Naomi has become quite the chatterbox in the last month or so and she's willing to try all kinds of words, both in English and in Swahili! Her new mantra, that she repeats multiple times every single day, is this ... 'Daddy Wur, Abi Gore, Mummy Perlay'.
For those of you needing a translation it is, 'Daddy Work, Abi School, Mummy Play'. We're not sure if that is a true reflection on life for us right now but through the eyes of a 23 month old apparently that's what goes on here in the Beckwith family! Life however, is beginning to settle into some kind of routine now ... here's a glimpse of what that means for the four of us.
Naomi is right when she says 'Daddy Wur'! Apart from our first week here, Mark has been in the hangar from 7am-4pm every week day. He does get to come home for lunch with us all each day though which is a definite perk! The three years of training at MMS are now being put into practice taking charge of jobs and having others working under him, looking to him for guidance, even though he's still learning the ropes in the MAF hangar!
Below he is checking out something technical (for those of you in the 'know', a faulty CHT probe!) and the other photo is showing a tool he fabricated in action, that helps to remove and install bearing races in wheel halves.
Abigail is LOVING school and often asks why she can't go at the weekends. Not sure how she's going to take the news that the Easter holidays are just around the corner! She gets picked up in the MAF mini-bus every morning at 7.20am with school starting at 7.45am and dropped off for lunch after her school day is over, shortly after midday. In her first full week she got a certificate for good listening, which she was very chuffed with as you can see!
In her second week, Abigail's reception class took assembly, which the rest of the family went along to watch. She had several different speaking parts and was very confident in them, as well as singing along with the rest of her class.
The assemblies have changed a lot since Jenny was a teacher here. They are now inside, in a new, larger library and all the songs are on a powerpoint! We all got to sing the Tanzanian National Anthem at the beginning, a real blast from the past for Jenny but something new for the rest of the family!
As far as 'Mummy Perlay' goes ... as long as it's with Naomi, she's a happy girl! Having said that, she has already got a good circle of friends who she sees regularly on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Wednesdays whilst the mummy's have a Bible study and Friday's just to play. This week it was a Teddy Bear's picnic birthday party to celebrate one of them turning 2!
There is a real mix of nationalities in the little group. One of her friends has English and South African parents, one has Tanzanian and Australian parents, one has New Zealand and Irish parents, one has English and American parents, one has Swiss German parents and one has Russian parents! Then there is Naomi with English parents but she was born in America!
Jenny and Naomi have also been taking a regular weekly shopping trip into town with another MAF wife and son and they have been enjoying getting to know what's what and where the best places to get certain things are.
In our home, Maria has been testing Jenny's Swahili ability to the max as she speaks no English herself. For a few days she also brought her daughter Josephine with her. Maria hasn't worked for a Wazungu (ex-pat) family for quite a few years and so Josephine helped jog her memory when it comes to making bread and other yumminess that we enjoy! Last week Jenny also taught Maria to make a pasta sauce packed with veggies that we like to eat to add to her repertoire!
As well as Jenny meeting up with some of her old Tanzanian friends, we have also had the chance as a family to get to know some of the other MAF families, the current CAMS teachers and other ex-pats. Last weekend we were invited to a BBQ with some of them which was good fun and Abigail has enjoyed a few after school play-dates with others. We are also getting to know others when we visit the MAF pool which is on the other compound, about 1km from where we live.
Unfortunately there is no update on the progress of our visa and therefore container. We know the container has reached Dar Es Salaam but it cannot be cleared from port without the visa number. It doesn't mean we can't get on with life ... but not a day goes by when all of us haven't wished that the rest of our belongings would get here so we can settle in properly!
There is also no update on a possible vehicle for us to buy either but a little bit of good news is that some friends have lent us a little car in the meantime. Now we don't have to be so reliant on others to get anywhere! It is a real blessing and we're already enjoying the extra freedom that this car has allowed us!
So there you have it, this is the new normal for all of us ... for the time being anyway! Most days we're up at 6am, the girls are in bed by 7pm ish and we follow closely behind at about 9.30pm. It might sound early but we're still getting used to the hot climate and as everything is new, with all the extra things we need to take in and learn (including the Swahili), life is a lot more tiring for now and are brains are working overtime ... so sometimes it's even earlier!
We can't believe that we arrived a month ago today, we've done a lot already and are looking forward to all that is to come!
