Food

Food has become one of the top things I think about these days as it is a daily struggle for me to determine what to prepare and how to prepare it (in addition to my North American concerns about nutrition and cost-effectiveness). Grocery shopping is fairly mind-blowing here for me as I go through the following calculation with each item: how much does it cost in Tanzanian shillings? What is that in U.S. dollars?  How much does this cost in America? What is the size in ml vs. ounces? Exhausting.

There are 3 main types of stores here:

“Super”markets – the biggest ones are still way smaller than North American ones and the inventory is not always consistent. Three of the ones I've been to are Shop Rite (not the same as back home...this is a South African chain), Shoppers (which has great bulk bins), and the Sifa Mart (tiny, but less than 1 km from home). The most expensive items are “Western” - many of the familiar brands are there, but you'll pay a lot more.

Roadside fruit and veggie stands – these are everywhere and prices are fairly consistent and reasonable. I try to go to the same 1-2 places so that we start to be recognized. Unfortunately, my favorite one is manned by a guy who's excited to practice his English (when I want to practice my Swahili!) At least he is very friendly! Right now, tomatoes are in season, so I can get a huge bucket for less than $3 (compared to a tiny jar of Ragu pasta sauce for just under $6. Other good offerings are bananas, local oranges and mangoes. The inventory varies with the growing season and what they get from the farmers, so I'm trying to get out of my Western mindset of going in with a list...and trying to just see what looks good and go from there.

Dukas – these are tiny shops that have everything from toilet paper to dry goods at good prices. Unfortunately for me, the proprietors generally speak little English and I've not yet felt comfortable going there by myself. In time.... There are also butchers here, which, again, I haven't managed yet.

Here's what we're eating these days:

Breakfast: The kids usually eat oatmeal, made on the stovetop. Tim is a fan of toast with jam (the jam is much less sweet here, particularly compared to my homemade jam from back home, and so I'm not a huge fan).  The local prepared bread is super cheap (around $1 a loaf) but is always white bread and usually is fairly brick-like.  It also has no preservatives, so it doesn't stay good more than a few days unless you freeze it.  Everyone is obsessed with the “Ceres” juices (imported from South Africa) which are 100% juice and have a variety of interesting-sounding blends such as “Whispers of Summer” and “Secrets of the Valley,” in addition to mango, pineapple, orange, etc. They are a bit pricey but worth the splurge especially since the kids do not like the milk here...it's mostly "shelf-stable," which does have a much different taste.  There is a raw milk option from a farmer at the kids' school that I'd like to investigate.  Since we have cows grazing on our road, I know it's available somewhere!

Lunch: I've been making whole-wheat sandwich rolls from scratch, which the kids take with butter or cheese. I find the “margarine” here particularly disgusting (it's called Blue Band and they don't even pretend to refrigerate it), so I feel that butter is still worth it even though it's around $7 per pound.   It's also found in the freezer section!  The kids also take water and a fruit/veggie that's available in addition to a snack.

Snacks: I find snack foods the most challenging here. It seems like most Africans don't really snack, although my metabolism needs something in my stomach between meals!  In addition to fruits and veggies, some options we've tried so far include popcorn made on the stove (no microwave option here!), I've made some baked goods, I tried to make chips and salsa, and we just found peanuts at the market. I tried one and thought, “this is disgusting!” But then Tim realized that they were raw...we roasted them and they were amazing! (and super cheap here – about $1.50 for a kg!)

Dinner: This is definitely the most hit or miss. I've tried to adapt some favorite recipes from back home such as chili, red beans & rice, and pizza. I've also been cooking from the school cookbook, which has some tried and true recipes from around the world with ingredients that can be found locally. It's definitely a challenge to cook without canned goods and to adapt to the Metric system. It's also challenging to only plan for 1-2 days due to the frequent power outages.  

There are certainly days where I fervently wish I could call up Puzo's for a pizza delivery, but overall I am enjoying the challenge. Everyone is well fed and for the most part, they are not complaining (or not complaining any more than they would back home)!

Sights, Sounds, Smells, Sensations of Tanzania!

Living in Dar es Salaam is truly a multi-sensory experience!  Here are a few notes on what some daily sights, sounds, smells and sensations are like so far:

Sights:  Our yard is filled with palm trees, a banana tree and a tamarind tree.  On property there is a small house where our night guard, Emmanuel, his wife and daughter live.  Surrounding the yard is a high cement wall with an iron gate and barbed wire on top to discourage theft.  Other houses nearby have broken glass on top of their walls.  Next door there are some kids who climb their tree to say hi to our kids (the extent of their English appears to be "Hi" and "Hello!"...which is about the extent of our Swahili!  Just outside our gate, there are cows and goats grazing which we sometimes need to maneuver around.  The kids have happily discovered that there is a dog with puppies just before the main road!

Sounds:  We're far enough from the main road that we only hear a few distant sounds of traffic.  Our days are filled with sounds of songbirds, Indian crows cawing, roosters crowing, dogs yowling, ocean waves crashing (yes, we can hear them from our bedroom window, especially at night), and as Emily says, "We get free music here!" (we hear a variety of cultural music including a couple of African praise church services during the week).  We're pretty close to our neighbors so there is a lot of Swahili floating around.  If the wind is just right, I can hear the Muslim call to prayer a few times a day, which is a haunting sound.

Smells:  The most disturbing smell is the ever-present whiff of smoke in the air.  All Tanzanians (including us) burn their garbage.  It truly pains my eco- and health-conscious soul to burn plastic!  Because we've had to buy quite a bit to set up our household (including a refrigerator), there's even more garbage than usual.  As we settle in more, I'm going to try and talk to the gardener about starting a compost for the organic matter and ease my conscience a tad.  It certainly makes me look at garbage in a new way and I have renewed motivation for bringing my cloth bags to the grocery store.

Sensations:  Several times a day, we bump and thump down the dusty, rutted roads that lead from our house to the main road.  The two roads from our house are unnamed (therefore we don't have an address in the conventional sense), and the last road is called Upepo Road which means "wind" in Swahili.  It is definitely very windy here during the days which has made the temperatures quite pleasant so far.  At night, the wind dies down, the mosquitoes come out (we've all experienced tons of bites) and the humidity notches up.  It's still comfortable to sleep, but this is the equivalent of winter in Tanzania...I'm fearing what it will be like in December!  At least we do have A/C (if the power stays on).

I hope this gives more of a picture of what life is like here in Dar es Salaam!

Power

Although I knew that electricity was pretty spotty during the "hot season" (December- February), I was not prepared for it to be so sporadic during Tanzania's equivalent of winter.  The temperatures have actually been very pleasant (for which I'm extremely thankful), but over the last six days, we've only had uninterrupted power for one day.  Sometimes it goes off for a couple of hours, sometimes it cycles off and on multiple times within the course of one hour, and for 2 days in a row, we had over 12 hours per day without power.

Unfortunately, despite my beliefs going in, the veterans here tell us that power instability is a fact of life in Tanzania, all seasons, all conditions.  It is usually not tied to an apparent "cause," and in times of demand issues, the power company just decides when and where to distribute power, sometimes pretty randomly.

This has definitely been perspective-shifting.  Something I definitely took for granted in the U.S., (except during Hurricane Sandy) is now totally up for grabs.  It has already shifted the way I look at meal planning....why would I bother buying more than a day's meat when there is a high probability of losing it?  Of course that means a lot more effort in grocery shopping - something that's already challenging here.  

It also requires a Plan B at all times.  Over the past week and a half we've enjoyed a gas stove, but as of today, we'll be on our own electric one, which greatly limits our cooking options the next time the power goes out.  A lot of Westerners have generators, although they are extremely expensive here (new ones are the equivalent of about $1,000, plus, of course, the gas to run them).  The neighborhood we live in is marked with extreme poverty and extreme wealth.  When the power goes out, within 30 seconds our wealthy neighbors already have their loud, stinky generators cranking.  A lot of the poor ones don't have electricity to begin with!  We haven't used a generator yet, although the electric stove issue may rapidly send me in this direction (as will the hot weather...imagine trying to sleep without even a fan?!)

Whenever the power goes back on here, it is marked with a horrible, loud squawk (the regulator box alerting of a power surge).  When the kids hear this noise, they all cheer and run to charge their favorite electronic devices. 

We're still trying to figure out how to use some of our U.S. devices as the power is much more intense here.  Some things (such as computers, thankfully) are designed to withstand higher voltage, but other things, such as Josh' Nintendo DS charger, have been fried.

Just getting electricity itself is a bit more complicated than in the U.S.  Electricity is called "luku" and is pre-paid via a credit-card type of number tied to an electric meter.  Apparently, you can purchase luku via a number of grocery stores or dukas (little roadside shops), although thankfully we have not had to navigate these waters just yet, as the previous renters prepaid a bunch of power for us.  This is also challenging as we try to calculate how much luku we use on a daily basis so we'll know how much to buy!

We'll just keep repeating our mantra, "Ah...this is Africa!"  And appreciate the power when we have it!

We're here!!

And I don't even know where to begin!  Such a whirlwind 8 days since we left JFK for our epic journey.  Thinking about the U.S. already feels like another lifetime as it is SUCH a different world there from the one we're living in.  We finally got phones yesterday and Internet today, which means that we were pretty much totally disconnected from everyone and everything for days which was an extremely disconcerting experience.  Here's a couple of highlights so far.

Most surprising thing so far:  when your steering wheel is on the right of the car, the turn signal indicator is also on the right (vs the left) and they are "backwards" from the U.S. (right is down, left is up).  So, I've been doing a lot of hitting the windshield wipers and making the wrong signal.  Traffic is absolutely crazy here.  I thought living in metro NYC would prepare me, and I'm sure it has given me some advantage, but there is really nothing like it with cars making up their own rules, pikipikis (motorcycles), bjajis (little 3 wheeled taxis), pedestrians and bicycles everywhere (in addition to the whole driving-on-the-left adjustment).  The road to our house is dirt (which becomes red mud in rain) and has a ton of really jarring potholes.  There are goats and cows grazing near the road also!   The first 30 seconds on the paved road involves all the mud flying off the wheels.  I have been driving for 3 days and although it's getting easier, I still get drenched in sweat.

Power outages so far:  6, although only one lasted more than 3 hours.

Weather:  much better than I feared, although it is the equivalent of their February.  There is a really strong wind off the ocean and we've had a couple torrential downpours (despite it being the dry season).

Community:  amazing.  So welcoming and wonderful.  The school is also going to be a fabulous experience for the kids and Tim.  The campus is beautiful with tons of palm trees and a view of the ocean, and has a brand-new playground.

Food:  since Dar is a major city, pretty much anything is available at a price (box of Cheerios for over $10, anyone?)  Anything processed or Western is hugely expensive as is meat and cheese.  Fruits and vegetables are available at small roadside stands called "dukas," and they are inexpensive and delicious.  There is a "Game" store which is an African version of Walmart (and which is actually owned by Walmart).  Our biggest challenge so far has been snack foods.  Everything we're used to in the States (granola bars, string cheese, juice boxes, pretzels) is prohibitively expensive.  I'll have to figure out what to pack for lunches before next week (especially since "African-style" peanut butter has not been well-received by the Steen children).

Swahili:  I've learned a few phrases but have no idea what anyone is saying most of the time.  I can basically say "hello" and "thank you" with confidence!  As I mentioned on Facebook, the kids learned Swahili for "butt" and "fart" almost immediately.  Ah, priorities!

Overall, we are adjusting extremely well.  Life is challenging but a real adventure.  The kids are happy and although they were waxing nostalgic about Five Guys this morning, really seem to have taken to Africa.

Photos to follow!

Thanksgivings at T-minus one day

I'm nervous but EXCITED to begin this next chapter of our lives.  I'm antsy to go- I've pretty much thought and prepared about nothing else for the last 3 months.  It feels like I'm going into a final exam after an intense semester...I've done my best and now it's time to just do it already!

Over the last week so much has really come together in God's perfect timing.

* We have renters!  Although initially I was a tad disappointed because I was really hoping for a family to be blessed by our house (and this is couple with no kids who are renovating their own home), they are super nice people and will definitely care for it like it's their own.  As a bonus, with no kids, they will probably do less damage than we would have :)  And, most importantly from people who will be thousands of miles away with a mortgage to pay in the States, they have great credit and I have no worries that they will honor their commitments.  That is a huge mental burden lifted off our shoulders!

* We have decided to keep our van!  I never even thought of this possibility until a generous person offered to store it in their yard.  Since we'll hopefully be coming back for a visit next summer, we will need to get around both in NJ and Michigan. Our van is in decent shape but is over 10 years old with over 100,000 miles - so we certainly weren't getting much money from it and probably less than it would take to rent something.  An unexpected answer to something we hadn't even prayed about!

* We have gotten so many encouraging emails and Facebook messages from people in Dar.  We know that we'll be picked up from the airport with our myriad of suitcases (at 2:30 a.m., mind you), brought to a house to crash until we feel semi-human after traveling for over 20 hours, brought to our own house, have groceries and dinner awaiting us, and our new car is being delivered to us.  What it truly awesome in all this is that we'll be totally set up within 12 hours of arrival without doing any scary driving or attempts at speaking Swahili!  Praise God!

Although we've got a ton of little details to attend to over these last two days, our only true remaining stress is moving our queen boxsprings and mattress (will it fit in the basement?  if not, what is plan B). The kids have been absolutely crazy this past weekend, but are motivated to help in this home stretch with a bribe of seeing the movie Planes tomorrow if we are ready to go.

Things I'm Going to Miss

Lots of things that I'll miss here will have an equivalent in Tanzania.  I'll miss my church and kids' school, but I'm confident that we'll embrace a new faith and educational community.  I'll miss the Hawthorne pool, but HOPAC also has a pretty nice-looking pool.  I'll miss Jersey bagels, pizza, and cheese, but am looking forward to fresh mango, pineapple and Indian food.  I'll miss a lot of our family's traditions, but I know we'll craft new ones together!

Topping the list of things I will miss when we move are the people - friends, family, church family.   I honestly can't imagine my life without them!  All the rest of the things I'll miss are truly unimportant, but I will mourn them nonetheless:

The Library:  I love, love, love the library.  I love browsing there, loading up on books, coordinating my goodreads queue with holds at the library.  The Bergen County library system is a true marvel - unlimited books, delivered right to your library for free!  I will miss it immensely.  Although HOPAC reportedly has a pretty good library, and I now own a Kindle (so I believe digital Amazon purchases are possible), it's certainly not gonna be like the amazing BCCLS system.

My Porch Swing:  I don't sit in it nearly enough, but I love to spend summer evenings there with a cold beverage, listening to the tree frogs.  I also love to sit there with my kids, watching a storm roll in from the west with ominous black clouds and jagged forks of lightning.  Countless popsicles and conversation have been shared in this space.

Fall:  I will miss the crisp chill in the air, pumpkin spice lattes, and beautiful leaves.  I will miss putting on my fleece and my fuzzy robe and slippers.

Feeling Like I Know What I'm Doing:  I love planning, making lists and crossing off items on the lists. I like accomplishing tasks and errands.  In Tanzania, I won't know the language, how to drive or navigate, what the customs are or how to barter.  Will I ever get to a place where I can tool around town with only half my mind on the road, crossing items off my to-do list like a champ?

What I'm Looking Forward to

Back in May, there were lots of things I was really looking forward to about Tanzania.  Over the ensuing days and weeks, this excitement has gotten buried in the overwhelming details of moving halfway around the world.  However, my kids have maintained their sense of enthusiasm and wonder and I'm going to follow their lead in re-learning to approach this move as a true adventure.

In an attempt to shift my focus from stress and mourning to anticipation, this is what I'm most looking forward to (in no particular order):

New recipes:  Many of you know that over the past 3 years, I faithfully prepared a new recipe every week (although this project has derailed in recent weeks).  I love cooking and trying new things, and I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunities to fuel my creative chef in Africa.  Although I consider myself a "scratch cook" in the U.S., I rely on many things that simply aren't readily available in Tanzania (canned beans, tomatoes, pasta sauce).  In addition, we'll have an electric stove, so when the power is out we'll have to improvise.  This should definitely be an adventure!  The good news is that I have a HOPAC cookbook, written in both English and Swahili, awaiting me when I get to Dar (thanks, Driesengas!)

Gardening:  I'm not sure how I'll go about doing this but it looks like we've got a big backyard and a hardiness zone of 14 (the maximum).  I think I should be able to grow year-round tomatoes and basil (and maybe even more exotic things)!  Hopefully I'll get some advice from the actual gardener on the property.  My secret wish is to also raise chickens.

Community:  I've already felt the support of people I've never met, and so I'm looking forward to matching names with faces and hearing their stories.  We believe that there is even a board-game community, so Tim should be all set!

New culture:  I am looking forward to all the sights, sounds, and smells of a new place.  I want to dive in and experience it all, hopefully even picking up some Swahili in the process.

International friends:  I can't wait to invite the kids' friends home for dinner and interact with a vast array of cultures.  As Tim has pointed out, although English is the official language at the school, there have to be such an incredible variety of accents with 35 countries represented.

And last but not least:  The Beach.  We're a 5 minute walk from the Indian Ocean and I'll be seeing palm trees.  Yes, I'm a bit afraid of year-round heat and humidity, but it definitely beats shoveling out from a nor'easter in January!

With 6 days to go...bring on the adventure!!

How, indeed?

One of today's selections from the Daily Audio Bible was from Proverbs 20:24:

A person's steps are directed by the LORD.  How then can anyone understand their own way?

This is very comforting, since I can't understand my own way these days.  What seemed so clear and joyful back in May is just dread- and panic-filled in August.  Things I thought would be so easy are not easy.  Things I thought would be very hard are very hard.

One step at a time.  One week to go.  One renter to confirm.  One heart to calm.

The fifth prayer

According to Anne Lamott, there are 3 essential prayers:  Help. Thanks. Wow.  Glennon Doyle Melton, founder of momastery.com and author of the new book Carry On ,Warrior - adds a 4th prayer, which for the sake of a G-rated audience, I'll paraphrase to "What in the WORLD?"  It's the prayer where you ask God, usually in anger, "What are You thinking?  This makes no sense!"

We're at that prayer right now.

We have tried everything humanly possible to rent our house.  According to the realtor, it's priced right.  We think it's a really nice house in good condition.  It has had over 40 showings, sometimes 3 a day. With 3 kids and and a half-packed house, this is incredibly wearying.  I have kept myself going with the thought that God had a very special family in mind for our house.  Last week, we thought we had finally met that family- Hallelujah! Answered prayer!  Then it went horribly wrong.  So, with ten days to departure, we have not yet rented the house.

But are we actually departing?  With 14 embassies closing, uncomfortably close to our connecting and destination countries (Turkey and Tanzania), and the threat level at high for international travel, we start to wonder.

Really, God?  What in the WORLD?

But then my thoughts turn to 2 Chronicles 20.  A huge army was approaching Israel from all sides and there was nothing humanly possible to be done.  So Jehoshaphat cries this prayer (verse 12):  

"We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. " 

I think this is the 5th prayer - the prayer where you completely empty yourself of all human illusion and say, "I give up."  It's a prayer which admits our own powerlessness and that you trust God no matter the outcome, "OK, God - you've gotten us this far.  If it's your will that we not rent our house, or that international travel is closed and we don't go...so be it.  You are in control.  Not us."  Hard to do.

However, the answer to Jehoshaphat's "I give up" prayer was awesome.  They didn't even need to fight - God caused confusion among the enemies and they ended up slaughtering one another. God told them "Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem." (verse 17).

I'm hoping for a similar answer to my "I give up" prayer.  After all, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  

I'm ready.

The Already but the Not Yet

When I was at Calvin, I took an excellent theology class with Professor Holtrop.  One topic we covered in the class was how various Christian denominations view the end times and how it shapes their worldview. In Reformed theology, he called this "ALREADY...but not yet" (meaning that Christ has ALREADY paid the price on our behalf, yet we are not yet with him in heaven.  We live in a fallen world between the ALREADY and the not yet).

This phrase is pretty appropriate for the "end times" of life as we know it in NJ.  We're at a really weird limbo phase with less than 2 weeks to go.

We've ALREADY packed up a lot of the house, but not yet everything.
We've ALREADY committed to paying rent in Tanzania, yet not yet rented out our house in NJ
We've ALREADY purchased a car in Tanzania, yet not yet sold our car in NJ
We've ALREADY sent out 200 fundraising letters, yet not yet met our fundraising goal
We've ALREADY said goodbye to some friends and places, yet not to others

Please pray for us in this difficult "not yet" transition time.  I keep telling myself that 2 months from now, everything will be settled, the new school year will be in full swing and I'll be in the middle of embracing a new culture...but in the meantime this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and some days I feel like I'm going to crack under the stress.  The good news is that the battle has ALREADY been won and truly, what else do we really need?