Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving (which I did celebrate with the other missionaries this past Friday), I would like to post an entry centered around many things that I am thankful for in the past week.

As much as I wish I was home with my friends and family back in the states, I am so terribly thankful to be serving here in Morogoro, Tanzania. Those of you who have been following my blog know that it hasn't been an easy journey for me (but, what journey in life is ever going to be easy?). It's taken a lot of hard work, patience, and faith, but I've come so far as a person since arriving here. I've done things that I've never dreamed of doing. I've learned about what it means to be part of a community. I've learned a new language and culture. When I finished my undergraduate, I swore that I was never, ever, ever going to teach. And, yet, here I am, teaching and LOVING it. Honestly, though, I feel that what I have here in Morogoro is unique and I'm not sure that I'd like teaching so much if I were doing it in the US right now.

On Thursday, I decided that, even though people here don't have/celebrate Thanksgiving, I needed to make the kids do journal entries about what they were thankful for. I got quite a few interesting answers and some really awesome ones. It got one kid who wrote: “I am thankful for fruit. I am thankful when my mother gives me fruit. I am thankful when my father gives me fruit. I love fruit…etc.” And then, there were the kids who wrote about how thankful they were for their parents helping them and how they were thankful to be able to get an education. And, then there were the kids who wrote about how thankful they were to God. I took a picture of the entry from one boy in Class V. I hope that you enjoy what he wrote as much as I did!! :D

Friday was a terribly special day in the life of our school. I’m not sure how many of you remember or read about this, but a while ago one of my students was run over by a pikipiki (motorcycle) and had to have surgery for injuries associated with a broken collar bone. During break, she came to school for the first time in about 1 ½ months (since the accident). As she walked up the driveway, all of the other students ran up and gathered around her. They were all screaming and cheering with joy. And then, they all began chanting her name and giving her hugs. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever witnessed. It reminded me of movies when the war hero comes home victorious. I wish I had been able to take a picture of it for you to see, but I didn’t have my camera on me.

In the afternoon, I had my usual piano lessons with John and Elizabeth. After the lessons (which were cut just a bit short because of a power outage), Kjirstin and I had a shot bit of down time before we headed to town. We had to do ALL of our shopping on Friday because I knew that we were going to Bagamoyo all day Saturday and on Sundays a lot of places are closed. We managed to get everything and then we headed to the place where we would be having our Thanksgiving celebration. We were running late due to the shopping we had to do, but luckily, the MacSavenys were also and we just happened to cross paths at the same time. Thus, we were able to ride with them for the remainder of the way. The Thanksgiving celebration was a great time. The food was SUPER good and I was excited that there was no rice or ugali on the menu. Not that I mind these things, but sometimes I just need a little variety in my life. Yes, we did have turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, pumpkin pie, and so many other delicious items that we all enjoy on Thanksgiving. 

On Saturday, Kjirstin and I woke up early in the morning to accompany the students on their field trip to Bagamoyo. Honestly, it turned out to be a great trip and I was quite impressed with how things went so smoothly!! At exactly 6am, the students began arriving at the school and soon after, so did the two buses that would take us there. We had students all the way from Class II - Class VI going on the trip. Sometime between 6:30am and 7am, we crammed into the buses left the school. And when I say "crammed", I mean that it was like being on a daladala. There were people sitting in the isles, some where standing, I even had a kid in my lap for part of the time. It took about 4 hours to get to Bagamoyo. It was a LONG trip there, but I had a good time on the bus. I was on the "big kid" bus and I was sitting next to a lot of students that I know really well. My piano student was sitting next to me and we talked quite a bit of the way there. 
Once at Bagamoyo, we found the site that we were going to get to tour. Bagamoyo is a very historical place in Tanzania as it was the last stop on the slave trade route before the slaves were shipped off to other places. I was to that it was named Bagamoyo because the people were so weary and hopeless by the time they had had been forced to walk all the way there. There are many sites in Bagamoyo, but we only toured one. It was built in the 13th century when the Persians came to Tanzania. We got to tour the ruins of their mosque, graves, and the port where the tide reaches in the evening time. During the day, the water receeds for 1KM and leaves behind a bunch of sea snails. The people who lived at this site used to collect the sea snails and cook them to eat. They had a pot of snails cooking and offered them to the students, but, surprisingly, none of them wanted to try the cooked snails. After we toured the ruins and got to see the Baobab tree that is over 500 years old, we piled back into the buses and made our way to the beach. It was so exciting to see the faces of all the kids as they played in the water. There were even a few that could swim and I went further out and they swam out to me. After playing in the water, we ate our lunches, changed and headed home. Again, I talked with the students and even got to sleep for a short time on the way back. As we reached Morogoro, the kids got super excited and started singing and cheering. I felt so badly for the poor bus driver, but somehow he managed to keep going even with all the racket and chaos. When we arrived at the school, parents were already ready and waiting so we all dispersed and Kjirstin and I walked home, tired, sweaty, salt-watery, and everything in between, but so happy. Thankfully, when we arrived home, the water was on and we were able to shower and I was able to wash out our salt-water soaked clothes!! :D

lecture time about the history of the site.

Entering the mosque

The well of "lucky water" next to the mosque.

Some students in the mosque ruins

The kids didn't want to eat these boiling snails (not even with ugali!!!)

Kjirstin and some of the kids at the beach.

At the beach with my piano student!!

Well, that's all I've got for now. There are so many things to be thankful for, I hope that you have been able to take time to praise God this past week. I also hope that you all have been able to enjoy your time with friends and family. I may not have been able to be with my family, but I am thankful to be a part of what's happening here in Morogoro. I've been blessed in so many ways that I can't even count them. Bwana asifiwe!! (Praise God!!)

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,

~Christine

Running Races

I guess it's been a while since I posted last, so here's an update on the going on here in Morogoro!! :D

On Sunday I preached my sermon at church. Oftentimes, in my life, I find myself comparing life to a race. For those of you who know me, running has been a big part of my life since I began college. I've run many races including a half marathon (and I intend to run another half marathon at Kilimanjaro in March!!). In life, I tend to ask myself "which direction we're moving in? Am I pointing myself towards God? Is this the path that He is leading me down?" Having lost a friend at an early age (during college), I know that some of us will finish our races before others, but if we are pointing ourselves towards God, we're going to end up in the same place and there's going to be a HUGE party! That is the ending prize; getting to spend eternity with God in heaven. But, while we're here on the earth, we must continue to run the race. Sometimes it's easy and we can run swiftly with joy in our hearts. Sometimes, we walk through life, taking time to enjoy the scenery. But, sometimes, it's very difficult to keep moving and it feels like we are crawling forward. And sometimes we feel like we are beyond help and we collapse in the middle of the road. It doesn't matter what stage we are in right now, Jesus is beside us, running, walking, or crawling along with us. He experienced it all and He knows what we're going through. And, lucky for those of us who chose to run with Jesus, when we collapse, He's there to pick us up and He will carry us onward. In a nutshell, that is what my message was about.

On Sunday evening, Kjirstin and I hosted the prayer service at our house. I led music (which was almost a disaster...my poor fingers were shaking so badly). Honestly, being here has challenge me in a big way musically. I didn't realize how much I was going to have to accompany people (English choir and leading worship for prayer service) and it's quite nerve wracking. I mean, it's one thing to play a solo by yourself. It's a whole other thing to have a group waiting for you and counting on you. Aside from less than a year of piano lessons in 1st grade, my formal training encompasses 3 1/2 years (2 years of class piano and 1 1/2 years of private lessons). I have to say that, like my Swahili, although it's not great, my piano abilities are improving rapidly and I am very thankful that God has given me this challenge! (which doesn't mean I always like it; I just know it's good for me) Also as part of the service, I gave a short message which was basically a shortened version of my message from church.

The rest of the week has progressed as any normal week should. I taught classes at school and church, I taught piano lessons to young and old. I washed clothes by hand, I went to town to buy groceries. I bargained in the market, I rehearsed the English choir. The only true oddity in the week was that on Friday morning, we found out that Class VI was going to have a friendly test with another local private school (St. Mary's). The last mock exam went TERRIBLY. Even the English scores (which are usually the highest) were quite poor in my opinion. But, it was only the first practice test that they have done with other schools, so I'm hoping that they were just nervous and that the scores will improve with time. However, after talking to one of my students about the latest test, it seems that there were some mistakes and unanswerable sections (which of course is a problem). On Monday, I will be marking the English tests from St. Mary's (and they will be marking ours), but I'll still get to see how the test was composed then.
One SUPER exciting thing that happened this week was the arrival of a package from my aunt, uncle, and cousin! Receiving packages is always like having Christmas! It's so nice to have a little reminder of home, as well as friends and family who are supporting me throughout this adventure.

Today, I woke up early, read in bed for a while and then tackled the remaining laundry. Just before 9am, Nathan arrived because he wanted to go to play frisbee with me. We took the daladala to town and then walked to SUA. It was a GREAT game. We had a TON of people (like 8 on each team!). I mean, sometimes we only have like 8 people total. Also, there was a big event going on at the next field, so we had a nice, upbeat soundtrack going in the background. It was really fun despite the heat!

One sad thing about this coming week: on Monday Nathan is going to begin pre-form 1 (which is  like preparatory class for secondary school). The results will come out before Christmas, but before that, no one knows. Thus, many of my primary school graduates are traveling or doing interviews at private schools (just in case the result for public schools is not favorable). Anyways, I feel like Nathan was my first friend here in Morogoro. When I first arrived, we would always washed clothes together after school, we watched many of the movies that I brought to Morogoro together, and he always has a question for me to answer. Honestly, I'm going to miss hearing "Madam, I have a question for you!" all the time. LOL! Even today, as Nathan and I were walking on our way to SUA, he was asking me all kinds of questions because of a book he read about farms in the US. At one point, he said that he had just one more question and that was the last one. I just laughed and said that I didn't believe him because he always had new questions for me and that he was welcome to ask me about anything any time. I hope that he goes far in life. He, like so many of my students here, has such a willing and curious mind and wants to know about everything. I just wish that the knowledge they all crave was more easily accessible...

Some exciting things about the coming week: the other missionaries and I are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving on black Friday (since that day works better for everyone). Kjirstin and I are going to go into town after lunch on Friday (Fridays are half days at school) to help with the preparations. On Saturday, we're off to Bagamoyo with the students in classes IV and VI (and I think III). It's going to be a long bus ride to and from DAR, but I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun playing at the beach and learning about Tanzanian history. Apparently there are some specific sites that we're going to visit where slave trading was done, and various other historical events happened. I think I'm more excited about the history than swimming in the water. (Those who know me well know that I'd climb a mountain over going to the beach any day) However, it will be cool to say I got to swim in the Indian Ocean with some of the coolest kids in the world! ;)

I hope that you all are having a wonderful and beautiful weekend!
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Here, There, and Everywhere

In the last week, I feel like I have been ALL over Morogoro I've done SOO much!! And, pretty much that's a true statement. It hardly feels real to me that just one week ago, I was spending the night in town at Day Spring Orphanage and all of my wonderful students!!

Despite my continued hope for just a normal week of school and teaching, my wishes have been foiled once again! Tuesday afternoon, as the students were about to leave to go home, the head teacher cycled up to the school on his bicycle to tell us the news that we would not be coming to school Wednesday - Friday. It was previously thought that we would be able to continue with regular classes while class IV was taking their national exams, but at the last minute, things were changed (again...). So, suddenly, I had a TON of free time and nothing to do! But, never fear, I certainly have had many things to keep me occupied.

On Wednesday, I spent a good portion of the day around the house cleaning and organizing things. I ran in the morning and then spent just over an hour doing some laundry that had been piling up. Although Mama Vanessa does laundry for us when she comes to clean our house, there are still certain items that I don't feel comfortable giving her to wash for me. For example, underwear, and I have some delicate times that I don't want to get stretched out or ruined. One of my piano students came in the morning for a lesson. Since she usually has lessons on Wednesdays after school, I told her she could come during the break if she wanted to (and, of course, she did!). I hung around the house in the afternoon and watched a movie until prayer service at 5pm and karate practice afterwards.

On Thursday, I didn't do too much in the morning. I had wanted to work on graduate school applications, however, the internet connection was so slow I couldn't do anything. Kjirstin and I went to town to do some shopping and then we met my friend Shantelle for lunch at Acropolo. The restaurant has a nice garden area out front, so we sat outside. It was a warm day, but it was nice to be outside in the shade with a bit of a breeze blowing. And, I must say that the food was delicious!! African food is very bland tasting to me (coming from the south where spices rule), so it's always nice to get some variety of tastes in once in a while. Then, we returned to the house where Shantelle is staying with the other members of her team and we all went swimming. It's been such a long time since I've gotten to see these friends and it was a wonderful time! The sky was sunny with a few puffy clouds floating lazily along, and the water was cool and clear. It was very nice! After we returned, I went running and had some time before dinner.

On Friday, I was awoken early (6:15am) by Mama Vanessa who had come to clean and wash. Since I didn't have to go to school, I decided to go back to bed for another hour. When I woke up, I went to get breakfast for myself when I heard all kinds of noise and fighting outside. I looked out my window to see students of class IV fighting and screaming and all kinds of nonsense. So, I dressed and went outside to see what was the matter. I was a bit worried about going to the school because of the national exams, but I was concerned because I didn't see any other adults at the school watching the children. I went out and found many students holding sticks that they were using to hit each other. Other students were yelling and flailing their arms about. I never found out what started it all, but I quickly took charge and the students who had been fighting were punished. Then, I made the whole class stand in silence against the school building until someone else arrived to take order. I tried to call pastor, but he was detained somewhere else, but luckily the school secretary arrived before the test administrators did. I was mostly worried about getting them all into trouble because I was a teacher and I was at the school. But, I still didn't feel right about just leaving the kids without supervision.
Later in the morning, John and Elizabeth came for their piano lessons. I'd say they were tough lessons and neither they nor I were terribly focused. In the afternoon, I had English choir and then I got to skype home.

Today, I woke up and did my Saturday morning yoga routine and washed a few clothes before leaving for frisbee. I got to town a bit late, so I decided to try a new way of getting to Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). I had been told that there is a daladala that runs from the soko (market) to SUA and I decided to try and check it out. Sure enough, there it was, so I jumped on and had a pleasant ride to my destination. Normally, I don't mind walking there, but it does take like 30-40 minutes, so it's nice to know that there is a faster option (for the ever so cheap price of $0.20) if I so choose to take it. After frisbee, a friend who lives in Kihonda offered to give me a ride back. We stopped at the soko (market) quickly so that I could pick up some fruit for the week and then we were off. She showed me a market that is nearer to where I live. I'm glad I know about that, so if we need anything during the week, we won't have to go all the way to town. After the short detour, she brought me home. At home, Kjirstin and I ate quickly and then headed out to the Agape Children's Village (which is an orphanage that I've visited 2 times before). We took the daladala to the Vetta stop and then walked a few miles to the orphanage. This is the first time I've walked there (the other two times I had a ride) and it took a little while to make it there, and I had to stop once to ask directions. We arrived in time to attend a youth service with the older kids from the orphanage. I taught them some songs and then we sang some other songs that they knew. After, one of the youth gave a message and then the service was over.
Kjirstin and I had brought some books to read to the younger kids, but since Tina had to go to a meeting, we didn't have a translator. We ended up getting to talk to the two new volunteers until time we had to leave. (I think we're going to try and come back during the Christmas break so that we can do the things we had planned to do today.)
Along our trek back to the main road we ran into one of the Wesley Primary School students!! It was very exciting to see her and she showed us where she is living. I am amazed that she lives so far from school and how far she has to go to get to Wesley. Honestly, these kids amaze me with how much they have to overcome to get education and how quickly they have to grow up here. Soon after we ran into her, a daladala came by and we were able to catch it and ride all the way back to our usual stop. It was such a blessing because it was hot and we were tired.
Minutes after I arrived home, we had English choir and then right after I had a piano lesson with a lady from our church. She is progressing for sure; slowly but surely. I hope that by the time I leave she will know enough to be able to help others.

Well, today, I'm going to be preaching at church. Then in the evening, we are hosting prayer service. At the service, I'll be leading music and also giving a message. Thus, the fun doesn't stop!! :D

I hope that you all have a wonderful start to your week!
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Cultural Excursions

So, this weekend was packed with all kinds of cultural activities. On Friday, Kjirstin and I went over to the pastor's house early so that we could make chapati. We arrived a bit late to make the dough, but we told the recipe (so, I hope I'll be able to make myself some). However, we did get to roll out the dough flat for cooking and I got a chance to cook the chapati in the pan. It was SUPER exciting! I hope that I'll be able to make my own chapati in the future! Maybe even the near future. We've officially bought ourselves a kerosene jiko and a pan so that we can cook food for ourselves at our house! YAY!! :D

Here're some pictures from making chapati:

On Saturday, I woke up early and went running. Then I returned home and was expecting to have some time before John came for his piano lesson. We didn’t get to have our piano lesson on Friday because Class VI was taking a friendly exam with another school in the area. It seriously amazes me that Class VII has hardly been graduated for a month and already the pressure is being put on the upcoming Class VII to perform well. I just hope that the students will be able to withstand all of the pressure that is going to be put on them. Anyways, due to the exam, we re-scheduled for Saturday after he and the other members of Class VI met for an extra class in math and science. But, surprise, surprise, the plans got changed and the extra class was canceled. So, when I returned from my run around 8:30am, he was already at the house ready for the piano lesson. I quickly showered and got him set up with the keyboard. I gave him some music, so he could have a chance to practice on his own while I continued getting myself prepared to meet the day. Then, we had our piano lesson and afterwards, Kjirstin and I went with him into town to spend the day/night at the children’s home where he is living. I’ve been there once before over the break from the census (which I have previously blogged about) and it was really nice to have a chance to go back. 

When we first arrived, the students were having their hair shaved because they have to keep it so short for school. Thus, we didn't see too many of them a first. We got to talk to a lady they call their Aunt Bupe, as they all filtered in. She's studying journalism here in Morogoro and we talked about school and what she's interested in doing with that. When there were many students in the room, they broke out the "Line up Four" game (which is just like "Connect Four") and we played that for a while. At about 4pm, we finally had lunch, and I was QUITE hungry at that point. I have a picture below of me eating the food in true Tanzanian style: meaning, with my hands. Yes, that's right, kids here DO get to play with their food, and so do I! ;)
After lunch, I pulled out the DVD's that I brought. Of course all of the boys wanted to watch the superhero movie: Captain America, and all of the girls wanted to watch the Disney princess movie: Tangled. We started with Captain America, but had problems with the sound (which we thought was a problem with the DVD itself), so we tried Tangled. We were still having problems with the sound, so Kjirstin and I fiddled around with the plugs on the Tanzanian DVD player until we got it right. Thus, we watched Tangled and when that one ended they wanted to watch Captain America. After two movies, I was tired of sitting, so I broke out the scotch tape and we made ourselves a Four Square court outside. When I was a kid, I played Four Square a LOT and my friends and I had invented so many different types of games, not just regular. It was SO much fun teaching the students how to play them all. We were smiling and laughing the whole time! When it got dark, we went back inside and Kjirstin and I had time to just sit around while the kids were doing chores (or something else, I'm not really sure). At random times, many students would all leave together to go do various things, but I never found out what everyone was doing. Around 8pm or so, we ate dinner which was quite similar to what we had for lunch, except we had pilau (spiced rice) instead of ugali (stiff porridge). After dinner, we watched Mulan and then it was time for bed. 
I think I would have slept well enough, but we had one small problem: there was a Muslim wedding going on across the street. This meant that music loud enough to wake the entire city of Mandeville was blasting just feet from us. The only reason that it got turned off was because it began to rain sometime around 3:30am. I have to say, it was a pretty rough night and I still woke up around 7am!! The kids were getting ready for church, and Kjistin and I had down time to eat and hang out before we left for church. It was SUPER cute, all of the kids were pretty much dressed in matching clothes. This meant that most of the girls were wearing the same dress and most of boys were wearing the same shirts and pants. We all left the orphanage together at about 9am and walked about 20 minutes to church. I'm sure we were quite the sight! The church service was very nice and very modern. They had quite the set up with a band and the choir was quite large compared to ours. They sang some songs in Swahili and others in English. The pastor preached in Swahili and there was a translator. It was really funny to see how excited the translator got. He was putting just as much emphasis into what he was saying as the preacher. And I'd have to say that was one of the most charismatic preachers I've ever seen. Overall, the service was quite different from ours at the Methodist church. The order of events was a bit different and it lasted for 3 hours instead of just 2. But, somehow, that didn't bother. I wasn't bored at any point and I wasn't completely exhausted by the end. I think I've built a stamina for these extended programs they have here. Overall, I really enjoyed it and it was nice to get to experience another church here in our area. I hope that I get to return sometime in the future!! But, I do have my responsibilities at our church with the English Choir and also I'm going to be preaching this coming week. 
After church, we returned to eat lunch and I played more Line up Four and Four Square with the kids until it was time for Kjirstin and I to leave for the prayer service with the other missionaries. 

In other news from Tanzania:
Please pray for rain! There is supposed to be a short rainy season during the month of October which basically has not happened at all. Thus, people are very worried about the water shortages we might face if we don't get rain. Already, they are rationing the water and usually it's off all day and only on in the evenings (starting around maybe 5/6pm). It has been on all day today which kind of weirds me out a bit, but I'm very thankful for sure!

Also, please pray for Class IV. They will be starting their national exams tomorrow and these will determine whether or not they get to continue on to Class V. Like the Class VII exams, we will not be allowed to go to school or even enter the school compound while the tests are being administered. 

I think that this is all for now! It's been quite a crazy weekend, but now I have a five day break, so I'm looking forward to getting much needed rest and also finishing my graduate school applications!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Me eating my ligit Tanzanian food in a ligit Tanzanian way (meaning, with my hands). Aka: beans, and ugali, a cooked veggie and a bit of meat. 

Playing "Line up Four" with the kids (yes, that's what the box says, not "Connect Four")

Teaching the kids how to play four square!!

Four Square!

The choir at the Calvary Assemblies of God church that the kids attend with their "grandmother"

Holidays and Washing Windows

Well, following last week's unusual week, this past weekend was also rather strange. We had Friday off because of the Muslim holiday of ID. Kjirstin and I were advised to not go into town because it was a Muslim holiday. Although the relationships between Christians and Muslims in the area is quite civil, we were told it would be better to stay home. I tried to use my extra time wisely, and I managed to get a lot of work done on my graduate school applications. I'm almost finished with two of them and have made quite a significant dent in the other two. The main things I have left to do are to update my letter of intention and organize my unofficial transcripts. Also, I invited two of my piano students to come for an extra lesson in the morning if they wanted. They were both excited when I mentioned it on Thursday and agreed that they wanted to come. After the lessons, I let them hang around the house and read or check their emails if they wanted to. In the evening, I had English choir and I practiced some piano. I'm really excited because I received a package from home that contains a bunch of sheet music that I left at home. Honestly, I feel like a kid at Christmas!! :D

On Saturday, frisbee was cancelled in the morning due to people being out of town, so I had a LOT of extra free time. I ran in the morning and then returned to hang out around the house for the morning. Kjirstin and I went into town to get lunch at Oasis (which is probably my favorite restaurant here!) It's got really good Indian and Chinese food and is a nice break from Tanzanian food. Afterwards, we went to the market to get our fruits and veggies for the week. We also wanted to get a small kerosene jiko (stove) so that we will be able to cook at our house. Luckily, we were informed ahead of time that a reasonable price would be 8,000 Tsh. When the man saw two white girls, he tried to charge us over 20,000 Tsh, but I talked him down to 9,000 Tsh. which was a pretty good deal. (I mean, 1,500 Tsh = $1 US, so I guess we got over charged by .60) I started to not feel well during our time at the market, so I tried to rush us along and we ended up not getting to buy a pan (our plan is to get one this weekend). But, we did manage to make it to the two supermarkets that I frequent in town before we headed home. In the evening, I had English choir and a piano lesson with one of the ladies of the church. I'm hoping to teach some people from the church how to play piano so that when I leave, they can continue the tradition at the church and teach others!!

On Sunday, I knew that we weren't going to have the evening prayer service in town because people were still going to be gone. Thus, I decided to sleep in a bit and not run in the morning. Church was normal and afterwards Kjirstin and I went to the pastor's house to hang out and eat food. In the afternoon, I washed the windows in my room. Although we do have a member of our church coming to clean our house 2 days a week, I've decided that I'd like to clean my own room. In the morning, I was trying to swat a mosquito on the window screen and a bunch of dust flew up. So, I decided that I needed to wash them. I've watched Mama Vanessa do it before, so I got a bucket of soapy water, moved my bed out of the way and started washing. I have to say, it's a pretty disgusting job with all the dirt and spider webs. I have a lot of respect for Mama Vanessa being willing to do that for us. After the window washing adventure, I skyped home for the first time in quite a while. I've been upset because every time we try to skype, the internet seems to shut down. But, we got a good hour in on Sunday!! YAY!! I ran in the evening and hung out until dinner. After dinner, I got to skype a friend from back home that I haven't gotten to talk to in a long time. It really made me happy to be able to be able to communicate with friends and family back home after not being able to for so long.


Recently, I've made a revelation that I've reached the point in my stay here that I consider Morogoro, Tanzania my home. I know that in the next couple of months, I will have lived here for an entire year! Somehow, that just blows my mind. I've made wonderful connections and relationships with so many people here. I know my way around pretty well now and I love what I'm doing at the school. It takes so much fighting to reach this place, but now that I'm here, I couldn't be happier. I dread the day that I'm going to leave to return to the US. I know it's not for quite a few months now, but it gets closer every day. I know, in my heart, that I need to go home and I need to finish my studies. So, for now I'm just trying to take in as much as I can before I leave.

Looking into the future:
This weekend is going to be quite full of cultural experiences!! On Friday night, Kjirstin and I are going to learn how to make chapati (which is a type of bread, kind of like Nan, that they eat here). On Saturday, we are going to the orphanage where my piano student is living and we're planning to spend the night there. In the morning, I think we're going to try and go to church with them (I heard it's a FOUR hour long service!!!). It should be quite the adventure. I hope you're all looking forward to a lot of pictures!!!

I hope that you all are having a great week and that those who are being affected by Hurricane Sandy are staying safe and dry. I know that Nadine and her husband have been affected since she's now studying at a Methodist college in New Jersey. I've heard that they are both safe and well, praise God!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Even if You Fall, You've Got to Get Up and Just Keep Running

It's been an unusual week, a rough week, and just plain exhausting week. Every time I think that I've experienced everything that there is to experience here, I'm proven wrong. The worst of the week began when I went to SUA to play frisbee with the gang last Saturday. At some point, early in the game, I got knocked down when a fellow player ran into me. I landed very hard on my knee and scratched it very badly. It was so covered in dirt and at first, I couldn't tell that it was so bad. So, being me, I kept playing. But, then, after then next score, I looked down and noticed that blood was beginning to stream down my legs. So, I ran off the field, grabbed my water bottle, and began rinsing it off so I could get a better idea of what I was dealing with. It was a bloody, nasty mess. But, Kim had a first aid kit, so I cleaned it off and put a band-aid on it. I decided to go ahead and play the second half of the game, during which time the band-aid fell off. But, never fear, she had more. After the game, I walked all the way (40 minutes) back to town and met Kjirstin at the soko (market) where we bought some slightly overpriced bananas. I almost walked away plenty of times to let this man know that I wasn't messing around and I was not going to pay his price. But, that's the way it works often times. People here see a white person and they just throw out a price that is 3X's more than they would charge their fellow Tanzanians. Now that I've been there quite a few times, I've got more of an idea of what is a fair price and what is not, so I'm not going to settle unless I feel I'm being treated fairly. After the market, we rushed to the daladala stand to meet Anne (who I met through language school) and the three of us had quite a pleasant lunch together at Ricky's Cafe. After, we completed our shopping and headed home. All this time, my knee was hurting quite badly, but I just kept going.

The knee injury has prevailed throughout the week, and I've had to take various measures concerning the issue. It's been quite the experience for me in health care here in Tanzania. Not that I had to visit a hospital or anything (and it DID NOT get infected, Bwana asifiwe). But, it's not like there's a Walgreen's or CVS Pharmacy on every corner where a plethora of medical supplies is readily available to me. I've learned that there are 3 dukas that sell medicine nearby our house, but they're small and don't always have what you need. If you need more variety, you have to go all the way to town. I had Neosporin and had been using that on my knee and big band-aids that I was using at first. But, the craziest part was running out of my stock of large band-aids. I had a TON of smaller ones, but I only had a handful of the big ones. The way my knee was oozing (sorry for the description, but it did ooze, a LOT), I was having to change the bandage quite regularly. Thus, I began using gauze (found in my first aid kit) and duct tape. I mean, that's pretty much what a band-aid is, right???

Well, the worst part of all of this was on Tuesday when I was at school. For reasons that will be explained later, I was trying to show the students a fancy ballet turn with bare feet, on the uneven, grassy ground (not exactly a smart or proud moment for me). Basically, I fell and landed smack dap on my knee and re-opened/bruised it. Also, a ton of dirt also got into it. I went home for a few minutes to try and clean it out, but it was difficult because the water wasn't on and Mama Vanessa had used just about all of the water washing our clothes that morning. Well, I proceeded as normal despite the pain and what not. I even went on my usual run and to play volleyball. After volleyball, I asked the player who was going to drive me home if he had a first aid kit in his car and if he had any large bandages that I could have. He took a look at my knee and directed me to Dr. Hank who is also one of our frequent players. It was decided that I should be taken to the clinic at the tobacco factory where they work to have my wound cleaned out and get some stuff to put on it to help it dry out. The cleaning out part was quite painful because the wound was so big and so incredibly bruised. Putting any kind of pressure on it still hurts pretty badly. But, that was probably the best thing that could've happened for me. I was also given a pretty awesome anti-bacterial cream to put on it and was told to try and keep it uncovered so it would dry out quickly which would help against infection. So far, no infection has occurred and it is looking quite well. It still hurts, but it's doing much better now and the size of the opened wound it roughly half of what it was a few days ago and has been quite well dried out for the last couple of days. Thus, things are looking good!! :D

Aside from the medical adventures, this week continues on it's unusual course. The students were supposed to start their monthly exams on Tuesday, and I was prepared for that (meaning, I wasn't exactly prepared to teach). Well, the exams didn't start on Tuesday. They didn't even start on Wednesday, for that matter. All because the place that was supposed to type them up was going very slowly. Unfortunately, I don't think that I was the only teacher who wasn't quite prepared to teach this week because most teachers were not going into any classes at all. I managed to pull some stuff together quickly (which normally isn't a problem for me). But, in between my classes, I found that the students were playing and running around because no one else was teaching. So, Kjirstin and I ended up doing a lot of entertaining. We were working with them on reading, I taught them how to use a stop watch and we did races (this impromptu PE class is the point when I was doing the ballet turns and fell for the second time), Kjirstin went and taught math to the students who were struggling, and we even made sure to have a constant pile of books on our desk for the students to take if they wanted them. The chapter books were a HUGE hit this week (and any week for that matter). Especially since I have been reading out loud in class, students have gotten more excited about reading. I'm not sure if the kids were just bored, but many of them thanked me every time I came to their class to teach. It made me feel so good. I continue to wonder over these students' dedication (most of the time) to education and their desire to learn. It real seem to be the mirror opposite of students in the US. I mean, seriously, what student in the US is going to thank their teacher for teaching them (at least, not until they're older and can truly appreciate what they've been given)??

Well, I think I shall finish out here for now. This weekend has started off a bit strange for me because Friday has been a Muslim holiday and school was cancelled. Thus, it felt like Saturday even though Saturday is not until tomorrow. But, I'll do a write up about the weekend's adventures at a later time.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Joy

In John 15:11 Jesus says "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete". Just before this verse, Jesus was talking to His disciples about how we are to remain in God and if we follow Him, He will remain in us. I believe it 100%. I'm so incredibly happy to be here in Africa and having the opportunities I have to serve others; children and adults. All this week, I've been overcome with the complete joy I've been experiencing here. I love seeing my students. I love teaching them; even though they are not always on their best behavior. I love the fact that I have been accepted into this completely foreign community. I love that I get this opportunity to learn and practice another language. If there ever was a doubt about whether or not I was meant to do missions, I am sure there is none any longer. Following the calling that God placed in my life and coming here has made my joy complete.

I find it a bit strange that it no longer strikes me as completely odd or insane that I live in Africa. Now, living in Africa is just, well, normal for me. They say it takes about a year to become bi-cultural, and I'm quickly approaching that mark. I know what to expect in most situations and I definitely have a lot more confidence when new situations arise. The thing that strikes me now is my view of "the poor". Before coming here, I imagined the poor as being hopeless, sad, and lonely. I think a lot of that has to do with how "the poor" are portrayed through media and even in church. But, now, I can truly say that I have met "the poor" and they are not poor in many respects. There is so much joy, and my goodness, the worship and singing at church is breathtaking in so many ways. There truly is passion that I think many churches miss out on in America. The kids smile, laugh, and play just like every other kid in the world. Honestly, for me, it has been a privilege that I have gotten to know them and teach them.

In other news from the week:

On Tuesday, Kjirstin and I got up early as usual, and as we were getting ready for school, we noticed that we didn't hear any of the usual screams from children running around and playing. We wondered over it, but didn't dwell on it for too long. When we arrived at school, we learned that the government was doing vaccinations for the students against some disease that I've never heard of before. Well, surprise, surprise, Kjirstin and I ended up having a free day! It was kind of overwhelming for me when I was all ready for school and teaching and suddenly I had to shift gears and think of something else to do. But, no worries, there were plenty of things that needed working on (mostly graduate school applications and such) and I also got to read a LOT; which is something I haven't gotten to do quite so much of recently. It was a cooler day than we've had in a while and it was nice to just sit around and relax at home. (unfortunately, it's starting to heat up again. I haven't needed my fan at night just yet, but I know the day is coming quite soon)

My piano student, John, just had his 13th birthday on Sunday. I didn't find out about it until I had read his journal entry from this week and he had mentioned it. So, I decided that I wanted to do something simple, but special for him. I decided that after the piano lesson on Friday, I would get us drinks and some chips mayai. I also had part of a package of Oreos left that I thought would be good for our celebration. So, that's what we did today after his and Elizabeth's lessons. We ate and drank together. I asked if he had gotten to do anything special this past weekend for his birthday and he said "no". It made me a bit sad inside. Maybe it's difficult at a children's home or orphanage to give each child a special day. I hope that our little celebration helped him to feel a little bit more special; it certainly gave me joy. :D

On Saturday, I played frisbee, got knocked down and totally scraped up/bruised my knee pretty badly. It's pretty well swollen up right now. I've not been a person who has suffered significantly from injuries in the past, but it seems that ultimate frisbee is a pretty dangerous game. Since I began playing with the group (sometime in February) I've managed to twist the same ankle twice, sprain my big toe, and now mess up my knee with this bruise. (all of these have healed minus the new injury) I'm beginning to wonder if I need to stop...? Anyways, afterwards, I met Kjirstin in town and we bought some bananas at the market. Then, we continued on to meet up with my friend Anne who is volunteering at the Lutheran Jr. Seminary with the kindergarten. We got lunch at Ricky's together and had a great time talking and then made a few stops at a some stores on the way back home. This afternoon, I was working on the blog entry, I repaired the holes that have formed in my mosquito net, and I attempted to work on graduate school applications, but not no avail because the internet connection was so slow.

Looking ahead into the future, next week is supposed to be just a normal week at school, but we will see about that. Haha!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
~Christine