Miezi nne!

I had the realization the other day that I have officially been here for four months. Wow! In some ways that seems true to me and in others it doesn't. Other than that, I'm not entirely sure how to comment on this milestone. It simply is. In fact, I really don't have any way to neatly and coherently sum up this week's events other than a multitude of vignettes. Some are short, some are long, some are with the kids, some aren't, but they are all parts of my life here. Enjoy!

-One day this week, I went into Class VII to hand back a science exercise book. Class VII didn't have a teacher, and they were on a slow but steady incline to rowdiness, so I made the standard threat of "if you guys don't have enough work, I can always give you more to do." Of course, that's followed by, "NO MADAM!" and then quiet. One of the girls followed me out to our desk and asked if we could do "science experiements." I was confused at first, but then I realized that she was talking about what I've been doing with Class V. Since we're studying the circulatory system and I have a stethoscope, what better thing to do than to listen to hearbeats and take pulses? I thought about it for a minute, and then I was like "Ok." Playing with Class VII sounded way more fun than correcting :) We took pulses, then I made them run around outside just to raise their pulses, we did the math on how many times their hearts beat every minute, every hour, every day, every year, and then how many times since they were born. I then took the stethoscope around to each student so they could hear their hearts; if we couldn't find theirs quickly, they listened to mine. Some were slightly embarassed to wear the stethoscope, I had one or two who didn't even want to at first. However, they always got this slow smile on their faces when they heard "the drum" and they all assured me that their hearts were good and strong. :)

-In this week's English class, since they started getting religious vocabulary, I decided to do a translation project. So, I got to translate the Lord's Prayer with them from Swahili to English. I feel that alone speaks for itself, but tt was awesome to go to the Swahili version and realize how much I could figure out. It was a really fun activity!

-I tossed a rock into the cultural pond and made a large ripple. Christine and I were heading back home after going shopping, and the dala dala was full. Its interior design made it smaller to begin with, and there were a large number of people on it. We were just leaving town though, so we still had a ways to go when we stopped again. I was thinking "This had better be a small child or we're not going to fit them on." Nope, older, big woman. I was sitting in the seat closest the door, so the woman was trying to squeeze past me to the last open spot, standing in the aisle next to me. However, there was just no reasonable way to accomplish this, so I stood up, took the aisle spot, and gave her my seat. Since I was so close to the front, I couldn't see the faces of everyone else, but apparently they were pretty shocked by the mzungu giving up her seat for the woman. They were trying to figure out from looking at the back of me is I was old or young; culturally, if I was not a mzungu, at my age this would have been appropriate but not necessarily expected. If I would have been clearly a child, it would have been expected. However, wazungu get a special placement and special respect, so this was very unexpected and apparently shocking.

-I got to have my first (very small) bargaining experience this week. On Friday, Christine and I went kitange shopping because I only had one and wanted more. We went to some shops by the market where I found four (!) that I liked. In most shops here, the price isn't really set in stone. This can work against wazungu because people here assume we have a lot of money. In comparison, this is true, and I don't blame them for wanting to make a little extra money. We just don't have to pay it if it's too unfair, and usually us starting to walk away is enough to make the price reasonable. Bargaining itself is an art, and then doing it in Swahili makes it all the more interesting. It worked out ok; I love my new kitanges, and I got good prices! :D

-This is a chore I expect to never have to worry about when I return to America. On Saturday afternoon, I spent a solid hour sewing holes in my mosquito net. You have to tuck the net in around your bed which pulls on it, and because the wood used to make the beds is rougher here than in the US, it abuses them. I feel like every morning I wake up and there are two mosquitoes on the inside of my net, and they're always fat. Sadly, the next morning, I found one new hole, a hole that the thread came undone, and one fat mosquito in my net.

-On Wednesday night, I had a flashback to the days of waiting to see if the next day is going to be a late start or snow day. That afternoon, the head teacher told us that one of the next two days was going to be a Muslim holiday, it depended on the moon that night. That meant we were either going to get Thursday or Friday off, but we were planning like it would be Friday. Well, that night the power went out from 6 pm to 11 pm. So, we had no way of knowing if the Muslim's had called the holiday on Thursday or Friday. We didn't know what it was about the moon that they needed because the moon was out that night, we just basically had no idea what was going on. We just planned that we would go to school the next day, which was good because we did, which we learned at 6 am Thursday morning.

-The good news that I don't believe I ever reported: Pastor's son Nathan got accepted into seconday school in Mtwara! It's a technical school, so it's focused on math and science, perfect for an aspiring doctor! The bad news: A few days in, Nathan got a bad enough case of malaria that he missed three days of classes. Pastor and his wife went on Friday to go see him, but before they did, Christine and I made a card for him. This was a half hour long project that included on the front a hand about to kill a mosquito and the mosquito aware of his imminent doom, about twenty stickers, and far too much enjoyment on our part. Please pray for him that he feels better soon! We heard he's still pretty weak, but he was able to go to class at the end of the week. Going to secondary school so far away was a pretty scary experience alone, and this is a really hard way to begin that experience.

-Friday night, Christine and I ran into a slight water shortage. Mama Vanessa had come over in the morning to clean and do laundry which uses a lot of water, and by the end of the day, we had one bucket left for the two of us to shower with. How do you fix that? Simple! There was a slight trickle of water coming out of the sink faucet, so I put the pitcher under the sink, let the trickle fill the pitcher, and dumped into another bucket for my shower. Life in Tanzania.


I think that's all I have for now. To conclude, I have a few prayer requests. First off, as I mentioned, please pray for Nathan. Next, please pray for Pastor; he lost one of his sisters this week. He won't be able to go to the funeral, so please keep him and his family in your prayers. Also, please pray for me this week. As the science teacher, I've been assigned to teach some more sensitive topics in class, and I'm not looking forward to it. It's important information that needs to be taught, and I really want it to be beneficial for the kids, so please pray for them too. Finally, please pray for Christine and I next weekend. We will be travelling to Dodoma to visit the Methodist church there and another UMC Missionary, who herself is actually Korean. I'll be very excited to update again after our trip!

God bless,

Kjirstin

Back to school!

Some things never change. I’m going to try to keep this to a reasonable length, but I’m sure I’m going to sound exactly the way I did when I came home from my first day of school: “And, and then this happened…. And this happened… and oh my gosh then it was this…..and I have to tell you about this…” Please, bear with me.

This week was a whirlwind, but a fantastic one! School is off to sprinting start to say the least, and I’ve really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things. Provided the schedule stays relatively the same until I leave, my mornings are going to very intense this term. Every morning except Thursday, I am busy teaching or reading with the English classes from 8 am to 11:20 when we stop for break. However, my afternoons will be very calm, which is good. Every teacher needs some time for correcting!

We’ve had some major class changes, and it’s definitely thrown us for a loop. Eight kids from the previous Class V did not go on to Class VI, which means Class VI now has about 20 kids and Class V swells to just under 40. It’s really not the best situation for the Class V kids; they’re an incredibly intelligent class. They just took their national exams last year in Class IV, and every one passed. One of our students even got one of the highest scores in Morogoro! They continue to surprise us too. One of the girls informed us of her birthday one day, including the year; she turned eight a few weeks before I arrived. She’s so smart, she’s articulate in English (her second language), and not only that, but she’s become smart by learning in her second language! In that class, it’s almost kid after kid with stories like that. Yes, not all of them are outstanding students, but even the worst in the class just aren’t that bad. Now, add in eight kids who struggle a lot. These were the kids in my remedial math class last year, and you’re faced with a conundrum of who to teach, how, etc. And with trying to keep 40 kids on task at once, it’s really hard to take time to help them because once you look away, the room volume has an amazing ability to raise a few decibels. I’m not really sure who’s going to end up getting focused on in that class. If we had the resources (mostly a separate classroom which we now don’t have), I think we would seriously try to institute a remedial class.

Likewise, this does now make Class VI really easy to teach. It seems like there’s hardly any of them, and the ones that are left do ok and are well behaved. They’re even more well behaved for me at the moment because they’re still terrified of me, as is Class VII. They don’t really know what I’m going to be like as a teacher, so they almost refuse to talk. I can hardly read their faces to try to figure out if they’re understanding the concepts I’m teaching. And at this stage of the relationship, they seek only to please Madam, so when I say “All right guys, do you have any questions?” the answer will be no. I still ask.  It’s really almost all for kicks and giggles. Class V on the other hand knows me too well. They don’t want to behave as well for me, but between me and Christine, they’re getting a bit of a crackdown. I’ve taken away a number of breaks this week because kids haven’t been doing work, and they’re being forced to take seriously the idea of homework which isn’t very common here. In many ways I understand. Since the textbooks are so small, it’s not uncommon for kids to buy the books, but not all of them have them. If you assign work, you’re forcing a number of students to either do the work in school during break, during another teacher’s class or to come before school since we lock up the school’s books as soon as school is over (seriously, I have my own cupboard and keys). I want kids to have a break because they need it, they’re kids! And I don’t want them doing other teacher’s work in my class so I don’t want the reverse to happen. However, we’re trying to do it. In all of my science classes, I usually give two or three questions a day about what we talked about, and every day I check to make sure it’s at least done. I’m praying that the longer we go with this new system, the better they’ll get at it so we won’t have to punish them for not doing their work like we have been this week.

Teaching this much science is turning out to be a particular challenge to me. I’ve basically concluded that every line in their text books is important, so we almost have to read the textbooks verbatim. Also, I should clarify textbooks; none of them are longer than 170 pages. However, it is expected that you as the teacher will get through all of the material in the year (for Class VII we’ve been asked to finish it by June to allow more preparation time for the national exam). So, in some ways we’re moving fast. I try to do discussions as much as I can, but I’m finding it still quite limited. That more or less leaves our learning methods down to memorization of the material. I’m trying to come up with other ways to liven up the learning, with hopefully an additional purpose of increasing retention, especially since when it comes to their exam, that’s sadly all that matters.

In other non-school related events, things have been also busy. Last Sunday I taught Sunday school as usual, but then preached at the youth service, and Christine and I hosted the missionary prayer service. Last night Christine spent the night in town, so I had my first night at home by myself; it really wasn’t a big deal, but everyone commented on it. I barely even noticed because I had to get early for a Saturday anyway. Lauren invited me to a seminar for Sunday School teachers, and I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but I said yes. We walked to a church about fifteen minutes away from our street with Lauren, the Pastor’s wife, Pastor Eunice, and myself. The seminar was put on by Operation Christmas Child, which I think we’ve contributed to from our church. Essentially, this organization sends a Christmas shoebox to children in impoverished nations. In each shoebox, they have a little book which explains the story of Jesus, but the organization goes further, which is what they primarily discussed with us. They also have written a twelve week lesson book to further kids growth in Christ if they want to do it. The hope is that kids will get exposed to Jesus and interested in him from the boxes, and then they’ll want to do the twelve-week course. If they complete it, they get a certificate hardcover copy of the New Testament. The seminar was interesting, but it went long. They spent a long time on why children were valuable and why they should be taught, which I recognize as all the more important in this sort of culture. Children just aren’t as valued here as they are in the US, so it’s good that they spent a long time discussing how to teach children in a loving and beneficial manner. Sadly, I know if we start this (we don’t have the boxes yet, so I’m not sure when we will) I won’t be able to finish it since it’s twelve weeks. It was interesting nonetheless, but way too long. My body hurt from the benches by the end of it.

Clearly, we’re getting back in the swing of things, and our work is cut out for us. However, I was right. My postulation that going back to school would alleviate my mood during break was entirely on target. I don’t know how I found such favor in his eyes, but the blessing God provided me with in these kids is beyond measure. They just brighten my day so much, and I love getting to work with them. There are frustrations do crop up with children, with teaching them, and with the culture differences here, but getting to be back in school really has been simply wonderful. :)

God bless,

Kjirstin

Precious Moments

Well, in great contrast to my last post, things have been rather boring the last week and a half. After the mountain climb, Christine and I have spent most of every day in Kihonda just hanging out. We've watched a number of movies, spent time with the Pastor's family, and gone to town a few times usually just for groceries although we did go out for lunch on Monday. Also on Monday we started making teaching schemes (lesson plans) for the new year. The good news I found out is I don't have to write my teaching scheme for the whole year, just for the time I'll be here. I learned lots of other things on Monday, such as I'm teaching Math V and Science V again this year. I'm thrilled about this beause it means I get to keep the same kids that I was teaching at the end of last year. In addition, I will be teaching Class VI and VII Science which I'm much more apprehensive about. I've worked with all these kids individually, and some of the Class VI kids in the remedial math class (which I don't think will be possible this year between time and possible space). However, I haven't taught them in a classroom setting, so I'm a little nervous at the moment. I'm even more nervous about Class VII because we have been asked to push them through their books so that they can prepare for national exams in September, and since I'm leaving the next teacher with whatever I haven't taught, I don't want to leave him or her a daunting task. I also learned that because of the way the schedule works, when we close for Easter break, that is the end of teaching for me. It was a really shocking moment when I realized that I only have ten weeks teaching and then I'm done. I always thought we'd only have one week off for Easter, come back for a few days, say my good byes and then go to England en route to America; it's only a difference of a few days, but it makes me really sad and I don't want such a large good bye to color my last few weeks here.

While my mind has been munching on all of these things, I've also been thinking a lot about the differences in the last few weeks. Without school, life here is just strange and empty. In many ways, it's a very good challenge. It's helping me to understand what I like about being here, what I like about my work here, what I don't like about my work here, etc. I've been a lot more homesick, maybe because of my recent vacation with my Mom and getting to go back to the first world, even if it wasn't my home or even my own country. But I think a larger reason is that I came here to serve others, and that made up so much of my joy here. Without the service, there went my joy. It's reaffirmed other decisions of mine; for instance, one of the driving factors for me leaving full time school was frustration of being only a student. Clearly, with more time I've been trying to get more schoolwork done, and I have suddenly reverted to being a full-time student once more. Even though I've had flashes of doubts about this decision throughout the last few months, I've realized now how much I don't miss it. Getting to mix my school with teaching truly keeps both in check for me. When I've had too much of one, I can switch and keep both in perspective. I get to serve by teaching now and prepare myself for a greater servanthood someday when I have earned my degree.

Well, enough about that, since I don't have as much to really update about, I decided to post a number of, well, "precious moments" that have happened since I've arrived here. Teaching English as a second language to children is often so very entertaining because the most interesting things come out. These are just a few that I hope will brighten your day!

For a journal assignment about "If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?" we got the reply of:

"I would want to be a cow because I want to be eaten. I think I would taste good. I think people would enjoy eating me."


When writing about advice on how to be good, one student advised:

"We should not beat old people." I think we can all agree.


We gave Class IV an assignment to write a letter to God, and we let them make them really nice by writing them on construction paper and coloring them. Before they could do that though they had to have us approve the letter. I picked up one and the first thing I read is "Die God,"

Me (to the child and quite shocked): What were you trying write here?
Child: Dear God.
Me: You did not write that.


Towards the end of the year, when I started to be in the classroom more, I noticed that whenever the kids couldn't read the board because I was writing, they would say "Madam, squeeze!" I always understood what they meant, so I always just reacted, but finally, one day:
Me: Guys, why do you say 'Squeeze' whenever you want me to move?
No one could really give me a straight answer.
Me: All right, do you guys know what squeeze actually means?
No one did.
Me: I need a volunteer.
One of the little boys came up, and I squeezed him really tight, to the amusement of the class.
Me: Ok, from now on, whenever you want me to move so you can read the board, you need to say "Madam, please move." If you say "Madam squeeze" or "Madam move" and don't say please, I will come over and squeeze you.

I have had to do this a few times. Since that day, "squeeze" has become a sort of swear word to them. Whenever someone says it, they run out to our desk saying "Madam, madam, so-so said 'squeeze'!" regardless of whether or not they said squeeze to mean move or to actually mean squeeze.


This exchange occured in my Class IV Math one day:
Boy brings me his exercise book: Finished Madam!
Me: Ok, do you have extra work?
Boy: No Madam.
Me: Ok, you can work on flashcards with someone else, (a little girl) is done, work with her.
He goes off, I thought to work with her, I was working with other students and didn't notice. Suddenly,
The girl I had told him to work with: Madam! He won't work with me because I'm a girl!
I looked to him: Is this true?
Boy: Madam, madam, please don't make me work with her!
Me (teasingly): Are you afraid of girls?
Boy: No Madam, it's not that, just please don't make me work with her! Please let me work with a boy!
Right then another boy finishes his work and brings me his book.
Boy 1: Madam, Madam, please let me work him!
Boy 2: Yes Madam, let us work together!
Me (to Boy 2 and still teasing): Are you afraid of girls?
Boy 2: Yes Madam!
I was surprised by his answer for a few moments.
Me: All right, you admitted it. You don't have to work with a girl.

For the record, one of these boys gave me a hug good bye at the end of the year. I love my kids, and I'm really excited for our new year on Monday! :)


God bless,

Kjirstin

Heri Christmasi na uwena furahaya mwaka mpya!

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy 2013 (also belated)! I hope everyone's holidays, celebrations, family get togethers, meals, church services, and all the in-betweens went smoothly, safely, and joyously. As I mentioned in my last blog, I was lucky enough to go to Europe for about two weeks with my mom. It was, to say the least, a memorable trip and unique Christmas.

Things started off with a wonderful God blessed day getting to Europe. Pastor agreed to accompany me to DAR to the airport to help me get organized since this would be only my second trip to the DAR airport, and I really wasn't in a condition the first time to be paying attention to the little nuances that would be helpful to know on later trips. My flight didn't leave until 8 pm, which was an intentional choice on my part. Getting to DAR from Morogoro is a four hour bus ride, roughly; choosing a later flight would mean someone could accompany me to DAR and still have time to return to Morogoro in the same day without having to spend the night. I told Pastor I wanted to be in DAR at least by 4 pm. He suggested we leave at 6 am. Since I was asking him to go with me, I really didn't think I should argue, so bright and early at 5 AM the alarm went off. We left Morogoro at 6:30 AM. We got to DAR at 9:50 AM. That was probably the fastest ride to DAR ever. I wasn't really excited about the 10 hour wait at the airport, but I'm really glad that I agreed because it turned out to be an amazing day. Since we got there so early, Pastor suggested we go to the DAR Methodist Church, where the Tanzanian bishop serves (who I've also met and is a great guy). I said, "OK!" The church service was far more traditional than our style. I really felt like it was the true median between Methodist churches in the US and the pentecostal style of worship here. It was kind of fun and helped me get ready for Europe. At church, I met another, brand new missionary. She had only been in DAR for two weeks and was just starting language school. She hadn't yet figured our where she would be serving even. Apparently, I was the first foreigner she had seen the entire time, and she was thrilled! We talked for a while after the service, and we also talked with the bishop and Pastor. It was truly enjoyable, and before I knew it, it was already 2 in the afternoon! About that time we figured we should go to the airport so Pastor could go back to Morogoro.

After getting settled and organized at the airport, I went upstairs to the resturant because I hadn't eaten since 5 am. While there, a woman sat at the table in front of me, and because of a mutual agreement to watch each other's stuff while the other went to the bathroom, we started talking. She also was a missionary working with healthcare in villages. We exchanged stories and experiences, and I learned so much about the bigger picture of Tanzania. Sometimes, being in the same small world, you get swallowed up in those challenges and concerns. I learned I basically live in paradise in Morogoro. Morogoro is by no doubts a city; I believe it's bigger than Sioux Falls even. Our specific area, Kihonda, is not the poorest of the areas either, and because we are in a private school, a number of the families sending students there do have some money. This is relative to Tanzania of course, but nontheless, it makes a difference. I mean, I have electricity, running water, internet, a western style toilet, etc. Usually, not all of these are working at the same time, but they all are here in some quantity. With enough money, you can leave quite western here. The villages are a whole other world. The missionary I met told me how many of the people she met didn't even believe in giving their children education beyond basic arithemetic so the kids could do business. They believe in farming only and making sure their kids understand how to do that. They don't have water or electricity, or if they do they have very little. It was an eye-opening conversation. I knew that Tanzania was among the top 12 poorest nations in the world, but I was sheltered from the worst of it. Mostly, I've just seen beggars in town. Kihonda is median in terms of wealth, and while I know that, since it's the bulk of what I see, I'm sheltered from the reality.

Nonetheless, she was really good company, and before I knew it, it was 6 pm which meant I could officially check into my gate. At the DAR airport, apparetnly you can't even go through to the check in area until a couple hours before your flight. You have to go through two security checkpoints and customs even though you're leaving. Customs was kind of fun actually, it made me feel like a legitmate missionary. First off, if you weren't a resident or citizen of Tanzania, you had to fill out paperwork and what not, but I am now, so I got to breeze through. Secondly, I greeted the customs agent properly in Swahili. I could tell he was testing me because he went through a number of greetings before finally smiling and wishing me a good trip. Really, this whole day made me feel like an accomplished missionary. I utilized language throughout the day appropriately, I got to share my experiences, it hit how much I've grown and adjusted to. I think I can safely say I was in some state of bewilderment before this. It wasn't bad; most people really struggle with culture shock for a while. I was just more of in a funk. I wasn't so excited anymore about my life here, and with a lot of the events that happened at the end like the Youth Service that pushed me more than I felt ready for. By the time I left, I was really ready for a trip back to the first world which I hadn't been bothered by until the last week or so. Between this day, and getting to talk to my Mom about lots of things, more so than our skype conversations, kind of hit it home for me: I've done a lot here and I've grown a lot.

By the way, I really did go to Europe. I feel like for this blog though, that was maybe the most important day of the trip. Mom and I both met in Paris the next afternoon, eight hours later than expected (She ran into some problems, which is ironic because we expected if either of us would have problems, it would be me). But we made it! We saw the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, went to a small French town called Beaune which had a medieavel hospital, the Swiss Alps, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, "The Last Supper" in Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. I assure you, we slept well every night. Christmas Eve was special because we went to the Vatican for Christmas Mass. I think there were at least 10,000 other people in the St. Peter's Basilica that night, and supposedly the square outside could hold up to 70,000. We got to the square at 7 pm, waited outside for almost two hours, and then got in. This was most intense line I had ever been in. I think we were already at around the 2,000/3,000 person mark when we got there. There were actually nuns and priests running inside to get good seats! At 10 pm, the Pope himself came in and led the mass. Granted, I'm not Catholic and I don't speak Italian, but it was still pretty amazing. We had a decent view too, we were off to the side of the nave. It was definitly unlike any Christmas I had celebrated before; my gut says I won't have too many like it too.

Mom and I went from France to Switzerland to Italy then back to France to finish up with one last day sightseeing in Paris. Thankfully that day, we also finally got to go through the bag of donated school items she brought from the states! It was so perfectly timed at Christmas- I felt like a little kid! I can't wait to use everything in the school and at the church. At about 11 am on Saturday the 29th, I left Paris. We landed in Naibrobi, Kenya about 10 pm Kenya time (which is the same as Tanzania). I had to get my second boarding pass from Nairobi to DAR printed in Nairobi, which I didn't understand why they said that in Paris and I'm glad I didn't ask there. I didn't have a lot of extra time in Paris, but I was expecting a ten hour layover in Nairobi, so I had plenty of time. The Kenyan Airways representative kept typing and not saying anything, or if he did it was only to ask what flight I was on, which I kept replying "The morning one to DAR." I didn't remember the exact time, but I didn't understand the problem. Finally he told me that I had been placed on the evening flight to DAR and that without an interary of any sort, he couldn't believe me. I hadn't exactly had access to printing means (nor had I thought it necessary). I needed to get back to DAR in the morning, or at least early afternoon because Christine had arrived from her trip to Spain to visit her sister the night before; she had to spend the night regardless, but she waited for me to land so we could go back to Morogoro together. I finally asked the representative if there was another flight to DAR in the morning. He said there was and put me on it with little problem. I still had a long layover, but I would get to DAR at 10:40 in the morning. He even assured me that my luggage would get to DAR on the morning flight.

The night passed surprisingly quickly. I realized around 3 am why I had ever been shifted flights in the first place. My flight had apparently been cancelled, which I was never informed of. Surprises. Well, things were going fine. About 6:45 when I was waiting to go into the gate (in Nairobi, you have to do security to get to the gate area and then do security to go through the gate itself) when I realized that we would be making a stop in Zanzaibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania first. All but three of us on the flight got off at Zanzibar, the plane refilled, and we finally got to DAR. I've mentioned before how I'm not a big fan of DAR especially compared to Morogoro; I've never been so happy to be back in DAR. I was just thrilled! That didn't last too long. Neither of my bags arrived, which didn't surprise me with the flight change, but did create a problem. Waiting until the evening would mean that Christine and I would have to spend the night in DAR which neither of us wanted to do. We both had hit the point where we just wanted to go home. I was assured though that my bags would arrive in Morogoro if the airline shipped them, which would have meant that Christine and I could go home then. I wasn't really sure if I trusted it, but we called Pastor and he said it was fine, so we went with it. My bags did arrive that evening in DAR, got sent on a bus the next day, and shipped to the bus office in town. When Christine and I went to the bus office the next day, there they were! I was shocked, but so happy! We unpacked all the supplies, but we won't be able to bring it to the school until maybe next week, if not when school starts on the 14th.

For New Year's Eve, we celebrated with the missionaries. It was an enjoyable night of fellowship, especially since I hadn't seen most since the beginning of December. Everyone stayed awake until midnight; our new year came at about 3 pm for most of you! :) We heard some fireworks going off throughout the night, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. People do celebrate; there was a church service, but we missed it. We spent the night at another missionary's house, stayed awake until 2:30 talking (a poor choice on our part), and then got up at 7 the next morning to climb a mountain. I've mentioned that Morogoro sits at the base of the Uluguru mountains, and I was actually a little disappointed with myself that I hadn't gone up one yet. But then it worked out to do this on our break, so Christine, the other missionary and I did. Apparently, the Uluguru mountains are harder than climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro even because they're so steep. It was a tough climb, but we chose one of the shorter paths. At the top, we had a fantastic view of Morogoro, it was so cool!

We went down a different path on the way down; this path was a lot narrower and steeper. It was ok, just sort of slow. Then we came across a sprinkler system for the crops on the mountainside (there are tons of farms throughout the mountains). The water made the even trickier though because the dirt became slippery mud. Again, ok for a while. Then I put my foot down on what I thought was a good hold, shifted my weight, and felt my foot slide out. There was no stopping it; a second later I was going down the mountainside. I rolled at least two or three times before I stopped, which mercifully wasn't too far down. There was a small plateau down the mountain 10-15 feet maybe. I slowed, stopped, and actually stood right back up. I was covered in mud and a bunch of scrapes on my right side, but nothing was broken or seriously hurt. We washed out the scrapes in a nearby stream and continued back down. I'm sore today, but again, considering what could have happened, I said a lot of thank you's to God yesterday.

Well, as you can see by now, we've only been back a few days, but a lot's already happend! I can't believe how naturally I fell back into life here. For about the first week, everything in the first world was exciting and new almost. I mean, hot showers, cold weather, pasta, soft bread, snow, safe water from the sink, it was wonderful! I was worried that coming back would be hard for me. It hasn't been actually, so I'm glad. It's shocking to me that in about three months that I'll be back to the US. I feel like I'm a fourth of the way through my time, not half. Things are a little strange now in that we aren't in school. Clearly, we've kept busy otherwise, and I plan to do lots of schoolwork during this time too. I know we'll soon have to do some work getting organized for the coming school year. It'll be strange for me since I'll only be here one fourth of the year; I've heard we plan out the whole year, but I'd feel bad doing that for some incoming teacher. We'll just have to see!

God bless,

Kjirstin