Day 16 – Mock Independence Day - July 2nd 2011

                Today is the day we are having our Independence Day Party. We have invited all of the American missionaries around Mwanza and our British friends to join us for the celebration. It’s also Ed’s birthday party which means chocolate cake will be served too! Despite any old hard feelings, the British guys were good sports when we remind them that this celebration is in to recognize our forefathers telling their ancestors to go away.

                I spent the morning setting up tables and chairs in Paula’s backyard while she went around and picked flowers for center pieces from all the trees that bloom year-round. It was a nice setting. I think people got a little confused on what time to come though, since most everyone showed up an hour and a half late. I was so glad when they arrived and I learned they brought spaghetti and brownies.

                We spent the afternoon just talking with everyone and enjoying the nice weather. I really liked the diverse mix of people. From the U.S. we had people from Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Arkansas, and Ohio. From Europe the U.K., Austria, and Germany were represented. We also had one guy from Korea and of course a few from Tanzania. Not the average 4^th of July crowd but it’s cool.

                I think it takes a 4^th away from home to realize how lucky we are in the United States. In the U.S. we have power each day. In the U.S. we have roads and most everyone has modern plumbing. In the U.S. we have an informed public to fairly elect politicians. In the U.S. we have schools with teachers that show up each day. In the U.S. almost all of us grew up in a home with at least one parent. In the U.S. we don’t starve to death or know several people who’ve died of preventable diseases. In the U.S. we can find a good job so we have a reason to stay in school. In the U.S. we can own a home until we want to sell it. In the U.S. we have police officers who obey the law. In the U.S. we don’t have to soak our food in chlorine before we eat it to know it’s safe. In the U.S. you can swim in the lakes without getting a disease. In the U.S. you can get things done without having to bribe anyone. I think we have a good thing or two going for us.

                At night the power was on so we decided to watch a movie on the projector. The projector was awesome and we could see the movie perfectly. Unfortunately the speakers were from a laptop and we all had to huddle around to know what was happening. In Tanzania they sell DVD’s with 8 or 9 movies on each disk. To do this you sacrifice some quality and often get Chinese versions. The sound was so quiet that we decided to turn on the closed captioning. The person who was responsible for typing the captions was definitely not a native English speaker. The combinations of words they decided upon for the captions were anything but accurate. My favorite caption was, “Train speedy but is not” for the phrase, “It’s slowing down!” We watched the movie Unstoppable with Denzel Washington. Awesome movie.