Debi's June 8 post

Warning!  I have nothing very interesting to write about and everything may be clouded in a filter of illness. 

We arrived in Arusha two and a half weeks ago. I got sick pretty fast and missed Nashesha's graduation which was the whole reason we worked so hard to get here!

A few days later Don got got sick!  Now we were both down!  We went through multiple boxes of Kleenex!  Don worked one day before going down. He is now on antibiotics and decongestants. I am recovering, but  he still cannot work cuz he cannot hear!  We are quite the couple shouting when we have something to say!

Don likes to think we caught a bad bug in Norway. Who knows?  He says it stands to reason that Viking bugs would be particularly virulent! 😜

Erik, Don's brother is also sick. He stopped in to see us last Saturday, clearly not well. His problems are different than ours. He  says something bad is going around Arusha. Erik, Bernice and Nashesha left this week for Dar es Salem to renew Nashesha's passport for going to the US for college. 

Mark and Linda left a week ago and will be gone until August 9. It feels pretty lonely when your support system is gone and you are sick!

Today I finally had to get out of the house!  I stopped in to see Wema and family for the first time. Joy abounded!  Truly!  Even big sister and new baby Purity were there!  When I hugged Wema, she was burning up!
I recoiled and said what is wrong!??  She admitted she was sick too!  She caught it from baby Purity!  I told her I could NOT be around her!  I am not quite over whatever I am recovering from! I cannot get a Tanzanian bug now!

So, our return to TZ has been plagued with illness!  In 38 years of marriage,  I don't think Don has missed this many days of work  in a row due to illness!

It is never fun to be ill!  Of course!  But when you have to sit in uncomfortable furniture so long, it makes you miss the comfort of a lazy-boy chair!

I have very little of interest to report cuz I have been so sick. However there are two small stories. 

First, our car which I refer to as "a piece of crap car" and Don calls "our good car", had the ABS light on. A fundi (literally means expert, but is used for any technician or, in this case, mechanic) who was fixing something for Linda, shook my hand through the car window and on introduction, saw the light on my dashboard and told me I needed to get it fixed and he could help me!  I scheduled time, gave him keys and he fixed sensors on a wheel.  However, our first time out driving, the light reappeared.

He got the car again and returned it more than a day later with 1/4 gas tank gone!  I was going to have him fix our microwave too which no longer works,  but I do not trust him now.  I told him  about the missing gas and he replied, "Don't worry Mama!  It is not a big problem, Mama!"  (Sigh...)

Another thing...same day. My favorite, most comfortable sandals which I wear everyday were MISSING!  I had kicked them off before entering the house because they got muddy from the driveway to the door. I am still trying to decide which is better...mud or dust?!  I was VERY unhappy!  My BEST shoes!  I was sure a thief had admired and confiscated them!  This was not good on top of being ill and the missing gas!

I started to wonder what good it is to hire THREE guards at night if your sandals can be stolen right next to your entry door!??  I am thinking more about these guards since Linda is gone. Since the guards tend to be unreliable to work, they are now checking  in with us instead of Linda, and we are recording their check in time on our calendar. Incidentally, they are very unreliable to work!  Makes you crazy when then Tanzanians are so desperate for work.

Anyway, thinking my sandals were long gone and the gas was long gone, I told Exaudi, the gardener, how unhappy I was. He immediately went on the hunt. An hour later there was a knock at my door..."Is this your sandal?"  I was astonished! YES!  Today he found the mate!  Unfortunately, it is a bit chewed!  I bet I can get that one repaired!  I am so relieved to know the culprits were dogs rather than thieves!

I bet you will stop reading  my messages reading after this!  I hope to have something more important to talk about soon...like the reason we are here. My questions about cost/benefit ratio continue. I still wonder if our presence in this foreign country is doing any good. I know WE are changed, but I am convinced that that is NOT enough. I have to be convinced that we are making a difference. 

I can't think about that today. I am too tired to continue and Don is asleep on the sofa next to me. Just driving the roads in Arusha, which I did today with two of Wema's brother's in search of finally some good coffee,  makes me want to scream or climb under covers. 

❤️Debi