Feb 1/04
Sure was cool in the mud hut.  Didn't notice any mosquitoes.  Woke up at six thirty and pulled an extra blanket over & had a good sleep till 8.  Granola for breakfast at Carmela's.  Went to Paul's for a small "church service" around 11.  It was a nice time of singing & sharing, attended by the Thiessens, Penner's & Jim Reimer.  Today was Tabasky in Tin.  It's a muslim hoilday in commemoration of Abraham's aborted sacrificing of Ishmel.  Paul, Jim & I went to 3 different places to stop in for a visit.  We were served food at all 3 places.  The first place was at Mango who is Pauls closest neighbor.  From there we to Tendenou, Carmela's courtyard.  We were served rice & sauce at both places.  We were given chairs to sit on and then a pan of water was placed for us to wash our hands & then we ate.  After we were done we again washed our hands.  The last place we went to was Brahma's, who works for Paul.  He really dished it up.  We started with bananas.  Then came rice & chicken.  Then he came back with Coke & Fantas & peanuts.  We finished up with china green tea.  It is made very strong & sweet & well boiled down.  Everone is served a little bit in a cup & then more water is added & the whole process starts again. with more water added to the tea leaves.  The second batch is not as strong.  It's probably the best.  Normaly it would consist of 3 rounds.  Today they only gave us 2.  Not sure why.  Apparently the reason he could afford the Coke & Fanta was because he had a lot of extra work at Paul's in Jan.  He slept at Paul's for night durning the time Paul & Lois lived in Orodara & was still there during the day to help.  In the evening I spent some time at the radio.  No pileup but had some nice visits.  Some night lunch at Paul's & then back to Tendenau for night. Sat by the fire for awhile & took turns taking a shower in a shower with no roof.  Wash down with a soapy face cloth & then rinse off by pouring water over yourself with a cup.   Definetly a new experience.  The people in Tendenau have accomadated the whites by making a chair out of a 5 gal pail & placing a hand made toilet seat on it that could be placed over the hole & used almost like a normal toilet.  Afterwards off to sleep.  Oops, can't forget malaria pills.