Go to the Ant

I followed a biblical command this weekend:

Go to the ant, you lazy person, observe her ways and be wise (Proverbs 6:6).

Part of the take-away: God created that ant to be able to do that kind of work. God has also created me with the ability to accomplish any and all of the work that he has for me.

How quickly do you go to the dentist?

If you had a filling fall out, what is the longest amount of time you would wait before going to a dentist?

A month ago I thought a large filling had fallen out. I was well over halfway back to Musoma from Nairobi and so decided to wait three weeks to see a dentist. I knew I could get a lift back from Nairobi and wouldn't have to take the bus both ways. Not having to take the bus both ways? I'll wait three weeks.

What if you found out it wasn't a filling that fell out? Rather, it was a chunk of the tooth and you actually need a crown (but thankfully no root canal !). How long would you wait to get that crown in place?

I was informed it would take a week to get the crown. So, either I'll spend a week in Nairobi in July, or I'll find a good dentist in Dar es Salaam and have it done in May. Those are the two options I'm considering.

Why not just get it done in Musoma?

Because I don't know of a dentist in town that could do this work.

This is one of the things I love about living here. In the past I would have thought that something like this was an emergency warranting immediate action. In fact, it is not. My tooth will be repaired at some point and I'll just keep working and doing life until then.

(I'm not in any pain, by the way, so don't get any ideas that I'm just gritting my teeth and suffering)

Got Milk?

Getting milk isn't as simple as going to the store and picking up a gallon.

If you want the good milk, you want ferry milk. Milk vendors on the roadside often add water to milk, up to half the volume could be water. But ferry milk isn't watered down! I'd been using watery milk for years before I found ferry milk.

Sometimes the ferry is delayed, even up to an hour. That is why one should carry a book wherever one goes.

This ferry brings milk from Kinesi (a village across an inlet of Lake Victoria from Musoma). There is an officer from the ministry of health who comes to measure and ensure that the milk has the right level of milk solids. AND it costs the same as the watered down milk, less than 50 cents per liter.

I usually get 3-5 liters of milk each week (0.8 to 1.3 gallons). Once home, the milk is boiled, cooled, put in the fridge, and skimmed for cream the next day. Half a liter gets set aside for tea and the remainder is turned into kefir (a type of yogurt).

The process, from having no milk to having cream, milk, and kefir takes nearly 48 hours.

It may sound like an undesirable system, but honestly it is another aspect of life here that I love.

Gaining Some Culture

I thought I would only pick up on Tanzanian culture whilst living here. But I've actually worked with people from around the world: Dutch, Germans, Aussies, Kiwis, Brits and Canadians. So, I've picked up a bit of culture from these places as well.

A little over a week ago the Aussie Rules football season (aka 'footy') was kicked off. Over the past couple of years I've become a fan of the Adelaide Crows.

I've never really had a sports team that I follow or care about until now. But I really enjoy footy, generally understand it, know many of the players, and can get indignant over a bad call.

So, every weekend during the season I can be found with one of my Dutch friends, one of my American friends, and one of my Aussie friends watching the Crows and cheering them on from Tanzania! Also, thanks to a projector, we even get the big screen experience:

Here is to 6 months of Crows footy!