Happy Holidays!

Well, I'm back from my trip with my sister now. Overall, it was a good trip and it was nice to be with at least part of my family for Christmas. But, it was also a very exhausting trip and I'm glad to be back at my home in Morogoro now and have some time to rest up and prepare for the start of the new school year on January 14.

Here's a picture of my sister and I from our trip:

Before I get into my recent adventures, I have the most exciting news of the year 2012 to share with you. The results of the Class VII examination have come back and 100% of my students were placed into public secondary schools!!!! I am ecstatic!! This is the result of the amazing work that God is doing in this place through myself and other missionaries. It's so exciting to see that our efforts are producing results that are changing the lives of children here in Tanzania. I know that not all of my students are going to go to the public schools that they were accepted into because their parents would rather them go to private schools. But, this opens the opportunity for all of them to go!! Bwana asifiwe!! (Praise God)

Now, I will update you on the goings on here in Morogoro:

So before I left for my trip with my sister, I did a few things here in Morogoro. At my students' request, I visited Day Spring Orphanage again. This time I brought a craft activity for them to do. We made paper candy canes by drawing stripes on square pieces of paper and then rolling the paper around pencils and pens and taping off the ends. The kids had a really fun time making them and I got to explain the significance of the candy cane at Christmas. The kids were not very familiar with candy canes as some had only seem them previously in western movies or other media, so it was cool to be able to teach them something new. I told them that they should use the candy canes that they made to decorate their orphanage or that they could even hang them on the Christmas tree at their church. Afterwards, I had brought some movies, so we watched those together.

Here are some pictures of the kids making their candy canes!! :D

After visiting the orphanage, I walked to a friend's house so I could go through her closet so I could borrow some warmer clothes for my trip. Unfortunately, Tanzania's weather is not very conducive for wearing jeans and long sleeves, so I didn't have anything very appropriate to take with me. Luckily, I was able to borrow some things that fit me decently enough!

Also, before I left, I was able to visit Baba Sesi and his family. His wife just had a baby and I wanted to go to congratulate them on the new addition to their family. At the time he was less than a week old, but you would never have guessed that from his size. I have to say that it was really cool getting to hold that newborn baby. But, I will admit that when it comes to babies, I'm rather lost as to what to do. With kids you can play with them, joke with them, chase them around; all kinds of stuff. And they LOVE it!! For me, kids are so easy to handle. But, it seems like babies just don't really do much of anything. LOL!!



After I returned from my trip (and Kjirstin returned from hers), it seems that life has rocketed forward. We arrived back in Morogoro together on Sunday evening. Kjirstin had some issues with her initial flight being canceled and getting a new flight. In the course of it all, her baggage got left in Kenya, and we had to arrange to have it shipped to Morogoro the next day. Let me tell you, from the moment I found out this was what was going to happen, I was praying with everything in me that it would arrive without problem. Much to our relief, it came in rather good shape and we were able to get it without problem. It was very lucky for us because the luggage contained a number of resources for us to use at the school. Mostly, they're good for math, English, and religion. We got to go through all of the stuff on Monday and I'm really excited about everything that we've now got to work with! I hope that we will be able to teach the other teachers how to use the materials and they'll be able to incorporate them into the curriculum to help the students (especially in math).

Monday evening, some of our missionary friends threw a New Year's Eve party, so Kjirstin and I joined them. It was a really fun and relaxing time. Although I do go to frisbee and the prayer service every week, I realized that I don't really get much time to just be with the other missionaries and talk about stuff. So, I really enjoyed having that time to just chill out and be together. Here are some pictures from the party:

Stephanie holding our New Year's Eve Ball!! :D
(since we didn't get to see the one in Times Square drop) 

That night, Kjirstin and I stayed in town at a friend's apartment so that we wouldn't have to go home so late. We ended up staying up a bit late talking even though we knew we were going to have an early morning. We had arranged to do a hike up the mountain to a place called Morning Site (or maybe it's Morning Side. Honestly, I hear people saying both, so I never know). Morning Site (Side) is basically the site of an old Lutheran Church and offers a very nice view of Morogoro town. We have some friends whose guard lives on the mountain and he agreed to be our guide for a nominal fee. It was honestly a beautiful day for hiking and I really enjoyed myself. I love hiking in mountains a whole lot. Being on a mountain makes me feel like I'm so grounded to the earth, but like I'm flying all at the same time. If it was possible, I would probably climb the mountain every week!
For me, I've been on the mountain multiple times, but this was the first time for both Kjirstin and Shantelle. I think that they both really enjoyed the climb, but the path was quite steep and challenging in some places. Our guide was very kind and took whatever speed was necessary for all of us to keep up. He doesn't speak much English, so we were able to get a lot of practice with our Swahili. I really surprised myself with my ability to communicate and understand. I did have to refer to Shantelle a few times for help, but for the most part, I was able to understand the majority of what he said and get my own points across. I even found that by the end of the hike my Swahili was flowing a bit more naturally instead of having so many breaks in it.
We saw all kinds of things on our hike. We passed many farms which were growing bananas (ndizi), beans (maharagwe), cabbage (kebege), and other things. We also saw people out tending their farms and people carrying their goods down the mountain to town to sell their goods. We bought some bananas from an older woman and some strawberries from a couple of guys. It continues to amaze me what people have to do in order to make a living here! Can you imagine climbing up and down a mountain multiple days a week just to sell your goods or go to town to buy supplies??
Once we reached our destination, we sat for a while and rested, just enjoying the view. I wandered about the old church and took pictures of it. I'm not sure if they're still using it (I should have asked), but it's a pretty old building and seems like it's seen better days. But, I wouldn't be surprised if it was still in use. While we were up there, we were give a book where we were to sign our names, where we lived, and our profession. It was really fun to go back through the list and find the names of friends who climbed to that site before us.
We took a different route on the way back down (thus we made a big loop). It was a much steeper route which turned out to be a bit dangerous for the return trip. At one point, the path was wet because of irrigation to a farm and Kjirstin ended up slipping and rolling down the mountain a bit. Luckily, she stopped quickly enough, but still got quite a few scratches on her legs and arms. Fortunately, I had my little first aid baggie that I always bring with me on hikes and trips here in Tanzania (just in case). It includes Neosporin and a number of bandaids. I also had my bathroom baggie which includes toilet paper and anit-bacterial. Thus, we had enough stuff to get her cleaned up enough to return.
Overall, the trip was successful and we all made it there and back without major difficulties. Honestly, it was a great way for me to start off the New Year!! :D

I took SOO many pictures of the hike, but I'll just share a few of them here for you to see:

A look back at Morogoro Town

Costa, our guide, Kjirstin, and me

Buying strawberries from some guys!

The Lutheran Church at our final destination

In the end, I was fine, but the other girls were pretty tired. LOL!! :D

Cabbage

Bananas!

Well, that's all I've got for now! School doesn't start until January 14th, but it seems that there's plenty of things to keep Kjirstin and I busy until it does. Nathan is back from his pre-form one and Pastor Umba's oldest daughter is also in town with her daughter who is just a few months old. This is in addition to Lauren and Danny (also two of Pastor's children) and their cousin. Thus, we've got one full house and it's been a lot of fun!!

I hope that you all have also had a wonderful holiday season and that you are excited for what this New Year will bring! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine