Some Things I Like About Tanzania

1.      Stars—I love that I can walk outside any night and see a sky full of stars. I like seeing constellations that I have never seen before, like the Southern Cross.

2.      Ocean—Every time I go to the beach I believe that it is more beautiful than the last time I saw it. I also like how when I go snorkelling I feel like I am in an aquarium because of all the cool things I am seeing.

3.      Chipsi Mayai--It is probably my favorite Tanzanian food. It is a mix of french fries (chipsi) and eggs (mayai). When I first heard about it I thought it would not be something I would like, but now I eat it every Saturday. 

4.      New Books—It is awesome to watch when students see that we got in some new novels for them to read. I even had one girl jump up and down with excitement.

5.      Carvings—The local carvers can pretty much carve anything. It is amazing to see the details of the hand carved work.

6.      Baobab Trees—I like seeing all the different trees and plants that I have never seen. The Baobab trees are my favorite. I cannot believe how large they get.

7.      Tingatinga—The tingatinga style painting is so fun and bright. I really enjoy being taught how to make them.

8.      Pen Pals—I like that I have the opportunity to have legit pen palls. I love getting mail and now I can get letters from halfway around the world.

9.      Form I—I like teaching my Form One class. It is awesome to see them get really into a Bible story and want to know more about what is happening. I also enjoy getting to show Bible movies and do art projects to get them more excited about reading the Bible.

10.  Local Animals—I think it is so cool that I saw monkeys on the side of the road as I rode my bike home from the beach, and I really like seeing all the brightly colored birds on my way to school.

-Lauren

Acclimation

When we got to Tanzania a little over a year ago I thought it was hot. Any time I left the house I would sweat and when I was at home I sat in front of the fan. I could not believe it when I realized that we came in the cool time of the year and it was only going to get hotter. February was probably the worst month. I do not know if I ever stopped sweating. I had started to think that I would never be cool again. But we have amazing bodies that slowly started to acclimate to the temperature.  

This July we had been in Tanzania for one year. Last year I thought it was hot, but this year I thought the weather was really nice. This year I could go a whole day without sweating. Even the days that we walked to school I would not sweat. I also stopped sitting in front of the fan all the time because I would start to get a little chilly. Even though the temperature was the same in July 2012 as it was in July 2013 it felt very different. It really amazes me that we have been given the ability to adjust to our environment.  

-Lauren

Missing

There are many things that I miss from the States. Here are a few of them.

1.      My family -- even though we get to skype, email, and talk to our family it is not the same as getting to spend time with them in person.

2.      Mass in English -- even though I know what is going on during the mass I feel like I never completely understand.  It is hard to fully give yourself to prayer when you are trying to focus to translate what is going on. I can fully understand why the mass was changed from Latin to the local language. 

3.      Having a car -- even though we are able to get anywhere we need to go it is not the same. I miss being able to just hop in the car and go where ever we want. 

4.      Super Markets -- I miss being able to go to one store to get anything I could possibly want. Now we have to go to multiple places for our weekly shopping and there are still things that we want but cannot get. 

5.      Air conditioning -- even though we have fans once it starts to get hot there is really no way to stay cool. When it is the hottest part of the year we just have to accept that we are going to sweat all day long. 

6.      Hot showers -- there is nothing better than getting to take a hot shower. I am thankful that we have running water, but sometimes the water is so cold that it is hard to appreciate it.

7.      Restaurants -- I miss being able to go out to eat if I ever did not feel like cooking. Now we have to cook if we want food.

8.      Speaking English -- I feel like everything is easier when you do not have to worry about speaking another language. Simple task are made more challenging when you have to worry about translating.

9.      Quality -- In the States when you buy something you can choose good quality items that will last a while. Here you can buy something that is brand new and you can have problems with it breaking from the very beginning. 

10.  Sidewalks -- I especially miss sidewalks in the rainy season when you have to trudge through the mud to get anywhere. 

-Lauren 

A Little Piece of American in Tanzania

We were able to celebrate the Fourth of July here in Tanzania. Some other American friends invited us to this restaurant by the ocean. The restaurant let us bring food in as long as we bought our drinks there. There were ten adults and two kids there. Our friend who had planned the get together had gotten stuff for the fourth. So we had an American flag, red, white, and blue balloons, and an American tablecloth.  We even had sparklers! It felt like a little piece of America in Tanzania.

We had veggies and dip and chips and guacamole for appetizers. We had grilled fish and shrimp tacos, a salad, and a fruit salad for dinner; with cookies and marshmallow treats for dessert. It was so nice to get to relax and celebrate with other Americans. When we were all done there we went over to one couples house that has a fire pit in the backyard -  where we sat out under the stars around a fire drinking coffee and eating chocolate.

There were no fireworks but we were able to see a couple shooting starts.  It was beautiful.

-Lauren

Break Adventures

We have a month off from school. We have been taking that time to relax and to enjoy the nature of Tanzania. 

We had a beach day. We road our bikes out to the beach and had a picnic lunch of pb&j, chips, raisins, and juice boxes. 

Then since it was low tide we walked 100 meters over tide pools to the ocean, where we went snorkeling. There are all different types of coral reefs with all different types of sea creatures. My favorite were these bright purple and yellow fish that were as long as my hand. I had never seen such bright fish that were that big. 

Father Mwaya, Sr. Maureen (our headmistress), another sister, a teacher, and us went to the border of Tanzania and Mozambique. There is a river that is about 1.5 miles wide that separates the two countries. Since it was low tide we were able to walk most of the way across from Tanzania to Mozambique. The deepest part we had to walk across was knee deep, but for the most part we were just walking on sand. It was a cool experience, and very beautiful. 

We went out on a sailboat with some of our friends. We met at the fish market and got on a small sailboat that is used for fishing. We then sailed around the Indian Ocean for a while. It is beautiful out on the water. The water is a greenish blue color and is very clear. Even in the water that was 15ft deep we were still able to see the bottom. 

 -Lauren