1st December 2009 – New Month, New Season

I hope everyone is having a peaceful beginning of Advent, and that you will continue to enjoy the preparations for Christmas without too much stress and strain. It’s hard to believe that December is already here, and that we’re into Advent. Here in Tanzania many of the Christmas preparations happen immediately before the day itself and not a lot earlier. However, Christmas music is already starting to be heard and it is enjoyed by everyone. Someone told me the other day that she was on a bus (about a two hour ride) and as the bus left there were Muslim prayers being sung over the loudspeaker. However, after a little while that changed into Christmas music and lasted until she arrived! Another ecumenical experience ……

I have finished the school year and returned the exam to the kids yesterday. They did fairly well and seemed to be pleased with themselves. When I was at home before coming here, the youngsters at St. Patrick’s parish gave me quite a few pens and pencils and other gifts for the kids here, and so I gave each student one pen at exam time. When I told them that they were gifts from kids in the U.S., they asked me to tell them “Thank you”. And so I do: Thank you very much.

Our rain still hasn’t returned so the corn that was coming up is really looking tough by now. It seems that the rains that people depend upon really begin closer to Christmas; at least that’s how people are consoling themselves now. Anyway, I don’t think that a whole lot of corn was planted, just small plots. Every afternoon we can hear some thunder in the far distance, and I guess that’s the promise of things to come.

We’re into mango season here and they are SO nice. Many mangoes here come from Morogoro, but the best ones (in my opinion) are the ones from Tabora. Pineapples are also in abundance these days, and we’ve had some really sweet ones. Oranges, which were abundant when we first arrived here, aren’t to be seen these days, and tangerines are also non-existent. Papaya is available pretty much year around, it seems, and Dodoma has really good ones. Papaya trees may grow well in an area but the fruit isn’t very good, so it depends on soil, altitude, water, etc. The market in town is very big, but the choice of fruit and vegetables is limited by the season. That’s the best way to live more sustainably, I guess, and there's always enough to eat.