Roadside Roasted Corn

The Corn Crops in Tanzania are one of the most common sights that you will see during the growing season. Everyone, Everywhere, is growing corn. The most popular way that corn is eaten is through Ugali. The dry corn seed is ground into a corn meal, and then cooked into a hard dough and eaten in the form of Ugali.

Another popular way to eat the corn is is by roasting the corn on the cob. Here are some pictures of a man roasting corn on the roadside. Even after many years of living in Tanzania, I was hesitant to eat corn in this way. I wasn't afraid of the taste but of getting sick. You see this corn is usually always cooked on the side of the road so that the people walking by will have easy access in buying it. If you stand along side a road in Tanzania, you will probably soon be covered with dust, and vehicle exhaust fumes. During the dry season you can see the dust fly up in the air and then land on everything... including the corn roasting along the roadside. Regardless of this fact, I have been curious of what this corn taste like. One day a friend gave us some of the roasted corn. Out of politeness, I put the vision of dust and smoke out of my head and took a bite. To my surprise it was really bad at all. It didn't have a dirt or smoke taste at all. I was pretty bland, hard and crunchy. It tasted nothing like the soft, sweet, taste of corn on cob in America. The kids quickly wanted some, and They Loved It. It is funny what you get use to after living here for a while. Not long after this experience I found myself driving by a roadside corn stand and I was wanting to stop and get some. I thought to myself, "It is hard, bland, and probably dirty, Why are wanting to eat that?" And then I actually answered myself. (Yes, I know, kind of scary that I not only talk to myself, but answer myself) Anyways, I thought,"Well, because it is good, and I like it." Soooo the kids and I pulled the car over and I bought everyone some roadside roasted corn...And it was Good regardless of what I told myself.

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Our Favorite Picnic Spot

Sometimes we like to go out as a family and explore new areas around where we live. One day on one of our exploring trips, we found this place. It is not too far of a drive past the road where you turn onto to go to the church building. This river is the Ruaha River, which is said to be about 300 miles long. In the less populated areas of the River there are crocodiles and hippos. This particular section didn't have these types of animals, but it did have some interesting birds.

 

The water from this river is often used by many people for their everyday water needs.
While we were on our picnic we saw several people coming to the river to collect water in their buckets. Most of these were kids whose daily chore was to collect the water from the river and bring the Heavy buckets back home. They take the water back to their homes for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, etc.








We have only been here once, but I want to go again soon. It even has a perfect sitting rock that we spread our blanket on.

 

A little back from the river was some really large, and smooth rocks. These were perfect for the kids to climb on. This was almost as good as a McDonald's playground. Okay maybe not, but the kids had a blast.

 This particular picnic day was filled with the warm sun and perfect breeze. It had the sound of running water, kids laughing and playing, and the feeling of family fun.

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Water Well

 This is one of the water well foot pumps in our neighborhood. The kids wanted to try it one day when we were out on one of our neighborhood walks. It reminded me of a stair stepper exercise machine. All of the buckets around belong to the other people that were there to collect water. There are may who don't have running water in their homes.

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Will You See Us On House Hunters International ? !!!!

I sometimes participate on expat blogs and make comments about living life in Tanzania. Not too long ago I was contacted by a lady from a television show called House Hunters International. Since we have lived in Africa, without television for the past 3 years, I had never heard of the show before. She wanted to know what our house was like here in Tanzania.

I wrote her back telling her that I didn't know what her T.V. show was about but I thought that our house/life would be perfect... if it was for a comedy show.

I explained that our house is Great, it has everything we need and lots of rooms... But, it also has some African quarks to it. I went on to explain...

Since we have moved in we have had problems with... Bats, Rats, Roaches, Snakes, Scorpions, Spiders, Centipedes, Termites, Toads, Mosquitoes, Flies, Fleas, and even Bees in the chimney.

I explained to her that certain comical highlights of the show could be things such as... Me filling the bath tub up with water and coming back to find a frog swimming around in it.

We have bars on all of our doors and window, and a wooden fence around the yard with barbed wire, yet this didn't deter a thief in the night from reaching through the bars on our windows grabing what ever was in his reach. We hired a security guard to watch the house at night but I would have to wake him up to give him coffee... Before it was even Dark outside. I explained how comical this would be for a show because I actually had to take his security guard stick out of his hand to poke him with it to wake him up. (Since then he has been replaced by someone new.)   :-)

This is one of those things that you look back as being comincal but not when you are going through it.

  

I told her about our wonderfully brown water that comes out of the sink. When bathing the kids or the clothes I often wonder if I am getting them more clean or more dirty.

A comedy scene would be with me starting with a load of bright white clothes in the washing machine and ending with a load of brown, dingy, dirty looking clothes after I pull them out of the dryer.

(True Story)

But we are happy when we have running water, at one point when it wasn't coming very often, we were collecting rain water in buckets. Without water = stinky toilets and greasy hair. 

We are also always thankful when we have electricity, and if the internet is working at the same time, then this is even better.

Another aspect of the show could be the sounds and smells around our house.

Attached to the fence of our house is a little mud home with a Tanzanian man living in it. He has been living there for over 30 years and has no intention on moving. He Really, Really likes to Drink the local alcohol that is make from bamboo juice. He often sings at night.. all night... really loud. His favorite song is one to our dogs, singing their names out loud, which really gets them barking.

Our neighbors are raising pigs, so we get the sounds of them squealing in the evenings when it if feeding time. If the wind is just right then we also get the wonderful pig aroma as well.

And to add drama to the whole T.V. show... we decided to have a baby... in this home... here in Tanzania. Not a recommended option for others, but it worked for us.

After I had sent her the email back, I thought to myself...I should have researched the show to see what it was about first.

Well, I Googled it and found out that House Hunters International is not a comedy type show. It is mainly for others to dream about a luxury home, in an exotic location, for a really good price. Oops.. this wasn't us.

So to answer the question... Will you see us on House Hunters International ? .... Nope Sorry, we won't be "qualified" for that type of show. (I never received an email back after telling her about our house.)

I sometimes wonder what it is going to take to "run us off" from our Mission Work here in Tanzania.

I have to admit there are days when I wish that things were easier, cleaner, or less pest free. I wish that there wasn't mosquito's, that maybe carrying malaria, biting my 4 month old. I wish that my 2 year old wasn't pointing out scorpions in the house, or that we didn't have to inspect the latest snake in the yard to see if it is poisonous. It is sad and stressful to wonder if the neighborhood kids, that my kids are playing with, have tuberculosis or HIV. Our next door neighbor just had her one year old die of tuberculosis. Yes there are days when I just want to pack up and go back to "the American way of life."

But, even with all of the African quarks, we haven't been run off so far. We are seeing the hand of God in the work here and we are seeing all of His blessings in many ways. We are seeing individuals becoming New Christians, we are seeing Growth in others that have been Christians for a long time, and we are seeing ourselves Growing to be more Like Him.

We are striving to focus on what is more importantly Spiritually, not Physically.

So I guess you could say that I am perfectly happy with never having a House Hunters Home.

God told us...

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:20-21

And He also reminds us.. "Love not the world neither the things that are in the world."

1 John 2:15

Let us all remember this as we continue on in our lives... Living for Him.

Bonnie in TZ

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Lessons Learnd From Tanzania

September 2011

Open Your Bible

There are so many Biblical lessons that we are learning as we live and work here in Tanzania. 

The lesson learned this month is: 

Take your Bible wherever you go and be ready to give an answer. It is uplifting to see so many Tanzanian people with a Bible in their hand. As we drive on our way to worship on Sunday mornings you see many individuals with their Bibles in their hands, and some with their Bible on their head. Even though many of these individuals are walking the wrong direction, it is encouraging to see them with a Bible. On more than one occasion I have seen store owners/workers sitting in their shop reading their Bible.

You can be an example to others no matter where you are. On one occasion (while we were worshiping one Sunday in America) I saw a young mother with a newborn in her arms, and a toddler at her side. Her hands were definitely full, yet she was making the effort to get out her Bible and turn to the scriptures. This encouraged me to open my Bible, and not make excuses.

Be Ready To Give an Answer

There has been many times when Carey has gotten into a Biblical conversation with someone when he was "out and about" and needed his Bible. We try to keep an English and Swahili Bible in the car at all times. A few weeks ago Carey got into a conversation with a man regarding religious unity. The man was asking what the difference was between different Denominations.  "We are all Christians, with a different faith, right?" Carey tried to encourage him by telling him that there is only one Faith, and he had his Bible to show him the scripture that teaches this. There are many Tanzanians that have lots of Biblical questions and openly ask. In America it seems that it is an unwritten rule that you don't talk about religious matters. Here it is not that way, a Biblical conversation is not seen as something uncomfortable to talk about.


Missionary Challenge

I encourage you to open your Bible more. Turn to the scriptures when they are being read. Read it each day. I also encourage you to try to start a religious conversation with someone this week. Put it off on me if you need to. Simply say, "Excuse me, but a missionary that we know in Africa wants me to ask people this week a religious question. "Do you currently worship somewhere?" or "What is your religious background?" Just something to start a spiritual conversation. Try it out and Email me to let me know how it went.

Good Luck !

Remember This Goal In Life...

To Get To Heaven and Take As Many People As Possible With You

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Shall We Gather At The River

 

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Around The Neighborhood

The kids and I have made up a song to go along with the bumps. It is to the tune of, Here comes Santa clause. We sing.... Bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bump, bumping up and down, bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bumping all the way to town.




The area of Iringa is rocky, sandy, and hilly. It is really pretty during the rainy season. It is higher in elevation than most places. I Love this because it means that it is cooler. We have pretty great temperature all year round.  

                                                                             

This picture was taken while driving along the road to our house. Notice the charcoal cooker. This is how a lot of Tanzanians cook. I have learned to cook on one when cooking beans. It saves money on gas for the oven. 

 The soil/dirt is different here than where we lived before (Arusha). It is a lot more red and sandy. I actually think that this is nice because the sandier dirt makes things not as dusty. When you don’t have central heat/air, and your house windows are open all the time, this can make a difference. 

The kids and I go for walks around the neighborhood often. I feel completely safe and I think it is a great way to get to know our neighbors. 











These pictures were taken during the rainy season when everything is green and grassy. It is a lot more brown and sandy in the dry season.

A common sight throughout Tanzania is unfinished houses. Our neighborhood is no exception. Tanzanians build their houses “little by little.” One difference that we noticed from Arusha to Iringa is more Tanzanians have larger houses. Renting a one room house is more common in Arusha. I guess this is a difference between a city and a smaller town. We like the fact that when you walk through our neighborhood our house doesn’t look different from the other Tanzanian houses. Our house is the one with the green roof.

Until Next Time...     

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Snakes Alive... but better off dead !

Since we have moved in we have in we have found several baby snakes in the yard. This has make me really nervous for the kids to even play in the yard. This snake was recently found in the yard at night by our miniature Schnauzer. He has been the best watch dog, and guard dog for rats and snakes.We believe that this is the mother to the babies we have found. Sooo hopefully we won't be finding any more snakes, at least for a while.

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