100 blogs in the Tanzania adventure

This is a time to celebrate for me personally as I am writing my 100th blog about becoming a missionary engineer with Full Dimension Ministry in Tanzania.  I honestly cannot believe I have found enough to talk about to fill 100 blogs.  I am not known as a chatty person, some might even call me laconic or reticence.  But here I am at blog 100 and I thought I would try something different (yes again) by blogging by the numbers.  Hope you enjoy it.

1-item I built that failed-the bed when I loaded it up with all the kitchen stuff so I could work in there

2-number of consecutive days before someone asks me for “their” money

3-pairs of glasses ruined and number of computers I have needed(also the number of blogs I have done on numbers like 47 and significance of Pi)

4-times I have I watched Pitch Perfect since being here (remember my man card cannot be revoked)

5-letters/cards I have gotten not including care packages

6-conversations with Barnabas published

7-pairs of shoes worn out

8-episodes of Tiny House Tanzania published

9-chapters of my Science Fiction novel that I have written

10-crochet patterns created

11-crochet classes held including the Peace Corp Volunteers

12-games of Spyfall played

13-number of greetings used when running into someone (maybe slightly exaggerated but not by much-depends on who and what day

14-coke zeros I drink over a 3-day weekend in town (I know that is horrible but I still drink a liter or two of water a day)

15-years since my first mission trip to Tanzania to design the main water cistern

2001 people standing where tank will be

16-posts to the Yarn’s Over before I hung that up

17-new scars (I am getting close to 100 total)

18-number of nails per kilogram that are straight enough to use

19-# of hamburgers and pizzas combined I have had in country

20-projects I have drawn up and want to build time permitting

21-number of shirts I have gotten paint on

22-pounds of bat crap collected from the attic of one building during one annual cleaning

Ward Ceiling only

23-number of critters I have killed in the house

24-million people in Tanzania don’t have access to clean water (source: http://www.wateraid.org/where-we-work/page/tanzania)

25-average number of miles walked in week

26-games of Settlers of Cattan

27-gallons of paint applied

28-times I hit my head while installing wire in the attic space

29-days I have been growing my current beard

30-months in service

31-hours spent waiting on Tanzanians to show for a scheduled time event per year

32-lights installed

33-number of gaping (over 1 foot) deep (over 3 feet) holes in the sidewalk in Singida

34- minutes to walk to my breakfast place

35-minutes to cook my pasta dinner on Wednesday nights

36- times I have had to Google something referenced by my 18-26-year-old friends (they should just use buffy references so I get them)

37-books read on Kindle

38- buckets of muck cleaned from inside water cistern

39-times I have quoted Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show in conversation or in a blog

40-minute walk to the rocks where I do Church

41-times a Tanzanian has asked me how I feel about Trump as opposed to 5 times for Clinton

42-times 1000 square meters is the size of the national parks in Tanzania

43-games of Oxygin played

44-bouts of diarrhea

45-feet of rainwater harvesting pipe installed (not guttering just the pipe after the downspout)

46-number of kids enrolled in pre-school

47-times the phone call home has dropped out (I am on the other side of the world)

48-times 100 minutes talking to Mom on phone

49-minutes (not times anything) talking to Dad on phone

50-shilling is smallest denomination coin (though they still charge things like postal fee in less than 50-shilling denomination)

51-times a waitress has asked I buy them a soda

52-million rough population of Tanzania

53-days of fundraising to fully fund the truck

54-minutes it takes to watch a 20-minute sitcom streaming over the internet here

55-servings of ugali

56-K modem speed is what internet felt like when I first got here-now it is like having Edge (for those too young to know what a 56K modem is like try communicating complex mathematics using two cans and a string)

57-screw heads broken by applying too much torque manually

58-stuffed animals given away (both mine and those given to me to give away)

59-I have asked for a diet soda and they brought me a regular one

60-times 10,000 shillings spent calling Mom

61-chickens have been killed so I can have some meat in my diet

62-bags of fried banana chips

63-hours of continuing education to keep my PE license

64-empty soda bottles to make a bench seat

65-times 10 equals the millimeters of rain during rainy season

66-books of the bible read

67-meters of electrical wire run

68-percent of Tanzanians live below the poverty level (source:  http://www.heifer.org/ending-hunger/our-work/countries/africa/tanzania.html)

69-hours of a normal work week including the time in town.

70-approximate number of Swahili words I know

71-visits to my hardware guy (mostly to say hi)

72-meals of chipsi mayai per year

73-normal weekly readership of the blog

74-kilometers to site from Singida one way

75-percent of Tanzanians rely on Agriculture for livelihood (source: http://www.heifer.org/ending-hunger/our-work/countries/africa/tanzania.html)

76-times people have admired the tie down straps the Gordon’s got me

77-times motorcycle drivers will honk at me in an attempt to get my business per day in town

78- hours spent sanding or planing wood flat

79-pain pills per year just to get my body moving in the morning

80-cups of mtindi (like buttermilk or a yogurt drink) great for breakfast in town

81-pictures of projects I downloaded from Pinterest on my computer I would like to attempt

82-trips to buy medicines for the clinic

83-times I have avoided some type of vehicle carrying at least a passenger (motorcycles to vans) because they wanted to drive where I was walking either on the wrong side of the entrance or on the sidewalk

84-arguments because I ask for a price and they don’t give me a number

85-percent of Tanzanians without access to electricity (source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS)

86-number of times I have checked my mailbox

87-kilos of sand removed from house during dry season

88-years since Britain started work on making a standard written form of Swahili (source Wikipedia)

89- peanut butter and sugar free jelly sandwiches (that may be something I give up when I leave here)

90-buckets of laundry washed by hand

91-games of cribbage played

92-times I forgot to get Barnabas for a photo

93-trips to Mpesa stands to get cash

94-seconds I have between making a purchase on Amazon for a kindle book and when dad will file it as a fraudulent charge (only happened once)

95-trips to get water from the well

96-cold showers because the solar water heater did not get enough daylight heat

97-I have dreamed about eating a good hamburger/pizza/salad

98-times I have tried to correct Tanzanians on the word Mzungu (they use it for white people but it actually means European which I really don’t like being called)

99-times I have stared at a blank computer screen praying for inspiration

100-blogs written