Greeting the Big Potato

-The Potato Has Landed-

Saturday, June 21st 2008 was an historic day in Ilula. On that warm and sunny afternoon, the Big Potato* – Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and President of the Lutheran World Federation – came to town, en route to a Federation meeting in Arusha.Preparing for his arrival was a massive undertaking, resulting in quite the ‘to-do.’

Behold the Spirit of Hospitality – Tanzanian Style:

First were the choirs. Sitting on the porch of my guesthouse I had been serenaded by ‘the finest choirs in the district’ practicing their special welcome songs for hours each and every evening for a week.

Not leaving anything to chance, on the day of the event the local Pastors practiced presenting traditional clothes to the guests and then dressing them. In this case, a dress bound for the Bishop’s wife.

As the Bishop and Co. were speeding towards Iringa on the Tanzam highway, hundreds of local people were organized and prepared to greet them with singing, ululating, and branch waving.

From Ilula, the entourage moved on to Iringa Town for a weekend of non-stop events in high-class style - a motorcade consisting of every diocese vehicle, a brass choir, a coach bus, and a pick-up truck with this on top:

Suddenly the Wine and Cheese Reception we threw Bishop Hanson at Yale in February seems somewhat less than swank. . .

*’Big Potato’ is a colloquial phrase commonly used in at least this part of Tanzania to designate someone of high regard . . . like our Big Cheese perhaps.