Well, here it goes:
On Saturday, we were supposed to climb to the peak of the mountain, but we were unable to because we didn't realize that we needed forest permits in order to enter the forested areas at the top of the mountain. Apparently, they are some kind of wildlife preserve or something. So, instead, my Swahili teacher and I headed out at 10am on Saturday and went to town. We walked a ways up the mountain following a road and then stopped in at a hotel to get refreshments at their cafe area. The initial intention was to not eat, but I was hungry and thought I would order a little something. I figured it wouldn't take too long to make a small appetizer (maybe like 15-20 minutes). Well, I was wrong. It took an entire HOUR for the food to be ready. I felt so bad!! By the time it was all done, we had spent a great amount of time there and had to hurry back to town to meet the pastor so we could go on a different hike. But, we couldn't get in touch with the pastor, so we boarded a bus to Nane Nane (which is a place where a big trade show happens every year) to visit a tourist information center. But, even more unfortunately, it was closed, so we were going to turn back to town. But, then the pastor called and we were able to arrange our meeting with him at a Teacher Vocational College where the hike would start. A couple very cramped bus rides later, we arrived at the school and hiked up to an old church. This church is one of the oldest in Morogoro and was built by the Germans.
As we hiked up to where the trail started, we encountered some monkeys playing in a tree at the school:
We hiked up through the school which is located on the mountains and past it. We followed the river upstream until we reached a steep slope to climb up. It was so steep that as I was climbing up, I was nervous that my feet were going to slip out from under me and there weren't very many things to hold on to in the way of trees and brush. But, we all made it up OK and we got a decent view of the town.
My favorite view, however, was looking up at the mountains.
After resting for a while, we headed back down the trail (really, it wasn't very long. Only about 10 minutes to get there and 10 minutes to get back to the school). It was actually much easier coming down the steep slope, because I crab crawled and was able to keep myself from sliding too much. On the way back, I also encountered a beautiful butterfly!! AHH!! It made me so happy!! :D
Once we arrived back it was 6pm and the only food that I had eaten was 3 slices of bread with jam for breakfast and part of the appetizer I had ordered at the cafe (because we had split it) and I was STARVING!! I immediately went to my room and began devouring some of the foods I had bought, which weren't too healthy, sadly (chips and cookies). But, if you want American-type goods, those are the options. I skyped home with my parents, ate dinner and went to bed.
Sunday morning, the cooking saga continued as I woke up early and made pancakes for the family! They were DELICIOUS (if I do say so myself) even if they were slightly different from home. I had to used powdered milk in water and there was no butter, so I had to cook them in oil. The first few came out a bit greasy, but after that, I was able to work things out no problem. It made me so happy to eat foods I like so well, but it also kind of made me miss home. Here are some pictures of my pancakes:
After breakfast, was church, which was so upbeat and lively. It was SOO exciting to be there because there were so many people and everyone was practically jumping up and down singing praises. I found out after the service that the Choir Master had gotten married last week (I knew that part), but I didn't realize that they had to be presented to the congregation. This involved a very festive ceremony and re-enactment of the wedding. There was dancing by some girls in the church and singing by the choir. There was also a gift giving processional where everyone from the congregation presented their gifts to the bride and groom. It was incredibly festive and the church members danced with their gifts, presenting them and wrapping cloths around the couple. They received a great deal of cloth, bowls, tubs to put water in, a thermos, and other household items. Afterward, a great feast was served and we dined on rice, fried potatoes, meat, and beans. It was delicious!!
The only thing that aggravated me was the young man who was sitting next to me and kept trying to talk to me throughout the entire ceremony. He asked me about everything "Why can't you speak fluent Swahili yet?" and "Why are you leaving so soon?" and "Are weddings like this in America?" and "Can you buy cross items (like a necklace) in America? Are they popular?" and "Why aren't you involved with the church?" and so on. Everything was so random and he kept switching topics in mid conversation. I felt SOOO terribly because he kept talking while the ceremony was happening. This was the first time I'd ever experienced this kind of festivity and I wanted to take in everything that I could (even if I couldn't understand everything). I kept telling him, let's talk after the service (because people started looking at us at one point) and no one else was talking, but he just kept on. *sigh*
Well, Sunday afternoon was chill and I graded papers and recorded grades until I decided that I wanted to go run. After running, I read in my room for a while until dinner, ate, and went to bed.
Yesterday, we were under the impression that there was no school due to a Muslim holiday, so I intended to "sleep in" (which doesn't really happen). But, we found out 10 minutes before school that we the holiday was not Monday. So, I had to rush to get ready and get over to the school. I was exhausted after the day was over, but I still had lots to do. I had to wash my clothes, practice Swahili, I wanted to run, and I had a Swahili lesson at 5pm. But, I didn't end up running because I took an unanticipated nap. *sigh* But, I practiced karate in my room which more than made up for the no running. We thought we weren't going to have school today since we didn't have it yesterday, but we ended up being wrong. The holiday was apparently on Sunday, so I was greatly disappointed that I didn't get a long weekend. Oh well. I'll just have to wait until next weekend!! Haha.
Today, I taught at school all morning, came back and have now eaten lunch. The plans for the rest of the day are: finish washing my clothes (because although I washed for an hour yesterday, I didn't get them all done), enter grades from Class 6 into my grade book, run and play volleyball over at the International School, come back to practice Swahili, eat dinner and go to bed. It's gonna' be a busy afternoon, but I'm up for it!!
Hope you're all having a great start to your week so far!!
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge" Psalms 62:5-8
Blessings, Love, and Peace,
~Christine
Those pancakes with powdered sugar are making me hungry at 10pm!
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