Tuesday, August 18, 2015

August 8, 2015 Update



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!!!!

No comments: