What I will not write about this week-any guesses?

What oh what should I write about this week.  I know what I don't want to write about because I have spent so much time trying to explain the election system, media, why people are rioting and why it is wrong that I am exhausted from the conversation.  

Yesterday was Veterans day.  It was a different one for me this year.  It was first very hard to be proud of my service as I read messages on facebook after the election that were from all sides of the election and filled with hate.  A great quote from G.K. Chesterton sums up why that is so important:  "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."


This year's celebration has also been different because I have been contacted by voices I have not heard from in many years.  Most of the people I served with and all my closest brothers have died.  So when I heard from some of the support staff from my days in service I was shocked but loved catching up with them via email.  The reason they tracked me down to talk is in the next point.

This year marks 30 years since my first mission.  That is 30 years of sleeping on my side facing the most likely entry point of an attack.  That is 30 years of hypervigilance.  That is 30 years of groggily checking for my sidearm in the middle of the night and bolting upright when my hand does not find it (well I guess actually about 15 years on that one since that is how long since I last slept with a sidearm).  

While a lot of countries have an Armistice or Remembrance Day on the same day as our Veterans day, Tanzania is not one.  While their fate was greatly changed at the end of WWI (Germany had to give up their colonies like Tanzania to Great Britain) it was not a war they remember.

We originally called our Veterans day Armistice day.  It originated after the end of WWI with the armistice or truce signed at 11 AM (Paris time) on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.  Armistice day was first celebrated in 1919.  This is why many celebrations are timed around 11 AM on Veterans day.  For example many try to do a 21 gun salute at exactly 11 AM.

It was changed to Veterans day after the end of WWII (actually I think 1954) due to the need to honor veterans of both wars and not just WWI.

It is actually spelled without the apostrophe.  

News on other fronts:  

It is now a month till I return to the States for reports, fundraising and a little family time.

We have not had rain yet but we did have teasers and humidity now.

The leaves have grown back on the Baobab tree despite no rain which many are taking as a good sign for the year.

Here are a couple of pictures from my walk this week that shows the teaser clouds and tree.





Location: Singida, Tanzania

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water/Maji

Image
The kids getting ready for the water to flow In the USA we really don’t think that much about water.   I realize if you are dealing with a flood you think about non-stop.   But for most of us it really is not something we think about until we get the bill every month.    You go to the faucet and turn it on.   The biggest problem most people have now is figuring out where the sweet spot on the hands-free sensor is to get and keep the water running.   The new controls wired in What you don’t have to worry about is how far you must walk to get water, or how far you must drive your cattle to get water.   You don’t think about getting your donkeys ready to carry a bunch of water jugs for you.   When you want to do laundry, you most likely go to a machine in your house and it is already connected to the water for you.   You don’t have to carry your laundry to the water and wash it in front of everybody else in the village.   I have said “you” a lot in all this, but I mean m
Read more

I went to the birds?

Image
Hey,  this week is a week off for the school and I am traveling to meet with contractors and playground suppliers as well as doing some long awaited internet work.  So no big items to really put out there this week so I treating you to some photos I have been taking for practice.  I have a lot of birds, though most of them are about the size of my thumb and some of Kilimanjaro and some flowers that are part of the trees around our site even a cat.  Before you ask, I don't know what type of birds they are or what type of flower it is.  I hope you enjoy.   Sun about to go down over the hills behind our school We got a rainbow without the rain Head teacher's rooster that I hope is dinner soon Head teacher's hen-not sure what happened to her but she has looked like she was partially digested since  she arrived. Head teacher's paka (cat) stretches out for a nap after running all the birds away Just missed hi
Read more

You travel all the way to Tanzania you should do a safari

Image
This is the final installment for the recent mission team visit.  Every team that comes over should in fact do a safari because it is a part of the overall experience that is traveling to Tanzania.  In the past I have always recommended going to Ngorongoro for a one day trip and it is still an excellent place to go.  However, it is more expensive than most of the other trips because they charge per person and for the vehicle both and it is one of the most popular safari sites in Tanzania which leads to a lot of people being there.  In fact during the June-August tourist season it is not uncommon to have wait in a vehicle line of 10 or more safari trucks trying to roll their group into picture taking position of the main attractions.  Some times it feels a little more like a zoo than a safari. I have started to recommend Tarangire more often because it is less expensive and the only vehicle crowding issues are at the lunch spots.  They have a great viewing of wildlife with herds
Read more