I’m
back in Mbeya, the town where I lived for nearly five years but thought I might
never see again. It’s a strange feeling, as if I’m in a dream that I might wake
up from only to find myself back in my bed at Redcliffe. But the longer I am
here, the more reality sinks in. It’s
been over a week now. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Dar es Salaam my
nostrils were assaulted with the warm, humid atmosphere of the coastal city,
and I felt strangely like I had come home. So much was the same, but not
everything!
In the
short time I had in Dar I was struck by how technology has moved on, everyone I
saw in the airport seemed to be using a smart phone! After a couple of days in
Dar I flew to Mbeya – no longer does one have to sit on a bus for 13 hours, as
a plane ticket to the new ‘international’ airport can be almost as cheap as the
bus. I was lucky to arrive on a dry morning, seeing Mbeya at its best – lush
and green from the recent rains, with the mountains rising up all around. One
thing that hasn’t changed is the beauty of this place, in fact it’s even more
beautiful than I remembered it!
 |
| Loleza Peak, rising above Mbeya town |
I have
enjoyed pacing round the streets of Mbeya and reorienting myself – surprisingly
little has changed but a few things stand out. Even more shops are painted with
mobile phone network logos and advertising the fact that you can use M-Pesa or
equivalent there – M-Pesa almost acts as a little bank account on your phone,
from which you can send money to people or pay for things; it’s very useful,
particularly in a place where shops don’t take Visa and internet banking isn’t
used. A
number of new shops have cropped up, but they all seem to be selling the same
old things – I’ve just spotted one or two changes, like a new brand of
margarine (so now there are two options instead of just one!) or that Ribena is
now in glass bottles and has gone up in price. I was excited to discover I
could buy rice flour, and by mixing this with maize flour have made my first
wheat-free cake here.
The
change that most surprised me was the roads. The first day that I walked to the
office I thought I was lost when I reached a tarmac road that I expected to be
dirt, only to discover that I was exactly where I thought I was and this road,
along with one or two others, has been surfaced with impressive ditches and
footpaths to go with it.
Arriving
at the office, it was lovely to see many familiar faces, but there were also
many new faces, particularly among the missionaries. I am enjoying being
reunited with old friends, though very much missing close friends from England
and that ease of companionship that comes from knowing one another well. Psalm
18 is a comfort at this time, for God is that rock that never changes, the One
who is always there.
