Hanging Around Outside

Yesterday, George and I were hanging out on our front porch letting Nala run around in the front yard. She loves exploring her surroundings...

She has done a good job at guarding the house. Maybe a little too good. A fundi (handyman) was supposed to come a fix a few things around the house. When he never came, we called the owner of the house to see what happened. It turns out, he did come, but when he approached the house, Nala barked from inside and scared him away. We don't know if we were home when he came and was too scared to approach the door or if he came when we weren't home. Either way, he said he is never coming back! Oooops! We are more than willing to put Nala away when he comes if he would give us a chance!

Our house faces a large field. To the left, there is an elementary school.

In the front of our house, there are "umbrella trees." They are called that because the branches fan out like an umbrella instead of going up. It's hard to capture in a photo, but they are really pretty.

At one point, I came out and both George and Nala were sitting on the porch wall. Just chillin'!

It was nice to sit out front. The weather has been perfect. Not too hot or too rainy. Reminds me of home.

Home Visit

A couple nights ago, Herbert asked George and I to accompany him and his wife to the house of someone who needed prayer. We, of course, said yes and around 6:30pm, headed across town to Lucy's house. Lucy is a policewoman who has been struggling with illness for a long time. She is a believer, but has been very discouraged. The doctors told her she has kidney and liver failure. When we arrived, we were welcomed warmly by her and her family. After chit chatting for a bit, we entered into a time of worship, prayer and Bible Study. As the group sang songs, George and another man prayed for her fervently. Although I didn't know the Kiswahili songs they were singing, I could feel the love of God in that room. After praying over Lucy, George shared from John followed by me sharing briefly from Psalm 139 which is a Psalm I find much comfort in.

I believe when we left, Lucy was feeling encouraged. It was a really special time and I left thinking this should happen more often. How often do we suffer alone? When times are tough, we (myself definitely included) try to put on a brave face when inside we are dying. We should be more willing to say to others, I need help...I am sick, hurting, without enough money to pay this bill, filled with anger or whatever is causing us sorrow. We need others to come around us to pray for and encourage us. After all, that is what the Bible tells us to do. We don't need to go through life's trials alone. We need to set aside our pride, shame, feelings of not wanting to bother anyone or whatever other reason we tell ourselves and reach out to our friends, family and church. We are blessed to belong to the family of Christ that connects us in a special way so let's use it for what God intended it to be. Some times that is the lifeline we need to get through tough times.

The next day, George and I went back to Lucy's house for more prayer, Bible Study and fellowship. Again, it was a neat time. She and her sister are so friendly and practically begged us to stay all day and night. They would be happy if we stayed with them for a week. We know that Lucy needs more than a one time visit, so we plan to spend time with her on a regular basis. We want to study James whenever we are together. If you get a chance, remember to lift Lucy up in your prayers - for physical healing and spiritual encouragement.

Church

This last Sunday, George and I attended church with Lulu. Her church has an English service which is a blessing for me. I didn't think there would be an English service here. We were told it starts at 7:30am. George, understanding African time (which runs notoriously late), suggested we go at 8:00. Her church was nice. It was located near the market, in a small, simple building. The congregation was small (maybe 60 or so people), but mighty. They obviously loved the Lord. When we got there, singing was in progress. I recognized a couple Swahili songs I heard in Kenya and they sang some in English as well. People here sing with exuberance. They love to sing out and dance at the same time. I love it, although, I personally am more reserved. After singing, the visitors were called to the front of the church to introduce themselves and greet the congregation (Should we try that in the US?!). They really value visitors here and genuinely want to meet them. I'm a behind the scenes type of person so standing in front is not where I prefer to be. Fortunately, George did most of the speaking for us.

The sermon began after the announcements were over. I think the man preaching was a guest speaker. He did a really nice job. He taught from Luke 24:13-34 and talked about Jesus as our companion. He said a few things that stuck with me:

1. Jesus is always walking with us. It's not about if we feel Him. He is there. The question is, do we see him.
2. Often our eyes are closed, spiritually, and we need to pray for our eyes to be opened so we can really see what is going on.
3. The solution to our problems is closer than we think - it's only the distance from our heads to our knees.

Of course, he said so many more good things. The service was nice and it was really good to be in fellowship with other believers. I was greatly encouraged. Next week, I think we are going to Herbert's church up on the mountain. That is if I can haul me and my belly up there!

Soup Lesson

This morning I went to the White Parrot for a cooking lesson. Yesterday we came here for lunch and George arranged with the cook for me to come today. The cook asked me what kind of soup I wanted to prepare and I replied with my favorite, potato and carrot. I arrived at 8:00am ready to learn. I helped chop the veggies:
onions, carrots and potatoes. Then we added them to a pot with a little cooking oil. After a few minutes, we added salt, pepper and another seasoning. Once stirred, we added flour. Flour! Who knew that goes in soups? (Maybe that is common knowledge, but I have never heard of that). Then came the milk - a lot of it- followed by soy sauce and a lot of fresh chicken stock and water. Simmer for 20 minutes and it's done. Easy, right?

Repeating it will be a little tricky, but I am determined to try. He made a batch for 30 bowls of soup. I have to downsize for two. The hardest part is he didn't use any measuring instruments. He just knows by sight how much to add of each ingredient. That is how everyone cooks here. As a strict rule follower and with zero cooking instincts of my own, not having a recipe paralyzes me. Usually it keeps me from even trying something. When someone says, add salt to taste, I think - what is it supposed to taste like? I have a simple palate and don't know how to season things well. This time, I just have to go for it. How bad can it be, right? I will keep you posted!

One good thing is that they prepare all their soups the same way. So, I just swap out the veggies and I have a different soup. If I can master one, I can master several. That prospect excites me. Oh yeah, and the mystery soup from the other day (that I repeated the next)...Muchicha which in English is spinach. Spinach?! Yuck, right? At least in my opinion. I am not a fan of cooked greens (like spinach,kale, okra, etc), but this soup is awesome. My, how my view is expanding in so many ways!

The Ball Saga Continues

After I did the ball blog yesterday, George came home with a new ball for Nala. He didn't find a tennis ball, but did find a foam/rubber ball. Nala loved this one too and had a blast playing with it... for all of 24 hours. Here is a photo of it this evening, along with the guilty party...

The search for the indestructible ball is on!

24 Week Photo

Here is an updated photo of me for those of you who have been asking. George took it today in front of our home after church and lunch. (Props to George on my outfit. He's really good at finding clothes for me and will often bring home something he picked up for me. The sweater and top he got in Korogwe.) I am now 24 weeks along. Since I already had a belly, I don't have a cute little baby bump like thin women do, but I promise... it's there!!! Everything is going well. I am feeling good, just a bit tired every now and then. I read that my uterus now is the size of a basketball. (Sorry if that is too much information!). Maybe that's why I also am finding it hard to get comfortable. The baby is moving quite a bit and George got to feel him move for the first time a week or so ago which was neat.

16 weeks to go until the little guy makes his appearance. George and I are trying to guess what he'll look like. With our differences, the possibilities are endless. Will his skin be slightly tan or more brown? Will he have hair like mine or like George's? (Red hair and freckles run in my family... maybe he'll have a red fro!) Will he be chubby or lean? We are excited to see what God has in store.

Nala's Sad Ball

Since we don't have a fence yet, Nala spends most of her time in the house with us. It has worked out pretty well for the most part. She is a good guard dog and will bark when she hears noises or people outside. It's been a challenge, though, to keep her occupied. She is a high energy dog and we have learned that a bored dog is a naughty dog. She had socks and a bone to chew. Unfortunately, she couldn't distinguish her socks from other clothes that were not hers to chew so George decided no more socks. We thought a ball would be good for her since Nala is very good at playing fetch. In Kisumu, part of our morning routine after letting her out of her dog house in the morning was to play fetch to get out her energy. Now once she learns an object's name (ball, socks, bone, etc), she can bring it on command. We'll say - "get your sock" or "where is your sock" and she'll search for it. Then we throw it, say "fetch" and she'll bring it back. It has even worked for objects she is not supposed to have. She picked up some trash and when I said "bring it, " she brought it to me.

Korogwe is a very small town. Village is a more appropriate term. There aren't many choices in the market. When we first decided on a ball, George couldn't find any in the market. None. Fortunately, he came across a random tennis ball one day. It looked like a tennis ball, but it didn't really bounce. That didn't matter. It was perfect for Nala. Nala loved it from the moment George brought it home. She learned the word "ball" very quickly and loved playing fetch with it. She could also catch it in her mouth if we threw it to her.

Nala is a typical puppy who loves to chew things - her new tennis ball included. Within a few days, it was looking pretty ragged. Today, it finally came apart. Not having other toy options for her, we still threw around the pieces for her to play with. It is now in three parts - the green material on the outside and two rubber halves.

One might think she might get the rubber pieces when we asked her to get her ball. Nope. Whenever we said, "where is your ball" she brought back the green outer material. It's a pretty sad (and funny!) sight, but she still loves her "ball" none the less.

George is now looking for another ball. Until he finds one, here is what Nala will be playing fetch with...

Soup, Soup and more Soup

George and I often eat lunch at a hotel called the White Parrot. Without a full working kitchen (like a stove and a fridge) and without knowing where to get certain groceries (like meat), it is difficult to prepare food. For that reason, we head over to the White Parrot for lunch a few days a week. Our favorite meal is the pepper steak. Unfortunately, they only have beef a couple days a week otherwise, we would order that every time. On the days they don't, I usually order samosas and soup. Before this pregnancy, I NEVER ordered soup... anywhere. Maybe twice in my life I ordered tortilla soup, but generally I was not a soup fan. Now, I LOVE it. And it doesn't seem to matter what kind. I take whatever they prepare that day. Each day is different. So far I have had tomato, vegetable, cucumber, potato and carrot, pumpkin leaves and today a mystery vegetable. It is made from some sort of leafy green vegetable I don't recognize. All have been good, but my favorites have been potato and carrot, cucumber, and pumpkin leaf. I really want to learn how to make them at home. George and I talked to the manager of the hotel a couple days ago who said I could come and learn how the chefs prepare the soups. I can't wait!

Container Update

This week George began working on the container exemption with Herbert. They traveled to Tanga (the Tanzanian port city the container is arriving at) and met with the clearance agent. She looked at their documentation and advised them about what was needed. As seems to always be the case here... it's complicated. More documents are needed to try to get the tax exemption. We are working on getting those so they can proceed with the paperwork. The container is in South Africa now and should be here soon. Time is of the essence so we would appreciate your prayers for God to work out all the details. Thanks!

Prayer Request

George and I want to ask for your prayers. Since we have arrived, nothing has been easy. Even small things like looking for a coffee table, buying a phone or getting kitchen utensils are incredibly tough. We are very much foreigners in a foreign land, even though George speaks the language. Daily activities take hours instead of minutes and it can get discouraging. We were supposed to start working on the documents for the container today, but too was delayed. I hope this doesn't sound like we are complaining. These are typical issues, as anyone who has worked in Africa can attest to, but still frustrating. We know God's timing is perfect so we are trying to be patient and flexible. We would appreciate your prayers for perseverance, patience and strength.

Thank you. We are so blessed to have people who love us and who are available when we need help.

Rain, Rain, Never Go Away

We arrived in Tanzania in the midst of the rainy season. I am loving it! Out of the last 10 days, we have had two days without rain. During the other eight days it has been rain on and off, day and night. Sometimes just a quick shower and other times, a down pour for hours. I find the rain to be really peaceful and I am so happy about the cooler weather it brings. Although it's cool, it's not cold. We can still wear short sleeves and shorts (or leggings for me) and be perfectly comfortable. What I find interesting is there is no thunder or lightening here. In Kisumu, whenever the rain came there was always lots of both which I am not a fan of. On one of our last days in Kisumu, it was raining pretty hard and there was lots of thunder and lightening in the distance. The storm must have been moving right over us because all of a sudden there was a huge flash of light and a GIANT boom an instant later. It shook me to my bones and left my heart pounding for 30 minutes. It scared me so bad. I yelled to our neighbors "we're going to die" and they just laughed. I think the rainy season lasts until July which I am so thankful for. After that...insane heat.

Ready... Set... GO!

I think on Monday, we will be off and running. Herbert, the pastor we will be working with, came back to Korogwe a few days ago. He and his wife came over last night for a brief visit. On Monday, we’ll begin work on getting the paperwork for the container. Africa Harvest of Hope filled a shipping container full of food and supplies for widows, orphans and the needy. In it was also donations for George and me. The container left California in February and is scheduled to arrive in Tanga (a port city in Tanzania about an hour away from Korogwe) in a week or so. Normally thousands of dollars in taxes must be paid in order for the container to be released. Last year, they were able to get a tax exemption saving lots of money. Herbert and George will be working on getting the tax exemption for this container as well. From what Herbert says, there is a ton of stuff to do in order to get that and it usually takes a lot of time (and patience!). They will have to travel a lot between Korogwe, Tanga and Dar Es Salaam. We really need your prayers. Please ask the Lord to work a miracle and grant us favor on the whole process.

A Call to Prayer

Several times a day over loud speakers, a call to prayer is blasted throughout the town. And also in nearly every other town in North and East Africa. It’s not what you may be thinking. It’s sent out by the Muslim mosque. The first time I heard it (at 1:00pm) in Nairobi, I was scared and wondered what was going on? I was eating at Java and all of a sudden a loud, wailing began to be played over speakers…. Loudly. Someone informed me that it was the Muslim call to prayer and shrugged it of as no big deal. It was something they were used to. Coming from the US, I had never heard that before. We have noise laws! You can’t blast things for the entire town to hear. The police will shut you down! I came to learn that these calls to prayer happen five times (I think) a day, every day. At the same times. The worst one… 4:00am. Yes, that is 4:00am. There are mosques all over every city and it’s hard to escape the wailing at 4:00am. (I saw wailing because it sounds like that to me. I don’t know what language it’s in.) In Kisumu, there was one pretty close to our house so if I didn’t have my ear plugs in, I was woken up at 4:00am every day. It’s aggravating at first (and still is at times), but you get used to it. Most people sleep right through it, but I haven’t reached that point yet.

During these calls the prayer, Muslims are supposed to stop what they are doing and say their prayers. If they can’t get to the mosque, they do them in the house, at work or wherever they are. There are different types of Muslims. Some women are very strict and wear the full coverings from head to toe with only a slit opening over their eyes. Others are less conservative and wear long skirts and head scarfs. There are MANY Muslims in Kenya and Tanzania (and other African countries). Coming from San Diego, I never saw someone in a head covering. My only experience was hearing about them in the news…. And it usually had to do with terrorist activity. That instilled great fear in me. I will admit being totally freaked out the first few times I saw someone in the head to toe coverings. My first thought was they have a bomb. This may sound ignorant and judgmental, but that’s all I knew. My only exposure to Muslims related to violence. Since I have been here, I have met many kind, peaceful Muslims. Our favorite neighbor in Kisumu, Mama Agu, is Muslim. Yet her entire family was kind to us. We really miss them actually. My eyes have been opened and I believe God is reminding me to love people with the Islamic faith. After all, He loves them and so should we. It can be hard at times. I still feel that flash of fear. And, I do have to be careful about where I go because the truth is there are lots of extremists who are causing chaos and creating many problems all over the world. Many have developed a strong hate for Americans. But there are also others who are peaceful and nice. They all deserve our love and kindness. Through that love and kindness, God can do a work in their lives and also do a work in ours.

House Tour

Here are some photos of our house. I have already posted photos of the outside, but here are some of the inside…

Here is our our front door and sitting room...

Here is the dining room...

Here is the kitchen...

Here is the hall bathroom... (this one has a squattie. They are very common in Africa and Kenya)

Here is one of the spare bedrooms...

Here is one of the other two bathrooms (They both have standard toilets!)

Resting in the Lord

Right now, we are facing a new place and the uncertainty that comes along with change. After our crazy journey, we now have time to rest in the Lord and seek His peace and guidance. In the few days that we have been here, we have seen the spiritual battle around us going strong. At times it has been discouraging, but we know the Christ has already claimed the victory and so we press on.

The pastor we are working with here had to go out of town for surgery. He’ll be gone for a few weeks which gives us time to get settled and work on a few things on our own. A lab for example. We hope to start a lab up on the mountain where the children’s home is located and will be researching what we need.

Being in a new place means dealing with a bit of culture shock again. No one here speaks English so it’s difficult for me to get around alone. It’s a good kick in the butt to start studying Kiswahili. Unfortunately, it means George is the one doing most of the work – getting food and supplies for our house, finding transportation and negotiating prices, etc.

It’s a lot to deal with all at once, but it has brought us closer to the Lord.

Cooking Lessons

The cooking lessons continue in Tanzania. Last night Lulu taught me how to make eggs. She made them for us when we were here in October and they were so good. Now I think I can duplicate them. It’s pretty much an omelet (with green peppers, tomatoes and onions). George just bought a hot plate which we are using to cook on. Slowly but surely I will be a good cook! (One can dream, right?)

Trying to Get Settled

Now that we have been here a few days, we are attempting to get settled. We are trying to find our way in a new town. Currently we are in the process of getting some basics for our house (like food, cooking utensils, laundry stuff, etc.), but we have found that challenging as foreigners are often charged high prices. It works better when George goes shopping without me. We want to find vendors that we can trust and go back to them in the future.

We are also getting used to living in a new house. We really like it, but are learning it's quirks like when the water works. I think today we realized water comes on in the morning and then is shut off the rest of the day. So, that's when we need to fill up the water tanks for our use until the next morning. Right now our house is empty with the exception of a mattress and a lawn chair in our living room. It's funny to see a big sitting room and just our lawn chair in it. It feels like we are typical newly weds just starting out... which we are! We'll slowly get more items as we are able. For now, I am happy with our cute home. Nala is enjoying the extra room too. The yard isn't fenced yet so she stays indoors most of the time. Now she has plenty of space to play fetch down our hallway.

Being in a new place is overwhelming and we have experienced discouragement after our rough journey. Please keep praying for us as we get settled and begin to work with the local pastor who works with Africa Harvest of Hope. Please pray God gives us peace and renewed vision here. We also need prayers for our residency paperwork and the container that is soon to be arriving.

We haven't gotten a modem for the internet yet, so for now our internet access is limited to internet cafes. I'll post photos and updates as often as I can. In the meantime, please know we are so thankful for your prayers and support during this transition period.

Tanzania or Bust

Here is the story about our journey. I wrote this on Friday morning, but am now just able to post it.

(Warning... this is a long one)

There were times during our journey when it seemed like we were never going to get there. The past two days have been filled with more stress and strain than I have ever experienced before in Africa.

We aimed to leave Nairobi at 9:00am on Wednesday. It was really important we do so because we had a nine hour road trip ahead of us, plus the time at the border. We needed to get to Korogwe before dark so we could quickly buy mattresses and supplies in order to house ourselves, Gordon and our driver that evening. Plus, it's not safe to drive after dark.

Fortunately, our driver showed up on time. 7:00am. We loaded up the truck, they had tea and we left by 7:45. Slightly behind schedule. There were a few things we had to get before leaving Nairobi – Nala's transportation documents, temporary travel permits for Gordon and the driver, gas, car insurance, etc. We hit traffic and didn't arrive at the Ministry of Livestock until 8:30. George went in with our documents and quickly secured the paper we needed. Unfortunately, he had to wait over an hour for one person to sign it. What made it more frustrating was the guy knew George was waiting and was just chatting with a co-worker. George got back to the car around 9:45. By 10:30, we got the travel permits for Gordon and the driver. Then the chaos errupted.

We had to get insurance for the car to travel to Tanzania. We were given quite a few different estimates: around $100, $60, and $40. Of course we wanted the cheapest. Somehow one of the guys giving one of the higher estimates, issued the insurance and delivered it to the car. We were expected to pay the higher amount which we weren't ok with. We hadn't agreed to that. Meanwhile, the guy who helped us arrange for the car was working on another insurance policy that was cheaper. In the end, we paid the lowest amount.

Then more chaos. The people who booked the car for us were really middlemen between us and the driver. We paid our deposit on Monday and were supposed to pay the rest on Wednesday. When we tried to pay, there was a ton of confusion about the balance due. Phone calls were flying back and forth between George, the middlemen and the driver (who may or may not have been the owner). The middlemen decided to change the terms and were going to keep money they weren't supposed to. For this reason, the driver pulled over and refused to leave. George tried to sort it out, but the end result was us having to pay the difference between what the middlemen were keeping and what they were supposed to give the owner. It wasn't fair – we did our part and this was an issue between the owner and the middlemen, but we had no choice. We had to leave.

By the time we finally left – it was after 12:00. There was no way we could make it to Korogwe that night. That meant we had to pay for a hotel for the four of us in Moshi – an additional cost we hadn't planned for. As we drove, we discovered the middlemen had lied about other things. They told the driver we were booking the car for three days and were going to Arusha (Korogwe is an additional five hours past Arusha). At this point, I was just relieved to be on the road. It would take two hours to reach the border and I estimated it would take us an hour to get through.

Wrong. It took three hours. We had to get export docs from the Kenya side for the car. Then we had to get import docs from the Tanzania side. The driver had to leave the car's official log book at the border to prove to the authorities he wasn't going to sell the car there. Plus we had to get our passport stamped out of Kenya and into Tanzania. The Kenya side was fairly easy. Once we got to the Tanzania side, that's where we hit problems.

Clearing immigration was simple for us, but clearing the car and Nala was a challenge. Once we had the paperwork from both sides, we thought we were ready to drive off. It was 4:00 by then and we were anxious to leave. We drove to the last gate to show our papers and the policewoman decides she wants to look in our suitcases. Then she says we have to declare each item as well as Nala. No one prior had mentioned this to us. We are in a private car with private belongings and shouldn't have to declare anything. So, George went back to the customs office where he was told he had to get an official value for Nala from the vet's office on the Kenya side. We got her for free. She didn't cost us anything! George ran back over there and found the vet's office. They had no idea what he was talking about. One of the vet's employees went back to the Tanzania side and told them what they wanted didn't exist. It went back and forth for a while until we finally were allowed to go. This process took another hour.

By 5:00 we left the border and headed to Moshi. I was so relieved to have made it through the border process. On the way to Moshi, we had a few more police checks, but since we had all the right documentation it wasn't a problem. We arrived in Moshi at 8:00 and booked rooms at the hostel we have stayed at before. By that time we all were exhausted and starving. We hadn't eaten anything the whole day.

After a yummy dinner (beans and samosas for me!) we went to bed with the plan of leaving Moshi at 6:00am on Thursday. Gordon and the driver had to get back to Nairobi Thursday evening since we only booked the car for two days. We had a three and a half hour drive to Korogwe, plus they had a nine hour drive back to Nairobi as well as border time. The border closes at 6:30pm so it would be really tight.

We left Moshi by 6:30 on Thursday and arrived in Korogwe at 9:45. I was really pleased with the time we made. George changed places with the driver to take us to our house. Just as I breathed a sigh of relief... we had made it.... George was pulled over by the police. He hadn't done anything wrong. We suspect they saw the Kenya license plate and thought it was an opportunity to make money. His offense... driving with sandals. So bogus. The reason they pulled him over? We never found out. They made him pay on the spot before letting him go. This delayed us a bit and we finally pulled into our house at 10:30. Because time was short, George dropped off me, Nala and our stuff and left to see Gordon and the driver out of town. He still had to go to the back, pay the driver and fill up the gas tank.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this... George's phone got lost or stolen somewhere on the journey. So, he wasn't able to call Lulu to tell her we arrived. I just waited with Nala and our stuff on the front porch. Then George went to Lulu's house (fortunately he remembered where it was from our dinner there last time). She wasn't there, but her neighbors called her and he was able to meet her to get the key.

Once George got back, we entered our house and brought in our stuff. Shortly after, Lulu came and George left with her to get a few items that we would need to sleep there: mattress, blanket, food, etc. By the time they came back, it was pouring rain. The rain would continue on and off through Friday morning. I was fine with that since it kept the temperature down.

So... we made it! How do we feel now? Relieved to be here, but exhausted and drained (in every way). We are thankful the Lord brought us here and hope to rest and recover from the stress of the journey over the next day or two.

Thank you for praying. The journey was rough, but God is faithful and we are here now.

We Are Here

Just a quick note to tell you we arrived in Korogwe Thursday morning. More details to come soon once I have more internet access.

Getting Ready to Go

Tomorrow we attempt to leave for Tanzania. Two good things happened today. We received the money back from the first car guy and we got a letter from a vet in Tanzania. Praise the Lord. The success of those two things lifted our spirits.

Since I was in the house all day yesterday with Nala while George ran all over Nairobi working on the paperwork, I was feeling restless today. On our way to Gordon's on Sunday, I noticed a new mall that had been built since I last spent time in Nairobi. I was able to take a matatu there and get out of the house for a bit this afternoon. It was refreshing. I ate at my favorite restaurant, Java, and walked around the mall briefly before going back. The stores are really expensive, so I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to see what was there.

The car we hired is supposed to arrive tomorrow at 7:00am. The guy promised to be here before 7:00. If he does, we'll load up the luggage and head into town. At 8:00 the ministry of livestock opens and Lord willing, George will be able to get the transport documents we need to cross the border. If all goes well, we'll be on the road to Korogwe by 9:00 and will arrive before 7:00 tomorrow evening.

Please keep up the prayers!