Mt. Kilimanjaro

Well, another weekend, another adventure! Christine and I made a short trip up to Moshi to see the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro this weekend. It was very different from our other travels thus far because this time we were travelling to a very touristy, mzungu populated area, and in many ways, it felt like we left Tanzania behind.

We left Saturday morning to get on an 8:30 bus to Moshi. This is by far the longest ride we’ve done, about eight hours one way. It was particularly hot ride too, which was really unexpected. Others had told us that this area was cooler, since we were going north and the altitude of the Moshi area is much higher because of the mountains. We each kept our eyes out for Mt. Kilimanjaro because we figured it would be obvious when we reached it. It’s the tallest mountain in Africa, and I believe it’s the tallest free standing mountain in the world because it’s not technically part of a mountain range. Really though, I think most of Tanzania is a continuous mountain range. The only part I’ve been to that hasn’t been mountainous is DAR. Oddly, we saw many mountains that weren’t very big (the Uluguru in Morogoro are much bigger), so none of them were right. It was really confusing.

We made it over to our hotel, and realized we had walked into a very different Tanzania, touristy Tanzania. There was a pool at the hotel, and I hadn’t seen so many white people that I didn’t already know! Usually if we see a few wazungu in town, there’s a decent chance we know them already. We actually looked out of place. Both Christine and I wore kitanges for the bus ride because they’re comfortable. They’re also incredibly African, so they looked very strange in comparison to all the westerners around us. We also were speaking Swahili with the receptionist and the other hotel staff, which we think surprised them. The room was very simple, but it did have a hot water tank for showering (!). That night the hotel had a buffet, and while we were, there we met a gal from America who was currently living in France. We ended up seeing her a lot the next day too so we got to know her pretty well. It was really fun getting to talk to someone else about our life here, and we could all share the experience of being a foreigner in another culture. We went to bed early that night because we had a super early morning the next day.

I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this before on the blog, but the reason that we were going up to Kilimanjaro was to participate in the Kilimanjaro Marathon. Christine is an avid runner so she was going to participate in the half marathon while I ran in the 5K. The race started early though to avoid the Tanzanian heat; we left the hotel at 5:45 am. We got to the stadium and we looked up to see this mountain that actually had snow on top and looked an awful lot like the pictures of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We were confused because the day before Christine had asked about getting to the national park for Kilimanjaro. There were a few wires crossed in the conversation because the impression we got from the conversation was Mt. Kilimanjaro was a few hours away and we wouldn’t even be able to see it. The next idea was then to use Sunday afternoon to see it, but that wasn’t very easy and it was expensive. Overall, this was terribly confusing. For it being the Mt. Kilimanjaro Marathon, it seemed very logical that it would have something to do with Mt. Kilimanjaro. We both also wanted to see it because there just aren’t many times you will find yourself in Eastern Africa and so close to it. However, the fact that we wouldn’t see Kilimanjaro was wrong; that’s exactly what it was, and we had a gorgeous view of it!

We got to see the full marathon runners start, and I watched the half marathon start. It was fun being in the stadium. It’s exciting to be around for the start of a race! I then had to leave the stadium to go to the start of the 5K. There was a large crowd doing the 5K which surprised me. At our hotel, we met lots of other people doing the half or full marathon. As far as I know, I was the only 5K runner. Many of the people around us were very clearly seasoned runners. The run itself was fine; I definitely felt the effects of the altitude. We also had lots of hills, so I didn’t run the whole thing. I actually walked most of the hills because they were quite steep. In all of the races, there was a large mix of Africans and wazungu. It made for some entertaining situations. Around kilometer 4, this group I had never seen before of 20 or 30 Africans came barreling down the street. They were actually doing chants and singing in the middle of the race, and clapping was involved as well. Some poor white guy got caught in the middle, but he made a valiant effort to follow along with them! There wasn’t an official timer, but I finished in good time. I was by no means the first, but I was definitely not the last.

The 5K was supported specifically by the phone company Vodacom, and they were passing out these tote bags with t-shirts in it after the race. I finished just a few minutes late to get one, but they weren’t acting like they ran out, just that they were getting more so we should all wait. I waited for quite some time and I hadn’t had any water to drink, so eventually I gave up and went to get something to drink. Because we came through a specific travel company, they had a tent in the stadium for us to go to after the race. It was only 9 in the morning or so by then, but it felt like noon. We had already done so much for it being that early in the day, and they were actually serving lunch. A little while after I got to the tent, Christine came and so did the gal we had met the night before. We all chatted and ate and then we went back to the hotel to shower. I slept for a while, and then we just relaxed for the afternoon. We had another supper with our friend, and it was off to bed early again. The next morning we had to leave early to take another 8 hour bus back to Morogoro.

This week has been normal other than missing school Monday. I’m now less than a month away from leaving Tanzania! I feel like I’m thinking in countdowns 90% of the time now; for instance, as of today (March 8) I have 9 school days left, 5 normal school days, 3 long bus rides, 3 normal Sunday’s, 27 total days, probably two more times to hand wash, etc. That looks quite negative, but it really isn’t like that! Some of these things I’m excited to be done with, and as a whole I’m getting excited to be home again soon. But some of these things I’m dreading. I have only 9 days left with my kids, 9! I have officially informed and talked to all of my classes about it. Class V had a particularly interesting reaction: “But Madam, who will give us stickers?” “Guys, we have over 2000 stickers at our house, we will give them to the next teacher.” We can all see what they love me for. Their next reaction was at least “Madam, please don’t go!” followed by about six or seven of them hugging me. It’s so hard to explain to that I have to go, and I have to stay in the US for a while. They’re actually ok with the idea of me leaving for a while, but they always want to know how soon I’m coming back. Even when I explain “But guys, I have to go back so I can take my exams for university.” “But you can come back after your exams, right Madam?” Why are they so smart?

I found myself this week questioning again why God asked me to do this. I don’t feel so much like I’ve done no good like I have in the past; someone had to teach these kids, and I got to be lucky enough to do it. I pray I did some good for them, and at the very least, I was one person who openly loved them in their lives. I was an influence in their lives, and I hope for the better. I was a teacher who didn’t beat them, which we’ve now seen that they noticed and appreciated. A long time ago though, at the beginning of this experience when I was frustrated by being called here and overwhelmed by the lack of an impact I was going to have, I was informed of the viewpoint of a former missionary. “Missions like this are never for the people you serve; they are God’s way of changing you.” At the time I found this to be quite harsh. I do want to believe I did some good because I came here with no intentions of doing this for myself. This was for the people here. I don’t doubt AT ALL that I have changed though. I know I have. I also know this will somehow affect me in the future. In my first few weeks here, I kept comparing the world around me to anything somewhat similar to what I had experienced before. I was regularly thinking of six or seven past experiences, things like living abroad in England, visiting Brazil a few years ago, even things like working at the daycare and church camps. No one experience could encapsulate this world as a whole, but the familiar traces helped me piece this together and gracefully adapt. I learned very clearly that God was preparing me for this long before I could have ever imagined this is where I would be and this is what I would be doing. I have faith. He’ll do the same thing with this. The next step he’s got I’m sure involves having already done this, and I’m getting ready for whatever it is.

One last thing, please please please please please please please please please pray for us! We’re having a very peculiar water situation at the moment. A few weeks ago our water started getting a funky smell, which wasn’t so weird. It had never been this bad before; it smelled like noxious, rotten eggs. However, there were enough times when it smelled normal that we would just fill the buckets with good water and carry on. It was a nuisance and nothing more. That changed Tuesday morning. The water started coming out smelling like sewage and it turned brown on us. We haven’t had a change yet, and it’s now Friday afternoon. We’ve only managed to get by without water because it’s rained a few days this week and we’ve rushed the buckets outside to collect rain water. It’s really frustrating. At least when we had no water, the minute we got anything, it was ok to use for bathing, washing the dishes, clothes or the house, etc., but we can’t use this water. We have drinking water (bwana asifewe!), but we’re really running low on anything else. Please pray for a resolution soon! It’s truly a blessing that God has sent rain for us, otherwise we would have run out a few days ago. But that’s not a long term solution to this problem. We know it’s being caused by a defect in a pipe somewhere, and it’s being worked on, but we don’t know how long that’s going to take. Really, any and all prayers would be appreciated.

I pray you all have a wonderful and God filled day!

God bless,

Kjirstin