Being English

At the end of last year I read a book that opened my eyes, made me laugh (many times) ... and made me understand a little bit more about why I think the way I do! I can't even count the number of times that I wanted to read Mark extracts from it!

Are you English? Are you English and work with people from other cultures? Do you know anyone who is English? Then I can't recommend this book enough. It was suggested to me by an American friend who is married to someone English and I even think it was something that was mentioned as helpful to look at when we were at All Nations, for those living cross-culturally.

Anyway ... it is called Watching the English, it was written by an English anthropologist, who has spent a lot of time living in different cultures throughout her life. She was able to analyse the English culture, while also having an insiders view! Hilariously insightful and sometimes painfully accurate! Making me question why on earth we do some things and giving me an understanding why other things seem 'normal' to us and downright weird to others!

From pub-culture, to queueing, to how the different classes spend their money on weddings ... and of course the magical powers of a simple cup of tea, Kate Fox analyses and sometimes uses behaviour that is counter-culture just to test peoples reactions! 

Below are just a few of the extracts that put a smile on my face ...

"My queue-jumping experiments were the most difficult and distasteful and upsetting of all the rule-breaking field-experiments I conducted during the research for this book ... just the thought of queue-jumping was so horribly embarrassing that I very nearly abandoned the whole project rather than subject myself to such an ordeal."

"... when you examine English queues under a social-science microscope, you find that each one is a little mini-drama - not just an entertaining 'comedy of manners', but a real human-interest story, full of intrigue and scheming, intense moral dilemmas, honour and altruism, shifting alliances, shame and face-saving, anger and reconciliation." 

"Tea is still believed, by English people of all classes, to have miraculous properties. A cup of tea can cure, or at least significantly alleviate, almost all minor physical ailments and indispositions, from a headache to a scraped knee. Tea is also an essential remedy for all social and psychological ills, from a bruised ego to the trauma of a divorce or bereavement. This magical drink can be used equally effectively as a sedative or stimulant, to calm and soothe or to revive and invigorate. Whatever your mental or physical state, what you need is 'a nice cup of tea'" 

This last week I've had a couple of conversations about it with some other Brit friends ... hoping it can make you smile to!

Visiting "Home"!

"Home" has changed for us over the last few years, Dorset, Ohio, Dodoma (the next place is yet to be determined!) ... different places, different continents, different cultures. We try to make wherever we are living, home. A place of comfort, escape, security, family.

We also have our home country and home culture. For most of the family it's England, although for Abigail, she only lived there for one year. Technically Naomi's home country is America, as she's never lived in England but realistically she won't remember living in either places!

In fact, for the foreseeable future the only time we will be "Home" is when we are on Home Assignment, travelling backwards and forwards, visiting friends and supporters, speaking at different churches ... it's not really home. We enjoy seeing everyone, we enjoy eating home comforts, we enjoy visiting familiar places but to be honest, we also enjoy the end when we can return and relax!

At the moment, it has been over a year since we've been "Home" to the UK. During this time of waiting on our future, with the changes in MAF Tanzania, we don't know when exactly that might come either. Whenever it is though, it will be a BIG undertaking.

Earlier today I read an amazingly honest post about the dreaded Home Assignment time ... The Naked Truth About Deputation: Can You See Through My Eyes? If you are going on deputation, or are welcoming someone back on deputation from working overseas, please take a few minutes to read this. It really does feel like this writer describes to the family who is travelling around visiting. When people view it as a break, as a holiday, as a time away from work ... think again!

Rainy Days

The English are known for their talk of weather. The English are also very used to grey rainy days!

This last week or so the rain has been coming fast and furious. A big relief to the local people especially the farmers. While it has come a month or so later than expected, the rains are finally here in Dodoma ... making some roads a lot more difficult to negotiate!

While this next statement may seem a little bizarre to my Brit friends ... the rain is a very welcome relief! A relief from the hot glaring sunshiny days that are much more typical. Instead of being depressing, it's almost both comforting and refreshing to see looming grey clouds, feel the slight chill of a breeze and run around in the heavy downpours of rain.

On Saturday we had just one of those days. The power was off, the skies were grey, it was much cooler than normal (I even wore a sweatshirt, not because I needed to but because I could ... and there really is a difference!) and the whole family were still in pyjamas at 10am playing board games by the light of battery operated lamps! It was wonderful! 

By mid-afternoon the four of us were under a tent of four chairs and a sheet, sipping water from teeny tiny tea-cups and eating apples and biscuits off small plastic plates.  An indoor tea-party picnic, what else?!

A day of old-fashioned family fun in weather that reminded us of 'home'. It's amazing how comforting and wonderful it felt and how sometimes you realise that even though you've having the time of your life, you also miss things about home more than you really think you do!

The "Long-Term" Missionary

Today I want to introduce you to a friend that I have got to know since returning to Tanzania. Rachel Morgan works for SIL translating the Bible here in Dodoma, in the Rangi language. (In fact, her offices are right next door to our house!) She is from America, married to an Englishman, they have a gorgeous 3 year old son who is from Taiwan and they all live and work as missionaries in Tanzania. A truly international family! Rachel is a self-proclaimed blog stalker but doesn't write one of her own. Today however I managed to convince her to write a post for me!

The single most challenging thing I face as a missionary is the constant flux of people who come in and out of my life. I have been a missionary in Tanzania for almost 6 years and that is definitely considered a “long term” missionary where we live. I can’t even count the number of close relationships that I have developed in those 6 years. However, sadly, most of those people are no longer living here in Tanzania and some are no longer missionaries. You are probably asking, “why are so many people coming and going.” I think the answer to that is that being a missionary is hard. It is hard being away from family and the culture you are familiar with. It is hard working with people who have a different worldview and language.

There are 3 types of missionaries:

1. Short-termers - These are the people who come for 2 weeks - 1 year. I enjoy this group of people as it adds a bit of flavor and social variety to the scene. These people I enjoy because they are so passionate about what they come to do and find it all such an adventure. These people are full of questions and I love showing them the ropes of culture and language. However, lately I find myself wondering whether or not I should invest in those friendships given they are going to leave.
2. Planned Career Missionaries - There are people who, for one reason or other aren’t able to stay long-term. This is the most challenging group of people for me. These are the missionaries who say they will stay for many years and then suddenly, they leave. The reasons for leaving are vast: illness, stress, broken relationships, challenges in working with national partners. These are the people that I go deep with fast and then end up feeling a tremendous loss when they leave. These people are committed to the work but circumstances change for them and they have to leave.
3. Long Term Missionaries - These are the people who stay for 5+ years. The interesting thing about this group of people is, that it's the people you don’t think will stay for a long time. Often this group of people struggle a lot up on arrival, but end up staying for a long time.

I am a self proclaimed extrovert. I absolutely love being with people and despise being alone. The challenge for me is the pain I feel when people leave. I keep telling myself I won’t get close to people unless they are long term but I never know if they will be.

Fortunately missionary friends are not the only friends I have, I also have a few very close Tanzanian friends. These relationships sustain me in a lot of ways. God provides for us with “family” when we don’t have our families near us.

I think it is important for friends and family back “home” to understand what their missionary friends feel about relationships. We love our friends back home, and yet we feel so far away from them. Cards, packages, and emails mean so much to missionaries.

To brighten their day, send an email of encouragement to your missionary friends. It will cross the distance and encourage them in so many ways!

Road Trip!

Today, for the second time this week, as a family, we went on an eight hour road trip!

Nothing is close-by here. Dodoma has the basic stuff, it's not totally rural but it's not like 'home' either ... whatever that is anymore! To get to somewhere that vaguely resembles the majority of our UK or US life experience to date we have to drive for a whole day!

The scenery is both breath-taking and heart breaking. Amazing vista's and landscapes, mountains, dry dust devils, lush palms, small businesses, mud huts. You see wealth and poverty, thriving businesses and people striving to make a living. There isn't a stretch of road where you won't find someone walking from A to B ... even when there is no obvious A or B for miles around! We even saw a random pig wandering across the road at one point.

The traffic is quite something else too! You can drive for 5 or 10 minutes without seeing anything or anyone ... then there are stretches when multiple crazy kamikaze bus drivers try to overtake you in the face of other oncoming crazy kamikaze drivers! Loooonnnnnnggggg stretches of the road are straight but you can be assured that the only time you need to overtake anyone there will be blind bends and limited visibility! 

The speed bumps are quite something else (a more recent addition from when I last lived here) ... some of them are seriously vicious! The state of the road itself always makes me chuckle! It's a main road, or should I say the only road from Dar Es Salaam the commercial capital of Tanzania to the actual capital, Dodoma. However, for the most part, you would be forgiven for not recognizing it as such!

For us as a family it is out route 'out'! To escape the dust of Dodoma, the small close community, the humdrum of the basic every day stuff ... even if it is just for a few days. This week the girls were superstars the whole way there and back which is just as well as this journey is going to get incredibly familiar! Not one of the pluses of living here but not all that bad either ... you just have to get on with it, especially as that is our main route in and out of the country when it comes to airports both for us and for visitors!

Life Skills

When preparing to move overseas on mission with a family there is SO much to consider and make sure you have made preparations for.

Visas, medicines, injections, contact addresses, appropriate clothing, language learning, the kind of culture you will soon be part of. The list really is endless!! Some of these things are just as relevant for short trips abroad but when you're committing to years of service or moving permanently to somewhere new, it is so much more involved.

Some missions have 'pre-field' training, some don't. Some people have theological training. Some study business models if helping with development. Some just come without studying at all!

I met my husband at All Nations Christian College. A Bible college, which specialises with 'Head, Heart and Hands' preparation all with a mission focus. All taught by tutors who have had experience in mission overseas, amongst students who have had varying levels of mission experience too.

We learned SO much there. Bible training, yes. Encouraged to grow spiritually, yes. But do you know which part has been of the most practical use ... the 'Hand' element, learning different life skills, things we take for granted because they are just available in the 'real world'. Photography and powerpoint for presentations and newsletters, basic dentistry, cross-cultural cooking, hairdressing, car maintenance ... and so much more. 

The day-to-day stuff was so useful and made me think a little bit out of the box when packing up to move too! Recently, I have been grateful for my knife block and my haircutting scissors. 

Meat gets presented to you in all shapes and forms, sometimes unidentifiable! Not pre-packed and cleaned with a label telling you exactly what it is ... sometimes it is a real guessing game, trial and error! I have to admit the quality of the meat that we've had has sometimes been better than what we could get in the UK and the States but my ability to deal with/cut up/prepare and cook different meats is really being stretched. I'm sure a beginners course in butchery would definitely be good preparation for life out here!

Having lived here for 7 months now, my hair has really grown. The nearest hairdresser is ... wait for it ... about 8 hours drive away!! So, this weekend I dug out my hair cutting scissors and got busy! The pile in the picture above was from 'Round 1' ... there were two more rounds after that! Grateful that my hair has a natural curl so that chip choppy cuts aren't too obvious, I was actually really pleased with myself once I finally stopped. My hair is a LOT shorter ... maybe even shorter than if I'd been to the hairdressers but it actually looks pretty good and I've had lot of compliments ... and surprised faces when I've admitted to doing it myself!!! (I didn't even do the hair-dressing course when we were at All Nations either!).

These are just two examples of the added extra's of life out here ... there are SO many. It certainly makes life interesting. You just have to take the attitude of giving anything a go. It may not always go quite as you imagine it will, but you have fun in the process and the learning curve is HUGE!

Extra Special

Once or twice in your lifetime your path crosses with someone truly extraordinary. 

I consider myself lucky enough to say that 6 months before I was born, my family moved into a house next door to one of those extra special people and she has played a huge part in my life over the last 36 years. She has always been there for us and us for her.

Betty has been family to me ever since I can remember, she took me to Sunday School when I was just 2 years old and has prayed for me diligently ever since ... in fact I often 'blame' her for being where I am and doing what I'm doing right now (her prayers are that good!)!! With no blood family of her own, she has been part of our family for my whole life!

Sadly for us, this weekend she became one of heavens newest recruits.

To imagine life back in the UK without her, is to imagine something that doesn't seem possible. When you think of Betty you think of someone who just keeps going and going ... she was only a couple of years away from receiving a telegram from the queen on her birthday. She was a keen gardener and used to deliver flowers to and 'look after' her old ladies who were often a decade or two younger than her. The week before she died she was still in her garden and the day before, she went out to lunch with my mum at the local garden centre.

While she never left the UK (she didn't own a passport), in fact, she barely left the south east of England. Her prayers reached the ends of the earth. Not just for me and my family but also for several other missions and mission partners. Some of whom like me, as children went through sunday school with her as the teacher, something she did for decades teaching different generations within the same families. Leaving a legacy that goes way beyond words.

Yesterday trying to explain death and grief to Abigail who is not quite 5, was interesting. We were talking about Betty and when I told her that Betty was up in heaven with Jesus (which beyond any shadow of a doubt she is!), Abigail was quick to ask 'Is she happy?'. Without hesitation I replied that yes, she was very happy. Again Abigail was quick to respond with 'If she is happy than why are you sad? She's in heaven with Grammie, one day you will be there too and then I will join you and we'll all be together again.'

It is so simple really when you see it though a child's eye. But it doesn't make grieving for someone so loved any easier, especially at a time when as a family we're so far away. Heaven is rejoicing right now though as our loss is their gain ... and they most certainly gained an extra special angel in Betty!

Signing Up For Change

Today I want to introduce you to one of the Missionary Mum's that I have had the chance to get to know since we moved to Dodoma. Liz is English and a primary school teacher back at home. Her husband is from South Africa and is one of the MAF pilots based here in Dodoma. They have 3 children, Joel is in Naomi's circle of friends, Ben is in Abigail's class and Esther who is only a little bit older, is another friend that Abigail enjoys playing with! Liz writes her own blog 'Tales from Tanzania' too, all about the adventures her family are having which includes insights of what day-to-day life actually means to all of us here in Tanzania but today she write for me ...

As a starry-eyed newly-wed back in the UK in 2003, I had no idea what I had signed up for, as my new husband and I agreed that we wanted to serve God together. How could I realise back then what kind of an exciting, but at times terrifying, roller-coaster-ride God had planned for us?

At that time, we were living in central London, I was enjoying a full-time teaching job, great social life, wonderful church and was within easy reach of family, I had no idea that within 9 months, Andrew and I would be homeless, jobless and facing an uncertain future in a far-flung country! I had to learn that God is a God of surprises- opening up unforeseen opportunites and leading us on adventures far beyond any I would ever have imagined!

A few months into our marriage, Andrew and I had responded to a call at our London church, St Michael's Chester Square, to commit ourselves to follow God- whatever or wherever He may lead us to. Around the same time, we were praying seriously about a new career path for Andrew, a change from the office jobs that had made up his working life to this point. So it should not have been too big a shock when a MAF magazine plopped through our letterbox "out of the blue"- randomly redirected from an old student address I had once had. Andrew picked it up. He had never heard of MAF, so he was surprised to learn about their ministry. "Look at this" he said, "a way to serve God with a practical career! I think this is something I could do...."

And the rest, as they say, is history!

We left our home and jobs in London and went to South Africa where Andrew trained as a pilot and built up a further 2 years work experience. We moved back to the UK to apply to MAF in 2009, were accepted and moved to Tanzania later that year. This path to serving with MAF has been full of change. In our 9 years of marriage, we have lived in 8 different homes over 3 different countries, gradually adding more family members on the way! We were relieved to "settle" down in Dodoma and enjoy being part of the missionary community with our 3 children.

However, I have discovered that living in one place as a 'Missionary Mum' does not rule out change! Being part of the caring missionary community in Dodoma means that friendships we build often run deep: our friends become like family as we support one another in a foreign culture, far, far away from our actual families. Then, one day, your friends announce that they are leaving - our lovely next-door neighbours moved to Uganda, another family who had become very close to us moved to Sweden, another family to America and another good friend moved on to Kenya ... We cried and we grieved. It seemed unlikely we would see them again. 

God, in His mercy, sent new families here - so we all adjusted, our children have bonded with new friends and as Mums, we enjoy being together with our kids and as families. We are grateful to count Jenny, Mark, Abigail and Naomi as our new friends and were so excited to welcome them here! But now I am conscious that my own time in Tanzania is limited and one day, our family will be the ones to move on, probably to another country, as the need for pilots varies from place to place. More change. It will be painful: it will be scary: in other ways, it will be exciting. The only certainty we can really count on as Missionary Mums with MAF is this fact: Nothing Stays the Same!

For this reason, I am learning the great value of the verse below. Within this life of change that I signed up for all those years ago, there IS one true constant - my Best Friend and my anchor: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever." Hebrews 13 v.8.

Missing the Milestones

We've been here almost 3 months now. That's a quarter of a year!

In that time there have been many significant life events happening for friends and family. Parents of good friends of mine have died, there have been weddings, births and literally everything in between. And we've missed it all!

In fact just this last weekend, one of my cousins got married, another went wedding dress shopping for next year, my best friend throughout school announced she was expecting her fourth baby and another good friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!

Life goes on at home when you leave it all behind. I use the term 'home' loosely because our family and friends are literally spread out over the world. There is absolutely no way had we been in the UK (our real home country) that we would have been able to be part of all these events anyway as most were spread out enough across the world that it would have been impossible. Being so far removed from everything out here can sometimes feel like we're missing out though. 

The reality is, that our family are also achieving all the different milestones here while we're away too. Naomi was born in the States, Abigail started school in Tanzania, to name just two. Those closest to us are missing out on our lives as much as we're missing out on theirs.

The internet has helped us to keep in touch and up-to-date a lot more than the first time I lived here. I didn't even have a email address of my own in those days. Now we're sharing photos backwards and forwards, just minutes after they are taken (like the one of me and my girlies above!). Or talking face-to-face via Skype, something I introduced Maria (our house help) to the other day ... she couldn't believe it was possible!

Missing the milestones is one sacrifice of the missionary lifestyle, that you don't always consider when you're preparing for a life overseas but thanks to modern technology we are no longer so far removed from everything ... or waiting anything from 2 weeks to 2 months or longer for news to arrive via snail mail. Missing out hasn't been something that has adversely affected any of us so far and we're 4 years into our MAF/mission experience as a family and counting, so that's definitely something to be grateful for. 

Congratulations to everyone who has been celebrating exciting stuff recently ... we're definitely there in spirit, if not in person!

Brunch

This is the second week in a row that we've had a Bank Holiday here in Tanzania. Last week it was Friday, so we got a long, 3 day weekend and this week it is today, Wednesday.

We thought it would be fun to have a full English Breakfast style brunch (who doesn't like to indulge in one of those from time to time!) and invite a few of the teachers from Abigail's school to celebrate having the day off. It was lots of fun, the food was delicious and it was a lovely opportunity to get to know some of the teaching staff at CAMS (2 Brits, 2 Aussies).

When I lived here in Dodoma as a teacher, I really appreciated my friends at MAF. Whether it be just to escape to the other side of town away from the teachers compound and everything school related, to be in a 'real' home for a few hours (MAF staff tend to have more home comforts as they move out here for longer periods of time) or whether is was to eat some yummy food that as a teacher I couldn't always afford ... those MAF families that opened their home to me and my fellow teachers were always extra special and most are still friends of mine over a decade later!

As soon as we knew that we were coming back to Dodoma as a family, all those months ago, I told my hubby that looking out for the teachers would be one way that we could support the staff, most of whom are single and far from family in America, UK, Australia, New Zealand and other places. Having been on the receiving end of such hospitality and understanding the huge significance of it, it was always going to be a priority for me now that I'm in the position with my family to offer it. 

We had been holding out a little, in the hope that our container would arrive and we could make the house more 'homey' before we started inviting people but a few weeks ago we made the decision that waiting was pointless, we might just as well get on with it. 

It's already been fun to properly invite people round and if we have to borrow chairs, dishes and frying pans from our neighbours in order to do it, that's just the way it will have to be for the time being!

Bureaucracy

Today I became the proud owner of a third photo-card driving licence (although admittedly the Ohio one is out of date!). It surprises me that here in Tanzania things have moved on to something so modern ... last time I lived here it was a cardboard little booklet with a photo glued in.

The process to obtain one of these little beauties in Tanzania is quite the experience though!

In the States, all it takes is a reasonably straight forward visit to the local BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) and you leave with a brand new licence. They take your details and your photo and make the card up for you there and then.

In the UK, you fill out the forms, send it all off and receive a shiny new licence in the post a little while afterwards!

Here in Tanzania, the process really is something else! 

Firstly, a trip to the TRA (Tanzania Revenue Authority) to fill out the forms and have your information put on the computer. Then a trip to the police station on the other side of the town to have the forms checked on their computer system, stamped and the classifications added. Then a drive back across town to the TRA again to have the licence processed and to get an invoice. After that you take the invoice to the bank to pay for the licence and then return several days later to the TRA to actually collect the licence, plus a final trip back to the police station to return the forms to them! Simple really!

We had a few extra steps in our process. The initial police man we saw stamped our forms but forgot to input the data on the computer, so when we returned to the TRA to get the licence processed and the invoice printed, they were unable to do so until the system had been updated. The trip back to the police station then found the officers having their chai break (tea break) requiring an extra wait before being able to get them to do what they should have done in the first place! 

We started the process a week ago and it required a lot of to-ing and fro-ing by us and two other members of MAF staff to actually get the licences (one for me and one for Mark) in our hands ... but it is one more thing on our 'To Do' list ticked off now! The experience itself was just part and parcel of getting into the swing of African life and culture really!

Just doing something that is supposed to be reasonably simple without Tanzanian assistance would have been a nightmare. We were glad to have the help of national MAF staff to walk us through each step of it.

It also helps us a little, in understanding why processing our visa is proving so difficult, as we can see how nothing is what it seems or particularly straight forward here. I am very grateful that the all the documentation and other bits and pieces in the processing of our container is being done by others on our behalf as I can imagine it will be a much more elaborate 'game' to play!!

Easter Eggs

Well, the internet is back up and running for us again for the most part ... except when we have no power and any other random time it decides to stop working. I realise that my blogging from now on will be for the most part 'business as usual' but with times when, like for the last couple of weeks, it just won't be possible! Unless I say otherwise my absences should only be temporary!

In some ways though it was nice to just have the long four day Easter weekend without having to think about blogs Friday and Monday. As Abigail went to school just over 48 hours after we arrived here, these were the first full four days we've had together as a family since we arrived in Dodoma just over 6 weeks ago and they were much needed!

It is strange to celebrate significant events in the calendar, like Easter across the cultures ...

In the UK, it really is about the chocolate Easter Eggs to a large percentage of the country. Supermarkets are stacked with them for months in advance and every different chocolate manufacturer seems to come out with their own special ones. They get stocked months before hand ... pretty much as soon as the Christmas things get taken down in many cases and are definitely there after Valentines. But Easter is primarily about the chocolate!

(It has been interesting to read about the introduction of 'The Real Easter Egg' over the last couple of years. One that not only contains the chocolate but also the Christian message of Easter on the box. I have been able to catch updates as to how different supermarkets have debated as to whether or not to sell them.)

Living in the States for three years, it was interesting to see the differences. The supermarket is stocked with Easter stuff ... but it's different. Lots of Easter baskets and plastic eggs. There are very few special chocolate eggs as the Brits would expect. Just lots of all different varieties of 'candy' to stick in the eggs for the myriad of Easter Egg hunts that take place. There's a lot more Easter Bunny stuff going on too ... having a photo with him each years is like having a photo with Santa at Christmas, just something that has to be done!

Another tradition we found a little strange in the States linked with Easter was that a lot of our church friends would get new outfits (often matching with other family members) and wear them to church on Easter Sunday and also have family photos taken in them. The  perfect Easter Outfit was something some people would be looking out for months in advance! It was just an American thing, at least where we were living!

Now in a third culture, we have just celebrated Easter here in Tanzania and of course it has been different again! There is no hype here, no tv adverts with Easter bunnies and Spring chickens, no plastic or chocolate eggs piled high in any of the shops ... in fact you could be forgiven for missing Easter altogether!

In a country that, in many reports, is listed as being roughly an equal percentage of both Muslim and Christian, public holidays are often observed for both religions but with no particular hype for any. In our family we knew it was Easter because my husband had a four day weekend and we celebrated it in church and with friends ... but for a lot of local people it was just business as usual! Interestingly without the advertising onslaught, it was almost easier to concentrate on the real meaning of Easter.

While we didn't have eggs of either the British chocolate or American candy-filled plastic variety, we didn't miss out totally! We had an Easter/70th Birthday party on Easter Sunday afternoon and during the party I had planned an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt for the kids ... hiding the eggs (shown below) around our compound, to unveil the truth of the story of Easter for me, that 'Jesus is Alive'!

As a Christian this holiday is more significant than Christmas and the birth of Jesus. This is when he paid the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of every person that has ever lived. Before he goes to the cross, Jesus has one last conversation with God. He prays about all kinds of things including his disciples. In John 17:20, though he says ...

'My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message' (italics mine)

... that means you and me! In those final hours and words between him and his Father in heaven he prayed for us too. Amazing and mind-blowing all at the same time! 

Easter Sunday is a celebration that his death wasn't the end of the story but just the beginning. Jesus overcame death and lives ... then and now! That's more exciting than any Easter Egg, on any continent, I have ever experienced!

From Scratch

I know I've mentioned since the beginning of this blog that I've been trying out new recipes and searching out new cookbooks specifically so I can learn to make things from scratch. 

Why? Because I knew that once we made it to an MAF programme, those things that we can get from the store and take for granted just won't be there to purchase. Some MAF staff live in big cities (in East Africa) but we knew that wasn't for us ... which means that there is even less available.

While a lot of my kitchen equipment and recipes have yet to arrive ... it has only reduced the extent of but not stopped the 'from scratch' cooking that is going on in our house!

I fully appreciate that many people living in the UK or America like to make things in the same way even though ready made options are available and we did a lot of that too. But when you're having a busy week, you know you can always go and pick up a loaf of bread from the shop, buy some coleslaw to add to a meal or have a couple of frozen pizza's on hand as a back up. Here that is just not an option ... unless it has been made from scratch in your own kitchen beforehand.

It is not even that any of these things are particularly difficult to make. Given the time we could all do it. Here you HAVE to make the time or you can't eat them. Simple as that. There are no 'convenience stores'!

So, in the last few weeks we have enjoyed bread, biscuits, coleslaw, yoghurt, potato salad, caramelised onions, pasta sauce, chapati's and many other things ... but only because we've made them ourselves.

A lot of people have asked me, exactly what I will be doing, while Mark is busy fixing planes. In time I've no doubt that I'll find something to get involved in but in the meantime, the amount of preparation that goes into just running a house and getting food ready for a family of four is plenty to keep me out of mischief!!!

Traffic Jams

While we've been travelling round the UK, I've noticed an abundance of traffic jams! (This photo isn't from here ... but it just illustrates the point perfectly!)

For the majority of our driving around, we have managed to quite successfully avoid rush hour and any build up of traffic by arranging our appointments carefully. Of course, no schedule is perfect and the occasional accident is unavoidable but for the most part we only been onlookers when it has come to the really heavy/standstill traffic and not stuck right in the middle!

Living in small town Ohio, traffic was rarely an issue. In fact, there were times when I saw a red light on the horizon and would roll my eye's at the thought of having to use the brake ... even when I was likely to be either the first or second to get to them! Often times I would take a route that gave as many right hand turns as possible ... you can turn right on a red light as long as it's clear. Something I can't imagine would ever translate over to the UK as I think everyone would just take advantage of it and there would be accidents all over the place!

Longer journeys that we took on the Interstate Routes were also very straight forward with majority of drivers sticking to the speed limit, the roads being patrolled to enforce it and everyone pootling along at their own pace. Again something that was alien to us coming from the roads here, where I think the majority of people would agree that they drive at least 10 mph over the speed limit on any given road and for the most part get away with it too.

It was often joked that 'road rage' Coshocton style was when there was more than one car at a junction and each driver was adement about waving the other one on ahead of them ... kind of a 'you go first', 'no, you go first', 'no, really, you go first' type thing! Having been used to that for the last three years I've been slightly surprised by the aggressive and often abusive nature of drivers back here. I know that I have always been one of them (the aggressive not the abusive ones, just to clarify!) but it seems that I've have mellowed out being away from it and am not disappointed about that either!

I am therefore not in the slightest bit sad that we will soon be leaving the crazy, narrow, traffic filled roads of the UK in a couple of weeks time and exchanging them for those around Dodoma. While Dar Es Salaam is crazy and Dodoma can be somewhat aggressive too ... I know they are definitely my preference over the rat race back here in the England. Now we just need to find a car with which to drive those Tanzanian roads when we get there!

Snow Days

The last few days have been really snowy here in the UK. Having lived through three very snowy winters in Ohio, where life goes on regardless ... it's been really fun and amusing to watch the mass panic that has been going on in England!!

As our schedule is reasonably flexible it hasn't affected us too much and we've been able to adjust to fit around the snow ... and very much enjoyed the fun that has ensued! Including making snowmen, snow angels, having snowball fights and sledging!

It's funny how different people or countries react to different situations. It's really not the end of the world if it snows, life goes on and in many countries around the world it functions perfectly normally with several feet of snow rather than the several inches we've seen here. My favourite article about the snow in Britain, is from News Thump, who describe it as weather-based terrorism to bring the country to a standstill!!

I was really disappointed when it seemed we'd missed out on this winter's snow having left Ohio just a week or so before it arrived there. What made it worse was when I realised that this will probably be the last winter for many years that we will be somewhere where we would have the chance to enjoy snowy weather at all! Eight years of living in more tropical climates can have it's drawbacks!!

Abigail has had a few winter's worth of experience in the snow now and has been really eager to introduce Naomi ... who wasn't old enough to appreciate it last year and just looks totally bemused when we're all goofing around in the snow now! While all Abigail seems to have been talking about recently is Africa and how she can't wait to get there, especially because it's 'cold' here ... she, like me, is loving every minute of the snow and can't understand why it's causing so many to get their 'knickers in such a twist'! 

I'm loving it ... maybe it's because it'll be the last time in a long time that we will get to experience it ... maybe it's because I'm just a big kid at heart ... but I'm certainly not disappointed when I hear Abigail praying for more when we say our prayers before bedtime!

Traditional English Crumpets

One priority on our agenda's when we are visiting the UK, is always enjoying food that we can't get where we have been living. Perhaps our waistlines expand a little in the process but it's definitely worth the indulgence of 'home comforts'!

There are all kinds of yumminess that I personally miss when we're living abroad. Many of the things would be food that I wouldn't necessarily eat regularly if we lived in England ... but it's surprising how not being able to get them for a year or so at a time makes you want to eat them all the more!

As a family we're been enjoying all kinds of things from bacon sandwiches, proper sausages and cream teas to fish and chips, custard creams and a large selection of British chocolate bars. 

I am always on the look out for how I can replicate our favourite treats from scratch ... so that we can eat them even if we can't get them at the local shops wherever we live in the world. Especially looking ahead to our move to Tanzania next month.

Last week, my dad treated us to what was described as his new 'party trick'! Homemade crumpets, see them cooking below. (For the non-Brit readers among you, click here for the Wikipedia description.) It's been something I've wanted to experiment with for a while and just never had the chance to get round to it ... but now I have a full-proof delicious recipe from my dad!

Here it is ... very British and very yummy!

• 250g sieved strong white bread flour
• 1x 7g sachet dried active yeast
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1 t sugar
• 1/2 t bicarbonate of soda
• 100ml water
• 275ml milk
• Butter for greasing and to serve
• Crumpet Rings to cook them in

1. Heat the water and milk together until lukewarm
2. Sieve flour into mixing bowl, add yeast, sugar, bicarb & salt
3. Mix in warm liquid to flour mixture with wooden spoon, then whisk for a few minutes until a batter is formed
4. Place damp tea towel across the top of the bowl and leave in a warm place for about an hour, til risen and full of bubbles
5. Grease crumpet rings and add butter to pre-heated non-stick frying pan
6. Put rings into the frying pan, add approx 2 teaspoons of mixture into each ring ... just under half full
7. Cook on medium-low heat, approx 10 mins until surface has bubbled, formed holes and dried out
8. Remove rings (carefully ... they're HOT!) then flip crumpets for a few seconds so the tops can brown
9. Serve immediately with butter, jam, melted cheese, syrup or something else ... or save and toast later

This recipe makes approx 12 crumpets. It is possible to stir in some extra ingredients just before the cooking stage ... the ones we enjoyed had chopped walnuts and raisins in them!

Jet Lag

It is 2.30am and both my girlies are WIDE awake and busy! About 17 hours ago we touched down in Tanzania!

The journey was OK ... the munchkins did pretty well considering! The first two flight they were brill! We went through security in London and had lunch with my mum and Mark's parents which broke up the journey a little and gave us a couple of extra pairs of hands to amuse the girls. 

The second night flight was a lot harder ... because we were so tired too! Of the nine and half hours we were on the plane, Naomi fought sleep for the first six and Abigail the first eight!! Bodyclocks gone haywire and I'm not surprised, mine was feeling a little loopy and I understood everything that's going on!

Now I have no idea what time my body think's it is but the girls bodies most certainly don't believe it's the middle of the night! I've never had to cope with jet lag like this before after 48 hours travel with little ones in tow. It's certainly interesting and frustrating and confusing and a whole load of other emotions all rolled into one.

We had a snooze this morning and then fought to keep the girls (and ourselves) awake in the afternoon. We walked around the compound where we are staying for the night ... checking out the mango trees and the girls were hugging the palm trees (Abigail was SO excited to see they were in Africa after falling in love with them when we were in Florida!) and trying to have some outside time in an effort to get sunlight and adjusted but right now it seems that it was all in vain!

In less than two hours time we have to get up to go to the airport for our final MAF flight to Dodoma ... so I'm guessing that there is no point in trying anything too drastic to adjust now and just roll with punches tomorrow!

The irony is that by the time they are properly settled, it will most likely be when we begin our return journey home in a weeks time! I'm just grateful that when we next arrive in Tanzania we will only have to adjust from UK time and not US time, a lot less hours to cope with and then a lot longer to adjust to it too ... as we'll be staying!

All Hallows Eve

Today is All Hallows Eve ... or Halloween as it's more commonly known. It's on the 'Eve' of All Hallows Day or All Saints Day. It's difficult to imagine with all the hype that goes along with it today, that it had anything to do with honouring the Saints of God at some point!

There is such a dark, almost evil element to the 'holiday' now, and since moving to the States I've noticed what a HUGE commercialised event it is to celebrate out here. Way, way, WAY, more than I ever imagined it would be from the UK, where the Brits efforts are positively pathetic compared to their American counterparts.

While there is a totally harmless side to it all, with all kinds of fun and ingenious costumes there are also the more spooky elements on display ... with toddlers running around pretending to be zombies, monsters, wrapped up as mummy's, with fake blood dripping from their mouths and necks or as scary skeletons. 

Call me old fashioned but is it really necessary to expose such little ones to all that stuff so early? It may seem harmless but there is also the more sinister side that surely they really don't need to be aware of just yet. Abigail won't even walk down the aisle in the store that sells those things because she finds them scary, she's certainly not going to wear any of them! Even all the kids tv channels this week put their most 'spooktacular' episodes on back-to-back to celebrate Halloween. Overkill ... needless to say it's been more DVD's than TV this week in our house!

Trick or treating is a much more organised business here in Ohio. There is a designated couple of hours, one evening which is well publicised in advance where if someone is on their front porch it means they welcome 'trick or treaters' and will have all kinds of goodies ready for them. So, I will admit, it is relatively safe and fun. Back at home I know of older folk (and younger ones too!) who dread Halloween and hearing their doorbells ring, for fear of who or what will be on the other side and if they stick a 'no trick or treating' sign up on their door, can find that they get their house 'egged' because they're not entering into the spirit of things! Nice!

In a culture, here in the States, that is acceptably so much more Christian than we're allowed to be by law in the UK, it surprised us that Churches celebrate Halloween here too ... the same way as everyone else, just on their premises. Costumes, trunk or treat (going round to the trunk/boots of people's cars in the church carpark to get the goodies rather than going door-to-door) etc. Almost embracing it rather than being the light in the midst of it.

Back in the UK, I have been used to churches organising 'Light Parties' on Halloween. Fun without the sinister, using it as an opportunity to draw attention to and praise God rather than embrace the encroaching darkness of the world today, particularly on October 31st when it all just gets that little bit darker.

We have successfully missed 'celebrating' Halloween each year we've lived here as we've usually been back in the UK visiting visas. This year however we have been surrounded by it. Wondering what the correct response to the cashier at the store is when they greet you with 'Happy Halloween'. Trying to work out how to explain it all to Abigail who is full of questions.

In the build up to Halloween, Abigail was telling us she didn't like it because all the advertising made it look 'too scary'. I was relieved! Then she saw an advert where a little girl was dressed up as a princess and from that point on she was hooked, saying 'I like Halloween', 'On Halloween I'm going to be a princess'. And she made a very beautiful Rapunzel for both our church event last weekend and for pre-school this morning ... 

All I can say is, I'm very grateful that we'll soon be moving on somewhere where all this hype and marketing won't affect us when it comes to Halloween. It won't hurt our girls one bit, to grow up slightly more protected from it all until they're just a little bit older. 

I know, I know, I'm a fuddy-duddy ... but on this topic, I really don't care!

Banoffee Pie

Living in Tanzania, the ingredients for 'cake' were relatively easy to come by. It did make having a cake on birthday's a little less exciting though ... when you regularly eat it all year round!

In order to make birthday's a little more special, I started to make friends a Banoffee Pie instead. A mixture of banana and toffee and total yumminess! My aunty used to make them for family gatherings when I was a lot younger and then when I was a student, we used to have them during regular weekly meals at church.

The ingredients weren't so easy to come by in Dodoma, which made it all the more special to celebrate birthday's and special occasions with! We used to get the digestive biscuits flown down on a MAF shuttle from Nairobi or brought out by visitors. Making the cream was also difficult, so sometimes we substituted a packet of 'dream topping' instead. (My mum would send them out in a little package in the post, along with the Angel Delight to make butterscotch ice-cream ... always an exciting parcel to receive!)

When I started adding recipes to this blog, it wasn't long before a few of my friends, especially those from my time in Tanzania, were asking about my Banoffee Pie. For one reason or another, I've only just gotten round to including it ... so apologies if you're one of those who have been patiently waiting! 

I have always thought it was an American recipe but now that I live here I realise it most definitely isn't, the majority of my friends have never heard of Banoffee Pie! Earlier this week we went round to a friends for dinner and were asked to bring dessert. I made a Banoffee for the first time in forever, which went down very well and my mother-in-law (who apparently doesn't do 'sweet things') enjoyed tucking into three helpings over the course of just one evening!

Here's the recipe ... the wait is over!!

• 6oz Digestive biscuits - crushed (approx 12 biscuits) ... British 'biscuits' (cookies) not American 'biscuits', available in Walmart
• 3oz butter - melted
• 14oz tin condensed milk
• 2-3 bananas - sliced
• 1/2 pt double/whipping cream - whipped
• A little grated chocolate (I put a lot on this last banoffee pie!)

1. Boil sealed tin of condensed milk for 2 hours in a pan of water to make 'toffee' - cool before opening (make sure the water stays topped up and covers the tin. If you're living at altitude you may have to boil it for 3 hours!)
2. Combine biscuits and melted butter. Press into an 8" pie dish. Cool in fridge.
3. Spoon out toffee onto the biscuit base.
4. Lay out the banana slices to cover the toffee.
5. Spoon cream to make the top layer.
6. Sprinkle the grated chocolate on top (I got carried away with the one in the photo ... I was chatting to a very good friend in the UK on the phone at the time!)
7. Refrigerate until serving.

Fashion Police

I have never been one to wear the newest and latest fashions ... to be honest, who is? I have always gone for smart, casual and what I'm comfortable with, not something that I'm told I should be wearing 'this season'. I don't think too much in my wardrobe warrants a visit from the fashion police either ... I guess I'm more a middle of the road kind of girl!

When I met Mark, I was 28 and had returned to the student lifestyle again. With the lifestyle came the fashion ... back in the jeans and t-shirts of my student days. It wasn't really my style but was a lot easier and cheaper when the focus was on the study ... I hadn't set out to hook myself a guy in the process ... thankfully he looked past the outward appearance!

One thing that you will have to look very hard for in my closet/wardrobe are skirts or dresses of any variety. For some reason they have just never been high on my list of priorities when I've been out clothes shopping. The only dress I'd worn since I knew Mark (until a friend got married and I was a bridesmaid) was my own wedding dress.

The last time I really wore skirts on a regular basis was back in 1999-2001 when I was living in Tanzania. Out there fashion wasn't a high priority at all, there were more important things in life and as a missionary teacher being culturally appropriate and accepted was much higher on my list. It's funny to think that soon I'll be back there again ... sporting a wardrobe on a daily basis that I wouldn't even consider here in the States or in the UK but that will feel totally normal, comfortable and not the least bit strange at all when I'm in Dodoma.

I joked with Mark a few weeks ago that the wife he now knows will soon become 'another woman' clothes-wise once we move to Dodoma next year. He won't recognise me walking down the street. To us it's much more important not to offend local people though ... we want to build friendships not drive people away before we've even started.

As the summer has recently come to a close I have made the most of all the clearance sales ready for the new stock in the clothes shops. We will need a more substantial (and appropriate) summer wardrobe and the stores are trying to clear out 'last seasons' stock ready for the jumpers and coats to fill their racks.

It has been perfect! I have bagged swimming costumes for the girls at $3 (£2) a piece and summer dresses for them that were almost $30 (£20) for just $4  (£2.75) or $5 (£3.25) each. Of course, when shopping for myself the item highest on my list of priorities, because there were absolutely none in my wardrobe, where long floaty skirts and I now have myself a little collection of them (see above) at a fraction of the original cost. I don't think I paid more than $15 (£10) for any of them and originally some were $50 (£35). (By the way the price conversions are very rough ... don't quote me on them!!)

I don't think I've ever gone quite so crazy at 'sales time' in my life but it couldn't have been more perfectly timed as we get ready for our new lives in Tanzania. I'm definitely all set skirt-wise anyway ... and if the fashion police want to come and get me, that's their problem!