Update from TZ

There is little news here in Tanzania, especially in comparison to the news that has been coming from the states! Congratulations all around for the new additions to the family!

I believe my last post was pre-election cycle, which went off without too much fanfare, at least in my part of the country. The northwestern parts saw some election violence but fortunately nothing very interesting happened in my neck of the woods. The president was reelected as expected, but the results were surprising as he won by a much larger margin than expected. I had my long break from mid-September to mid-October and generally hung out around my site. There was certainly an uptick in hikes as I have climbed multiple mountains. Included in that break was a trip to Matema Beach, our beach front resort on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). After break, I have continued to teach classes, despite my relatively empty schedule. I also presented my first presentation, which was on sleep, and had a good response. The students asked intelligent questions and I think those that were there through the entire presentation did take some valuable information away. Currently, the form 6 students are working on their mock exams to prepare for national exams in February. My form 5s are in integration, which is going slowly, but we are ahead of schedule so I can’t be too worried.

The past several months have been a time of change here in PC TZ. The health and environment volunteers left around August and were replaced shortly after by a new set of volunteers who have been settling in over the last three months. In November, the education class ahead of us began to leave the country and just about 3 weeks ago, we got our new education volunteers. Besides the fact that it is strange to be considered the upperclassmen, for lack of a better word, it is sad to see those who we got so close to leave without knowing if our paths will ever cross again. It is a challenge to see new people with totally unbiased eyes and I know it is even harder for the Tanzanians to avoid comparisons. One of the health volunteers who left in August was one of those life-of-the-party, makes-everyone-feel-included, generally uplifting people, in addition to the fact that she was a model volunteer, as she had fantastic Swahili and several successful projects on her resume. While her site was not directly replaced, someone was placed essentially within the same village and the expectations of her are a challenge for even the best volunteer. However, that’s the problem with success in a system like this I suppose, it builds expectations in a situation where expectations can create disappointment and frustration very quickly.

I wish I had more news to tell, but nothing is coming to mind. As always, feel free to check out my blog entries at andrewshooktoafrica.blogspot.com. I’ll leave you with some pictures of my activities recently. Since the beginning of September, I have hiked the tallest mountain, Rungwe, twice, the second and third tallest peaks, Mbeya and Loleza respectively, once, and the dormant volcano in between the three, Ngozi, twice.

Here is the campaign rally by Kikwete the day after my last post. All my students were required to attend which lead to several hours of sitting in the sun waiting for the president.

This was our first hike this "fall" to Ngozi. This was the first time I had climbed down into the crater which was a lot of fun. Here we are at the summit.

Here is the bamboo section of the hike on Rungwe, my second time up. It's amazing how the surroundings change, from ridiculous jungle at the bottom to treeless grasses at the top. The bamboo shows up in between the trees and the shrub sections.

Tanzania has trouble producing enough electricity to keep the lights on 24/7, so here is my room on one of the nights when the umeme is off.

Just this last weekend, we did a hike over the peak of Loleza to the peak of Mbeya mountain. It was by far our most ambitious hike yet. Here are Theo and Letty in the early morning climbing Loleza with Mbeya city in the background.

Here is a cool view from just below the summit of Mbeya Peak. The rocks right at the front are Mbeya Peak, while the first mountain in the background is Ngozi Crater and the mountain in the background, partly covered in clouds, is Rungwe. From up on the mountains it was easy to see all four major peaks in the area.

And here is a picture of Mbeya Peak on our way down. This is about the time where I had to refill my water bottles in the creek because I hadn't rationed well earlier in the hike :P

Thankful Times

Dear Family,

The last few weeks have been very fulfilling here! We have a new granddaughter, a neice engaged, my on-line classes are done, and good family time was spent at Thanksgiving time. What more can you ask for :)!! You will all be receiving our Christmas letter some time next week so I'm going to just post some of the pictures from the joyous times of the last few weeks! Here they are:



Adelynn ready for her dedication - October

24, 2010.












Olivia Imogene Rivers - November 21, 2010.



Great- Grandma and Grandpa meeting Olivia for the first time. - November 21,2010.



Enjoying time with Hannah - November 21, 2010.













Thanksgiving Day November 25, 2010.




Enjoying the granddaughters!






Remember to always enjoy the time you have with friends and family! It is so much a part of all of us. Thank you all for being such a special part of our family!

Introducing Olivia Imogene

I thought we needed a formal announcement in our blog: 
Welcome Olivia Imogene! 
Born November 20, 2010 at 11:32pm.  She was 7lbs 8 oz and 20 in long. 

Yes, she does have Grandma's name as her middle name.  This is for several reasons, but first and foremost because Grandma means a lot to me.  She has a sweet, caring ability and makes everyone feel welcome.  And she is very patient.  Growing up, I have many fond memories of my time spent with Grandma.  We did lots of art projects, played dress-up, tea party, went on walks, sewing projects, and did so many unique Grandma things.  I hope that Olivia gets to experience what a fun family we have!  The second reason she got the middle name Imogene is because I like the name.  And we have gotten many compliments on it since Olivia was born.

Gobble Gobble!

Surprise! Your guest blogger is coming to you from chilly Minnesota this Thanksgiving!

By now you've all heard (and probably gotten to see) the new kid on the block...I talked to Sarah on the phone a couple days ago, and I'm really excited to see Olivia! This blog-post won't really compare to her, I can't compete with a baby! I love babies! And away we go.....

I arrived in Minnesota at the end of August. Everything was green, the weather was hot, and people were always outside, in fact- it looked just like every photo in the "Visit Minneapolis" magazine I ordered....well...things have changed.

There wasn't much of a fall season, mostly it went from t-shirt weather to coat weather in one weekend. Luckily, I've been winter-phobic since I got here and have been purchasing sweaters and blankets at the thrift stores at every opportunity.

I am three months into my year-long internship (aka Vicarage) at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN. Its about a 15 minute walk into downtown. A little about the place: Its about 1/3 African American, 1/3 Caucasian, and 1/3 (Native American, Asian, Latino, African Immigrants, or Other)...which means its probably not like any Lutheran Church you've ever seen before. I know it was pretty new for me! We don't use any of the three hymnals I actually know...I have to say the prayers of the people extemporaneously, theres plenty of clapping and "amen!"s, and we aren't too rigid about the service (one Sunday we accidentally skipped right over the Lord's Prayer...woops!)

Let me just say this: Minnesota Lutherans are odd. For starters, there are more Lutherans in the Minneapolis Area Synod (District...St. Paul is its own as well!) than there are in all of Kansas and Missouri combined! My church is small compared to some of them. We worship about 60-100 on a Sunday, some of them have membership in the thousands. So, its sort of a bubble here. Its good to experience, but things just are different in other parts of the country. For example, my area of town is being praised for having ecumenical (between churches) relationship with our Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian neighbors...which is something that has happened in Austin for YEARS. Also the church just got a new roof...my apartment is in the white building across the street (I have a futon and a spare room for when you come to visit!)

So far this year, I'm leading two weekly Bible Studies, leading the confirmation class once in a while, preaching about once a month, getting involved in what's happening in the neighborhood community, and helping with administrative and organizational sorts of tasks (I set up a small computer lab in the library and I'm working on a website overhaul). So things are busy and good. But enough about church.

This Thanksgiving my pastor-friend Tim from Kansas City asked if I wanted to meet up in Des Moines, Iowa since it is about halfway between the Twin Cities and his place. YES. So we did, without much of a plan, I searched for a truck-stop for us to eat at but none had open restaurants. So...we drove around for a while and found a Chinese Buffet located in the otherwise closed mall. The buffet even had turkey (it was not fantastic).

So now I'm back in Minneapolis, ready to start waiting in Advent! I have nine more months before I will move on to the next place (wherever that might be)...some of you know how long that is ;) Until then, please know that I think of all of you often, and hope you know that I am deeply thankful for the blessing which you are in my life. I hope your holiday was as enjoyable as mine!

Until next time,

Go in peace, serve the Lord!

Thanks Be to God!

Amen!