T-Day and new (cool) hobby...

You all have been quite inquisitive (that's a good thing, I love getting questions from home) about my first big holiday here so I've included some snapshots of all our food, our beautiful table and the obligatory "kids' table." So cute!

*Note it's "T----- Day!" NOT "Turkey Day!" I think a turkey was the only thing missing. We had mashed and sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, cornbread stuffing, macaroni and cheese, corn casserole, 7 layer salad, pies, cakes and lots more I don't remember right now.









In other exciting news, I have started a new hobby! My mom sent me a scrapbook, and I started it today. It's my first scrapbook since the mid-90's before Creative Memories days. My roomie and I were talking about how scrapbooking is now intimidating since everyone has all this fancy stuff and it looks all professional. I hope my third world supplies won't be mocked when I return home and show off my book =^O. In any case, I had a great time relaxing with that project today, and I don't feel intimidated by my scrapbook anymore. Another emotional dilemma I had to face in scrapbooking was fear of mockery of my new hobby. Apparently, since Creative Memories and other such companies have invaded our art stores it's questionable where your loyalties lie now - are you still someone who wants to "stick it to the man" or are you a sell out? Since it's out of the realm of possibility for me to go to the invaded art store, I convinced my most concerned friend I'm still cool and proceeded with my new hobby. So now that all emotional concerns are put aside, I am an excited and new scrapbooker! =^)

oooh la la

Thursday was my roomie's last day here so we thought we'd get some beautiful henna as a send off for her. She's headed to a land where it's not so popular or intricate. We went to my teacher's house at 10 am and went with her to the lady's house. We got there about 10:45 and were there until 7 pm!! We even got to eat lunch with them.

After she painted the black stuff on you get smeared with vasoline then powdered with baby powder. Then they tell you that you can't shower until the morning!




















And it's not just for big people! This is one of my favorite people here:























We also had a fiesta for her going away!

We began the party by going to a photo studio "downtown" and having a few photos of all of us together made. We decided to go with the digital option and let them pick "appropriate" backgrounds. There are pictures below of the results. So here we are getting ready and at the "fiesta," complete with guacamole, enchiladas, homemade tortilla chips, salsa, bean dip, and "sparkling coconas" drinks (I didn't mistype, that's what it said on the bottle. Your basic non-alcoholic sparkling pineapple coconut soda).

due to popular demand/halloween

Tortillas! (this is the easiest, tastiest we've found and it's definitely workable for pretty much anywhere on the globe. at least everywhere i've been has had fried something, so i know most of you can find fat!)

2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix this with:
3 Tbs fat (margarine, butter, oil, shortening or ghee - shortening or
ghee work best. i use ghee or "canned vegetable butter" most of the time.)
1/2 c water

Mix this with a fork or your hands until the dough clings together and
comes away from the bowl (may need to add a little more water, little
by little). Make it into balls, golf-ball sized, let stand on counter,
covered, 15-20 minutes. Roll out on lightly floured surface (counter)
with a rolling pin (or big drinking glass if you don't have a rolling pin).
Roll them thin. Keep the other balls covered with a damp cloth.

Brown on an ungreased skillet - flip over to other side. (You don't
have to cook them long at ALL on either side- maybe one minute total).
Keep covered in a towel-lined basket or on a plate covered with
aluminum foil. It makes about 12-15 tortillas.

For chips: Cut the tortillas up into wedges. Spray lightly with
cooking spray (or spread on a little oil or butter), salt, and then bake at around 400 until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Yes, cooking overseas is an adventure, but can a FL girl really live without tortillas?!



Also this is my Halloween "costume." I like to call it "Foreigner" =^)

"I wanna hold your hand..." - The Beatles

this picture is from the beach trip i took this week of a little girl of one of the couples here and it reminded me of an email i wrote recently, but it's what i've been learning...

mostly i have been learning about community - even still. one of the most important lessons i've learned is about keeping a soft heart and not fighting against what i don't understand about this culture with a defensive nature. it breaks my heart to look around and see all these people perishing. sarcasm and bitterness seem to be two of our biggest defense mechanisms in trying to prevent our hearts from becoming entangled and broken again and again by the people around us here. the father has been reminding me that his heart's broken and mine will be too. it's possible to live here and endure without mocking the people behind their backs, even when they aren't efficient or all those other things westerners value (besides the whole relig--s side, which is just sad). sarcasm and defensiveness aren't the only tools for survival. so i've been learning about how although i've been hurt by a lot of ppl the last few months staying vulnerable and being kind, patient, not insisting on my own way, believing, hoping, trusting and enduring all things is really important. and i've decided it's worth the risk of getting hurt to instigate and live in community. i feel like this is a choice i'm always making though. like i'll decide it's worth it, get burned, and then recoil and have to decide all over again that loving people relentlessly is worth it, whether i ever see compassion reciprocated or not. so i guess all that to say - i'm back and excited about continuing to love and invest in people back in the states, around the world and here even when it's not easy. that's how the father's made me to be. i've been a little scared to keep living my life out that way, but i'm conviced it's worth the risks involved.

besides all that i've been really excited about digging more and more in the OT on account wanting to learn the stories better and also the parallels b/t their laws and Lev. are like insane. they really are striving for rightsnss and closeness to the father, and without the free gift that's been put on my life i'd be in the same boat. that realization and study has also helped me hold my tongue on all my frustrations with watching my friends striving so hard yet continuing to trip and stumble over rules that don't satisfy.

the sunset from the beach:



this is our mexican night! we had rice, homemade tortillas (i have a super easy GOOD recipe if you want it), guacamole, chips, and beans and corn. my word, so delicious! we can't get all that stuff regularly so it was very exciting...

A New Tasty Recipe

GOAT MEAT BBQ

Ingredients:
4 kilos goat meat (from the only local butcher who uses refrigeration, but also understands you to mean "goat" NOT "cow" when you say "meat")
3 cups ketchup
4 1/3 cups water (or left over goat broth)
10 T lemon juice
6 T brown sugar
6 T Worchestire sauce
6 T vinegar
6 T prepared mustard

For one day cook cubed goat meat with clean water in large crockpot.

Drain. Shred. Add other ingredients to meat. Cook one day.

Enjoy this tender tasty treat on buns. Delicious served with green bean casserole (made with our snazzy condensed soup substitute and ritz crackers in lieu of french onions), pasta salad, and chips (toasted flat bread cut into triangles).

Feeds a crowd of hungry foreigners longing for a little taste of home. Probably a partial crowd in the states. =^) The secret is - just don't tell anyone it's goat! (worked for our party....)

the haps in photo form...

Sorry it's been awhile. My computer died and will have to take a "vacation" back to America so I'm bumming off other people around for posting and email. I've had some fun experiences this month so here are a few pics (ya'll seem to enjoy those)...

That's me and my good buddy (^) on a mountain! A group of us took a drive up to the top of one of the tallest mountains in my area. It's been getting a comfortable cool at night in the city and it was COLD up there. I bet this attire wasn't what you expected to see me wearing here!! This picture would be more funny if you could see our entire outfits. I have on a long shirtdress that's knee length, cords, tennis shoes and my denim jacket cutting in the middle of all that. My friend has on a floor length black robe w/ her hoodie. Stylish -eh?

S'MORES! Yup, we had mellows from the states, the skinniest balcony on earth and a little grill. No graham crackers, but we made do with tea biscuits.

A group of us (^) went to eat dinner at hotel for the break fast meal at sunset one night. It was delicious. To be honest, I really just posted this to show that sometimes I wear normal, matching, what I've come to consider "cute" clothing =^) If no one else, I know my 'trainwreck' kids will appreciate how much that means to me.

This is another fashionable moment captured at our roof top fish fry last week, and your introduction to my NEW roomie, M. Yup, that makes 5 of us now. She's wonderful and has already taught me tons about the South and cows. I used to only have one ranching anecdote (involving the breeding of miniature cows) in my repertoire. Now I have a few!

This is the first break fast meal I shared at a friend's house. The food is delicious here, and this month has been full of new things that only appear during holiday.

I hope you all are well. Know that I love you and I miss you. Please let me know how you are doing and what's going on back home. I'd love to know! Hopefully soon there will a post about what I've been learning this week. I've almost got it all articulated.

Rainbows

The first picture is from FL - my mom saw it the day my Grandpa died. The second I took yesterday, the day of his memorial service, outside my window in qville.

“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” Genesis 9:11-17

Yesterday we had a major thunderstorm. It was glorious. My roommate and I went out to do some errands when the rain had let up a little (so we thought). When we were wrapping things up at the market the heavens broke loose again and we ended up being soaked. Respectable women don’t run in the street, but once we were ‘round the corner to our small street I ran and twirled in my balto and flip flops and of course stuck my tongue out to feel the drops landing in my mouth. Once inside our gate and completely out of public view, I splashed in the huge puddles we have to wade through to get to our front door. After we were inside I looked out our living room window at the beautiful mountains only to discover a rainbow - a full arch all the way across the sky. Beautiful.

Rainbows are pretty incredible in that they appear with the rain. Noah didn’t need a rainbow on a sunny day to remind him that God is faithful to keep his promise not to destroy everything with a flood. But you better believe when it started pouring Noah took comfort in that bow across the clouds! It was a pretty amazing reminder to me that He provides the grace and reassurance where and when I need it. Yesterday was pretty rough not being home as my family gathered together and I was here feeling very far away. The gift of a gorgeous FL summeresque thunderstorm to play in for a few minutes and a rainbow too was a wonderful reminder of the joy to be found in the midst of trial and His faithfulness. I know that He is the lifter of my head and the God of endurance and encouragement.

Also, right before these verses and in only the 9th chapter of Genesis you already see the importance of blood being required to compensate for death. So from Adam and Eve being covered with the skin of an animal that God kills to cover their shame to this story to the whole sacrifice system and so many other places we see the plan for Jesus being revealed. Wow – what significance a rainbow has now – an ETERNAL covenant, and back to Jeremiah 33 we go. And if my OT scholars have any say I’m sure there will be more when they teach me about rainbows, clouds, rain and Noah.

garments of praise

"Put on the garments of praise

For the spirit of heaviness
Let the oil of gladness flow down
From Your throne
Put on the garments of praise
For the spirit of heaviness
Your joy is my strength alone
My strength alone"

This has become a pretty important concept in all I've been learning about being relentless. On the day when all I think I want is to sit with my fam in the states I am here and amazingly enough I have joy (being able to consider it pure joy, as it were - my mom's been teaching about that a lot these days). It's not easy to be far away and tears are involved, but He's good and providing for us. So in the midst of it all I must give thanks for I am redeemed (Rev. 21:6), and He is establishing His kingdom and creating in us a hope for that.

Plus, just check out the amazing beauty of His creation. This is a red geranium, how nice!

Break Fast!

Fast breakin' time with traditional dates and fried food and the not so traditional lemonade and ice cream!

TOP 10 DAR ES SALAAM!

So this past week I’ve been in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to visit a good friend and I thought I’d give you my “Top Ten Reasons to Visit Dar” complete with pictures. Then my plane got delayed a few days so I’m still here and thought I’d add another number for the extra days:

11. English Magazines (All the best – Time, The Economist, GQ…you can probably guess which two I bought).

10. On the Road Stuff: awesome billboards, driving on the “wrong” side of the street and ghetto rigged radio (you have to set these things up if your stereo gets stolen).

9. Two words: Dr. Pepper. It just makes the world taste better. (So do A&W rootbeer and crunchy Cheetos!)

8. Bungalows and the Beach. These are at Kipepeo Beach where Mar and I spent one night on the beach. The place is pretty much complete with restaurant/bar, rooms, the beach and the Indian Ocean. You know a girl from FL has to have the beach on her Top 10!

7. Pedicures. Yeah, we get gross feet in Queensland and having someone else scrub ‘em off, rub ‘em and paint my toenails a pretty pink was amazing.

6. Mama P’s Gingersnaps. That’s right - my mommie’s package of cookies for Marissa arrived while I was in Dar so I got to enjoy them too!!! They are delicious, and you should request your own box sometime or at least ask for the recipe.

5. Restaurants: seafood, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, American, Tanzanian…mmmmmm.

4. Short sleeves and no bandanas - all day everyday inside and outside.

3. Green grass and awesome students at University of Dar es Salaam. I got to meet lots of the girls Marissa works with and we had some beautiful bonding time on the grass hanging out under the trees. That is something I really miss from UF so it was just like hanging out at home. I also went to their on campus Sunday service which pretty much rocked it just like GCL (my college church). I felt like I was at home for a couple hours there.

2. Marissa! Yes, the best thing about visiting Dar is my friend Marissa. We basically spent the whole week encouraging each other and getting to work out some of our experiences from the last few months. She took me in and created safe space for me to vent, cry, laugh, joke around and just chill with her for a week. It was refreshing to have such a close friend sing my song back to me when I had forgotten some parts. I am thankful for this week and for everyone who lifted it up.

1. Flying regional airlines that cancel/delay and getting bonus days with Marissa!

*for more pictures you can check out Marissa’s blog. It should be up soon. Also, there will soon be a facebook album!

CONGRATS PAM AND JON!!!!

To two of my favorite people in the world...CONGRATS on your engagement. I so wish I could be there to celebrate with you and the rest of the GCLers. Can't wait to hear the whole story.

May God be gracious to you and bless you and make His face shine upon you, that His way may be known on the earth, His saving power among all nations.
(from Ps 67)

from my living room window!

I lift my eyes up to the mountains; where does my help come from? My help comes from You, Maker of heaven, Creator of the earth...

toga, go greek...

This is roomie A and I. We bought fabric today to take the tailor (getting things made here is super cheap). Just before the prewashing prep we decided to make like togas. Yes - those are grapes and my cup's empty! Just didn't want anyone to think I'd suddenly become overly serious since moving =^)

ps jmay, know this is partially for your benefit -go greek... but really - a shout out to jmay from TN - CONGRATS on your greek class placement for grad school this fall!

to all you UF kids - I hope rush week is funny as always.

Grand Canyon Sunrise

I just finished reading Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller and a good chunk of the book reminded me of when my family went to the Grand Canyon four years ago. My sister and I walked down a little bit on the Blue Angel Trail to watch the sunrise. It was amazing - something I'll never forget.

The one true sign of discipleship is intimate oneness with Him – a knowledge of Jesus that nothing can shake. –Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest, August 16

He knows us by name. That’s where Chambers starts and he ends with this statement. Living here has convinced me that “a knowledge of Jesus that nothing can shake” is worth the process of sanctification. For a long time I thought I was in the middle of refinement, but today I realized all of the sudden that it is quite possible this was all just a time of preparation for the real business of sanctifying. It’s like He’s always saying – you weren’t as far as you thought, the cost you’ve paid is the beginning. There is more. Maybe it’s time to be willing no matter the cost – even those things I have held so closely. I had a thought last night that for some reason there are hopes and disappointments I choose to keep close and could very well be getting in the way. “A crushed spirit who can bear?” That’s one of my favorite proverbs. In any case, I’m not really sure where all this is going besides to say suddenly everything that seemed a deep refinement is really just like peering over the Grand Canyon, but when you look at a map or fly over in a plane or even hike it you know there are canyons upon canyons and peering over the edge or walking a couple switchbacks on the Bright Angel may seem deep, but the more you learn, the more there is. So I realize today we’ve just walked a couple switchbacks. There is much more to do. I wonder what will I find on the rest of the way down and do we have to hike back up another unfamiliar way? Maybe. But so far He has provided whatever I need at every step. He has not been slow to reassure that He indeed loves me and is pursuing me with His redeeming love. A certain feeling comes over me at times like this – a heaviness of heart, but also a knowledge that my sin and His grace has brought me here. I am already a new creation and forgiven. I am also being more equipped to fulfill my purpose for existence. I can’t wait to see the sunrise from inside the Grand Canyon again. This metaphorical one and the real one. I may have to preempt a trip my dad promised me if I ever get a doctorate and just go with a friend when I get back to America. I'd love to see those painted deserts and the Pacific coast again. Daydreams for now, but it’s part of a longing for real home that can only be fulfilled one day far, far away. Such big places are the closest thing to His majesty I so long to lay my eyes on. He has given us expressions of Himself. Amazingly enough a trip to the canyon doesn’t provide a glimmer of what my community shows me about Him. We are, after all, created in His image. So for now, my mirror and my friends will suffice to be my Grand Canyon sunrise. Maybe one day I’ll have both. In all this, I’ve been learning the significance of walking closely with Him. I love how Chambers puts it and it’s my desire for you. Look around at the believers in your life and see Him there, see Him in the sunrise, and settle down long enough each day just to gaze on some reflection of His beauty. It’s worth it.