A Bunch of Checkmarks

I have now left Musoma. But I wanted to take a chance to show you a picture that summarizes my work over the past 5+ years.

Impressive right?

Ok, maybe not. But what does it mean?

Other than being a bunch of boxes with checkmarks, it means the following for each Jita, Kwaya, and Zinza:

- Approved orthography status (as of my last day in the office!!!)

- Over 250 pages of peer-reviewed linguistic documentation.

- Basic grammars, both in English and in Swahili.

- Extensive documentation of the spelling rules, both in English and in Swahili.

Praise God for all of the work that he enabled me to accomplish!

Goodnight, Musoma

Goodnight, Musoma house and home.

Goodnight, office monkeys who dance on the roof at all times of the day.

Goodnight, Musoma weekend sports.

Goodnight, running trail.

Goodnight, delicious kiti-moto and bananas.

Goodnight, walks to "The Rock".

Goodnight to the various hats I wore at the office.

Goodnight, bodabodas.

Goodnight, Musoma ex-pat community.

Office Farewell

Friday was my last day in the office. So, we had a goodbye lunch.

Goodbyes here in Tanzania include speeches and wrapping someone in fabric.

I was blessed by the words of farewell that were spoken to me. I thank God that I had the words when my turn to say goodbye came. It took me a bit to get started though. How do you sum up 5+ years of working with the same people? How can you really say or do enough to show the gratitude you feel for the role that they have played in your life?

And of course the fabric wrapping...gotta love it!

One more week in Tanzania and then I start the journey back to the States.

Cat Versus Bat

I finally figured out how to enjoy having a bat in the house...have a cat around!

For those who are concerned - we caught the bat a couple of nights later and released it outside.