The Selfish Package Post, Year 2

So I did a post like this last year, and found people generally receptive. You can probably learn a bit about my life just from reading it. Like the title says, yes it's pretty selfish, and not all are small ticket items. But please remember that I'm honestly just as happy with a letter or card. Letters make me feel remembered and loved and prayed for. If you do send a package, I would ask that you be very general in your product descriptions, and maybe even just say something like "gifts". Most of the time, it's ok to put "NCV" (no commercial value) as the price. Please also be generous with the packaging tape, as I suspect this can ward off any interested postal employees.

Love you all!

Address

Ellen McCaskill

PO Box 1235

Musoma, TANZANIA

The List

Pampered Chef oil sprayer thing

tuna (it comes in packets)

Post-it file folder tabs

hot chocolate packets

paper thin cutting boards

coffee (whole bean)

dark chocolate

movies you've seen and enjoyed

books you've read and enjoyed

music you've listened too and enjoyed

anything from my Amazon wish list

sunglasses

onion chopper

cotton tops, size medium, not boring, preferably a bit dressy (ie not just v-neck or crew-neck)

long dresses (colorful and MUST hit under the knee; I even prefer the super long style)

rechargeable AA batteries

colorful pens

linen spray (or febreeze would do)

Long Time No See

Already broke my resolution...failed to get blogs done like I wanted to. That said, it's been one crazy month, and I haven't yet gotten the concept that even a short thought can suffice. It doesn't have to be terribly exciting, though my life here isn't terribly boring either. So I think I'll write a short list of some non-boring recent events.
1) I visited with missionary friends over the weekend. They have chickens, dogs, goats, and guinea pigs. They made a go-cart for fun over the weekend and played with it in the rain as soon as it was finished. Good times.
2) My recent pride is in getting good deals on motorcycle rides. Once I negotiate the price I like, I hop on the back side saddle and pray for safety while thoroughly enjoying the scenery.
3) Our house has been without power for 4 days, and good be without for several more, apparently until they put up a new pole. A good excuse to clean out the fridge (though the fish in the freezer stunk up our house). I'm thankful for a gas stove and back-up battery that allows us overhead lights and an outside safety light.
4) We have a workshop this week with 9 participants from 2 language groups learning about editing and creative writing. Tomorrow I teach on descriptive writing and punctuation. Exciting stuff.
5) There's a retired pastor in a town across the Serengeti from us who received a vision from the Lord about a drink that can heal any disease. He makes it and sells it to people (extremely cheaply). At last report, the line (in cars) to get to his house was 5o+ kilometers. Everyone wants to head his way (and many have already gone). This is the talk of every chai break.
6) Two weekends ago I went out to a village church and was served not one, but two lunches directly after one another. Nothing like starches and meat to lay like a brick in your stomach...but excellent hospitality.
7) The country of Tanzania is facing a nationwide power shortage. Apparently, we might completely run out in just a bit, which would also affect the water supply.
8) Recently on a happy, tired, hyper afternoon at the office, I ended up telling/performing the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to our entire office. Only wish I actually remembered the details of the story. There have been requests for a different story!

Village Church

Just liked this pic

Me giving the closing address at a workshop

Accident

Before I start, I’ll tell you the end, which is that everything is absolutely fine. There, I killed the suspense.

This morning I was in an accident. I was making a right hand turn into our office drive, like I do every morning. What I failed to realize was that a motorcycle was passing me on my right. *Do remember that in TZ we drive on the left side of the road* He tried to get out of the way, but couldn’t and clipped the front of the car I was driving and fell off his bike. He immediately popped up, so I knew he wasn’t hurt. I stopped and looked back at my Tanzanian coworker who was in the backseat. He told me to continue to drive into the office (50 feet away) and hopped out of the car to handle things. Mobs can form quickly here and are potentially dangerous, and in the time it took him to tell me to keep driving, I already saw maybe 15 or more people running toward the car. I followed his instructions.

I drive in, tell someone at the office what has happened, look at the damage to the front of the car, grab my bag, and enter the office. The cook at the office asked what had happened as she saw me shaken and tearful. People are still running toward the accident, but thankfully our office complex has a gate and this gate was closed. I found out later that people had rushed the gate, and I heard all kinds of yelling. The cook told me not to go outside. I confess, I was pretty scared. Apparently when the police showed up, they yelled at the people who came to the gate.

About 20 minutes later I was told to go out to the police at the scene of the accident to explain what happened. I was blessed in that several gentlemen from the office came with me. There were probably 50-75 people standing around and it was quite intimidating, yet I felt surrounded and protected by these men from the office. All the witnesses confirmed it was not my fault. I am still amazed that, except for at the very beginning, I did not cry or even get weepy, and besides that, I was able to explain what happened in Swahili. Those things together is nothing short of a miracle. After this the other driver, two witnesses and I all went down to the police station to give statements. I found the police friendly and helpful and all in agreement that I was not at fault and had done the right thing, even in driving away. They understand the nature of large groups and the wisdom of getting to a safe place.

So that was the story of the day. After this, I opted to go home for the day as the adrenaline rush ended and exhaustion took over. I still have not been able to sleep, and this is a concern, but hopefully I’ll get some rest tonight. In the midst of it all I see so many things to praise God for.

Praise God that no one was hurt

Praise God that the crowd didn’t get out of hand

Praise God that there were witnesses around who saw exactly what happened

Praise God that my coworker was in the car and told me the right thing to do when I panicked

Praise God for all the other men at the office who took such good care of me when I was so scared.

Praise God that I had the ability to speak the Swahili I needed and that I could understand the majority of what people were saying to me

Praise God that he is taking care of me, even in the midst of a very scary situation