What you can see in Morogoro

Well, I've got to say that exciting things are happening here in Morogoro right now. We have a work team that just arrived this past Saturday from Texas. They will be here for about 10 days helping to continue construction on the church and they will also be helping to put on a VBS (which, somehow is my responsibility to organize?? I had no idea until pastor mentioned something tonight...). The team is apparently going to Mikumi on Saturday, and apparently I'm also going to be joining them. Also, they're wanting to do a hike up the mountain, which I will also try to help organize. 

Of course, the normal school activities are happening right now and I've been doing all of my after school lessons and such. However, we have a break starting on Monday for an entire month!! I was somewhat warned of this, but no one knew what days/month it was going to take place (no surprises there). Thus, I didn't know when this break would be until I returned to Tanzania. Anyways, apparently, we get a whole month off of school because the government is taking a census. Well, I'm hoping that this might be a good time to do some traveling around Tanzania, if it works out. And, I'm also considering attending the language school which is here in Morogoro. It seems that the schedule is very flexible, so I can sign up for whatever weeks I want and whatnot. I think it would be a good thing for me. I've heard a lot of good things about the language school  from other missionaries and I think it would be a lot more motivating for me to keep learning Swahili. I hope it works out!!

Well, to conclude my entry, I realized I've talked a LOT about Morogoro. (I mean, that's the whole point of this blog, is to share about my experiences as a missionary here.) And, I have posted quite a few pictures of the school, the church, and the house where I am staying, but I haven't really shown you all very much of Morogoro. I'm now daring to be brave and take pictures of the town where I am living, so you can have a better idea of what I see on a daily basis. I say I'm being brave because I feel a little bit awkward about taking pictures of people doing normal things, but I want to give you all more of a sense of what living in Morogoro is like. This is just the beginning, so stay tuned for more posts with more pictures of town an such when I get them!

A daladala (public bus) letting people off at my stop! If you follow this road, you'll go towards town.

The other side of the road going further into Kihonda from my stop.

Yes, this is the playground of our school.

The duka (small shop) right next to the school. I usually go here to purchase phone vouchers and the occasional soda.

The church all ready for the visiting work team to begin!

The front of the church/pulpit.

The pre-school building where we've been having worship.

The church is right to the left of this little house which is where I will live with the other missionary who will join me in September.

The other duka that I've been known to frequent. (this is directly to the right of the house above).

The missionary team teaching Pastor Eunice how to make a balloon dog.

Making balloon animals!!

The newest addition to my room. An AMAZING shelf to help store all of these teaching materials that have returned to Tanzania with me. Honestly, it's my new favorite part of my room!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Reflections on My Return

So far, it's been a much easier transition than when I first arrived. Of course, I'm pretty sure this is mostly because I already know people, I know enough of the language to get by, and I'm familiar with where things are. Overall, I'm really happy to be back into a steady routine. (But, I'm super thankful for the time that I had at home with friends and family.) When I left in June, I was exhausted and in need of some time away. Now I have returned with a new attitude and a renewed sense of excitement and purpose!

For now, most of what I have been doing has been concerned with getting myself settled back in. I brought a TON of stuff back with me that all had to be unpacked and stored somewhere. I've decided that I need to purchase a new shelf for my room (which sorely lacks storage areas). After being quite unimpressed with the selection in town, I found a picture online of a simple one and am getting it made. Also, there was quite a bit of laundry to do as a result of the karate tournament that I attended in Dallas right before I left to return. So, I've really been planing catch-up with all of that.

Last, Thursday was my first day back at school. Yeah, that's right, the day right after I arrived back in Morogoro. But, it was great! I got completely attacked/hugged the mess out of by the students. As soon as they saw me, they all started screaming and surrounding me with all kinds of love. All of the teachers came up to greet me warmly and ask me about my safari (journey). (Apparently safaris are not limited to Africa!! Hahaha!!) The family has been fantastic as well. Not only are the pastor and his wife back from the US, but many of their children are back from studying at the Africa University in Zimbabwe. We've had quite a full house and it's been a lot of fun!!

So far I've been picking up all of the things I was doing before: teaching at school as well as piano lessons, and also English lessons for the ladies of the church, going to church, running, playing volleyball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ultimate Frisbee on Saturdays. Jet lag hasn't been too bad this time around; I'm at least sleeping at night, but I'm still exhausted during the daytime. The weather has been really nice too. It's kind of like fall weather with lows somewhere around the 60's and the highs in the 80's and not a lot of humidity. The only problem is me having to take freezing cold showers in such cool weather....I really have to psych myself up to just jump under the water some nights (like when the cool breeze is blowing through the windows). But, honestly, if that's my only complaint, I'd say that's pretty good! :D

Honestly, I'm just feeling so blessed to be back. It was a bit hard to leave the states again after being surrounded by friends and family and being reminded of my life back in the states. But, I'm finding that I'm quite comfortable with my life here. It's like I can live in either culture and be OK. Honestly, it's a pretty cool feeling!!

Well, I guess I'll wrap things up here!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Return to Tanzania

Well, just wanted to give a brief update that I've made it back to Tanzania safe and sound!! I had just under 30 hours of flights and layovers, but I finally landed in Dar es Salaam at about 8pm Tuesday evening. Pastor Umba met me at the airport which was a relief for me because I had so much baggage. I spent the night in DAR (and was actually able to get some sleep!) and we caught the bus first thing in the morning on Wednesday and arrived in Morogoro sometime around 12:30pm.

So far, things have been fantastic and I'm really glad that I decided to stay another year. I know that God is going to bless this time and I'm looking forward to everything that He is going to teach me through this continued experience!! I'm blessed beyond belief to have such a wonderful family, church family, and friends. I want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed financially to me and also to those who made donations to the school. I wasn't able to bring most of it over. However, never fear because a work team from Texas is coming in next week and is bringing TWO whole suitcases full of all that STUFF you donated to the school!

I don't have too much time now to write much more (I've had SOOO much to do since I got back!!), but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm here, safe and sound. I also wanted to share some pictures that I've taken since I've gotten back. I hope to write again soon and I hope that all is well with you!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Some changes to my room! I got new sheets because they don't sell fitted sheets in Tanzania!

The newly decorated desk-corner. I can't really say study corner because, well, I don't actually study there. But, thanks to duct tape and command strips I've been able to hang up my calendar and all the pictures of family and friends that my Dad printed off for me! :D

The shoe on the right shows just what happens to shoes after 6 months in Tanzania... O_o

Reflections of Home

Well, it's been a while since I have updated, but after spending time in Europe and now being home, things have been really crazy. Right now, I should be working on my powerpoint presentation that I'll be giving at church on Sunday, but it's raining outside and I just want to sit down with a nice cup of tea and listen to some chill music. So that's what I'm doing while I write about my reflections of home.

The Europe trip was great and I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to have more cultural experiences before I returned home. Also, I think that it helped ease me back into life here in the states. Instead of going from a foreign underdeveloped country to a familiar developed country, I went from a foreign underdeveloped country to a foreign developed country to a familiar developed country.

A lot of things have surprised me in Europe and at home. For example, I was so confused when a car stopped and waited for me to cross the street. In Tanzania, a car would sooner hit you and just keep going! Also, it was SO quiet! In Tanzania there are farm animals wandering everywhere making all kinds of racket. And, the cars are making all kinds of noise (mostly honking, which means get out of the way right now!!!!) I'm now a majority as opposed to a minority and I can travel around without being interrupted or bothered by anyone! Honestly, I think this is the most amazing part of being home for me. I'm more of a quiet, to myself kind of person and I don't like it when strangers are constantly coming up to me and asking for my name or my phone number, or if I can give them money, or whatever. I like to just go do what I want to do without interruption and that's it.

Something that has made a large impact on me has been how much stuff is EVERYWHERE!! It was very overwhelming walking into my room which is full of shelves loaded mostly with old toys, books, and other decorative elements. It was really overwhelming being surrounded by so much stuff after being in a room that was pretty much empty for the last 6 months. I think I prefer my room in Tanzania. There's less to dust, less to clean, less to keep track of, less to worry about getting broken. But, I find myself getting caught up in all the materialism. Especially being deprived of so much for so long and then suddenly being surrounded by everything. I want to do everything at once, I want to eat everything at once, I want to see everyone at once. It's like the best and worst feeling in the world. I have to stop and ask myself "how would a Tanzania feel about this?" Not necessarily because Tanzanians know best, but just because I've been living and interacting with them for the last six months. I mean, seriously, the $5 I spent on my Starbucks Frappuccino could feed a family that I know in Tanzania for a WEEK if not longer!! It honestly makes me sick, and yet I've already bought at least 3 cups of coffee since I've been back... It's like I just can't help myself after not having access to all of these things for so long and also knowing that I won't have them for at least another year.  The other problem is that I see so many things that I've forgotten about and I think "Oh! I'd like to take that back with me to Tanzania!" And I have to stop myself because I can't bring back everything. I need to save space to bring things back for the school. It's hard to find that balance between what I should bring and what I shouldn't bring. I have to keep reminding myself that I've lived with what I've got for the last few months and I did just fine. (Though, I do want to personalize my room a bit since I will be staying for another year.)

I have finally made my epic trip to Wal-Mart and although it wasn't quite as scary as I was thinking it would be, it was like so many things in America: overwhelming. I did bring a friend and her specific instructions were "do not let me get carried away in there!" Haha! Luckily, between having a friend and a list, I managed to make it in and out without any major problems or melt downs. But, I have to wonder more and more, do we really need an entire side of an isle dedicated to cereal? Do we really need 3 full isles dedicated to makeup?? I mean, do we really hate our own appearances that much? Over the last 6 months I got used to seeing myself without makeup, seeing myself the way God sees me. But, I'm back now and I've gone back to wearing makeup and big jewelry as was my habit before I left.

So now I'm left thinking about the last half of a year and comparing that to America (my other home). I'm left trying to ponder how my life will change since I've returned. I don't have so much time to make major life alterations now because I'm returning to Africa in just over a week, but now I've got a whole year to decide how I can simplify my life here and reflect over what I've learned from living in Tanzania. I want to be more conservative. I want to have less and live more. I want to be a part of the world that surrounds me as opposed to trapping myself inside; buried in materialism and things. People matter, the world that God created for us to live in matters. Whether or not you have the newest car, phone, clothes, computer, etc. does not matter. Those things cannot do anything for you and they don't add true meaning in your life. In fact, I feel like those things take away true meaning from our lives because they distract us from what's really important. They take up our brain space as we think about and worry over them and we forget to remember what's important. We can always live with less. The real question is, can we really and truly live with more?

Well, in closing I'd like to share some photos to share with you all from my trip. Since this blog is for mission related things, I'm only going to post one picture from each country I visited (Switzerland, Italy, and France). If you want to view more pictures from this trip, check out my facebook page!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine