I’ll be honest. I never really understood home improvement projects that took place over vacations. Nor did I appreciate them. True, they meant I got to spend some time with my parents at home – but painting three rooms over Christmas break just seemed like more of a pain than an accomplishment.
I think I’m getting old.
HOPAC had a “midterm break” last Thursday and Friday, calling for a much-needed long weekend. As I had given numerous assessments last week, my main plan was to get grading done. And in the end, that happened too… mostly! But overall I’d have to call it a “productive, satisfying, fun weekend…” which is kind of scaring me. Just a little bit.
"Why does it scare you? And what, exactly, did you do?" you might ask. Well, to start with, we went to the welder fundi (or worker/specialist/tradesperson) just down the road. After ordering three squares made out of metal for picture frame creations, we said in amazement: “that was easy!” and headed home to have a relaxing first-day-off lunch. Later, we hit the road again, this time in our car.
A few of the sites we saw on the road along the way. Don't worry - the person driving has one hand on the wheel, and one hand on the horn, at all times! It's the other person's job to navigate, help watch, and take pictures as needed along the way :)
How to make and pour cement, and/or pave a road. We weren't sure which. Notice the spinning cement barrel that they're dumping their loads into on the right-hand side... Lift, carry on head, dump, repeat!
We went down to a local art shop and found some great mozzie nets that actually work the way they’re supposed to. (Ok, correction. They’re easier to use, and more full-proof, so we are actually using them the way they were intended. Which makes them a whole lot more beneficial in the end.) We also headed to Mlimani to print out pictures (an expensive and laborious process here in Tanzania...), picked up sticks at school (in the rain) for the picture frame project, found bendable wire (in the shape of a steering wheel, of course!) and varnish across the street at the local hardware duka, painted the sticks with varnish and let them dry around 10pm, got new mozzie net bed frames made for the new sizes (which, of course, included some confusion and several trips… the “easy” trip to the welders was an exception, not a general rule here!), got groceries at CamelOil (a little supermarket-ish place at a nearby gas station), bought a new plant for 1,000Tsh (about 80 cents) outside our house and transplanted it into a pot which we put in our main room to make it more homey, and… and… and… Do you get the picture!?
Marie and I washing sticks. In the rain. With a hose. With the guards peeking and laughing at us through the guardhouse window. The water coming out of the hose was much warmer than the water falling on our heads, which was pretty strange!
This is the collage frame we're modeling our new creations after. Can't wait for them to be DONE!!!!!
We worked hard this weekend, and though there were some definite frustrations, I took three main things out of it in the end. 1. There’s no way we could have had this much fun, or had the energy to do all the things we did, without having a van to move from one place to another. I’m trying to imagine strapping our new bed frames onto the top of a dala to get them home! AND I'm thankful for a less-stress weekend because of it. 2. I’m lucky to have roommates that like to laugh, have fun, make fools of themselves (alongside me, of course!) in front of our guards and others… and have great conversations about God, life, and everything in between. I can't wait to do such projects with my husband some day... but in the meantime, I'm very blessed to have some amazing friends along the way! 3. I realized that I’m starting to enjoy home improvement projects. 
The carpenter fundi, strapping my new mozzie net frame onto the top of the van. With twine, of course. He had definitely done this before - and knew more about the car than we did!!!
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve always been one to make and create things no matter where I’m living, and making it more comfortable and homey is always a must! But suddenly I’m finding myself talking about growing herbs in a garden out back and making a bed frame by ourselves to save money – for fun. That’s just not normal.
There must be something satisfying about getting particular things done as you get older. I guess, as a kid, I just didn’t really appreciate (at least not fully) the newly painted walls in the dining room, or the new stain on the deck outside. But something strange has happened. I think it comes with “growing up,” realizing the things you really would like to change or make better about the place where you live, and having a sense of satisfaction at the end because it’s something YOU wanted in the first place.
Our living room, complete with new plants. Weirs, note the furniture that matches your newly acquired living room set in Papua New Guinea! The cushions really are blue - you just can't see it in the picture.
The back wall is where we'll put our new picture collage frames when the wiring of the sticks to the welded outer frames are complete :)
Watch out, world. Who knows what might come next. Really, my greatest fear is that some day I might actually start wearing one of those bright teacher sweaters with patterns and pictures crocheted all over it… and maybe put on some blinking lights for the major holidays. I have to admit, I really don’t see that one happening. But, then again, maybe I should start adjusting to the idea… :)
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