10+ Reasons to be Thankful...

...For the Tanzanian wedding next door :)

1. The chance to upload funny Facebook posts.
2. Remembering that they're really, joyfully celebrating their marriage.  Can't argue with that, right?
3. The couple are probably getting lots of gifts, which are a blessing to them.  (trying *really* hard to be thankful here as the music blares and the windows shake around us...)
4. We were actually invited to the sherehe (celebration) - God provided a chance to attend a Tanzanian wedding!!!  - but we chose to pass up the fun for Bible Sunday.  I guess this means we can't really complain about the noise.
5. The opportunity for passive improvement of Swahili as we listen to the loudspeakers next door.
6. The event isn't every night like the bar across the street in Dar was... thankful this is a one-time thing!
7. Due to our inability to communicate verbally, we have a good chance to work on our sign language skills.
8. The opportunity to bond over awkward and difficult situations with my new roommate so we can laugh over it later.
9. Renewed appreciation of ear plugs, and thankfulness for having them here...
10. If we can't rest and give up trying to sleep, there's a chance of being extremely productive tonight!
11. Appreciation for being able to call the cops if in the States if this ever happened there...

** We laughed.  And were amazed that we unknowingly came up with more than 10 reasons to be thankful once we got on a roll.  However, sometimes the process of giving thanks works better than others.  There are some situations you can laugh at for a long while... and come away refreshed.  Others stop being funny a few minutes later, especially when you hear the words "mpaka asabuhi" (till morning) come out of the announcer's mouth.  This was one of the latter.  So, our final reason for giving thanks in having a Tanzanian Wedding going on next door?  **

12. Discovering/remembering that you have friends you can stay with in difficult situations... and that say "come on over" to spend the night when you text them at 8:30pm the night of...