sabbath...and i don't mean black.

we took the day off today and it has been SO nice. we slept in just a bit, went to the coffee lounge, sat out in the sun and read. then we met with pastor zachariah over lunch to tell him our plans for the week. tomorrow we are going to help in the nursery school for a few hours, then take porage to the hospital. at the hospital here, not everyone has beds, and they don't feed the patients. the family is respondsible for feeding their own sick. the people who have to family or money don't get fed at all, which obviously doesn't help them heal. wednesday, it's just the nursery school and thurs. it's nursery school and hospital again. friday, we are going to do home visits to the widows and orphans and take them rice and other food. saturday, we will help out with the saturday school at yesuanaweza (God is able), the orphanage here. sunday is church. holy smokes!

oh! so the road here is REALLY rough and you have to weave in and out of vendors etc. to not get killed by the crazy drivers. they WILL NOT stop for you. i totally rolled my ankle today when we were out and riped up the front of my leg. it's all bruised and i have a huge knot on my shin. my ankle is totally fine, but i came away with a pretty sweet war wound!

we walked to shanty town today, which ironically is the beverly hills of moshi. it was so beautiful and peaceful out there...straight out of a movie. we actually ran into a guy on the street that we met on the plane. he is from the states and he came to climb kilimanjaro. it was fun to catch up with him and hear about his treck.

i feel like i'm finally starting to settle in and get over a bit of the culture shock, so that's nice. we're hoping to get things rolling next week as far as our safari goes. i'm getting more and more excited to go everyday. we've made lots of friends here from all over the place...a handful from the states, one from england and one from canada. it's been interesting to hear all their stories and what brought them here to tanzania. many are here to volunteer or are med students studying abroad .
every third person you meet on the street is going to open and orphange or center of some kind and wants your email address to no doubt ask for funding. it is evident to everyone here that a change needs to come about and while overwhelming, it is exciting to me to know that there is absolutely no shortage of areas to help. my biggest fear is returning home and being worlds away, feeling like i can't make a real difference.

God has been so faithful. i'd been feeling pretty discouraged the last few days, but i can feel your prayers. God has replaced my synicism with hope and joy and i feel like once again, i can take on the world. i know it sounds so cliche', but please understand me when i say that i truly can feel your prayers and they are working in me here in africa. please keep them coming. satan is not tired just yet, and i know he is busy planning his next attack.

still working on resizing the photos, so keep checking back.

funny story...

and by funny i mean i want to slit my wrist or kick a dog or something.

i finally got a few pics up, and what do you know...the actual part of the pic i wanted you to see is cut out cause it's too big and i don't have the time or patience to look for a program on this old computer to resize it. sooo...for now uh...sorry.

maybe tomorrow.

photos... finally!

cecelia and her brother. i finally got her to smile when i took a few pictures and showed them to her.

i'm sitting here waiting for my other pics to upload on photobucket, and let me just say it takes like ten thousand years to upload anything. photos may come slowly, but i promise i will get as many up as i can as often as i can.

so get this...steve got suckered into going to a crusade tonight, and lindsey and i "needed to rest" ha. you'll never guess who is here in moshi at this crusade....drum roll please...

the power team. yes that's right, the power team. those of you who grew up in church may remember the team of guys who would rip phone books and crush cinderblocks in the name of jesus... ::long pause:: riiiight. anyway, they are here and steve is basking in their glory.



this is the pit from my amazing avacado. note gnoman next to it to use as a scale to measure it's massive stature.

the end.

church

today we have our first african church service. from what i've heard, it get pretty wild...dancing, singing, the whole deal...oh and it's VERY long. we as the guest have to sit in the front of the church facing everyone. ha! sounds like no sleeping for me. : )

i think we are planning on taking the day off tomorrow, so i'll have more time to write in detail and HOPEFULLY throw some pics up. i can't wait for you all to see what i've been seeing. the kids, every one of them are so cute. it's not fair.

last day of vbs...wahooo!

don't get me wrong, these last few days have been amazing, but holy smokes...sooooo tiring.

the weather so far has been great. perfectly comfortable. today it's raining and other than the fact that we may not be able to play outside with the kids, thus making our day move much slower, i don't mind it. africa is beautiful. it's much like what you would picture. although i am hit everytime i go out by the poverty and devistation around me, i sort of crave it. it's real and raw. the people are by far the most welcoming people on the planet.

the major excitement of the morning was the fact that i bought an avacado on the street last night. let me just tell you, this in no regular avacado...in the states, it would cost about $10-15 considering it's size, but i paid only 500 shillings (approx. 50 cents). every morning, the hostel feed us breakfast for free. we have toast, hard boiled eggs, crepes, and oranges. i couldn't wait to wake up this morning to some avacado toast! and let me tell you...it didn't disappoint. oh, the little things in life.

photos are coming soon. we've downloaded them, but i'm running out of time right now, so i'll get them up today or tomorrow.

happy independence day!

this is going to be the lamest post ever, cause my mind is kind of mush, but i just wanted to check in and say "jambo".

hope you all are having a great 4th with your family and friends. things are well. here. we've met people from all over, and it's been incredible to hear their stories. last night shannon and carmen arrived (they're from so. cal and will be helping us out a little.) they are going to vbs with us today, so that'll be a lot of fun. we're hoping to get some pictures posted soon, so keep checking back.

i know my posts haven't been so informative, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and i'll fill you in.

ciao.

ndiyo ndiyo.

we have our first day of vbs yesterday. holy crap were we tired. africa definitely runs on a different time table, that's for sure. the day was supposed to last from 9-2. needless to say, we ended up leaving at 4:30.

our day at camp looked a little somthing like this: when we arrived, the kids were singing songs. it sounded amazing! my heart literally jumped inside my chest. they sounded like a choir with harmony, clapping and a drum echoing from the rustic building that is home to many birds perched in the beams. after songs, steve spoke a little message (we're teaching the fruits of the spirit). getting used to have things translated was a little funny, but he did an awesome job. next we seperated the kids, older and younger. the older kids went with steve and they worked on english for awhile. when asked if they knew any words in english that they wanted him so spell so they could know what it looks like, one kids cleverly said "arnold schwartzenegger" ...don't judge me...i don't know how to spell it ok?! another word was "punctual"...oh the irony.

lindsey and i worked with the little kids. we did coloring and glueing crafts. the kids loved it. they did very well at writing their names on their papers. they were very eager to communicate with us in anyway possible.

next we played outside. there was game of soccer, jump rope, dancing...yeah...i took one for the team and joined in...and kids climbing all over us. at any given time, there were at least 3 kids feeling our arms, trying to understand why we're so white, no doubt and stroking our hair.

at one point, poor lindsey was being kicked and hit by a little girl while holding a sleeping baby. the kids are so starved for attention and touch and just to be hugged and held, it's overwhelming with just three of us and heart breaking. lindsey called over to me to help her get the girl to stop. i had a shining moment. you see it seems i'd confused yes (ndiyo) with no (hapana)in swahili. innocent mistake right? i kept telling her "yes" to which she delightedly continued going nuts on lindsey. it took a few kids and a teacher to get it all straightened out, but then things were fine. sorry lindsey. needless to say, lindsey and i reviewed terms in swahili when we got home. crazy mzungu, ha!

that about wraps it up for today. i've gotta run and get things ready for the day.

later.