Time for tea

Here is my first solo attempt at making tea. It sounds easy but it is not, actually it is an art form. My friend Semba is teaching me. It involves boiling the tea over a coal fire and then pouring it out a number of times to mix and cool it. I am not sure where the ceremony of this all developed, but I think it has been passed on from Arabic culture. You actually make three pots of tea and each pot gets sweeter as you go because of the vast amounts of sugar used. The tea is strong and sweet and the whole process takes quite some time. It is pretty relaxing and a common social activity. You just sit around and talk and drink tea out of these shot glasses. I like it.

Going up?

The work has been moving slowly. You can see the progress on the stair here. There will be a storage room underneath. Right now we are waiting for the doors and windows to be finished. I may go to Dakar this week if in fact they are finished. I think it will probably be next week though. So we wait, but now I am trying to calculate just how much it will cost to build the enclosure wall. I think we already have enough cement for this, so I am happy about that. I am also trying to line up a tile guy and find out how much electric service will cost. Next week things should be moving fast again, I hope...

What a trip

I recently took a trip to Dakar the capitol city to search for materials. I have not been there since I first arrived on the plane. It is quite far from Oussouye and a bit difficult to get there. I had to travel through the Gambia and take a ten-hour car ride. The trip was not too bad, the roads seem to have improved, though I got searched in the Gambia. I met the contractor near the bus station and we went on a hunt for the best prices. I ended up only staying there for two days. The city is crazy with activity, very crowed loud, and alive with excitement. Bargaining for materials was an interesting experience to say the least. The trip was very worth while, everything is cheaper in Dakar because everything arrives there and then gets shipped to other cities. So the prices for materials get higher the farther away you get from Dakar. I was able to purchase the rest of the materials needed to complete the building. This includes all the plumbing, electrical, tile, and I even got a stove. The biggest item negotiated was the fabrication of the windows and doors. They should be finished in two weeks and at that time, all the items I bought will be shipped together. By going to Dakar for all the finish items we saved hundreds of dollars and at this point that is great news. Arranging the transport for all the items will also be interesting. I have to search for a truck and go back to Dakar in two weeks to set it all up. Please pray for this. The other item we still need is electric service to the building.

Steps

Here you can see the beginning of the stair wall. It will be a concrete switchback stair going to the roof terrace. Also pictured is a current view of the building.

Getting Closer

Things continue to move little by little. There is a small break for the Easter holiday. Now we are getting into more of the details. In the pictures you can see the concrete work being done for the floor slab. All the rooms and the veranda are completed with a rough slab. After, the rooms will get tile and the veranda a finish slab. If you click on the photo and zoom in you can see at the top of the building they have finished with a concrete cap for the top of the wall. I have yet to purchase the windows and doors, because I am still trying to find a good price. This has to get done soon though. The metal roof over the veranda should be underway next week as well as the stair to get to the terrace. I had a bit of stress recently as well. The contractor was trying to pull some shady business with me. He was trying to say I had to pay him more money for him to do work we had already agreed was part of the contract. It got pretty heated and I was fearing the worst, like I might have to find someone else to finish the work. I think it was an attack, but God interveened. I called a meeting with Marcell, Jerome, and the contractor, and asked Marcel to mediate. Things went really well, because I think he does not want to upset Marcell, for fear of losing future work. He agreed to stick to his word and complete all the work discussed. We made a new contract listing all the work to be completed in detail, and also the remaining money to be paid. So I think things are ok for now, I just hope he does not try to pull and more funny stuff. You never know… I had some interesing ministry opportunities lately. I met a man from Ghana who is a pastor and missionary here in Senegal. I shared with him about my Ghana experiences and he invited me to come at preach at a conference he was having in a nearby village. I found out something very strange, there are over 1500 Ghanians living in the village of Elinkin. It is like a mini Ghana there, they are even building three Christian churches in this small village. It was weird because they all speak English, and don’t respond to French or Jolla greetings. Anyway I preached at the conference and it went pretty will, I was happy to have another adventure. I returned to Oussouye for Easter and was invited to preach for the Sunday service here. I had a great time and it was a big day of feasting !