UPDATE:

four more traffic violations on Friday.

This is not usual, but public school tuition is due next week, and everyone is looking for a way to find a little extra money.

some pictures of the week:

Took a picture of our teammate Eric teaching a leadership seminar over the Old Testament. The batteries in the camera went dead, so I bought another pair at a nearby shop. The local batteries lasted for one picture. Here it is:




Here is a no parking sign I found in town the other day. While it looks like an advertisement for chai, if you read carefully, you find hidden between the phrase "the chai that is loved for many years" and the company logo is a notice stating the busses stop here.



If you are a careless missionary, going to the twentieth store to buy the last of the 10 construction items needed for the day, you return and find your tire surrounded by a steel contraption with barbs to destroy your tire if you move it. (low quality camera phone images taken while making a big scene about the deceptiveness of the sign, to everyone's delight!)



Thankfully, everything is negotiable here, so I talked the fine down to half price (from $40 to $20). I have had more traffic violations here already than in my entire life in America. Josiah doesn't let me forget the infractions, either.

Other news: We bought a washing machine to replace our broken, unrepairable washer, which has been out of service since Christmas. The new one had to come from the port city, Dar Es Salaam. But the delivery truck got stolen.... So we wait a little longer.

The puppy has a name: Cade. Thanks for the many good suggestions, but we decided to go with a name linked to a favorite location of ours.

We have mostly finished putting in the electrical wiring in the house. And I am on my way to town to continue buying needed plumbing materials. Maybe we should have done the plumbing earlier... we have had water at this house for months, but the electric company seems to be lacking certain items like power meters and wires. They say they are out for a couple months. But what we have learned (and why we have installed an inground water storage tank) is that electricity is a luxury, while water is a necessity.

More later....

Reasons to build a house in Africa:

Okay, here is the flip side to my housing complaints of last week.

We live in a city of about one million people, most of whom are squatters. They live in simple houses built on hillsides, some with mud walls and grass roofs, just like the village, but increasingly they have brick walls with a tin roof. There is no running water on the hillsides, horrible sewage/drainage, multiple families per house, with little security.

People with good jobs, like government employees, business people, school teachers, are able to buy surveyed plots (plots of land that are officially deemed habitable) from the government, and often slowly build a house, as their income allows. When (if) they finish, they usually rent the home for income, because by the time they finish, they are at retirement age.

Most of these houses remain unfinished, though sometimes overcrowded with residents that don’t mind not having windows or doors. And since there is a high demand right now (mining and industry is booming here!), the rent for houses is high (we have had people offer us a house at $1000/month, with a straight face… but someone will come and pay this rent!).

But these houses have a bigger problem than rent prices. In town here, instant opulence is favored over reliable quality. So, a house has fancy (usually gaudy) tile all over the place, ornate light fixtures, eye-catching paint colors, intricate iron gates and fences… and second rate plumbing, defective wiring, compromised walls and windows.

So, by building a house, we accomplish a few things: One, we get to pick out the wiring, plumbing, etc. We get to build a water storage tank so that we have consistent water. We get to avoid opulence in favor of functionality. We design a house that, hopefully, both guests from the village and guests from the states will find comfortable.

Once we are finished, we invite you to come and visit. Or, if you are handy with tools, we invite you to come now!

Karibu!

New puppy

IMG_1946
Originally uploaded by lindermans.

Here's a picture of our new puppy. 10 weeks old. She's a gift from a friend, and the boys love her.

But what should we name her?

What not to do in Africa:


Build a house.

At least this is how we feel much of the time. Materials are way too expensive, workers are way too unreliable, theft is endemic, and (thus) progress is slow.

Oh, the days of Home Depot, Lowe's, and McCoys. Mwanza has probably 500 tool stores. Most have about $100 worth of incentory, but the bigger ones have a fairly decent selection, but quantities are limited. And you don't browse around, you ask the person working if something is available. That person also determines the price (no price tags).

So, if I have twenty things to buy, 15 I find fairly easily. The other 5 take all day. "Yeah, we have that... we'll get it for you". 15 minutes later they come back with the wrong thing. "yeah, but it's just as good". When are you getting it? "tomorrow."

Since there are no phone books, no supplier warehouse nearby, no inventory control systems, you don't know when something will come available. So shopping around is taking a risk; you may have found the only one available, and someone else may buy it while you are looking around for prices.

There are no bulk discounts, as everything has already passed through countless middle men. There is no returning defective items. Quality is low.

The highlight of my day yesterday was successfully identifying imitation wiring. I told a salesman I needed MCL wire, and he returned, with wire labeled as such, but it didn't seem right... I confirmed it later, it was fake.


However, we are learning--the hard way. It is a bonding experience that we share with many others here, tanzanian and expats alike. And sometimes, it can be fun, especially when Josiah is over at the house, grabbing tools and working away.

++++++++++
update:
We are doing all the electrical work now. Chiseling into cement walls to place conduits for the wiring, switches, etc.

Hiring a plumber to put in bathtubs, sinks, toilets, put in pipes, and finish the sewage/drainage system.

Always looking for carpenters. The windows are wood, and we can't seem to find a good carpenter who will stay and work.