An interesting New Year's Eve!

                                                                                                                 10 January 2014
Greetings for 2014 from Tanzania!
  We were very concerned to hear about the brutal weather that overtook much of America last week.  We hope (and prayed) that each of you stayed safe and that your homes/vehicles survived the assault.
Maybe we're having "sympathy pains," because I woke up this morning to find our bathroom flooded!  Not sure what the problem is but of course it is Saturday so I don't know if we'll be able to get things fixed this weekend or not. (Ladd and 3 women from his church are arriving at 2 a.m. Monday!)
  Since our last blog, we visited the island of Zanzibar for a few days over New Years Eve.  It sounded like such a great idea and we thought it might help to distract ourselves from our homesickness of not being with family over Christmas by thinking of this exotic-sounding, spice island off the coast of Tanzania.  It helped a bit ----until we got to the airport.  There, to my enormous surprise, were hundreds of very happy, early-celebrating , "20-somethings" going to "Z-bar" (as I later found out it is called--for an obvious reason!) to bring in the New Year!!!  I had to really work on my self-talk so as to not be negative about how crowded and raucous (and hot/humid) it would be.  Somehow I instantly became very self-conscious of the age difference between us and our "plane-mates."  I felt like we were on the boat going over to Put-in-Bay for a 4th of July weekend!  Not exactly what I had in mind ....We were going to stay in Stone Town in one of the historic buildings--- at the Dhow Palace Hotel, built in 1559 A.D. (and of course, remodeled since then!)  It was in the heart of Stone Town.  When our 50 minute flight from Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport arrived at Zanzibar, the party-goers quickly retrieved their luggage and disappeared.  I mean really disappeared!  Zanzibar is 95% Muslim so there is no drinking allowed (at least in the city).  Along the beaches, however, we later heard about the beach parties of 1000 "happy" people ushering out Old Man 2013 and welcoming the Little Baby 2014!
   But, let me tell you that at the Dhow Palace Hotel, there were 2 occupants in the restaurant that night, and those same 2 had no clue when the New Year officially arrived because the Muslims use a different calendar based on the moon---so it was just another regular night for them!  It was a very charming place and we really enjoyed the historical walking tour we took the next morning.  Our guide was a well-read historian, and he made it all come alive!
   While shopping in one of the stores, I noticed that it must have been nearly time for the Muslims required prayers that they pray 5 times a day.  In a small closet-sized room, a black clad woman was conscientiously rolling out her mat and smoothing it with her hands as she began to kneel...and the Muslim call to prayer was issued from the nearby mosque for all in Stone Town to obey.
   I couldn't help but wonder, how many time has she gone thru this?  She looked as if she were probably 45 years old.  Our guide said that they (the Muslims) start training their children during their pre-school years to pray 5 times/day. So, by my calculations, this woman has intentionally stopped what she's doing and "talked with God"  1,825 times a year or 73,000 times by the age of 45 years. And that doesn't include weekly services or special holiday worships!
   I'm not trying to idealize this, but just think how much they are keeping God (and their relationship to God) in their mind even if it is a required practice.   What would the world be like if we Christians thought of and talked with Christ that frequently?  I think it'd make a difference.   Hmmmm..........sounds like a New Year's Resolution in the making....
   God's peace---and prayers for a "gentler" rest of January for each of you,
      Tim & Diane
P.S.  We ended our time in Zanzibar by going on a very interesting Spice Tour.  That was 5 days ago...and for the past 5 days I have been covered with an extremely itchy allergic reaction to something I either touched, tasted, or inhaled there!!!! The doctor at the dispensary here said I should stop itching in 5-14 days!!!!