Break and Broken
Our break from language school was an eventful one, to say the least. The plan was to visit Mbeya, where we’ll eventually be stationed to get a lay of the land, visit the office and get to know our colleagues, and begin to look for housing. Oh yeah, and also take a mini ‘break’ at Matema, a small beach town on the northern tip of Lake Malawi, about three hours away. We were told that the last stretch of the way there is on a dirt road.
More like a rock road with dirt in between.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s not the worse road in Tanzania, but for about 50 km it was more than unpleasant. On the way back, as I was driving ever so slowly (I really was!)…clunk. Clunkity-clunk-clunk. This happened:
The amazing thing is, even though the part of the chassis holding the top of the spring and shock was ripped apart, the car did not slouch at all. The sound though, especially on that rocky road, was horrid. After consulting a few friends and driving it slowly for a few kilometers, we decided the best thing to do was to crawl back to town. And really, we didn’t have many other choices. Five hours later, thank God, we arrived safely back to Mbeya.
Kidding aside, we were and still are really thankful about how it all turned out. We’ve been shown way more grace and mercy than we deserve. This is and always will be true. That week though, we just realized it in a different way; one of those moments where the thick, heavy and penetrating weight of God’s ‘immeasurable riches of his grace in kindess’ is perceivably measurable. Just for a moment. It’s overwhelming.
We had been told that one of the most dangerous things we will do in Africa is drive. No, not hippos and crocodiles, as dangerous and fast as they are. Putting the key into the ignition. Selecting first gear. Releasing the clutch. Stepping on the the gas. Perhaps, it is true in Canada as well, statistically speaking. But throw in unmarked speed bumps, questionable roads, speeding trucks/buses, livestock and it’s a whole other ball game.
The result of the incident was that we had to stay behind to get the car fixed. No problem, or ‘hamna shida’ as we say now (kind of like…’hakuna matata’ as you may be familiar). Now our front driver side shock/chasis is a re-welded, re-inforced and re-surrected beastly thing.
In staying those extra few days it really made me long for a home again. In terms of housing, nothing really caught our attention and what did was out of our price range. We were considering something more temporary in the meantime before ‘settling’. But frankly, I’m getting a little weary of living out of a suitcase and sleeping in…a lot of different beds. I want consistency. I want to unpack. I want a home. But this is probably the carnal side of me.
Finally, I shouldn’t forget to mention that we did have a nice couple of days at Matema. As you can see here, Judah had his first taste of sand. It’s great know that this place is only three hours away. Whether we’ll be back anytime soon…we’ll see.
We celebrated my birthday in Mbeya and Loretta baked one of my favorites from scratch! Mmmmm…
