Christmas with the animals

Although the Christmas season continues, Christmas day is over and a wonderful time it was.  Three of us decided to go visit the animals at Mikumi Game Park this year.  From Dodoma it’s about a five hour drive, not exactly around the corner, but the closest game park to us.  On Monday the 23^rd we arrived a bit after noon and settled in, catching up with each other since the last time we had met.  We stayed at a lodge just outside the park, small and cozy and nice.  One of the reasons we decided to celebrate this way was so that no one had to cook, no one had to wash dishes - we just enjoyed!

Hot it was, however.  Here in Dodoma we are at a higher altitude but Morogoro and Mikumi are lower and it’s hotter and much more humid.  We were more than grateful for air conditioning in our room especially before it rained Christmas night and cleared the heaviness a little.  Actually, it’s really hot here in Dodoma now also, although it doesn’t feel so humid.  As I write this nearing 5.00 in the afternoon, our thermometer shows over 95° in the shade of our back porch.   

Tuesday morning we didn’t manage to get up early so as to be in the park during the optimum viewing time but did manage to arrive about 9.00 a.m.  We hired a guide, several who are there at the park entrance looking for work, in order to not get lost in the park and to have him show us where to go to look for animals.  Very shortly after entering the park we saw a huge herd of elephants and stopped to watch them for a long time.  They crossed the road right in front of us and it was thrilling.  The herd consisted of a few huge ones, some medium sized ones, and even some babies.

Every time we stopped the car to look at animals we were bothered by biting flies, some of them tetse, coming into the car.  They must be really bothersome to the park inhabitants, animals and those park employees who have quarters there.

We went to the hippo pool and watched the hippos do nothing.  During the day they just sleep in the water so their backs sticking out of the water were all we saw.  Without a guide we never would have noticed that there were crocodiles along the edge of the pool – One of them poked the top of his head out a little; another showed only his eye.  We were told that sometimes they manage to kill a baby hippo but otherwise they have to wait for other game to come to drink. 

We saw lots of impala (and other similar animals in their same family), giraffe, zebra, baboons, many different kinds of birds, buffalo, warthogs,  and even a lion.  We really didn’t expect to see a lion because it was mid-day but maybe because it was overcast she was out scouting around.  She wasn’t very close, and was actually walking away from us, but it was great to be able to see her.

The park is 450 sq. miles, so it’s a big one and we only spent until noon there but managed to see lots of animals and enjoyed it very, very much.  How magnificent they are, each kind in its own way, and it’s marvelous to be able to see them in their homes.  So all in all it was a very happy Christmas and a blessing to be able to spend it so comfortably with friends and some of nature’s glorious animals.

“Anyone who truly knows creatures may be excused from listening to sermons for every creature is full of God, and is a book.”  Meister Eckhart (1260-1327) 

 

Merry Christmas!

                   This week is Christmas and such a special time of the year.  I was in town last

week and there are signs that Christmas is coming, besides the CD’s of Jim Reeves singing “Silent Night”.  Some shops are decorated and the bank has a very nice Christmas tree, artificial of course, but it looks nice.  There also seemed to be a lot of people on the streets so maybe they were Christmas shopping.  Some little kids I’m pretty sure were getting measured for new shoes so they’ll be all spiffed up for Christmas.

I needed to renew the car’s registration as well as renewing my driver’s license so that was my main job in town.  I was treated very well while doing both tasks, a reminder again of how it pays to be an elder in this society.  Another interesting reminder of different cultures was when I was standing in line at the bank.  It was a long line and a long stand, and I stood at a distance which was comfortable for me behind the person in front of me.  The woman in back of me was probably at a distance comfortable for her as well, but it was really close for my comfort zone.  It’s like in church when there really is no more room in a pew but another person comes and manages to sit.  Amazing …. 

The other day while out doing my early morning walk, I met a woman who was coming in from the outskirts of town with some vegetables to sell.  We had met before but this day we stopped to talk.  She asked me if I was Chinese (!) and I guess that’s because many other strangers around are Chinese since they are building the university as well as some roads in the area.  After we got through that bit of the conversation, she asked what I was doing in that area.  She knows where we live but I was a bit far from the house so she was wondering where I was going.  I told her that I was just doing exercise.  That surprised her, and finally she said, “Well, as I see it, you’re already old so I don’t know why you would be doing exercise!”  What to say to that?  I admitted that I am old but that exercise could be helping me stay healthy.  She just kind of shook her head and off she went.  I can imagine that she would love to be able to not walk miles in order to make a little money …..

Merry Christmas!

15 December 2013

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus, it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.”  (Isaiah 35)

This reading of the 3^rd Sunday of Advent couldn’t be more appropriate for us today in Dodoma.  Early this morning the third nice shower of the week poured down, and already grass and green things are sprouting, the desert is blossoming, and I’m sure the dry land is very glad.  The frogs are singing all night long after having been silent for months, and the insects are appearing out of nowhere to fly around and some drowning in pools of water, so glad are they to have moisture again.  Farmers are excited, and are busily finishing their fields’ preparation.  My flower seeds have already sprouted and it won’t be long before the Chinese cabbage that I planted in a bag seed bed will be up as well.  After Christmas these vegetable seedlings will go into a small plot and soon we’ll be eating fresh greens.  Chinese cabbage is available every day from the lady near us who sells fruit and vegetables but how satisfying it is to eat something just a little bit closer to one’s own labour. 

Mandela’s burial was a large part of my day today, as was the memorial service  on Tuesday.  He is resting in peace after a full and self-giving life.  Also Tanzania’s Independence Day was celebrated on Monday, 52 years since Independence.  A lot has been accomplished; a lot needs to be done yet.  But listening to President J. Kikwete talk today at Mandela’s funeral, I remembered all the sacrifices that Tanzania made so that other countries in Africa, younger than Tanzania, could be independent.  And as Pres. Kikwete said, it was often to the detriment or delaying of Tanzania’s development that this was done.  How nice that Pres. Nyerere’s widow, Maria, was present.  I wonder how many young people in Africa today remember all the sacrifices of their elders to achieve the opportunities available to them now.  I liked it when Roda ( 9 years old) came to visit today and I asked her if she knew who Nelson Mandela was, and she said “Yes”.  When I asked her who he was her reply was simple, “He was Nyerere’s friend.”  How true.

8th December 2013

 Yes, the month of December is upon us and Advent has begun with all the promises of hope that it brings.  This is our Advent wreath – candles in a clay pot filled with sand, and a clay vase holding some greenery.  Most trees are beginning to bloom and/or leaf out now so we know that the rain isn’t too far away.  It can’t come soon enough to relieve the heat.

We celebrated a birthday in our house on Monday by going to a winery about 40 kms. away and having a nice tour.  We drove just a few km toward Morogoro on the tarmac road and then turned in, so most of the journey was on a fairly well maintained dirt road.  There isn’t much to see along the way until we got to Hombolo, and there we found a beautiful training college and not too far away the winery that we had gone to see.  We had a good tour, sipping wine along the way, and enjoyed learning a bit more about wine making.  There are vineyards all around the winery, and small farmers grow grapes to sell for the wine production.  We were told that they use all the grapes that are sold to them and have a bigger market for their wine than they can produce for.  And the wine is good!

The death of Nelson Mandela has been the big news this week.  I admire him so much for his peacefulness and patience and spirit of forgiveness and for all that he endured in order that the people of South Africa and others could be free from apartheid.  I have so many memories of solidarity with the South African struggle.  One is from the years that I worked in California, in the late 70’s.  We had our meager amount of money in an account in the Bank of America.  We learned that the Bank of America was investing in South Africa (when responsible corporations were not doing so, in order to bring down the apartheid system) and so we wrote a letter explaining that we were withdrawing our funds from their bank and marched down to withdraw our money.  Of course it was simply a gesture since the amount of money we had in that account was peanuts!  But gestures were made because of principles.

Another thing we did as Maryknoll Sisters in Tanzania in the 80’s was to fast and pray one day a week in order that Nelson Mandela be set free.  We were faithful to that until that day in 1990 when he walked out of jail.  I remember sitting in Olkokola and crying when I heard that news that he was actually free.  And even now when I drive to Morogoro  I pass the places and remember where so many  South Africans found refuge in Tanzania during those years when it was dangerous to struggle against the government.  And it was to Tanzania that Nelson Mandela came soon after he was freed, in order to thank the people and government of Tanzania for their support.

A couple of years ago, on the 20^th anniversary of his release, I wrote a poem and in memory of his passing, here it is (hey, if Maya Angelou can do it so can I!):

IN PRAISE OF A JUSTICE SEEKER

It’s 20 years now,

After 27 years then.

Mandela is free,

South Africa is free.

Before then the risk of death was in front of his eyes,

Imminent as system changer lives danger.

 

Now death, peaceful death of a free man,

Is in him, as old age, long-lived life, claims its own.

Praise to the brave, praise to the weak-strong,

One who shows us how to live,

Praise to followers in his footsteps.

His life, our gift.

2010

(on the 20^th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison)

 

 

 

 

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving.  It really is a special time in the year when we’re reminded to give thanks for all the blessings we experience every day.   It’s a special time for us with ties to the U.S., a nation which celebrates this special day.  I think there are lots and lots of countries and cultures around the world that celebrate the blessings of the year, mostly at harvest time when folks give thanks for the completion of a growing season.  But I don’t know of other countries that have a national day, that is,  celebrating on the same day for the whole country.  And so this past week I’ve really been reminded to be grateful.

I’m grateful that every single day I have food to eat.  I’m grateful that I have a house to live in, a place to be safe.  And not only do I have that here, but I also have so many people who are willing to take me in at a moment’s notice and provide a bed and safe place for me for a day or week or more.  I have so many homes:  here, Maryknoll, NY, with Sisters around the world, with my brothers, my nieces and nephews, my friends.  I have enough clothes to wear, more than enough, and when they get ragged I don’t need to keep wearing them but they’re converted to cleaning rags. 

I have had the advantage of a good education, I have a ministry that gives me joy.  I have been endowed with decent intelligence and the gift of common sense.  I have good health and quite a bit of energy for someone pushing 72.  I can walk without hurting, I have almost all my teeth, and I’m only forgetful when I’m tired!

I’m grateful for Maryknoll, my missionary vocation, for belonging to this community, for all the years spent among the people of Tanzania.  I’m grateful for all the learnings I’ve experienced in living with people of different cultures and for the ways that that experience has stretched me.  I’m grateful that this experience continues to challenge me and to make me think about my assumptions and how I do things and how I think about things.

I’m grateful for a loving family, for brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nieces-in-law, nephews, nephews-in-law, grand-nieces and nephews and now even great-grand-nieces and nephews.  I’m grateful for those of our family who have become our angels:  Mom, Dad, Don, Ron, Kathy, JoAnn, Monte.  And I’m grateful for my friend who is like the biological sister I never had , Pat.  She is an angel to the children I meet every day, and she’s doing a wonderful job of it, just like she did while she was on this earth in her earthly body.

I’m grateful for all my friends:  for Maryknoll Sister friends, for friends I’ve known because of Maryknoll, for friends I’ve been fortunate to have met along the way and who have made me a more loving person.  I’m grateful that they continue to be faithful friends through all these years and I’m grateful that I can continue to meet and make new friends. 

I’m grateful that the earth continues to provide for us humans, and I’m grateful that we humans are learning how to care for her a bit better.  I’m grateful that I was born on the land and have grown up with a love of the land.  I’m grateful that I love getting my hands dirty in the soil and I’m grateful for everything that grows and delights my heart.

Whew, this is getting to be long and boring.  And so even though this list may not be exhaustive, I’ll finish it by saying:  THANK YOU!   

Early morning walk to the baobab trees

A bit before 6.00 a.m. and the sun is beginning to rise in the east.  I'm on my way to the baobab trees.  The area in which we live is really on the outskirts of the city, and not much walking needs to be done to get me out of the housing area and into the open spaces.

This is the trunk of one of the trees, beginning to be hollowed out.  It reminded me of creche, a perfect Christmas scene.  Everything is extremely dry these days, with rain expected in about a month.  You can see the color of the soil.

 

Isn't it a beautiful tree?  And the background is pink with the sun starting to lighten the sky.  There are only a few blossoms on this tree this year.  These trees blossom in the driest part of the year, so that their seeds get the maximum rainfall possible for growth.  Nature has her ways.

These trees have such magnificent blossoms, pure white and esquisitely formed.  It's a bit hard to see on this picture but can you see the bee having its breakfast?

This shot was taken up through the branches and the moon is almost ready to set.

21 November 2013

21 November 2013

Another weekend went by without posting a blog.  That was because I was travelling and attending meetings and enjoying time with friends and so writing a blog took second fiddle.  Last Thursday (14^th) I went to Dar es Salaam, leaving here by Mohamed Trans Bus at 6.00 a.m. and arriving on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam by 1.00 p.m.  The trip was fine up to here, with only one stop along the way, for bathroom and breakfast.  Then as we started getting into traffic, everything came to a standstill.  There is a lot of building and repairing of roads going on, widening the road as well as building some sort of rapid transit train system, and  everything and everybody keeps wanting to get somewhere at the same time the building is going on.  After some time of sitting in traffic that was completely stopped, our bus driver jumped up, went out of the bus, got on the back of a motorcycle that was on the side of the road, and off he went.  Before too long, he was back, having scouted out a way around/though the jam, and we managed to get to the station within the next half hour.  We got into a taxi to take us to the hostel at the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, and then sat in the taxi for another good length of time waiting to leave the bus station.  The taxi driver maneuvered around stopped traffic and back streets and we made fairly good time until the last couple of miles, where again there was a jam with nothing moving.  Finally our driver was able to get off the road and take some back paths and we made it to TEC, sweating profusely and grateful to be out of a “moving” vehicle.  This isn’t a good month to go to Dar es Salaam, since the heat and humidity is awful and it really wasn’t pleasant.  However, it was good to see the Maryknoll Sisters from all over the country and we had an air conditioned room for our meetings, so all was well.  I came back here on Sunday, leaving Dar es Salaam at 6.00 a.m. and arriving in our house by 1.00.  That was good time and my only complaint was a headache, since there was no coffee to be had either before leaving or on the way.

Dar es Salaam has changed so much since I lived there in the 70’s.  Then the population was so much smaller and cars were few and far between.  Now the population is almost 4 ½ million, and I swear most of them are on the road all the time, either on foot or bicycle or motorcycle or car or van or bus.  And don’t forget the truck traffic, with huge trucks and trailers hauling cargo to and from the port in Dar es Salaam travelling all over Tanzania as well as Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC.   Hopefully when the building and repair are finished the traffic problem will be eased a little.  Talk about energy and life, however – lots and lots of that.