Day 21: English, at Last!

          Today I finally got to go to an all English meeting for the first time in three weeks!  It was awesome, I understood everything that was said and wasn't bored!  I was able to comment and look up scriptures and everything.  It was...refreshing. :)
          To get to the meeting, my cousin Innocent dropped Baba and I off at a hotel where we meet a brother who took us to the hall.  It wasn't until my father got in the car that he found out we were related to the brother!  His name is John (more info to come, sorry!).  He's an elder and the presiding overseer for the congregation.  We also rode up with Rose, a young girl who had recently started studying.  John was in a great hurry, as he was running late and was supposed to give the public talk on "God's Kingdom: What is it, and who runs it?"
          The Kingdom Hall is an expandable hall, the first one in all of Tanzania.  For normal meetings everyone meets inside.  But when an assembly needs to be held, the Hall converts, the upper half of the back wall opening up to expose a second larger covered open seating area.  We were just meeting for the Sunday meeting, so the back wall was left closed.  There weren't a lot of people for the English meeting, only about fifty people in attendance.  There were two other families visiting, one from Scotland and one from the US, and both of them were leaving within three days after us in April!
          After the meeting we went to Brother John's house for lunch.  He and Baba talked the whole time.  I mean while played cards with his son, Junior (probably the second most important thing I brought with me, after my laptop.  I never go traveling anywhere without a deck of cards.  They are invaluable!).  Then Brother John took us back to Aunt Elieremesa's where we ate again.  Why?  Well in Tanzania, before the Germans came and shook everything up, it could take hours to reach your destination.  Sometimes you would even have to stop along the way.  Thus it became customary whenever someone stopped at someone's home to visit them to offer them some food and wash their hands and feet (just like in ancient Israel!).  Nowadays, of course, it often doesn't take as long to reach places, but old habits die hard, and those raised in times past still stick to the old traditions.
          Not that there's anything wrong with offering a little food to eat.


E’ya! - Tate


Jump to: Days 18-20 or Day 22