Haven't seen this in a while...

We finally have a camera!!!  Thought I would take a minute to share two adorable pictures with you. :)

This was us Sunday morning in Tunduma.  Isn't B handsome?  I think so!

Our pups have found a new use for our treadmill - nap time!  Mocha will be staying with us, but Peanut will be going to a good home either tomorrow or the day after.  I should mention, our treadmill is under a leak - hence it has towels draped on it when not in use.  Hence they prefer sleeping on the towels to sleeping on the cold tile in the house.  At least they don't try to sleep on the couch!

Input please!

  Hey all!  I don't know how many of you know this, but we are planning a furlough next year (April through Julyish).  We don't have tickets or anything yet, so dates aren't firm.
  Anyway, I am trying to think of stuff that might interest people - maybe putting together a display for the backs of churches we visit.  I assume Benjamin will be sharing on most of the spiritual progress and such.  I am interested in hearing what you would like to see or read about, so if you have any input, please let me know!
  Thanks!

RAIN!!!

So, for those of you who do NOT live here, you have no idea - can not begin to imagine or TRULY relate to the excitement that I have felt today.  IT HAS RAINED!!!  This is our first honest to goodness rain since May (I don't remember the exact date...)

  Goodbye dust!
  Goodbye clouds of dust from every vehicle going by!
  Goodbye to inches and inches of dust on my bookshelves!
  (So much dust deserves at least 3 goodbyes....)
  Goodbye nasty brown everything!
  Goodbye guilty feeling upon realizing that the dogs haven't had any water in their dish...
  Goodbye having to water the garden!
  Goodbye dry, dry, dry skin!
  Goodbye brown, dirty feet and that gritty sandy feeling on the floors - even just after they have been mopped!

Of course, the excitement wears a bit thin after... oh... two minutes.  This is what helped it wear thin:

  Hello - Daniel left his windows open - so running out in the rain to close them!
  Hello - to the muddy paw prints left behind as Peanut followed me!
  Hello to wet dog smell!
  Hello to six months of mud!
  Hello to slipping and (almost) killing oneself on wet tiles!
  Hello to rain pouring in through windows that don't seal (esp when it rains sideways)
  and finally...
  Hello to the water leaking from my ceiling and dripping on my treadmill!!!!!

All in all, I am still happy to see the rain.  It is hottest here before the rain comes.  We may still have another few weeks to a month before the rains start in earnest - but we can officially count this the first real rain of the season.

Puppies!

These pics were taken a few days ago by a friend.  Sometime this month we will be getting our own camera and won't have to rely on the kindness of others!!!  I am soooooooooooo excited!

I really love this picture of Mocha with her Papa Puppy.  :)  It is all the more remarkable since he usually doesn't tolerate them touching him.

All in all, not flattering pictures.  Then again, I have just about given up on liking a single picture that has me in it.  If I knew how, I would probably put a big yellow smiley over my face.  But I don't.

Benjamin has gone to Ivuna today.  He is visiting some other missionaries and will stay the night.  I was supposed to go with him, but got a bad case of the runs which then compounded with a migraine last night.  It was deemed best that I stay here.  I have a test and answer key for the Kings of Israel that I am working on anyway - as my head allows.

I'll try to post more some other time.
xoxo - Aud

Sugar update...

Thank you all for all of your prayers.  We are thankful to the Lord for his healing touch - even on a dog.  Sugar has been improving.  The last two evenings she even got up and walked/ran around some.  She has also been able to use the bathroom grass - which we didn't find evidence of her doing for approximately 3 days.

  We were quite worried, but are now hopeful for a full recovery.

  She has still not regained her appetite.  We have been bribing her with chicken broth and milk - but sometimes she doesn't even want to drink any milk.  Today I boiled some ground beef and then added some ugali (corn) flour to it to make a soft porridge.  Even after not eating all day, she wasn't really interested in it.  Around 9:00 pm, I dipped two fingers into it and put it under her nose.  She happily licked it off.  I did that for about 4 bites, then moved the food right under her nose and the next time she went to lick it off of my fingers, I put my fingers directly in the food dish.  Seems crazy to go to that trouble to get a dog to eat!!!  Especially when she has 3 pups to feed.  I think they are a little skinnier than they were a few days ago, but they still seem ok - just no chubby bellies.

  She also won't stand up to drink water, but will often drink it if we put the dish right under her nose.  Tonight when she was away from her pups for about 5 min, she did go to their usual water dish and drink some there.

  She really is a good mama - she is VERY careful about not squishing the puppies.

  Anyway, just wanted to give you an update.  Obv she is not out of the woods yet, but Benjamin is no longer repeatedly saying that she is going to die.  :)  She is improving!

Proud Mama Sugar...

Tired Mama Sugar!

  So, thanks to a friend I have these pictures (yep - we still don't have a camera!).  Sugar had her puppies sometime Tuesday during the night.  She had been acting a little strangely on Tuesday, so I decided to go ahead and lock Rocky in the back and keep Sugar in the front.

  We don't know for sure that Rocky would have harmed the puppies, but we didn't want to take that chance.  Also, for Sugar's peace of mind, I knew he should be FAR FAR AWAY!!!

  Sorry - I don't have the time to label the pics individually, but they are pretty self explanatory.

  Sugar had 3 pups on Tuesday night.  Two black and one brindle.  The brindle is a female - and she is the biggest for sure!  The black ones are one male and one female.  I think it is the male that has some white markings on his chest.  I don't remember for sure...

  We noticed on Thursday that she really wasn't eating.  Sugar didn't seem to be doing as well as we were expecting.  Well, we moved her and the pups inside the house this morning (Friday) around 7:15 am.  About 10 am, she gave birth to a fourth (obviously still born) puppy.  He would have been a brindle male if he had survived.

  Benjamin was able to go and pick up and vet and bring him back here to the house.  Honestly, the vets here don't do much... they are quite limited.  But he gave her an injection to fight any infection and also an injection to stimulate appetite.  Hmmm... I am still never sure what this is - but they gave one to Cocoa before she died...

  The vet wants to come again tomorrow to give her another injection for the infection.  She has been resting pretty peacefully for the last 4 hrs.

  The pups seem to be doing pretty well.  They are actually quite noisy!  We will move them back outside before night time, but we wanted to be able to keep an eye on Sugar today.

  Please say a little prayer for her recovery and the health of the puppies!

Thanks!

Accomplishment alert...

Tonight the house is all locked and I made it INSIDE WITH the keys.  Just celebrating the small victories. :)  Wishing you all a peaceful night!

Ever notice how...

EVERYTHING BAD HAPPENS WHEN YOUR HUSBAND IS NOT HOME???

  This just must be one of those Murphy's laws of life.  All the bad stuff happens when my husband is gone... of course, you could say that if he were home, it would not happen at all.  This is also partly true.
  So, as you can imagine, I have a good story for you.  About last night.  It still makes me feel a little sick to my stomach just thinking about it.  But everything is mostly okay now.
  So, when I am home alone, sometimes I am a little anxious - you know, you hear the bump in the night and stuff like that.  Often when I am not ready to lock up the house totally, but I am feeling a little more vulnerable, I will just lock the wooden front door, but not the big metal security door so that I feel a little more safe.  Our back door has to be locked from the outside since the burglary.  I have been concerned about this thinking it is a security issue not being able to unlock it or lock it from inside the house.  And I have been proven right twice now - but we will just deal with last night in this post.
  Last night before going to bed, I decided to start a load of laundry.  Our washing machine is out back (and it takes 2 -2 1/2 hrs to wash one load).  I frequently will start a load at night so I can hang it up in the morning sun (or throw it in the dryer).
  I was getting ready(ish) for bed, so I was wearing capris and a baggy t-shirt - I did slip my shoes on, which I don't always do when I just run outside really quickly - and this was a GOOD thing!  So, I went out, started the laundry, played with Rocky, and then I pushed the padlock closed - it is one of those where a key is not required.
  I walked around to the front door only to find that I had just locked myself out of the house.  At 10:45 at night.  All by myself.  In my pj's.  Without money.  Without my phone.  Without my husband.  Thankfully with shoes.
  So, I knew feeling awful wasn't going to help and neither was falling to pieces.  I still felt awful - you just can't control that, but I figured I needed to weigh my options and figure out the best thing to do.
  I weighed my options.  I tried to break down our wooden door - even though this wasn't my favorite idea.  I mean, there was NO favorite idea - it was like a lose, lose, lose, you are a loser thing...  This may look fairly easy in the movies - it is rigged, I can tell you!  I put a fair amount of weight into it and decided it was not going to work.
  Pretty much I was then left with two choices.  Stay outside with the pups all night (possibly getting eaten alive by bugs) and get help in the morning or walk and get help.  I knew I would not end up sleeping well and would be miserable if I took option 1, so I decided to go with the second one.
  Yeah - this wasn't a favorite option either b/c my nearest neighbours that I know and trust are about a 15 min walk away.  In the dark.  Around 11 pm.  By myself.  Not totally appropriately attired.  Did I mention it was late and dark and I was by myself?  I did... oh good.  Wouldn't have wanted you to miss that.
  I also realized I would have to climb our wall - can't open the gate without keys...
  So, I prayed and left - what else could I do?  Like I said, just loser options.  Anyway, when I jumped down from the wall, I cut my foot on something.  It wasn't bad, but when I did it, I was pretty for sure it was bleeding.  Which is fun when you know you are walking in the dark, by yourself, late at night in INCHES of dust in the dark.... oh.... already mentioned that... anyway - please don't think street lights or house lights or stupid stuff like that.  TIA people!  There aren't too many inhabited houses around  and I was walking dusty dirt roads.
  So, I set off praying and walking as fast as I could in the dark.... you know...  When I got to my friend's compound, they were obv sleeping!  They had a night guard who was all the way at the back of their compound and their dogs know me and like me, so didn't really bark...  Anyway, I banged and banged and banged on the metal bars until the guard eventually showed up.
  Thankfully, on the weekend, their guard is my part time gardener, so he knew me and let me in and then used his phone to wake this couple up.
  They were really gracious and I ended up spending the night there. Oh yeah - and bawling like a baby once I was finally in the house and not having to keep it together!
 This morning I used their phone to call Benjamin to get the number for another friend who has power tools who could come and cut the padlock on the back door.  So, I am writing this from my computer and the safety of my own home.
  Unfortunately, I think I may have cause a little damage to our wooden front door - it didn't want to unlock very easily.  Another project for my husband.  Sigh...  Sorry love!
  Well, in the end, I am sooooooooooooooo grateful for the Lord's protection and for His provision of friends willing to help.  The timing was pretty good too, because these friends that I walked to just got back to Mbeya about a week ago, so I could easily have been stuck having to chance walking 30 min or more along town roads (which would have felt less safe than walking dark deserted roads) or spending a whole night outside being upset at myself and bit by bugs, and licked by dogs.
  I don't think I am going to let my husband leave EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

All white people have money in their backpacks...

Another myth proven TRUE!!!!!

  So, really, when you talk to some people here, the myths they believe about foreigners are truly ridiculous.  Somehow because our skin is white and we come from the US, we are just LOADED with money.  While in comparison to them, we do have a lot, we also have nowhere near the amounts that they envision.

  We have a friend who was casually asked for a few thousand dollars.  He replied - 'Of course, let me get it from my bank in my house.'  Then he waited a moment and said, 'Do you have a bank in your house?'  'No!' came the shocked answer.  'Neither do I...'  he calmly stated.

  Anyway, the myth I am oxymoronically proving true today is that Wazungu carry tons of money in their purses or backpacks.

  Let me explain - recently, we have had some construction going on in our back yard.  A 'granny flat' is being built out there.  We are paying a certain amount of the money towards the building as our future rent.  Our landlord is supposed to be paying the rest. (But that is another story I don't want to get into...)

  So, to get the contractor started, we needed to give him a lot of money.  A LOT!  Benjamin was gone on one of his all too frequent trips and I started to realize we wouldn't have the money for the contractor unless I began to withdraw money in advance (think - limit per day on ATM cards...).  So, I took my backpack with me and drove down to an ATM.

  You know, I just don't normally do stuff like that.  For the most part, Benjamin handles the actual money and I keep the budgeting records on the computer.  We both like it that way.  I am happy when my numbers all line up and he doesn't mind paying people and going to ATM's and handling that nasty filthy smelly stuff...

  So, I withdraw the maximum amount four times - which is 1.6 million Shillings.  Yes, 1.6 Million.  Now, the highest note they have is a 10,000 Shilling note - which means, I have a stack of bills 160 deep.  I mean, it is not like it would fit in my back pocket.

  So, while I am withdrawing the money, I count each transaction and put it in the backpack before starting the next one.  I am getting a little nervous here.  There are people coming and going - obviously ALL taking much less money than I am.  And all I can think is - GREAT!  Now all of these people can say that Wazungu REALLY DO walk around with loads of money in their backpacks.  Myth proven true.

  **  Current exchange rate is about 1,600 Shillings to the dollar, so I actually had about $1000.

  **  No, we DON'T keep that kind of cash.

Hello world... long time no communicate...

Dear People who actually read this,
  Hi.  Maybe I should introduce myself... then again, if you are already bored and tired today, an introduction might put you to sleep... so I guess I will skip it for now.
  Life has been... life... busy... tiring... yeah... pretty tiring.  Sorry I haven't posted more.  I have been tired and somewhat lazy.  It is like when SO MANY things are happening, you don't even know where to start and then things get overwhelming... and then things like blogs get ignored.
  So,  I figured I should just take a little time and write something.
  Currently, I am in Dar es Salaam staying with some friends.  I had to come for dental work.  Want the short version of the supremely depressing issue?  My teeth = problems.  Went to dentist in July (or end of June?  I don't know... blocked it out...).  Dentist attempted major fix.  Yuck.  Supposed to go back in September.  Tooth fell out July 24th.  Dentist was in Canada.  Came as soon as all issues could be arranged.  Hope it is fixed... going back on Friday... still have to return in September.  TRIPLE YUCK!!!  This Dentist is really nice, but he is still a dentist... which, in my estimation, is somewhere down there with Satan worshipers.  I just have a really hard time with some people...
  Anyway.  Did you know I recently survived a horrible attack?  I was on the bus when something flew in the window.  I thought it was a wasp - but it disappeared from sight and I decided to put it out of my mind.  THEN I saw it sitting right above me.  It was a cockroach.  Gross.  So, right as I am trying to get Benjamin's attention, it falls ON ME - right on my shirt.  SO WRONG!
  I am on a bus full of people practically trying to climb on my husband's lap, but not wanting the cockroach to crawl anywhere out of sight.  Benjamin was less than helpful.  I happened to have a newspaper in my hand and he wanted me to use it to squish the bug - while it was still on me.  Right.  Not happening.  Anyway, then it finally moved off and fell on the floor.  Great.  5 more hours on the bus with the thing crawling around by my feet - or up my pant legs... you never know.  So, Benjamin stomps his foot and claims to have killed it.  the LIAR!
  Emotionally, I don't know if I will ever overcome this... multiple dentist visits in one year and an attack by a nasty cockroach.  AND another long bus ride.  I am really getting to the point where I just can't handle these buses anymore... with or without the bugs...
  Okay, enough babbling for now.  Will try to write something more exciting soon.
xoxo

Look what YOUR dog did...

Aww... What a cute 'little' dog.

Wow!  He really likes to chew...

Yep!  Big teeth - perfect for chewing.

He chews wood, cement chips, stones... and the plastic conduit that holds the electrical wire for our pressure pump...

  

Dear missionaries who left from whom we got Rocky,
  Look what YOUR dog did!
  xoxo - Audrey. :)

Sugar and the Beast

Once upon a time, there was a dog named Sugar.  She was as sweet as her name with the people she loved.  She used to have friends, but after they died, she became fairly content.  Being the only dog allowed her to have indoor privileges.

Her self-designated rug towards the corner of the room by the door.

 Oh, she was sad and lonely when her people would leave for more than ten minutes and would cry and whine hysterically when they returned after a few hours, but for the most part, she enjoyed being top dog in the compound.

House privileges AND all the treats, bones, food, and attention.  Life didn't get much better than that!

One day, her owners had a strange man bring over a Terrifying Beast!  The Beast was HUGE and drooly.  Sugar did not like him.  He scared her sooooooooooooooooooooo much that she wet herself. Repeatedly.

She barked and cried, 'What is the Beast doing here?  Please make him leave.'  She didn't think he was a very intelligent Beast b/c when she started crying, so did he!  Oh the duet!

After about 10 minutes, the strange man left, taking the Beast with him.  Sugar was very relieved, but a little wigged out.  She spent the rest of the day burying her bones, and making pathetic noises for attention.

About a week and a half later, the Beast returned!!!  (cue scary music)

Sorry, having issues flipping this and I just want to get it DONE!

To Sugar's horror - when the strange man who brought him left, he left the Beast behind!  Sugar's people kept calling the Beast Rocky.  Sugar decided to just call him 'That Dog.'

MY, what big paws you have...

Sugar had several issues with the Beast - he was BIG, he was male, he was going to eat her food and hog her people!  Worst of all, his favorite activities were chewing things and jumping!  AND, now that she was not the only dog, she no longer had house privileges!

The Beast was very excited to have a new friend to play with.  Sugar just cried and looked at me, asking, 'When is That Dog going home?'  Imagine her dismay when I told her this WAS his home.

It took them a few days to become friends.  The Beast eventually settled down some (he's not as jumpy any more).  And while he still likes to jump on Sugar and hip check her, Sugar has gotten over her terror of him and will sometimes chase him.

THE END

'I don't like That Dog.  Send him home!'

Note to readers:  Rocky is a Bullmastiff.  This breed of dog is a natural born protector.  Bullmastiffs are social, very loyal and intelligent (in spite of what Sugar thinks...).  Rocky is named for the Rocky Mountains.  His previous family lived in Colorado for some time and wanted his name to remind them of their home there.

He is less than a year old, and will keep growing until he is about 3 1/2 yrs.  A male Bm will grow up to about 120 lbs.

I LOVE being brushed...

B and I have spent some extra time trying to make sure that Rocky feels like a part of the family.  With a dog that big, you want to make friends quickly!  :)  Rocky and Sugar had a rough time the first few days, but just a week later, they are already getting along as well as can be expected.  AND Sugar no longer cries when we leave the house for a few hours. BONUS!

Bold as a Lion

 Proverbs 28:1, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."

I have been thinking about this post for months now - ummmm... as in since last October when we went to Ruaha.  Benjamin said he was going to be VERY disappointed if we didn't get to see lions on our safari.  I thought it would be pretty cool, but I would have been fine with not seeing them too.

We were blessed to encounter a small pride (6 females and two males) wandering lazily in search of shade.

We saw them walking along the dirt road and our driver drove a little closer, then turned off the engine.  They walked right past us, barely giving us a glance.

These pictures don't even pretend to do these majestic animals justice.  The size, the power, cannot be captured on film (okay, so maybe by a professional photographer with a really good camera without batteries that were almost dying...)

 At one point, they actually had our vehicle surrounded.  I was glad they didn't seem that energetic, as the whole top of our vehicle was open and it probably would have just taken a little leap for them to end our lives!

We were all struck by the nonchalance of these animals until our driver shared their 'secret'.  These animals have no natural predators.  Why would there be any fear in them if they have nothing to fear?

 A little while later, this verse came to mind - about the righteous being as bold as a lion.  The Strong's definition of bold is two-fold, meaning 'confident' and 'secure'.

So what is our key to being confident and secure as Christians?  It is to be righteous.  I am reminded of the words of Jesus in John 14:30, "...the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.'

Christ was living a righteous life.  There was no sin in him; therefore, the enemy had no power over him.

Our boldness, our confidence and security come from being covered by the righteousness of God.  By walking in HIS light, being obedient to HIM.

(Hope these pics aren't huge - I didn't compress them at all!!)                                   xoxo - Aud. :)

Say what?

Life is full of surprises... Nope.  Not pregnant... a very different and slightly frustrating surprise... recently my blog decided to be 'smart' and recognizing that I am in Tanzania, it translated everything to Swahili.  Sometimes, it will give me the option of translating it to English - sometimes it will just be in Swahili.  Ummm.... yeah.... I don't know enough Swahili to work out some of the stuff and unfortunately I am not familiar enough with blogger to know where to find everything.  So, is this God prompting my Swahili learning????

A little help

  Hey there - so here is my issue.  I do have some pictures I would like to post, but I can't figure out how to compress them.  I used to do it on a program on my computer, but that is no longer an option.  And I don't want to put them all up without shrinking them a bit!
  So, my options are Paint or Windows Live Photo Gallery.  I have tried messing around a bit, but don't really have the time to waste now that Benjamin is out and the computer is MINE ALL MINE.... BWAHAHAHA...
  So, if anyone could help my picture woes, I would appreciate it!
  Thanks!

Dear faithful followers,
  Long time no post, huh?  Well, I have a LOT of catching up to do.  There are a number of blogs I have written in my head at least 20 times... there are some I have not, but there are many that should still be written.
  Sorry for it being so long.  A LOT has been happening.  Some of it pleasant, some of it not so much.  I really am going to try to catch up on some of the notable happenings - please continue to be patient with me.
  We are down to one computer since coming back from Malawi, and at first I had some CMP Tests and Answer Keys I needed to work on.  Since then, Benjamin has had his nose to the grindstone trying to prepare notes for a course he is teaching later this month.  It is on Leadership - and he has never taught it before, so he is starting from scratch - which can take a while.
  So, I will be over the moon when I finally get a computer of my own so we can BOTH do stuff at the same time!  However, that will probably not be until our next furlough (next year sometime?).  Like I said, please be patient with me!
  I am thinking that I will probably be posting in a rather random order, so I will probably title my posts with the dates around which they happened.  Now you know...
xoxo