June 25, 2010
Only one more week of school left for the year! The kids are ready for a break as am I. I am thankful tho that we have been able to get as much done as we have with interruptions from furlough, visitors and just plain’ ol life here in Africa.
People often ask me, “What’s a typical day in your life there in Tanzania?” My answer? A “typical” day is always not “typical” and quite unpredictable. Take yesterday for instance. We woke up around 7 and eased our way into the morning with coffee and checking emails. Coffee was a “go” but email was not. Internet was down…again… Okay, that afforded me more time to get school organized for the day. Or so I thot. Then a knock came at the door. It was Loserian, our campus manager. He came to inform me that the tile man was here and waiting on me to get started before laying the tile in the guest house. I was elected overseer of that project. Unlike the States, you can’t just hire a skilled laborer to come in, get the job done, pay him with a smile and leave. No, here they have to be watched over like a hawk to make sure they truly are skilled and that they are following your specifications. Good thing I showed up. Instead of laying tiles in a vertical pattern beginning in the middle of the room like I requested, he was putting them on an angle and starting from the corner. Yikes! Got that problem solved and was back at home school. Then the phone rang. Problem with the tile guy..again.. He needs more tile. Perhaps not a big issue anywhere else but in a place like here where we live 30 min from any store and the tile man doesn’t own a car, we have to go get more of the tile. So, work is halted till Loserian runs to get more tile. Meanwhile, there’s Meg begging me, “Mom…can we PLEASE get back to school now?!” You know it’s bad when your child is begging you to get back to school! J
School eventually finished for the day but not without it’s fair share of drama. Meg’s tooth started hurting her. Upon inspection of her pearly whites I discovered something else “white” protruding from her gums. She had an abscess. Some food had apparently lodged itself between her teeth causing an infection in her gums. I raced her off to get to the dentist on time before he closed at 4:30. I contemplated not even taking her and just self treat at home. Again…not at all what I’d do in the States but here often self treating is better than any “official” medical care you would find her. To my surprise internet was up long enough for me to check what to do to self treat. Give her antibiotics and home remedy salve for the abscess. But all indications strongly supported visiting your dentist to have xrays done to look for any deeper infection. Okay..off to the dentist we go. Forty minutes later I’m pulling into the dentist. Ten minutes later I’m pulling out of the dentist office with … antibiotics and suggestions for home made salve. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! He didn’t even take any xrays at this point as we were too close to his closing time. Good news is the abscess is gone this morning thanks to amoxicillin, home made salve and lots of prayer! The best part of the story?? Getting home only to find out that the tile man now needs one more bag of grout…in where we just came from! And… internet was down again! Ugh!!! So, having shared all this I can honestly say a “typical” day sounds sounds soooooooooooooooo appealing right now! J
