I've been
in Tanzania for over five weeks! Time flies when you're busy prepping for a
wedding and all the other celebrations going along with it. It's been good,
full and this email has the potential to be quite long as much as has happened.
I will try to condense as much as I can, but also want to be able to share the
wonder of it all so grab a cup of whatever you like to drink and enjoy!
Last I
typed to you I was helping prep for the Send Off on July 20th. The celebration
on the Wild Hope land for the neighbors & others in the Arusha area. That
went so well considering ALL the factors that needed to come together. The
melding of so many different cultural ways of celebrating & feeding them
all. Guesstimate of the number of people was 150. They were able to sit and
talk or play games down the way as they waited for the program to begin. I would
describe the first part of the Send Off as catering towards the expatriate (one
not living in one’s native country) crowd - the music especially. Then after
the crowd had been fed East African music was put on and the Tanzanian side
came forth in colorful rhythm. I had so much fun watching the Wild Hope staff
dance the bride & grooms cake to them, moving in only the way an African
rhythm can get your body moving and playfully feign delivery before passing it
back through the line behind them. Such downright fun. So, many came together
to make this event go smooth with bellies filled! Skyler & Justine - the
cause of the party - were bestowed with gifts and left knowing they were loved
loved loved.
Post the
Send Off we prepped to travel to Maasai Land for a precious time with these
dear folks, who my brother’s family has been relating with for decades, to
bless Skyler & Justine. 26 of us went out in 5 cars - a coming together of
the two families for this occasion. The lead car pulled a trailer which set out
pace. We lunched beside the dirt road sitting in chairs and using the hood as
our buffet table. The ladies room was across the road :-). We landed at dusk to
a camp already set up for us by Leighton (my 17 year old nephew) Noeli &
Ezra (two of the Wild Hope staff). So nice to have hot water ready for showers
and our tents ready to go! The last part of the road could almost be called a
road and does its best to adjust your spine in ways it hasn’t moved recently
:-). The distance is about 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) and took over 4
hours!
Friday,
the next day, was the day of the blessing. Our camp woke up and prepped for
anything as the different cultural styles made their self evident. Originally
the blessing was scheduled for the morning, but ended up being mid afternoon.
It was a wise blessing committee that had us go ahead with our lunch - we
heated up what was meant for our supper - as it would have been quite a long
time between breakfast & when we would have eaten. So, good to be able to
go with the flow and enjoy Skyler, Chase (his brother), Justine & Celeste
(her sister) dressed up & bejeweled by the Maasai.
The
ceremony started with Justine and the women being driven up the hill to be
prepared for Skyler & his crew walking up the hill to come get his
intended. Picture Justine and Celeste in a dark Maasai dwelling getting decked
out for the occasion. Solar lights were used to illuminate. Skyler arrived and
entered the dwelling with gifts for her 'parents' - an older Maasai couple
acted like Justine's parents giving Skyler a hard time about not deserving her
and why was he worthy of her. Once they had harangued him enough, in their
playful manner, they moved on to giving advice. Best one that I heard was,
"When she's carrying water don't call her a 'donkey', but help her."
Sound advice for any couple starting their life together :-). They also said to
both of them to have eyes only for each other. They then came out of the
hut and Skyler shared some tender words with Justine's parents. We then proceeded
down the hill to the Wedding blessing location with a choir leading us. About
half way down another choir met us coming up the hill and what seemed like
'battle of the choirs' began. It was great fun, lots of joy and laughter. At
the end of the journey Skyler, Chase, Justine & Celeste made their way
between the leading choir and to seats waiting for them under a shade tent.
Solomon Kipi & Peter Kukan then proceeded to lead the ceremony with much
shared by all parties. Then the cows came out and the Maasai shifted their
focus to those lovely creatures. Chase pointed out the heifer that he was
giving Skyler, Skyler pointed out the heifer that he was giving David Owens,
Justine's dad, and then the cows took off in terror due to the extra attention
given them. All in all Skyler & Justine came away very rich with 1 bull, 2
heifers & 7 goats! What a lovely time of celebrating with these dear people
who are so joyful. I felt so privileged to be a part of this precious time.
That evening we capped the day off with playing charades around the fire. There
are numerous ways for families to bond and get to know each other!
The day
after I got back, Sunday July 26th, from Maasai land I got hit with a
stomach bug and had to lay low for a couple of days. I was very happy with the
way my body was able to fight and bounce back from it. I was back up and
running by Wednesday and so appreciative of feeling better.
Thursday,
July 30th, I headed out with the gang to the wedding location at a golf club on
a sugar plantation near Moshi about 94 kilometers (58 miles) from Arusha and
takes about 1.5 hours to drive as it is mostly on paved roads. Moshi is the
town at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro. The bride and groom had planned for the
families to be out there a couple days early to have some down & together
time before the big event. It was nice to have that plan in place as it forced
me to get ready earlier and then have some time to rest up. I stayed in a
lovely room - felt quite pampered. It was nice to enjoy walks along the golf
course in the mornings with vervet monkeys frolicking nearby. The structured
man-made oasis quite a contrast to the locale a week before in Maasai land and
yet each meant to be. Friday morning Skyler asked if I would be their wedding
coordinator for the wedding day as illness rendered the one they had asked not
able. I gladly said yes and donned my Strategic Event Coordinator hat I had
worn while working for Wycliffe. The LORD has built me for times like that
& I enjoyed myself thoroughly with it not feeling like work at all. What
fun was had at the rehearsal dinner that was an Aussie BBQ. Good to have a
taste, literally and figuratively, of that culture that flows through Justine's
blood – she’s Australian / Canadian.
Saturday,
August 1st, the day of the wedding, dawned with overcast skies & looking
like it was going to rain. The wedding was scheduled for 2:30 that afternoon.
My prayer was for overcast during the wedding - so the lighting would be sweet
for the pictures- and then for the sun to come out as well as Mt Kilimanjaro
afterward. It was overcast for the bits that needed overcast in the morning and
then the sun came out, but not the big mountain. I share this weather report
because it is special to serve a God that cares about those little details. The
ceremony was precious and well planned by Skyler & Justine. Embedded in my
mind is Skyler's joyous, tear-stained face as he watched his bride-to-be coming
down the rose pedaled strewn path on her father's arm. I cried at many points
during the ceremony. It was good to worship together, to hear words of wisdom
from both fathers (very impressed and proud of the words my brother shared!),
watch them take their first communion together, watch them weave three satin
clothes together into a wedding braid representing the strength of a 3 corded
strand: the two of them & Jesus, hear their parents blessing them in prayer
and have them dance out as Mr. & Mrs. Russell to the song 'Signed, Sealed,
Delivered - I'M YOURS' through bubbles blown by those in attendance. The rest
of the evening consisted of 'Bitings' (local lingo for Hors D' Oeuvres
:-) for the guests while the family took pictures; convoy over to the
reception site; lovely meal; lots of toasts; a flash mob of the bridal party
& parents doing a dance; sending the bride & groom off through a
somewhat successful tunnel of sparklers and then carrying on dancing after they
left. I climbed into bed feeling very full of gratitude to my Maker for helping
the day go so well. The next day as I journaled all that took place I was in
awe again that it went so well! Thanks for your prayers.
The next
day, Sunday, August 2nd, we had a leisurely leaving as only one of our party
had to get out of their place by 11 am (thanks Aunt Dorothy for doing that
gracefully :-). Nice to pack up slow, journal, have a time of worship and
eat slow before piling into the cars to head back to Arusha. I had a blast with
my twin niece and nephew playing 'Hinky-Pinky' (fun rhyming game) &
Mastermind (a word riddle game). The time went fast which is nice as so much
time is spent in travel here as the roads are prone to give way to dirt &
slow you down.
On
Monday, August 3rd, we said good-bye to 6 of our party! Skyler & Justine -
the newlyweds - came by for lunch with us and then were on their way to the
Seychelles for the rest of their honeymoon. Chase & Amanda (nephew &
wife) & Jake left to go back to SoCal and Aunt Dorothy left for Ethiopia.
That left six of us to enjoy a few more days with Tammy's dad, Larry. Tuesday I
had a 'crash day' of resting while the rest of the gang went out to enjoy the
Wild Hope land. Wednesday we took the day to go to Tarangire Game Park which is
about 119 kilometers (74 miles) 1.5 hours southwest of Arusha. The animals came
out for Larry -- giraffe greeted us just past the gate as well as zebra,
wildebeest, impala, stein buck, waterbuck, eland, elephants, vervet monkeys,
baboon and 5 lions! Tarangire boasts a wide variety of birds as well. Most
unusual experiences of the day were 1) being surrounded by elephants - they
came by the car and could have been touched by us! You never want to come
between a mother and her young elephant child, but we had one mother choose to
go on one side of us while her baby was on the other. Fortunately she didn't
see us as a threat and continued to graze on the grass near our vehicle AND 2)
a little bird pecking off insects as he clung to a giraffe's leg. I could sit
for hours and watch the antics of these creatures God had fun creating. Each
gifted in their own way to cope with the life before them.
Thursday
we had a tearful farewell as Larry departed and then went to have some
Ethiopian food! All of us still here, my brother - Peter, his wife - Tammy,
their daughter - Sianna and their son - Leighton AND I are in awe as to how
these many events not just came together, but all met their intended purpose
beyond our expectations. A weaving of the various parts of both Skyler and
Justine’s lives. The Send Off - a celebration of those in Arusha –
neighbors and friends. The Maasai Marriage Blessing - a celebration with
those who Peter & Tammy have had relationship with for years and years able
to bless the couple in their heart language and with their traditional pattern.
It also was a blessing as those Maasai invited to the wedding were not able to
attend due to August 1st being the voting day for the local election
that James Kukan was running in. That date was set post the wedding date being
set. They wanted to support James and support they did – HE WON! The wedding
a celebration for the families near & far and friends to join Skyler &
Justine as they 'tied the knot' of marriage. Thank You LORD.
Wow, I
warned you this would be a long one. I have a feeling that my next update will
not be as verbose and might be more towards what 'normal' life in Arusha,
Tanzania is like. The twins are home from school until the end of August so
there will be some vacationing as well.
I hope to
get some pictures up on my blog which has been inactive for about 5 years! Keep
a look out on the site below for pictures. Do be patient as it takes internet
time to upload pictures and the internet tends to be sporadic. No need to sign
up for anything though they will want you to if you want to leave a comment -- you
can just email me your comments :-), Here's the site:
I'll end
with the profound advice already mentioned above -- let's not call each other
'donkey' and help each other!!!!
