had a spectacular view of Mt Kilimanjaro, which was the last time we saw it!  Turns out this is the cloudy season.  Would have been nice to have some pics of it, hopefully some animals will make up for it :)
We started out our safari in Lake Manyara National Park:

No Canadian Geese here!  This is an Egyptian Goose

The Rift Wall.  This is a branch of the Rift Valley, but here it's just one sided.

From here, we drove about an hour, climbing the Rift Wall pictured above, to reach the rim of Ngorogoro Crater.  The lake was at 4000' elevation, the rim of the crater is 7500', quite a little climb for the non-turbo diesel 4 cylinders in the safari rigs!

The first wildlife we saw wasn't even in the crater, it was on the road to the Lodge, which is on the rim

A cold, cloudy, rainy day as we descend 2000' into the crater

Only a few minutes into the Crater, we found a whole family of lions with their breakfast

The wildebeests, zebras and toyotas all seem to co-exist very peacefully

The Ngorogoro Crater is where old male elephants go to live out their days.  There are year-round marshes where they can eat soft grass even after starting to lose their teeth.

The Masai herders still bring their animals through the Crater like they have done for centuries.  See the lion running through the middle of their animals?

Our guide wasn't interested in waking up these male lions so we could get actions shots...

There are only a few rhinos left in the Crater, so it was amazing that we saw 2 within 5 minutes!

And finally, the view from the top of the Rift Wall on our way back to Arusha.

Did we enjoy the safari?  YES!! It's an incredible experience!  True, you can see all the same animals in zoos, but it was great to see them in nature, living just like they were created to live.  We can't wait till the whole continent of Africa is returned to it's original state!

Tanzania vacation part 1

Ok, now for some pictures:

Our first week was spent on the island of Zanzibar, in the Indian Ocean off of Tanzania's coast

The view from our room, first night

Beach-front rooms, Zanzibar

We did a "spice tour", Zanzibar has been supplying spices for centuries

Zanzibar wildlife

On a tour of rainforest

More Zanzibar wildlife

Boardwalk through mangrove swamps

Mangroves up close

Tim and Chris watching the moon rise

Shopping, Stone Town, Zanzibar

Chests for sale, Stone Town
(Maybe you have seen one like these in our house?)

View from the roof-top restaurant at our hotel in Stone Town, Zanzibar

We spent our last day on the beautiful beach at the north end of Zanzibar

Keep watching for the next post, the 2nd week, spent on the mainland going on safari!

Hospitality African style

In every story, there are stories hidden within the story.  These hidden stories are the pieces that make up the whole story, but they don't always stay hidden.  Isn't that the reason for things like "blogs", to uncover all those hidden stories?  Sometimes, they should have remained hidden, being of very little interest to anyone!  Hopefully you won't feel that way about this story.....

It begins with a family vacation, 2 parents, a daughter and her husband.  This family took an amazing vacation to East Africa, visiting world renowned sites in Tanzania, as well as a brief visit to Ethiopia.  Later on, we will tell the story of the whole vacation.  But, for now, there is a story of hospitality.  We could call it African Hospitality, but it's actually much more than that.  It should be called Christian Hospitality, because it's something rarely experienced outside of Jehovah’s organization.

So the scene is set, our family is visiting the English congregation in Arusha, TZ.  After the meeting is finished, we hope to join the group in field service.  As it turns out, only the WT conductor and another brother are going out, and the WT conductor (a local brother) insists that we all join him at his home to eat a small lunch, "whatever he can find" as he says.  So, of course, we Americans imagine sandwiches, something simple.  We are very happy to accept and hop in his van to go to his home.  On arrival, he puts all the brothers to work helping him heat water for coffee and tea, as well as heating food.  Once it's all on the table, we find that it's not something simple.... It's a traditional meal, which his wife had prepared for the family before going out of town.  Rather than conserving this food for himself and his son, as intended, our brother lovingly heated it all up to feed 8 people.  Was it offered grudgingly or with hesitation? Not at all, it was his idea and at his insistence!  We couldn't help but think of Lydia in Acts 16:15, who just made them come.  And of course, our brother didn't stop there, but insisted on dropping us off to meet some friends.  To him, allowing us to take public transport or a taxi was unthinkable!

The story may seem to be finished, but it's really just beginning.  Let's change the scene to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Our family had been planning to spend 36 hours in the city between flights, but has nothing confirmed due to airline changes.  Do we know anyone in the city?  Just 2 people, who Alisa knew 7 years before, but hasn't seen since then.  She was able to finally get in touch with them, just the day before we arrive in Ethiopia.  They said that they would see about arranging a tour guide/driver for us, what a relief!  Our plan is to meet them at some point during our short stay, and maybe have a meal together.  Well, to our surprise, they were waiting for us at the airport!  It's incredible to see friendly faces waiting at an airport halfway around the world, where we don't expect to know a single person!  What is more, they came to our hotel, made sure we were settled in, had dinner with us that night, and even insisted on paying for it!  At this moment, we started to get an idea of "Ethiopian hospitality"....  That idea was confirmed th next day.  The arrangements for a driver included a personal chauffeur, who happens to be a pioneer and commuter Bethelite, a tour of the branch, and lunch at the branch!  If you have ever visited a branch, for example in New York, you go with the expectation that you will be encouraged, right?  Of course, that's what we thought, but by the time lunch was over, we felt like all 85-90 Bethelites had been encouraged by our visit.  It seemed like they all came over to meet us, and were so happy to have random visitors from another country.  We felt like traveling overseers or some kind of celebrities!  But the hospitality didn't stop at Bethel.  Our driver not only showed us around town, but helped us find a place to stay for the night, after our arrangements fell through.  Then, he and his wife took us to dinner, along with the couple who had met us at the airport.  And, what a dinner!  Authentic Ethiopian food, along with a traditional music and dance show on stage.  Finally, our driver took us back home, and even picked us up at 6:30 am to go to the airport!  Far, far beyond what he was hired for, or even just common courtesy!

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and all the hospitality, and will have fond memories from it for years.  But, it really made us think as well.... How hospitable are we?  Would we have expended ourselves and inconvenienced ourselves like our brothers and sisters did?  Hopefully, the answer is yes.  However, we can't help but acknowledge that our western idea of hospitality is often much more self-sparing than that.  Sure gives us something to work on!

As a footnote, if you are thinking "what about some pictures?", those will be coming soon in a separate post.  We thought it would be more interesting to break up the story, rather than deluge you with a novel!