January 28, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Monday, January 28, 2008 – 9:00 am

I would like to apologize for not posting more frequently during the past few weeks but it has been a busy time and I am without a computer right now. Well, I am back at Msalato 15 km outside of Dodoma. Things are still pretty quiet here, but there are more people around now than before I left. While I was in Iringa there was no rain at Msalato but since I have returned it has rained heavily every day. That is very good because there are a lot of crops in this region that would fail otherwise.

As for my computer issues… I have learned that all of my data from my old laptop is intact and retrievable. As for the future, my parents are helping me out with that… I am getting a MacBook Pro. It was ordered last Tuesday and shipped from a factory in Shanghai, China last Thursday. For those of you confused, Apple ships most, if not all, of its products straight from its factories in China. The MacBook Pro should arrive either today or tomorrow at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia (my alma mater) where the Rev. George Okoth will pick it up and bring it with him to Dodoma. George is a professor at St. John’s University, an Anglican university in Dodoma and was until late October a professor at Msalato. George is leaving the US, where he has spent January working on a D. Min., on Wednesday and hopefully will return to Dodoma by Saturday or Sunday. I am eager to get my new computer and get it setup.

While I was in Iringa I took lots of pictures that I am eager to share, but it will likely be a while before I can get them downloaded to my computer, edited, and then uploaded to the internet. I really enjoyed my time at language school — I learned a lot and enjoyed the change in surroundings. I hope to be able to put my new skills to use once things start back up here. I am looking forward to teaching computer skills, church history, and youth ministry.

As for my newsletter for January, it will likely be delayed until next month when I will issue another double edition. But I will post pictures ASAP and let all of you know where you can find them once they are up. Well, I hope that all of you are doing well.

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January 19, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Well, it has been an interesting couple of days… On Thursday afternoon I went into town to use the internet and do a few other things. While I was there my computer, which I brought with me so I could plug into the internet café’s insanely fast connection, crashed three times in a row, which is rather rare. When I got back to the campsite I tried a few things to diagnose the problem. Eventually I figured out the pattern… my computer was crashing within three to five minutes of being booted up. I also noticed that the fan was not spinning up and that was a symptom not a cause of the problems because there was no dust blocking the fan and it was able to spin freely when encouraged to do so by a bunch of hot air coming from me. I continued to get very bad error messages and other signals that the problem was a hardware one and one that could not be fixed without spending more than the cost of a new computer (and that is if I were in the US). So I am now a computer fundi (technician/craftsmen/expert) without a computer. Quite an interesting predicament. I am working on remedying this situation.

In other news… I am really enjoying my time at language school. I have learned a great deal and am looking forward to putting it into use once I return to Msalato. It has been a long two weeks – spending an intense five hours a day working on a new language is draining. Who is at the language school? Well, the campsite is run by a pair of British ex-pats who have a staff of about 50 Tanzanians. The language school itself is run by Tanzanians and has a staff of about ten. As for students there is me and the three New Zealanders, an American couple in their early 20s from Kentucky, an American in his early 20s from Michigan, a British couple including an Anglican vicar in their 40s, a Dutch family (grandparents, mother, and three beautiful children), and a wonderful Finish Lutheran pastor in her early 50s.

It is great to be here, but I look forward to returning to Msalato and Dodoma. Thanks for your interest and continued support.

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January 15, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:30 pm

Habari!  I hope that everyone is doing well.  I am really enjoying my time in Iringa at language school.  I figure that many of you might be curious as to what my days are like.  So, I figure it would makes sense to share what a typical day is like here.  I usually get up at 6:30am and have a wonderful shower (first real ones I have had since leaving Dar on October 7 last year).  Then I have breakfast at 7 am – we are offered oatmeal, eggs cooked to our liking, sausage, bacon, beans, tomatoes, toast, and pancakes.  I have really liked having a full breakfast.  After breakfast classes start at 8 am.  Then, there is a break around 10 to 10:30 am and then classes resume for two and a half hours.  Then at 1 pm there is lunch.  After lunch I usually rest for a while and then review my work in class and do homework.  It is during the afternoon that I have been able to occasionally go into town.  Later, I have dinner at 6:30 pm and then do some more work on Swahili.  I usually get to sleep by around 10:00 pm. 

I am staying at a campground which hosts the language school program.  The campground is not really what it sounds like.  I sleep in a “tent” that is permanently installed on a concrete base which has a thatched roof over it and an electrical outlet.  The tent is large and inside there are two traditional beds, a desk, and a dresser-like piece of furniture.  For bathrooms, there is a building right next to my tent that has toilets and showers.  The temperature is about 15 degrees cooler than in Dodoma and it has rained here most of the days that we have been here.  I am drinking about two or three liters of water a day here, where as I drink between six and eight liters of water in Dodoma.  The heat makes a big difference.

I came to Iringa with three other missionaries.  The three of them are all from New Zealand and work in Dodoma.  One of them is Robyn Applebee who works with me at Msalato.  We travelled here in a Toyota SUV that is owned by the New Zealand Church Missionary Society.  On our way to Iringa we drove through a national wildlife preserve.  There we saw numerous animals – namely elephants, a giraffe, and a bunch of baboons.  It was awesome.  I also was surprised to see how well paved the roads were – a lot smoother than the road from Msalato to Dodoma.

Well, I better get back to studying Swahili.  I will share more of my experiences as soon as I get a chance.

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January 12, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Hi everybody!

 I am in Iringa, Tanzania, which is bascially due south of Dodoma.  I will be here for two and a half weeks learning about Kiswhaili and trying to use it.  I am having a great time.  It has been wonderful to see a different part of the country and meet otehr missionaries from around the world.  The climate is much different than in Dodoma.  It is much cooler and wetter here.  It has rained nearly everyday for a number of hours.  In the last two weeks I was in Dodoma it didn’t rain once. 

If you need to reach me here email works well, but you can also get my temporary phone number by emailing my parents.  I look foward to uploading the pictures I am taking once I get back to Msalato.  It is very beautiful here and the people are wonderful.

I have been plesantly surprised at how much Swhaili I am retaining and grasping.  My previous efforts at learing foreign languages have not been all that successful (Spanish in junior and high school and biblical Greek in seminary).  I work one on one with a teacher for about five hours a day and spend a few more hours each day doing homework and reviewing other work. 

I hope to post a more detailed account of what I am doing here soon.  I miss having “easy” access to the internet, like I have at Msalato. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year!!  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful people at St. Timothy’s in the Valley in Hurricane, WV for their very generous Christmas offering. 

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