Alana's African Adventure

The beginning of the end...

2008-03-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Explanation: self-explanatory :(

Thursday March 13th

I was so thankful that Godfrey did the morning devotion for me because then I did some more studying before I took my written test on Lessons 1-30 from 8:45-9:45am and I felt pretty good about it! I am glad that I checked it over a few times! I decided to wait until Friday morning to take my oral test so after tea at 10:30 I caught up in writing, packed for the night in Dar, and took a shower before we left about 1:30-2pm. I read and dozed off all the way to Dar es Salaam (2.5 hours away). We stopped at a bookshop because PH had a few orders of boxes of Bibles to pick up. Then they drove me all along the coast/harbor so I could see the Indian Ocean for the first time, the US Embassay, and some ships, oil, containers etc before we went to check in at the Catholic guest house. It was nice to see some of the city since all I had seen of Dar was the airport at night. We dropped our things off about 6 and went to have a soda and then at 7:30pm we ate some dinner! From 8:30-9:45 I worked on some writing and tried to take a short nap but it was Real toasty in my room. We left about 10pm and drove to the airport to wait for my parents outside of the baggage claim! My parents and also my dad’s good friend from college, Daryl (who lives in MN) finally came out about 11:15pm…with ALL of their luggage!! Then, it was a challenge to fit it all in the car-but of course, Luka made it happen! We drove the short 15 min drive back to the guest house and then I went back to my room by 12-12:15am and had two small pieces of DARK CHOCOLATE…oh my was it a heavenly taste!!! :) Then I went to sleep (in my sweat again, as Dar is hotter than Morogoro) as I would have to be up in only 5 hours…

Friday March 14th

We left at 5:40am and packed in the car for the 2.5 hour ride back to the school…Luka, me, my mom and my dad all squeezed in the middle seat. It went by fast as Luka and I chatted in kiiswahili a bit to practice for my oral speaking exam later in the morning! I was feeling so chipper and I do not know why…maybe the lack of sleep made me giddy…maybe I was excited that my parents/Daryl were there because I could show them how much kiiswahili I had learned-somehow that gave me confidence because the rest of the day I could somehow speak very well. We arrived at the Seminary about 9:10am and hung out with our luggage outside of the car waiting for Israel to come and get the key. I think I had extra confidence because I was the one that knew what to do and my parents were dependent on me! Anyway, PH had a large meeting to go to at 9 and he mentioned that it was a large church meeting so all the new pastors would be there and some evangelists! I was SOOO happy that my parents got to meet Pastor Isaya and also Pastor Malaki!!!! I couldn’t stop smiling… it just meant SO much to me to have my parents/Daryl see the exact place/meet the same people that I have been living with, traveling with, and worshiping with for the past 2 months! :)
Finally, I got them to their rooms and then we went to tea at 10am where they met most of the “students”- all the kiiswahili language learners like Lars and Kjesty, Roger and Julie, Jan, etc! After tea at 10:30 I walked them to the classroom we meet in every morning and showed them the beautiful study area with the study gazebos that were my classroom :) Then I stayed to take my Oral Test…I had to read about a paragraph story and understand it and then I went to find Chuma and Mama Josephine so they could ask me questions. Well, they asked me a few questions on the story and then they gave me some words that I had to make into sentences and give opposite meanings for and I had to know a couple Swahili proverbs that we learn in the lessons! It went really well and maybe they were “impressed” because they kept saying “Safi sana” (very nice) after I would answer!
They gave me my written test back and I almost fainted…a 98%. I made two of the tiniest errors on 4 pages! Gosh…needless to say I was incredibly shocked and stunned…and it didn’t hit me until I walked into (more like leaped into) the main classroom next door and it was noon-all the students were at lunch and all the teachers were hangin out in the classroom and I said “Nimemaliza!!!” (I have finished) and I said I got a 98 with a huge grin on my face and I will never forget the smiles that broke out across their faces and the congratulations they gave me…Ancy even gave me a hug!! Then I started getting emotional and as I left the classroom to walk back to go to lunch I was by myself and tears just started coming…Julie was just in front of me and I ended up catching up to her and I said- I don’t even know why I’m crying, I just never expected this…it means so much to me…probably more than other A’s that I’ve received over the years. And then what hit me was the reality of my finishing…I was done…I didn’t know time could fly by so fast… I went to pick up my family and we went to lunch and chatted. They rested/organized a bit for another hour or so and we were going to take the dala dala into town but we were already past the time I wanted to leave and I decided it would be best to try not to squeeze 4 more people into one of them so I called Godfrey’s taxi friend who has driven us before…I somehow asked him in Swahili to come pick us up @ the Seminary and then all the way into town- about 10-15 minutes to the Morogoro Hotel we chatted in kiiswahili! I talked and he talked and I literally got the entire conversation except maybe one or 2 sentences! We talked mostly politics- about Obama and why he didn’t like Bush (I’ve discovered this to be a commonality amongst most Tanzanians I’ve heard who talk politics…they do NOT like Bush and are definitely for Obama)!! Anyway, I also didn’t know how I lasted the entire car ride and understood/talked in the language…again- maybe I felt like I wanted to show my parents that I have learned something/done something while I was here! Haha
Well, we arrived at the Hotel and spent from 3:45-6pm there. I was able to read and lay in the sun/relax for a while-as well as finally swimming in the pool for 15 minutes (since I had a swimsuit now)!! My parents took a couple quick dips and that helped them to cool off because they have been roasting their first 24 hours in the country!! *Unfortunately, this past week has been the hottest temperatures that I have even seen since being here!! Looks like they didn’t bring cold but rather warmer weather! My mother is having an especially difficult time!! Oh- also, about 4 young Tanzanian women were swimming. They go to the University in town and so I also talked some Swahili with them also! They knew some English too so we used both languages!
I took a quick shower at 6pm and then we walked about ½-3/4 of a mile on a pretty deserted gravel road up to the Rock Gardens. We passed the camel out front @ the rich Arab’s house and we passed Vivian and Ralphs house that I had been to a few weeks ago! We finally made it about 6:45pm and met Jan and Sofia there…it was getting dark quickly so my parents and Daryl and I took a quick look at the Rock Gardens-which is really just a rock fall with water coming down it- pretty though. Well, then we decided not to stay for dinner because Daryl doesn’t eat meat and that’s really all they served and they didn’t have menus so we all go back out to the front to try to decide what to do. Well, we decided on Dragonieres but then we tried to decide how to get there and who was going to call a Taxi. Thankfully, just as we were speaking a taxi literally drove by us and turned around as Sofia caught him. By this time, Godfrey had joined us therefore we squeezed ALL 7 of us into a taxi ( a car made for 5 total people).
Dragoniere’s was a good choice and it was a good time though my mom and Daryl were very exhausted (understandable)! It was fun to have Sofia and Godfrey- my family and Daryl really enjoyed them! Godfrey was telling us some stories/jokes. His English keeps improving! I had a Hawaiian pizza again! By the time we took a taxi back (two different ones this time) it was already 9:30pm and we were getting up to leave at 5:30am for yet a Second morning in a row…WHEW!!!

Saturday March 15th

Woke up about 5:15am and met the rest of the crew outside in the dark. There would be 9 of us going in Grant’s car. My parents and I had the middle seat and then there are two bench seats facing each other in the back so Luka and Wes were on one side and then Kristin and Jessica were on the other. We got to Mikumi National Park about 7am but before we were even in the park, we saw SO many elephants/giraffe close to the Paved road! Then we drove around inside the park for another hour and a half- until about 9-9:30am and saw the main animals in the first hour!! It was a good quick trip and we were back into town by 11am! I had Grant drop us off in the center of town. We went to the bank so my parents could get some shillings and I showed them the supermarket I always went to (last time going there)…then we walked the few blocks to the market. It definitely is another world in there…and for the next hour and a half my mother and I went to almost every shop with the different cloth in it as she needed gifts for people and I was looking especially for my same Kanga with “Mungu ni mwema” on it as I had gotten the other made into a dress! Well, I had to read all of the kangas and some I could understand and some I couldn’t so I was trying to help my mother find the right colors and a decent saying so that she could use them as gifts. So we ended up buying like 7-8 different ones…or I mean I ended up buying as of course I did all of the bargaining and buying :) But, I was happy to! It was good practice! It sure was hot…but somehow God has made me less aware of the intense sun/heat (when in the sun) or just made me adapt somehow…and inside the market the rows are so skinny and there isn’t much airflow so my dad and Daryl were pretty warm following us around! They were good sports though! I promised them soda and ice cream lie ahead…
Around 1:30 we walked about ½-3/4 a mile through town over to Ricky’s ( I really made them work up an appetite)!! It’s been good to walk today and yesterday as we need to do some practice walking/exercise a little as we climb Kilimanjaro soon!!)
Ricky’s was great-I was glad to share with my family! Of course the same short Maasai man served us. I learned his name today (Laiser) as it would be the last time I see him-we chatted a bit and he was surprised that I was not coming back! Anyway, I had a pepsi float and some lasagna and my mom ate my salad and dad and Daryl had some mango ice cream! We took a taxi back to the Seminary so I had another chance to chat with the driver…found out that he has been driving a taxi for 20 years in Morogoro- wow. We returned about 3:45pm and I relaxed a bit before stopping over at Elizabeth’s house again to have her make yet some more adjustments on my clothes and then I went over to play Volleyball. It was just me, my dad, Lars, Godfrey, and a couple secondary school boys but it was still fun! After dinner it took me the rest of the night- quite a few hours to finish up my resume and essay and get it sent in. I am applying to be a Hunger Justice Leader for the non-profit org. Bread for the World (www.bread.org)! 75 people ages 18-35 from across the country will be chosen by April 1st for an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. June 14-17 for training!!! It would be a wonderful opportunity/experience and I would learn so much that I could take back to my community! We’ll see what happens!!

**Sunday March 16th we went to a village: Lulenge It was great!!!
Monday March 17th I gave the morning devotion and said a good-bye/thank you to everyone that I wrote in Swahili…then Dad, Daryl and myself went to another village today: Kwambe. It was Excellent!!! Full cars both days: Sunday was all wazungu (white people) as Kristin, Jessica, and Wes joined us…. Monday was full as we had evangelists and pastors with us!!

To Inform You:

I just do not have time to write about the two village experiences yet: a first for my family!! I am unfortunately wearing out as Ive only been able to sleep 5.5-6 hours the past 4 nights…and tomorrow morning (7:30am) we leave for Zanzibar!! It is a beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania (10 miles). We will take a ferry there tomorrow late morning (Luka is coming with) and the next couple of days we’ll be visiting Stone Town, going on a Spice Tour, and laying on the beach and snorkeling in the warm Indian Ocean! Then on Thursday afternoon we’ll take a ferry back across and wait at the Guesthouse until 10pm again when this time my boyfriend Paul is flying in!!! Friday we will leave early in the morning to drive back to Morogoro to meet PH to head to a village for the day and then after we will go to Dragonieres for a late dinner before coming back to pack Friday night! Saturday morning (22nd) we will have our own personal driver bring us (8 hours) up to Arusha (northern Tanzania)!!!

At least Ive caught up a little and you know what’s going on the next few days…it will be tough to write much now, but I will try my best sometime after the next couple days!!!

For now, I wish you a very blessed week…the time is getting even shorter- not too long before I’m back in the States already!!!

with much joy,
Alana :)

Expectations

2008-03-13T03:16:00.000-07:00

Explanation: Tuesday was not a very good day…and if you continue reading you will see what I learned from it!

Monday March 10th

I only went to class until noon today- took some pictures with some of the teachers and also of the different groups studying (for Harold)! I was very tired and lethargic so I didn’t get much done. I thought I was going to take my final test Tuesday so I did some studying and that’s about it.

Tuesday March 11th

Well, today we went to a village…but not a Maasai village :( It was a new preaching place for PH and absolutely in the middle of nowhere (like going to a Maasai village). Unfortunately the people had no idea we were coming because supposedly the evangelist has been suffering from epilepsy the past three days and couldn’t get the word out.
It was a very long day (almost 12 hours) and not too exciting…but I learned something because of it. We left about 9:10am and Moreto came with as well as Wes… I don’t know if I’ve written about him yet. He is a 19 –year old from Pennsylvania and is doing a 3 month internship with Grant. He arrived at the school just this past Friday so he is still pretty jet-lagged. Anyway, it was great to have him along as I was thankful for another fellow (white) American- and even my age!!!
We picked up Pastor Isaya on the way! I was happy to see him again! We drove on Primary Road for about 45 minutes and then turned off onto a Secondary Road that we have traveled on a couple times before to get to Maasai villages…well, then started the adventure of going the wrong directions…we ended up near a field so a worker pointed us in another direction, but that road took us to a Maasai boma so a man there rode with us and we tried a third direction…we drove past a school and stopped a little ways away so the man we picked up could go to the Primary school to find someone that would know where the area we were trying to go. A group of kids came to investigate the car- from about 100-200 feet away though, and many of them ran away when we opened the car door!! Then, I got out to get some air and shouted “Mambo” to the children and they all answered “POA!” It was cute! Mambo is slang for- How’s it going? How are your matters? and poa means cool! After a few minutes, a boy came with us- about 6th grade maybe-to direct us. The school children were all waving good-bye (maybe 20 or so of them) and some of them chased the car smiling and waving like crazy! I wish I would have been able to take a picture!!
We drive a little further (again…terribly awful road) and end up parking near a house. We are on a little higher elevation now so when we got out of the car we could see trees/fields all around us…and a few random thatched roofs. We walk a couple hundred feet and a man greets us and points PH in the direction of where he needs to drive to get to the area…and the little boy takes Moreto, Wes, and myself on a little walk…about 15 minutes later we show up at an area where there is a few houses and a couple shady trees and a couple mamas with their children. It’s already 11:40am and we just chat while waiting for PH to show up. Moreto helped me with an exercise I was supposed to do for class…I “interviewed” Pastor Isaya so I asked him many questions about his work as a Pastor as well as his family and daily routine. Once PH came we sat around for a little while longer, and then walked to the car a few hundred feet away to get some water. We went back to the big shady tree and some more people had shown up. Wes and myself sat on a bench and basically for the next hour and a half chatted about Africa, culture shock, our faith, what we did in High School, our states (Penn and MN/IA), where else we’ve traveled to in the States, as well as future plans. He plans on attending Liberty University in Virginia or North Carolina I believe…it’s a large Christian school on the East Coast.
It was nice to chat so we could pass the time faster. Then the service began…Wes, Moreto and myself had to share a low bench that was pretty uncomfortable… there were about 20 women and children sitting on a mat on one side of the tree and about 15 men/boy sitting on the other side. PH did about 8 baptisms during the service…and a couple random times when people showed up. I translated here and there for Wes (as I’m now the “expert”-haha). I also talked to Moreto a bit also-and found out about living in the Maasai boma when he was younger and where he went to school and how much he has left. After the service (about 4:30pm) a different evangelist auctioned off a couple papaya and then we stood around for a bit waiting for PH to finish writing some baptism cards. Wes, Moreto and I were really hungry as we hadn’t eaten since 7:30am. I couldn’t wait to eat and didn’t care if I’d have to eat rice with my hands…but when we get our hands washed and go inside this hut to sit down all that is there is a big pail of ugali. Ugali is basically cornmeal…it looks exactly like mashed potatoes…but the consistency is that of a sponge. So it’s like a big bowl of mashed potatoes (tasteless) and very stiff! There was also a bowl of some pieces of chicken (as in the morning they had to chase a chicken and as PH said: “ever heard your dinner skwaking before?”) with some kind of juice also. I took some ugali and poured some juice over it for flavor before eating with my right hand. They offered PH some water (not the most clean) and since he has an iron stomach he was able to drink it… I was just itching to get back to the car so I could have some of the water that was left in a bottle.
We finally left about 5:10pm but then we had an even greater adventure trying to get out of the place…we spent an hour on a trail (there wasn’t even a road) and going over bushes on both sides of the car…my pictures will explain better…but you know it can’t be good when one cannot open the car door…and it’s especially not good when one has shut the car door and there are branches coming in the window. One time, the evangelist got out to go look ahead for the best way to go…and then PH had to get out of the car. PH has never gotten out of the car before so I said, “this can’t be good.” Wes and I were just praying that we wouldn’t get a puncture with all of the well, who knows what we went over!!! We dropped off the evangelist and then we continued on bad secondary road for a while and supposedly we took a “shortcut” to Moreto’s village! I was actually really happy to see where my friend (and a teacher) lived! It was a very nice Maasai boma and the sun was just setting as we got there so I got a beautiful picture! We met his mother and his older brother who is a newly ordained Pastor! They walked us into the cattle/goat “pen” to see their Father’s grave. It is large and has a fence of tall sticks surrounding it. He died 2 years ago and PH said he was a very well-known man and even the President came for his funeral. **If you remember, I mentioned at one point that Moreto’s father has 52 children!!! This still amazes me…
Anyway then we sat down inside a small building and had some water before saying good-bye and continuing on our way again. We dropped off Pastor Isaya and finally we drove another hour home…so I arrived by 8:30pm! LONG DAY indeed!!
As soon as I returned I tried on my tops/skirt that Elizabeth had made with all of my kitenge material... Jan and Julie and Sofia wanted to see. Then Jan was kind enough to give me one of her sodas so I had a sprite and then sofia let me buy one of her apples (I was still very hungry!) and we also shared some of her wine that she had bought over a month ago. About 9:15pm Julie came over to us and asked us what 39.6 degrees Celsius was in Fahreneheit… I said- well, it’s Really hot….(and I only knew this because I looked up info on Zanzibar island and it said that the tourists don’t like to swim if the Indian Ocean is more than 38 degrees C…yikes!) why?? She was pretty frantic and said that that’s the temperature her son (6) Josiah has and she was really worried. We went to talk to PH and he said to sponge him down to bring down the fever… because she found out it was at least 103 degrees F! Poor kid! Julie had Malaria a week ago, Roger (her husband) has had it Saturday-Tuesday and now Josiah has a bad case of it!!
I went back to my room at 9:30pm to do some writing/studying and then went to bed at a decent hour!

**My side reflection of the day:

On the way home I realized that I was frustrated with the day because now that I have experienced so much the past two months, I had gotten into a “routine” of what to expect-therefore, when we end up in this non-Maasai village I was really bummed because my expectations were not met. We did not get wonderful chai or maadazi…in fact we got nothing to eat or drink… and then when I was so hungry at the end of the day all I was looking forward to was rice and we got Ugali?!?? If this would have happened within the first 2 or so weeks I guarantee that I wouldn’t have had as bad of an attitude about the day as I did. I shouldn’t have complained at all and should have been grateful for the fact that they still did kill a chicken for us and that we even got fed. This just made me think about how much my expectations “rule” me…and also- how much do I expect out of God… should I expect anything at all or is life enough? Can I even have expectations of our God?!? I challenge you to ponder these questions as I do…

Wednesday March 12th

This morning Sister Paulette gave the morning devotion on Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (wakati wa kila kitu)- a time for everything… it is her last day today so it was nice to hear from her!! She is a very sweet and faithful woman and I have enjoyed her quiet/gentle spirit, except for the occasional burst of giggles! She also had a nice good-bye prepared for her last words (in Swahili of course)!!
I started feeling emotional as I was listening to the scripture and all I could keep thinking about was, there’s a time to say good-bye… and I know that mine is coming so soon…I am the next to go :( I only studied from 8-10am today…my brain was pretty tired, but I got through almost a full lesson, so basically I have learned a full 52/60 lessons. The rest I can finish studying myself in the coming weeks! After tea I came back to my room to rest and worked on getting some pictures and music to Harold’s flash drive. Lunch wasn’t too thrilling as we didn’t have much of anything…I basically had rice and watermelon. After lunch, I tried on the dress Elizabeth had made for me so Jan could see it and we could figure out where more adjustments need to be made- then Jan braided my hair for the volleyball game later and I came back to my room for the rest of the afternoon to finish some e-mailing and work on writing and organizing my room a bit!
After a quick tea break, Sister Paulette joined me to walk to Elizabeth’s house and we had a great time laughing as I tried on all the clothes again so she could see where to make adjustments!! Then at 5:10 we walked over to the volleyball court and only Lars was there. Godfrey showed up so we played 3 vs. 3 against 3 Secondary school guys. One of them, Eric, was super tall and so he was excellent at spiking! It wasn’t as fun as 2 weeks ago but it was good to get some exercise in. Then for another half hour Eric took some shots on me in the soccer goal!! I played soccer for years and years and goalkeeper for many of those years and I have missed playing. Eric was very kind and knew quite a bit of English. He kept saying, “are you hurt?” And I said, “goalkeepers are supposed to get hurt!” haha Anyway, at 6:30pm Sister Paulette and I waited for Godfrey to run and shower/change and then we took a taxi into town to the Acropol Hotel to meet Sofia and Jan. We were celebrating Sister Paulette’s last night! We arrived about 7:15pm and stayed until almost 10:15pm. The service was pretty slow…but I had some cheese bread and a chicken breast sandwich and we all had dessert: brownie with choc/vanilla ice cream! We chatted and Godfrey and I played a game of pool…of course he plays a lot, therefore he won! I was super tired and was supposed to do the morning devotion but Godfrey was a lifesaver and said he would do it for me! So I went to bed at 10:50pm…I knew I needed sleep badly as tomorrow (Thursday) I would take my test in the morning and leave for Dar es Salaam (on the Coast- about 2.5 hours away) to hang out for a few hours before my parents would arrive at 10:45-11pm!!

I hear it’s about 48 degrees @ home!! Enjoy the heat ;)

He is Enough,
Alana :)

Pizza and a Pool!

2008-03-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

Explanation: Friday night @ Dragoniere’s and Sunday afternoon @ the Morogoro Hotel!

Friday March 7th

Well, today I didn’t wake up until 7am, so therefore after breakfast I took a shower (missing morning devo unfortunately)-but it had been a couple days :) Then Jan and Sister Paulette and I met PH about 9am and we took off! Jan braided my hair in the car before we picked up our first passenger: Luka, an evangelist. We picked up a couple more evangelists- including a very well-educated man named Paulo who is from this area but is going to school way down in Mbeya (Southwest Tanzania)- on the way and we only had to drive down Secondary Road for maybe 20 minutes, and the village was basically 200 feet off of that road!
We arrived about 10:30 and after a few minutes, we followed PH, Isaya (an evangelist), another evangelist, and Lukas (a young Evangelist who will start Form 5 & 6 @ the Secondary School here), across the road to a Maasai boma where we preceded to go into the literal boma (a circular enclosed area for the cattle when they are not grazing). Paulo and PH pointed to a piece of stick sticking up through the dirt as supposedly an important man died and was buried in this spot. *I apologize, but since it has been a couple of days I do not remember the details right now!
Then a woman showed us into her house-which was more modern than most typical Maasai houses as there was a few different rooms…and even tiled bathroom floor (of course the toilets were holes in the ground (but it was plumbing nonetheless))!
We continued walking back across the road to the church where we sat for a while…well, the 3 of us women sat on a bench a few rows back from the men and we tried talking to a couple young boys-about 7 and 10-but they were being incredibly shy. The men were talking up front, and I’m not kidding-but about another 4 Evangelists showed up (all of them I have seen previously). A few more small children come in to hang out and many Mamas come to greet us. One Mama had a baby that was 2 months old and she was very kind and invited us to come follow her to her house! We got stopped halfway as another Mama and some more children came over and we took a couple of pictures. Jan got to hold the 2-month old, but a little child took my hand and we walked the rest of the way to this woman’s house ( typical one). We ducked to get in through the entrance and then 5 of us stayed in this little area near the door (for light). Jan, Sister Paulette and myself sat on chairs and there were about 4 children hanging out in the doorway. The two mamas were standing near us and asked us questions about America-like is it far away, and can we take a car here? They also wanted to know right away if we had watoto (children) and we’re of course just shocked with eyes wide open…we all answered bado (not yet). I don’t think they knew Paulette is a Sister! Anyway, then they asked us if we wanted maziwa (milk)-and I’m immediately reminded of the one village that had the sour cottage cheese consistency of milk and I say to Jan that I will not drink it. Jan says yes and they pour a mug of milk for Jan as she said she would try it. Well- it actually looked like milk so I agreed (reluctantly) to try it and I took the smallest sip possible. It was okay- the consistency was fine and it had a smoky flavor to it.
It was almost noon so we figured we should get back for the first sacrament! They followed us out of the house and I was able to chat with a couple children and take some pictures.
When we arrived back at the church all the men were finishing their chai so I thought we missed out- but I also knew that guests were always served…so sure enough, after about 15 minutes, some cups were rinsed and brought to us (along with bottles of water). We were joined by about 7 other children who were all sitting on the bench behind us and playing with empty plastic bottles.
Some of the Evangelists and PH went outside under a tree to start Baptism registration, and the others prepared for the service. The three of us slowly were joined by more and more women as they came. The children all moved to the other side of the church (there ended up being at least 40 children total at the service).
We listened to the choir sing a few songs before the service officially began about 1:40pm. The girls choir sang some songs, and then because there were so many Evangelists there was a men’s choir that also sang!!!! About 13 baptisms occurred, and I was able to take Sister Paulette up to the front to watch (and therefore get some good pictures also)! After the sermon and communion came the offering. The men’s choir sang a song, but many women came up and started singing as well- it was great! I have a wonderful video clip of this! After we ended the service outside there was some soap and candy to auction off…then the fun started…goodness I have never seen a group of kids so selfish when it came to a picture. They all of course wanted their pictures taken alone, and the children would push against their neighbor and point to themselves and say “ME! ME! Picha!) Jan and I had taken a few right away of just some Mamas and their children, but once the many other children had lost interest in their candy they ran over and wanted to see pictures and it wasn’t good enough to take a group picture as they wanted individual ones…well-I only did a few before I said- Inatosha (Enough)!
Finallly it was time to eat. We each had a bowl of rice and a couple pieces of potato, but no silverware-therefore it was back to using my right hand again!
I was chatting with some of the Evangelists after eating…and for the first time had to practically be dragged out of a village as everyone else was in the car and PH was backing up and honking the horn-then they pretended to leave without me!! haha So I ran over quickly and we left about 4:50pm!
We dropped off the 3 men and proceeded on to home. We returned about 6:15pm-just in time for dinner…but we were waiting for MeeHa and Sofia and Kjersty (Lars’ wife) to get back from town so we could go out to eat for MeeHa’s last night!!
Kjersty drove us to Dragoniere’s-a restaurant in town. Now, this place I have known about as Sofia has sad that it has good food and serves pizza on the weekends (they have a nice stone oven to make pizzas)! Other Americans have also recommended it…well I was so surprised when we turn into this gate and I see these red and green lights-and a nice grassy lawn…and a whole LOT of Wazungu (white people)! Kjersty was meeting a table of girls- most of them Norwegian-so it was just Sofia, Jan, myself, and MeeHa. We ordered some drinks and Jan and I got pizza-Sofia had fish-and MeeHa had what she called a “folded pizza.” It’s really a calzone, but she says it’s too hard to say so she calls it a “folded pizza” instead!! The pizza was excellent-I ordered Hawaiian! :) It was a great night of conversation, and I learned a lot more about MeeHa’s life and what she has done. She has been working with YWAM (Youth With a Mission: a non-profit org) for 25 years…I found out that she is 46!!!! I couldn’t believe it! She has worked with prostitutes and transvestites in New Zealand and she has worked in India (possibly somewhere in Europe…well-her husband of 12 years is from the Netherlands so she has lived there a short time)…and now she and her husband have been living in Nairobi, Kenya doing church-planting among Maasai villages there! It really is fascinating! She is just the cutest person and I will miss her deeply!!! It was just so crazy to see so many white people in the same place…Sofia said that she didn’t think that there were this many white people living in Morogoro! There was a table of young Europeans (Sofia’s and my age)- guys and girls- next to us…but we didn’t know where they were from. There were some other tables around us with middle-aged couples as well. Anyway, the pizza was Excellent and the atmosphere was great! I think I’ll take Paul and my family in a couple weeks :)
I was disappointed that they didn’t have the chocolate dessert tart so when we got back to the school finally-at about 10pm-Sofia gave each us a small bar of Milka (brand) milk chocolate along with a milk chocolate ladybug! She had received a large package with a lot of candy in it from Germany and I was SO thankful that she shared some! I ate it all when I got back to my room! I was trying to get some things ready for the mountain climb in the morning- as I was supposed to get up at 5:50am to leave but it was already 10:30pm and I was so tired.

Saturday March 8th

I woke up at 5:50am and I just felt my body telling me not to go all the way to the top…so I texted Godfrey and told them to go without me (it was just him, Mcharro (another teacher), Blaise (a language student from Congo), and another former teacher).
I slept for another 30-40 minutes before getting up and going to breakfast where everyone was surprised to see me since I had planning on climbing all day. Anyway, the group that was going only half-way left after breakfast about 7:50am. I went with Emily(13-Julie and Roger’s oldest daughter) and Lars and his son Simon, Harold, and three lady teachers: Ancy, Merena, and Agnes.
We started climbing about 8:15-8:20am. It was an absolutely beautiful day…and today was clear so I could see so much (compared to the first time I climbed when I could only see fog)! We took a break in some shade after about an hour and so Simon could eat some Pringles :) Poor Lars-he was carrying a backpack, as well as Simon on his shoulders more than half the time! The road as our path was slowy going uphill so it did get tougher- but then we got into some “rainforesty” area where we were finally among the banana trees again! We came to a point where we didn’t know exactly the best way to continue, but luckily a man who was cleaning a house decided he would come with us and show us the way to Morningside (the half-way point)!! We continued for a while until I see this great waterfall (this time we went a different way so I didn’t see this in January when I climbed). We were able to hike down to the top of it- which was just a lot of flat rocks, before the major part that went over the edge! It was so wonderful to hop onto the dry rocks and take pictures. About 5 young Tanzanian? Guys (maybe late teens, early 20’s) came on to the waterfall as well, and then Emily and I find ourselves standing with one of them for a picture. Then they all took turns standing with us… they just wanted a picture with the wazungu (white people)!
We continued walking, and we were about 20 minutes from Morningside but Harold was too tired to continue so he said he would wait for us! The rest of us made it to Morningside and the view was definitely wonderful…it was hard to believe that there was so much beyond the wall of fog I was only able to see the first time @ Morningside! We rested for a few minutes, and Emily and I split my last granola bar which was just enough to refuel my energy for the hike back down!! We picked up Harold and continued back down. Harold didn’t think it was going to be this difficult, therefore he didn’t even bring water!! It took us 3 hours up and a good 2 hours back down!
We spaced apart on the way down as me, Emily, Lars and Simon walked faster and made it down to meet our driver before everyone else. For the next 15 minutes we went over to the small duka (store) and Lars bought 4 sodas for us, and I bought a couple large waters for everyone…including for Harold and one for the 3 ladies. I also bought a small banana!
It was about 2:10pm when we started on the way back and on the way I had the driver let me and Emily off across the street from Rickys because we were meeting Jan and Sofia there! They had been shopping in town all morning and I was thankful they were still there as Emily and I were hungry! I had some “strawberry cake” and a couple scoops of Pistachio ice cream (VERY good), and we also split some Lasagna! We all took a taxi back at 3:30pm and the rest of the afternoon until dinner I looked up a couple different websites on Zanzibar (the island just off the coast of Tanzania)! I learned so much about it-which is good because we will be going in one week and I wanted to look up about the history and culture and also what to do!!! It’s an incredibly beautiful island with white sand beaches, and I can’t wait to sit on one- and also do some snorkeling in the WARM Indian Ocean!!! :)
After dinner I looked at some more websites for a bit and then chatted online for a very long conversation! I didn’t get to bed until real late so I decided that I would sleep in through breakfast and just go to Tea at 10am!

Sunday March 9th

Sure enough, I didn’t get to bed until about 1am so I slept until 9am before getting up to work-out and shower before tea at 10am. I went to tea and found out that Lars and Kjersty were taking their kids Leah and Simon to go swimming and Sofia and Jan as well. Well, I was planning on getting things done today, however there was no power (therefore no internet access), so Sofia encouraged me to come. I ran back to my room to grab my book and some study material and jumped in their car at 10:30!!
There are two outdoor pools in Morogoro- one is at The Oasis Hotel and one is at the Morogoro Hotel… the one we were going to (Morogoro Hotel) is nicer I guess! Gosh, when we entered the gate and parked and walked inside I was like, yeah-no kidding!! We paid $4 to swim and then we walked through the restaurant area (which had a super high ceiling) and looked out at the pool area. I don’t know why I was so surprised that there was a nice pool and many umbrellas with tables and chairs…and even about 7 different plastic lawn chairs that one could lay on to sun!! I guess I forgot about all the nice places I was able to stay at/see when I was a tourist in the North 4 years ago! Maybe now I just appreciate this “luxury” more??!
Anyway, there were about 4 other young Norwegian women (Kjersty’s friends) sunbathing already when we arrived. I didn’t bring a swimsuit to Tanzania and so I just wore shorts and a sports bra! It was so nice to be able to read a little and to do some sunbathing! It was nice and relaxing! A couple tall guys (looked American?) showed up and did some swimming as well.
We ordered lunch and I had a pineapple Fanta and rice with pork schnitzel!! It was great!! Some more people showed up around 1pm- and a group of white people (my age- maybe American?) were eating in the restaurant.
We stayed until about 3:20pm and then we drove over to Ricky’s Café and had some ice cream as Lars had Kjersty had promised the kids some. We finally returned about 4:30pm and I tried to figure out how to make a visible photo album so you can all see pictures (at least from January-as there are many)!! I have been writing ever since dinner…whew! I think I am caught up!! Now I have to study as I think that I am taking my final test tomorrow…but good thing they are only giving me a test on the first book (30 lessons)!

PH and Luka left yesterday at noon for a long (overnight) trip to a village 4 hours away or so... I’m anxious to hear how it went!!!

It’s been great to hear from some of you~ pole sana (sympathies) for the cold/snow that continues to pile up! Good News though…Spring is officially less than 2 weeks away!!!
I pray that you continue to grow and remain optimistic as I know that this time of year can be especially grey and dreary!!

resting in Him,
Alana :)

Colossians 1:13

2008-03-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

says: “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing…”

**NOTE: I thought I would specify the difference between a Pastor and Evangelist if you do not know. Really, they are incredibly similar…a Pastor has just gone through more schooling and can administer the sacrament of holy communion and also do baptisms!

Wednesday March 6th

After breakfast and morning devotion I had some time (45 minutes) again to work on some writing/check e-mail, however for some reason the connection was way too slow so I couldn’t get to Any website! PH and I took off about 9:15am and the only passenger we picked up today was an Evangelist-Luka (not PH’s right-hand man; he is still building)!
The place was very close today-and I even know the name of the village: Mikocheni! It is not far off of the Primary Road and I had been to this church before for just 15 minutes back in January when Luka and PH had stopped to inspect it because a wall had fallen down…now it is as good as new!!
We arrived about 10:25am and 2 of the Evangelists from the day before : Yohana and Simon were already sitting in chairs under a tree waiting for us. Also-another Evangelist whom I had met Feb 10th when we had a service at the Girls Secondary School. It was an easy morning for me as I studied my previous lessons (30-45) for about 2 hours and then read Scripture for an hour and a half and also prepared most of what I was going to say for tonight’s message @ the school. During this time, 2 more Evangelists came-they are older-and I have seen them a few times before also…they are kind and jolly middle-aged men :) I didn’t mind just sitting all morning/afternoon- the studying helped so much and it was good that I had time to write out something for my message. Also- Pastor Heri (who I also really like) showed up (on his bike) as well! PH, Pastor Heri, and Yohana took a break to go look at the cattle and then they disappeared in between the huts for a while. Before I knew it the time was already 2pm and Luka showed me where to sit (I sat by him up front-perpendicular to the Pastors and Evangelist).
The service began about 2:30pm and it was full! Another small girls choir of about 15 and walked from their village so we had 2 girls choirs and they were Great!! The visiting choir actually did some dancing and singing that is what I think of when I think of “Maasai.” Supposedly it’s more of a tradition in the northern part of Tanzania, but it was exciting to see them do it! Everyone LOVED it…people were laughing and had the biggest smiles on their faces (including me)…because a woman came over to PH and grabbed his hand and held it while she continued the traditional dance…(I did get some video of it)-but it’s a “bobbing” up and down while bending the knees (like the men do that I have described previously in other posts) but also the women (with the jewelry they wear) they very neatly shake their shoulders back and forth also…obviously the necklaces make noise- but I do not know if this is something that is supposed to be, how do you say- “flaunting” certain assets?!?! **Note-I did get a short video clip of the woman dancing for PH!! :)
There were a few baptisms-the sermon, communion, and the offering before we shook hands outside!
This time, it was about 4 young Maasai warrior men that came up to me to ask me my name again and my age- as well as if I was married! I was so proud that I finally recognized that question and I could answer their questions without having to find someone to help me…well, in this case-that wouldn’t be anyone as I would have had to just not answer them! Then they wanted me to take one picture of them- and they told me their ages- well, two of them: 24 and 26. I did not expect the 26-yr-old to be that “old!” But age is so hard to tell in really anyone because it seems as though the African-American skin keeps so nicely- and “young” looking I guess. Anyway, then a man came over and wanted me to see the girls choir by the side of the church and he took my camera and took a few pictures of me with them! Then, a Maasai elder came and grabbed my shoulder and motioned that it was time to eat so I went to join the other men.
The warriors were eating at a table behind me, but I ate with Yohana, PH and Pastor Heri, and the other Evangelists were nearby. Gosh- I was served another big bowl of food (with a spoon!) like yesterday! I ate almost all of it (more than PH I think-haha)…rice, some potatoes and just one piece of goat meat that I couldn’t rip apart with my teeth so I had to chew it forever in my mouth! That’s probably the best word to describe goat meat: chewy! :) I had a 12 oz bottle of water- and then they brought us mugs of boiled milk with sugar (not the disgusting sour yogurt looking/tasting stuff)-but exactly like a Vanilla Steamer at home! It was good! (but not as good as Paul’s mom’s)!
I was already stuffed-with food AND drink when a woman brought just me and PH a bottle of Pepsi…I really should have given mine to Pastor Heri but I thought, ok, as the guest maybe I should drink it and also I thought I could get it down…however after half of it my stomach was hurting badly and I just could not finish it (no problem as the Maasai guys would after I left)! While we were drinking our sodas, a few of the Maasai men turned around their chairs to face PH and so they were in sort of a half-circle around me- and the Evangelists came closer and I guess it was sort of a “meeting.” The 24-year-old who had talked to me earlier told me his name is Daniel and they asked about my soda- and I told them (in swahili) that my stomach would burst because I was so full! It’s actually an easy sentence and they laughed as they understood! I’m glad I could “justify…” at least, in their language!
We said good-bye and left about 5:20pm. I couldn’t believe how much I had eaten yesterday and today. I have never been fed so much food (and drink) in a village before!
Oh-and PH mentioned on the way home that their was some drama today as no one was their to receive the guests (which is a BIG no-no)… I was wondering as we didn’t even have the first Sacrament!! So I guess when we were eating PH was trying to figure out the mis-communication and how this congregation has been doing and PH told me that when the Head Elder finds out this news-that no one was around to receive/serve the guests he will be very upset and ashamed.
We made it back to the seminary at 6:30pm- in time for dinner, but today I was SO full I didn’t need anything…I just grabbed a piece of pineapple and a dinner roll (as the bread is SO good)!
I had to rush back to my room as I only had an hour to finish preparing and writing some notes for the service…then I went over to the church at 7:50pm as the Pastor likes to start about 8pm-although the students slowly show up until 8:20pm. I prayed with the Pastor and another student and then went back to sit in the front row.
I couldn’t believe it… they do a Wednesday night Communion service almost exactly the way Eucharist at Wartburg College on Wednesday nights is. All of the green hymnals were donated by the Lutheran Church in Waverly, Iowa! And they follow a communion liturgy that is the same as a typical Lutheran service. We sang a couple hymns and the different forms do some songs in their seats (with a simple drum and their voices)…it is SO beautiful. The echo is awesome, especially being in the church with them. By 8:25pm when I got up to speak for about 10-13 minutes the place was full…there had to be at least 150-200 students in there! (And one row of white people that had come just to listen to me…I didn’t even ask-Jan announced to everyone at breakfast and I didn’t think anyone would want to come- but Jan came, Harold, Sofia, Julie & Roger, Lars & Chelsea and her friend from Norway). It really meant a lot to me to have their support…especially because I’m always nervous in the first couple of minutes when I start to speak (no matter where or what kind of audience I have)!
Communion takes a while as everyone has to file out of their seat and kneel up front to receive the bread and tiny cup of wine-but of course there was wonderful music to accompany. It was time to sing the last hymn and I don’t know what happened, or if this happens a lot or what…but anyway, the Pastor (who has an Incredibly quiet voice that I myself could barely hear in the front row) started to sing the first couple words and no one joined in with him- a few people (and myself) are trying to sing quietly… well, he says-Let’s start together- and the Same thing happened. We get through one verse and he says, Let’s start again… and then he comes over to ask me if I will start-and I said- they are all much better singers than I am. I hear people whispering/fidgeting and shutting their books… and so the Pastor tries a 4th time and I think a few more people joined in, but we made it through one verse-maybe two and then all sorts of books close and it’s clear (by that sign) that the students have overruled the pastor.
It was 9:30pm and I was tired and needed to get back to my room…but Harold had waited for me so we talked for about 15 minutes about the service and especially how quiet and timid the Pastor was. He seemed pretty young-but I was frustrated because it seemed as if he had No confidence whatsoever… granted the service is in English-but when there are SO many students it just seems like it would be more beneficial to have a little more enthusiastic of a full-time pastor working with them to make church seem more enjoyable maybe. Also- instead of singing hymns all of the time, maybe they could sing a different song (like many of the ones I sing at camp)-with or without actions! Haha
Hmm… it was an interesting end to the night that made me think. I was just disappointed-for the students, and for the Pastor I guess…
I finally got to bed about 11-11:30pm.

** I used the Bible Verse in my title because this verse has especially taken on more meaning here… sometimes it feels as if we are stagnant in our own faith, or in the faith of our community, state, and country…let alone thinking about any other country in the world. I am so encouraged and hopefully you will share in that encouragement of knowing that the Gospel truly is alive and well and bearing fruit all over the world~ especially among the Maasai people in Eastern Africa!!

strength in Him,
Alana :)

Thursday March 6th

Roger gave the morning devotion on Daniel 4:34-37 and wanted us to think about how the fact that God is in Control plays out in our lives. Class went excellently today…something magical happened- somehow, I reached a new level of understanding/speaking today…and I think it all had to do with the fact that today my teacher had me close my book when we were doing the sheet of practice Exercises. This was my first time doing that and it was challenging, but at the same time it wasn’t. I don’t know where all of these words came from and I don’t know how my ears were so attentive-but today I realized that for the first 48 lessons I was trained to read/write the language and I can adequately do that. The long-course students have had to close their books from day one and I wish that the short-course students could have done that…I don’t know why all of a sudden the head teacher (Chuma) told the teachers that were teaching the short-course students (there’s only a couple of us left) to have us close our books now…I mean if I would have closed my book the first 48 lessons who knows where I could be linguistically now.
After the tea break at 10, Elizabeth (my first teacher) measured me for some tops she is making me. Then Godbless, (Jan’s teacher this week) had gotten back early also so he came to my gazebo to chat. He had asked me last week about my education but I didn’t know about him-only that he is at a University in town. It was great- as he talked in Swahili and I understood! :) He is a really great guy and it was fun to hear about other college students’ lives in this part of the world!
After lunch, Jan and I looked at our different kitenge material that we had bought and were deciding which ones would look good as a skirt or top. At 4:35pm Jan and I walked over to Elizabeth’s place as she is a tailor and LOVES to sew…Jan is also using her sewing machine and finished making her own bag today. I was planning on going to the Volleyball game from 5-6pm, but then I got so into seeing pictures of all these different skirts/tops she can make and so I spent the next hour getting measured/picking out designs and figuring out which kitenge’s to use for what!
It was already 6pm so Jan and I had to go to dinner! Dinner was exciting as Roger and Lars talked about the volleyball game and how some of the secondary school boys challenged the teachers/students to a game and we lost!! Also- Jan asked PH at dinner if she could come tomorrow and she wanted to know some other questions-how far is it, should she bring water, will we be in the sun…and also- if it was bumpy…then she was honest and said-well-I need to know if I should wear a sports bra or not! HaHa! Everyone just laughed and I said- it’s ALWAYS bumpy… and Julie said: TMI (too much information)! Somehow that got me to talking about going to the bathroom in villages and why I purposely do not drink water during the day at a village…and then other people talked about times they had to go to the bathroom SO bad (experiences here in Africa, and also back home in the states)!
The rest of the night has been filled with writing….and it’s almost 10pm here so I need to post this and get some sleep as the next two days will be BUSY before my day of rest on Sunday. Tomorrow I am going to a village again…although I did want to- Sister Paulette said she is going tomorrow (and I can’t let her go alone)-and plus company will be nice! Also, Jan decided to go now too- Yay!!! And Pastor Malaki will be with us again tomorrow- even more exciting!!! :) Saturday I am climbing the mountain again and we have to start even earlier as we are going the longer (less strenuous?)way this time!!

Take Care~ blessings for your weekend!

all the glory up,
Alana :)

...until the cows come home

2008-03-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

Explanation: You know that saying that goes: “We’ll eat til the cows come home or we’ll stay until the cows come home…” (there’s variations) but I think it must have gotten its origin from the Maasai villages… keep reading! :)

Tuesday March 4th

Whew. What a day! I am SO exhausted after returning at just 7:45-8pm…probably because I’m dehydrated and I was out in the sun a little today…I didn’t think that little bit could give me such a headache and make me feel like plopping into bed right now!!
After a breakfast of peanut butter/banana toast and morning devotion I had about 35-40 minutes to chat online and work on uploading pictures…its good to have internet again!! :) PH and I took off about 8:50am (just the two of us, so I got to play Luka and sit shotgun! Luka is out building a church in a village this week)! After about 40 minutes we pick up Pastor Malaki!!! He has become one of my favorite people- and a good friend!! Then more people fill up the car and I don’t know anyone elses name/position until we arrive… which wasn’t for another 45 minutes or so as we took a Secondary Road for a while and then a Tertiary Road into the bush!!
We arrive about 10:45am and are greeted by even more (3) Evangelists…I have seen them all before- Yohana (John)- he is super tall; Simon; and one I do not know. We all get chairs right away and sit under a tree in the shade of course. So I sit and listen for a while/chat a little a bit…I find out we have another Pastor with us-Isaya- and 2 other Evangelists- Safisheli and one a bit older. They were all very nice and asked me the typical simple questions. Pastor Malaki also tried teaching me some greetings in kiiMaasai! Then the washing of the hands occurred, and tea with Maandazi followed shortly after.
I was glad I brought my Bible out with me to sit this time because I did a LOT of sitting today amongst many more men than usual…and I would have gotten a headache earlier from listening to so much Swahili!! :) Therefore I read a lot of Scripture today! But it was good, as I am preparing a little message for the Wednesday night Worship Service here @ the school. It’s in English, and Grant usually runs it so he asked me if I wouldn’t mind speaking as the students (Secondary) all like seeing someone different speak!!
The men talked all morning- before and after tea- and then it was about 12:35pm and I decided today I would have to venture out in the bush by myself because there was absolutely NO way possible I was holding it all day long- especially after only one mug of chai!! So, I just got up and casually walked away into the trees to find a good spot!!
Then we sat a little longer until PH tells me that we are going on a little walk to a nearby primary school where there is a government meeting behind held (which is why no one was showing up for the service and it was almost 1pm already)! So all 8-9 of us take a walk through the bush and eventually come to a little clearing where I see the school and a very tall tree and many people sitting in chairs underneath it…also the two cars were hard not to spot (Government vehicles)! It was probably only like a 15 minute walk but when we arrive we of course have to go around to the different groups and shake hands with everybody!! There were some Maasai, and some Government officials, and also a handful of people who are taking community development classes through a University in Morogoro that were at the meeting to listen. I felt pretty proud of myself as this was probably one of my first settings where I heard so many different greetings and had to know how to answer the different ones…I also greeted some people first. Anyway-it was a real test for me!!! I think I faired well, as people seemed surprised… especially those few that just say “Jambo” because I am a mzungu (white person-automatically associated with tourist)…but when I answer “Sijambo” instead of replying back with jambo, they know that I know some Swahili! I think I have mentioned this before but I have really grown to just despise hearing that word now… PLEASE I beg you- even if you come to Tanzania as a tourist…just learn a couple basic greetings-they really are so easy and it makes life so much more fun and the people really enjoy hearing even just one or two words of Swahili!!! :)
For about 20 minutes or so we stand in a half-circle around a man (a Government personnel?) and listen as he speaks about maendeleo (development). However, of course I get stopped for a few minutes as a few men asked my name and where I was from…which I can understand and express very smoothly…but after that I really have to pray that my brain works- but sometimes people just speak so fast and my poor brain does not have the time to register the sentence(s) and pick it apart…as that is what one has to do with Swahili as there can be a subject/tense/object/verb all smashed together in one word!! I’m getting better at explaining that I am here for 3 months to study Swahili and that I will return to America to finish school in May. One man told me he wants to teach me kiiMaasai but not now- and so I said, but it is a lugha ngumu (difficult language) so siku ningine (another day), which we both know won’t happen! Haha
Then we walked back, only to sit some more…but on the way Pastor Malaki and the cute older Evangelist wearing yellow took my bag and my bible…gosh they are just so kind- it’s not like my bag was even heavy! I sit and read some more Scripture, greet some more people- as about 7 Maasai warriors show up…PH even registered 3 young warriors today and that was something big. I wish I could explain to you the faces of these young men (probably 18-22)...one especially- he hung around all morning just quiet- and PH gave him a small kiiSwahili workbook as many in this village were not literate…and then later PH said to me- “that’s what I thought he was hanging around for-he wants to be baptized!” About 2:30, as the Pastors were getting ready to begin the service, a young man on a bike stopped and called to me in English- “Hello-how are you?” I answered in Swahili and then he kept going with questions…which I knew most of the sentence but again, he was speaking so fast I had to ask him to repeat and he was asking the typical questions in a different way than I am/have been used to…anyway- we talked for about 15-20 minutes so my Swahili repertoire was certainly stretched!! Then the service began finally at about 3pm! It was pretty small but people crowded in- about 85 I think (including many children)! I sat in the back on a bench beside a couple big mamas. Today, the two Maasai pastors (Malaki and Isaya) as well as the other Evangelists and a couple warriors all formed a mens choir (which I LOVE of course) so they were able to sing (and “grunt”) and there was also a small (but mighty) children’s choir!!
3 baptisms, a sermon, communion, the offering, the send out song/shaking hands and the service is officially completed. They did have to auction off a few kitenges though!
Then it was time for the akwardness…where I just stand there and let the children look and touch my skin and my hair. Gosh, today the women were really obsessed with my hair as many of them were touching it and feeling it even during the service- especially my bangs, as they love to push them away from my face, only to have some of them fall again!
Well, I decided after a few minutes that I would go see if it was time for food…but it wasn’t so I went back inside the church, which was empty except for a couple little girls who were playing the traditional drum (in this case, in this village it was like a plastic empty gasoline container or something). I asked the girls if they liked playing the drum and then before I know it I’m surrounded by about 10-15 boys and girls again. Sometimes I can understand their questions- and then that leads to more discussion topics! Using the time is always safe- so I recognize that question, and they love to look at my watch of course. Also, they ask if I like the sun and I explain that it is nice here because at home right now in my country there is much snow and ice and cold! Sometimes they ask if home is mbele (far) and I say- yes, very!! Oh, today (between some kids saying give me! about my watch and bracelets one boy who was probably 15 asked me how much it is to fly on a place here…I simply said, a lot!!
Finally, it was about 5:15pm and time to eat…so I get to be quite the honorary man today as there were so may people eating! I got to drink another mug of chai and actually had the best and most food Ive eaten in a village so far!!! We were each served a big bowl with lots of rice, a couple potatoes, a little (brown) beans, and I had just 2 smaller pieces of goat meat (not even any bone so this was definitely doable)! I ate almost all of it before I was really stuffed (I’ve never been that full after eating in a village before…maybe because we had some time also). Anyway- sometimes I do not know whether or not I should try to eat all of it or not…because, here’s the thing: as their guest, it’s important to show them that I respect them by eating as much as I can (and PH mentioned that he’s glad I am a good eater as I do not “shame” him in the villages)…but also, when the guests/men (warriors) are done eating, I see them give the plates to the children and I see the children just go wild over a plate…and so then I think, gosh, I shouldn’t eat as much.
Also, during this time- 5:30pm-is when we see a whole herd of cows come back from grazing and are standing about 100-200 feet away and then on the other side a whole line of cows just keeps coming and coming…and this is when PH says-“well, we definitely stayed until the cows came home today!!!” This is what I meant by my title!!
Before we left Pastor Malaki and PH went to look at the cows (SO many) and Pastor Isaya stayed with me and some young boys came over because I was taking a picture of the pastors among all of the cows…so of course they wanted their picture taken! (It’s good that I am waiting until the end to bring out the camera because gosh do they go crazy!) I got a couple cute pictures though as these boys were all smiling and laughing and very excited! Good thing I had Pastor Isaya with me to help control them as they don’t really understand the meaning of “Wait!” They all just want to see the picture so badly… haha We finally left about 6pm and dropped everyone off and I was back at “home” about 7:45pm! I started writing immediately, because if I would have waited I would have put it off and I am going to yet another village tomorrow so I will have more to write!!

**Something that has been on my heart and mind during my time here (which PH and I have discussed) is the fact that denominations more often than not divide Christians instead of uniting them…I mean isn’t that the whole purpose of the CHURCH?!?!? I guess one should ask, What is the Church?!?!? Is it a building we go to once (maybe twice) a week?!? No. The church is every single one of us…it is all believers/followers of Jesus Christ…

…this makes me think of the rltshp. between Catholics and Lutherans here in Tanzania…supposedly they get along pretty well…and PH said this past Sunday a few Catholic women even came to communion! But the Pentecostals seem to think that they are the “correct way” to Jesus…in fact- in the village we went to today some Pentecostals had built a church in a different part of the village and they have “taken” much of the congregation from where we worshipped today and are telling them (even if they’ve been baptized by PH) that they are not “saved.”

Something PH said last Sunday is what I’ve heard before, but it resonates so much clearer now… He said, maybe instead of telling other denominations what is “wrong” or preaching do’s and don’ts among them we should be teaching about Jesus Christ…

And that’s what is wrong with denominations all over the world today… I believe that they can be good- because people are different and having denominations helps someone to find where they “fit-“ or what helps them to pursue their relationship with Jesus…but sometimes the purposes and intentions of denominations get to be more focused on their doctrine then on Jesus Christ…who, if we look at the early church-formed Christianity…shouldn’t this be the most important thing that unites us all?!?!?
And Especially with Eucharist…for this is supposed to be a symbol for ALL Christians to UNIFY them together to remember that Jesus’s body and blood were shed for ALL...that means ALL, every single believer/follower of Jesus Christ. If we exclude people, how is that showing the world that Christianity, that Jesus Christ is different…that he is NOT of this world?!?!

Ok~ that’s my spiel for the day!

Praying that you are strengthened and encouraged wherever you are at today by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!

For His glory,
Alana :)

Nyumba ya watoto yatima

2008-03-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

Translation: Orphanage

**NOTE: Sunday and Monday's entry is the post before this one!!!

Monday March 3rd

Well, I was looking forward to a new week and I got about 8 hours of sleep- but I found myself getting ornery as I got a new teacher this week: Merina. When she speaks English she has the hardest accent to understand and that is with the English she knows. Anyway, so I was a little discouraged at lunchtime and feeling SO tired again.
During my break I did a little writing and studying and then met Grant at 2:45pm to go to the Orphanage. It was about a 25-30 minute walk and it was absolutely beautiful the whole way!! As the school here is tucked into so many tall trees I can barely see the mountains peeking out…it was wonderful to explore what is 30 minutes behind, or “in back of” the seminary!! It was very humid today as it rained last night and sprinkled this afternoon, but we walked through like a small rainforest with lots of palm/banana trees- and then emerged at the railroad tracks which we followed East then for a little while and since we were up a little higher and in more of a clearing I had some houses and small corn fields with the mountains on my right side, and to my left more palm trees and some scattered women working their rice fields! We kept walking, exchanging greetings to the people outside of their houses/walking by. We walked through another area and I have never seen so many tall/skinny palm trees- it was a beautiful view! Then we walked up a slight hill where there was a large school (primary school up to Form 6) that was built by the Sisters’. The view of the mountains behind was wonderful and Grant told me to take a picture as a view like this in America one would pay money for (perhaps at a resort/lodge)!! Haha Then, we walked through a tunnel of cool-looking trees (plumeria) and I even got to smell a flower…it was lovely- just like the Plumeria lotion Bath & Body Works sells back home!!! :)
We arrived about 3:20pm and the children 3+ (to about 6 maybe) were outside on the playground or in an entry-way like area. Three came running over to us right away and as I bent down two practically leaped onto my lap!! We just sat with them for 15 minutes or so…they went to get a couple biscuit cookies for a snack and then one time 3 tried to sit on my lap. I took one little one out of a play pen- and her bottom was wet with urine…one just gets used to damp butts, and therefore damp laps (mine)! :)
It reminded me of the time I was working with the non-profit org. Latreia this past summer in Minneapolis. We had brought a small youth group from Nebraska to a center for inner city kids to come during the day- like a ½ day camp where kids are able to eat a meal/play games/sing, etc… one time when there was all sorts of about 1-3rd grade kids in a room and I think we were singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Well, one little 3rd grade boy just completely peed his pants…I mean, I looked over and it was running down his legs into a puddle on the floor…so I took the child to a helper so he could get cleaned up and I went to get many paper towels to wipe it all up…but in the meantime, another child slipped and fell in the puddle of course… haha- oh it was an experience!!!
Anyway, then a Tanzanian woman who comes a lot (she spoke some English and attends a University here) showed me the two rooms of babies. One room had about 10 cribs in it and that was for babies 0-1 year. There was a set of triplets (the mother died), and a set of twins. Then the next room over,there were about 10 more babies aged 1-2 and they were ornery. I went back to the room with the tiniest ones and the woman who could speak English was taking pictures with her cell phone, so I decided to ask her if it was possible for me to take even one. She gave me very short answer in Swahili, but it was an unfamiliar word that I understood to be no. well, then another mama told me it was okay and so I got my picture taken a couple different times with two little babies in the same crib. They liked me as they smiled and laughed when I looked at them!
It was a wonderful time! None of the children- the 3-6 year olds or the babies was afraid of the mzungu (white person)! Probably because Grant comes at least a couple times of week for an hour to “play” with the children- more like sit with them and let them crawl all over you! After I spent some time with the babies I went back out with Grant, and a young girl decided to hop on my back, and my neck!! Then at about 4:15pm we brought them to a room for their video time and we said good-bye to some of the Sisters (as the Catholics run the orphanage)!
On the way back there was more people on the road…some still slashing grass in the fields by hand with a small blade (I will never complain about using an electrical weed-eater ever again!!!!)…some biking, or walking back from town…mamas cooking over the fire outside their homes, a young girl that said “take my picha (picture),” and my favorite site: a man climbing a coconut tree :) The clouds were much lower now, covering the top of the mountain, but of course it is always a sight to behold! I told Grant, I could never get used to this...I just love it too much!! We returned about 4:45pm and had some peanuts leftover from tea time, and I went back to my room to change out of my khakis and hiking boots- I was pretty sweaty from the walk! Jan came over to announce the internet still wasn’t working (its been a full day now) and Lars and Harold climbed half of the tower to look at the box… I did some writing and went to dinner for Pizza! It’s actually pretty good here- once I take off some onions and mushrooms the rest is ok- cheese, pineapple, some tomato and maybe “sausage” (hot dog). Godfrey stopped by my room as well to return the book he borrowed for the bus to and from Dar es Salaam this past weekend. I asked Pastor Hafermann about where he was going for his Tues, Wed, and Fri services this week and if I would know any of the evangelists/pastors…and he said all three…hmmm- I may take him up on all three…but if I want to make it up the mountain again on Saturday I don’t know how tired that will make me!! haha But this week we are going down the other primary paved road…the direction where all of the people I “know” are!! :) That gets me more excited!! However, that means I need to be more focused and work quickly this week- I may not write as detailed of an entry for the village visits, as most of you probably know the drill by now!! :)
Alright, time to wash the few clothes that can’t be washed by Eliudi and hopefully get up early to do a little exercise finally!!

Kwa furaha moyoni,
(with joy in my heart)
Alana :)

"Mungu ni Mwema"

2008-03-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Translation: God is good.
(I finally found a kanga with a saying that I could understand and really liked and a color that was excellent)!!

Saturday March 1st

Breakfast was excellent this morning because the mamas made pancakes!! They are just like the ones we eat at home (without syrup)!! To solve the no syrup problem I just put peanut butter on them of course (therefore I decided I would forgo my (almost) burnt peanut butter toast that I have every other morning)…along with some banana pieces!!!! Oh my! This was a new experience for me as I just started eating bananas a month ago! Bananas + peanut butter = Excellent! Now, throw in some chocolate chips and it would have been superb! :)
I chatted online and tidied up my room a bit from 8-9am and then I met Jan and Sofia and Roger at 9 and we waited a half an hour for the bus to come pick us up to bring us to town…but of course, waiting by the laundry area has its pluses as Eliudi was working and always comes to chat. I love Roger’s enthusiasm and determination for learning the language- he just keeps asking Eliudi questions about his job and how many hours he works/when he gets up in the morning…all to practice speaking!!
We got into town about 10am and for the next 2 hours we stayed in the market…we stopped at MANY kitenge/kanga shops to look at the material…I still haven’t seen it all because there is SOOO Much beautiful fabric…it’s so hard to decide! We stayed a little longer in some shops than others as Jan drew some examples of bags and was trying to communicate with some tailors to see if they could possibly make them. It helps that most shop-owners know some English too, so in case one’s Swahili fails…communication can still continue! It is hard to shop with others sometimes as I wanted to stop in almost every fabric place, because I’m trying to find a kanga that has writing on it that I understand! I can read most of them, which makes me happy…but its hard to find one with a meaningful phrase and a good color! Most of the phrases are spiritual, for example, one kanga I liked said something about I put my hope/trust in Jesus for every matter…
I was also looking for a neat pattern/good color of a kitenge so I could give one of my teachers at the Language school the material on Monday as she is a tailor and can make me a top!!
Well, I was more successful than I planned on so I was excited! I found something for a top and I also found a beautiful kanga that is black/blue/white and says “Mungu ni Mwema,” or simply: God is Good! I love it! Once we were finished looking around the market we walked around some of the main stores and went to the supermarket as well as a small “bookstore” to get some pens and small notebooks…then we continued walking a couple more blocks to Ricky’s!!! We spent the afternoon (about 2 hours) just eating and chatting and relaxing. I had a pepsi float with some ice cream again- and also some chocolate cake…and this time I had the lasagna-which was wonderful!!! Two Saturdays in a row now of soda/ice cream/chocolate cake… that’s enough splurging for me!! We took a taxi back to the school about 3pm. Sofia had wanted to go swimming at the Oasis hotel in town, but we all decided we were too tired (and I didn’t really feel like swimming anyway).
I got back and grabbed my computer to work on writing/uploading pictures and went over to a different block to grab a chair and sit in the nice, warm sun for 35 minutes until tea at 4pm…well- Emily (the Tate’s almost 13 year old daughter) walked by and decided to sit down and chat so therefore I got nothing done…but it was good as Emily is more lonely now since Megan (who was 14) left a week ago! Emily is more mature than her age lets on to and it was fun to chat about life- and I was actually able to ask her many questions about life back home growing up being home-schooled and having a father as a Baptist preacher. Her parents have many many rules and Emily says she understands why they have rules but sometimes its hard when she looks at other friends and feels left out. I also asked her about her feelings when her parents told her one year ago that they were moving to Africa…how she left her relatives/other friends, etc. She is a wonderful writer and she even showed me some of the friendship poems that she and her best friend from Ohio had written back and forth to each other over the past year. It’s hard to believe that a 12 and a 13 year old girl wrote these poems as they are so meaningful and from the heart… it humbled me to remembering that even young people can be passionate about their faith in Jesus to have what I would say is more of a mature spiritual thinking.”
After tea I worked on some writing before dinner at 6pm and I also worked on some more after dinner. I was SO exhausted by 9pm that I was going to go to bed at 9:30pm and get up early to do some exercise…but Jan came over and we ended up chatting for about 20 minutes- she’s great to talk to but I felt bad because I was just so tired… so of course it’s 10:30-11pm before I get to sleep finally!

**Oh-I almost forgot: I was able to pick up my clothes after breakfast…we found Eliudi so I could take all of them down off the line!! It was definitely worth the $1 I paid to have him do it as it saved me LARGE amounts of time and energy!! :)

Happy March!! (think there will be snow/ice still on the ground in one month from now)???!?

God is good,
Alana :)

Sunday March 2nd

After breakfast, I had about 45 minutes of free time before we were supposed to leave so Jan did 2 braids in my hair and then I picked up my room- organized my bathroom and my desk area as Jan wanted to use my room for the day (because she only has one small room and wanted a little more space I guess)... About 8:45 we gathered at PH’s car and Olivia and her parents (North Carolina) ended up coming with us as well. (Olivia is the 24-yr-old Harvard grad/pole-vaulter that is scarily similar to me…I climbed the mountain with her in January~just a reminder)! Also, Grant (the American Methodist missionary that has been living here for 8 years and who came with us last week) joined us again and he drove separately with 2 young men who are in the Leadership training progam here I believe!
Today we did NOT go to a Maasai village so I was pretty bummed…but it was still an alright day. We did not drive far at all as it was about 20 minutes on primary road, then another 35 or 40 on secondary road. The area we went to today is of “regular townspeople” and is mostly Islamic…however there was a church built and dedicated in April of 2005 and there is an Evangelist in this area. We arrived at the church at 10am and stood around outside for a while…Olivia found a baby to hold as soon as possible of course! Then, about 10:45-11am we were brought to some shade by a couple nearby houses and served tea (not Maasai chai of course), but it was good-almost too sweet! We also had what looked like dinner rolls- the bread was very thick and it was very good to dip in my tea!! I discussed (with Grant) some of my plans for the next week and a half- of things I still have to do before my parents arrive and then some plans for when they do arrive… so tomorrow I am going with Grant to the nearby orphanage finally!!! I will finally get to love on some little children :)
Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty much like a typical service that we do in the Maasai villages…there was a choir (even dressed alike) that had walked 1-2 hours to come to the service- and also a small children’s choir of about 10. I’m getting ahead of myself though. After tea, we had to wait around about another 45 minutes as PH had to register a family and one other person for baptism today. As guests, we were all given small wooden chairs to sit on up front perpendicular to the altar. During the beginning of the service the choirs sang an awful lot but I enjoyed the children’s choir as this one little boy on the end near us was SO good. He had such beautiful big eyes and one would never guess the powerful voice that came from his mouth. I should have taken a video but I was too enthralled watching him. He was so good at the hand motions/ steps they also did!!
The service was about 2 hours (11:40-1:45pm) including communion/offering and there were about 100 people in attendance at worship. However, there was SOO much to auction off after the service so therefore the next hour-until 3pm was spent outside the church in a semi-circle with a couple different evangelist’s/church members auctioning off a goat, 4-5 chickens, kitenge’s/kangas, soap, bottles of soda, bags of fresh beans, stalks of corn, stalks of green bananas, Lots of sugarcane… Olivia’s parents bought the goat for the church to have an Easter feast ($43!) and PH of course bought a lot and gave it all away…including chickens, kitenge’s, and a couple bottles of soda for the two boys that stuck to his side for quite a while (including the adorable boy that loved to sing)! I asked him his name and found out that in English it translates to Job (like the book of the Bible)…but in Swahili it’s like Abuyu or something- I’ll have to check on that. It was a really long auction and I was thankful when it was over and we were able to go back in the church and had food waiting for us. As the guests, we were the only ones that got to have spoons. We could serve ourselves, which I was also thankful for as I did not feel like eating goat meat today so I had some rice and some greens that looked like spinach but it wasn’t…supposedly it’s pumpkin leaves- I think that’s what PH said!!
I was able to get a picture of Job holding a chicken and some beans in his hands…and I also took a picture of a woman with her baby on her back- she wanted to see herself in the picture!
We took of about 3:40pm…but Grant left first in his Land Rover, and seriously about 20 people packed in his car so he could drive them all down the road a ways closer to their houses…it was mostly all children- and I remember watching one man pick up a little girl and put her in feet first like he was loading her onto a conveyor belt or something!! Haha
We got back to the school about 4:15pm, in time for tea break so I had some popcorn and then PH, Sofia and myself left to go into town to visit Amina at the hospital again. We stayed about 15 minutes and chatted in her room. I bought a bracelet from her and it was perfect because I was looking for a beaded one of the Tanzanian flag colors and I was glad to pay her and help her out as the money she gets from selling these bracelets is how she gets food… or when she calls PH and tells him she is out of money for food…so PH gave her some money, prayed for her and we chatted about how the swelling on her legs has gone down because she painted her toe-nails a new color recently! Haha The ARV (anti-retroviral) medicine she is on to keep her alive as she has full-blown AIDS makes her legs swell terribly and she showed us…from her knees down- gosh, even her ankles are so swollen. But she is able to laugh and hey- if painting her toenails a different color every other day brings her some joy than I am glad! I did find out today that she had a young boy who was 2 ½ yrs old and he died about a year ago… guess what she had named him?? Hafermann. (as in Pastor Hafermann)!
We drove back to the school and got back right before dinner at 6. It had rained during dinner a little bit, and when we left the dining room we could tell it was going to do something…well- it was the most beautiful rainbow I have EVER seen that was right above the school…I have never seen a full rainbow so close and THAT vibrant before where you could literally see ALL of the colors- even the violet which is often so hard to spot. I took some pictures, esp. because a faint double rainbow also appeared- but because it was so close I could only get half of the rainbow in my camera lens! So that half of the sky was a darker blue/grey color and then if I looked in the opposite direction it was a bright yellow/orange. Harold, Jan, and myself just stood in awe for a few minutes! Then I came back inside to start writing…and unfortunately there is no internet connection because it had stormed a little bit.
Hopefully I’ll get this posted tonight-but it may not be until tomorrow!!

**Note: the reason Jan wanted to “hang out in my room” on Sunday was so she could surprise me by cleaning my bathroom…well, I came back early for once so she only got the floor done- but that is the hardest part to keep clean…it’s literally impossible when the dirt is red and the shower curtain isn’t long enough so some water splashes up whenever showering… haha-but at least it will maybe be clean when my parents get here in a little over a week!

With love,
Alana :)

Spar-letta

2008-03-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

Explanation: I couldn’t think of anything else clever/better to write for this post of 4 different days… it is the soda I drank on Friday and in America we call it “Squirt” :)

****NOTE: in the last entry I mentioned that you would probably have to wait until I am home in a month to see more of my pictures on a different website...well I have discovered that to upload all of my pictures to a website works MUCH better than trying to upload 8 pictures 1 by 1... So, pretty soon I will post a website where you will be able to check out literally ALL of the pictures I have taken!!!

Tuesday February 26th

Class went great today as I went from 8-12 and got 2 lessons finished!!! I was feelin pretty good when I went to lunch at noon and was looking forward to my afternoon off. I caught up with some more e-mailing (still not totally done yet), worked out a little, and took a nice shower before dinner. Last night I went to the common for the first time (in the evening) and it was nice because a couple teachers were just watching some news on TV and I was showing Godfrey the Wartburg website and International student admissions and such…then I came back and did some studying and I don’t even remember what else- but I only managed a little more than 7 hours of sleep unfortunately.

Wednesday February 27th

I overslept breakfast for the first time- therefore I ate in my room…not a good start to the day already. Usually morning devotion is always great to start out the day- with all the students and teachers gathered and people sign up to do a morning devotion with a song whenever they want to. However, I do not enjoy it when some of the teachers will do a devotion and it’s just, okay- here is a few verses, let’s say “Baba Yetu” (Our Father) and finish our song… I know and understand how important it is to hear scripture, but when they just “throw” a few verses out and say, “Here’s the Word of God for today- that’s all,” or “the text explains itself” I get frustrated because I want to say- What does it mean to you??! Even, if it’s just 2 sentences! I spent a half and hour taking the test for Lessons 40-45 and then ran back to my room to grab my bag and went out to the car to meet PH, Luka, and Moreto, who also came with us! We took off about 8:50am, and I was already super tired, so I tried to rest a bit- but it only took maybe an hour to get to the village today. We arrived at 10am to probably one of the most “progressive” Maasai villages around (according to PH). The church we drive up to is made of red brick and a dirt floor and some wooden benches. We are brought plastic lawn chairs in the shade of some trees outside where we chatted with the other evangelists for a while before tea and maadaazi (sweet bread-like mini donuts, in case you forgot)! The first sacrament is definitely one of my favorite parts of any village visit day…I also love the liturgy that goes along with the sacrament of Communion! :) I was thankful for chai to come so I had something to occupy myself with ( I decided not to read as I thought it would be a little disrespectful)…but more than I bargained for because as soon as the food/drink was brought- along with it came Tons of flies… oh my…I have never been so annoyed with flies in my life! And for some reason they liked to make dive bombs into my chai… therefore Luka called my chai a “swimming pool” for the flies…except that I had to pick them out. PH helped me- but I think there was a total of 8 different flies I picked out! Haha but Maasai chai is just so excellent so of course I finished it!
Then we walked around the area from about 11:15-12:15 and I saw what PH meant when he said “progressive” village. (One could also interpret “progressive” as “modern”). The main or head Maasai elder (man) is pretty “rich” and therefore not all of the houses are made of mud/dung with the thatched roof… we visited an area where there was a building- with electricity, and about 8 separate small rooms. A woman showed me inside and brought me to her room at the very back end. Not much communication was needed- just some exclamations of “safi sana!(very nice)” from me! She showed me where she plugs her cell phone in and also how she shuts off the light at night. Instead of walking over to the doorway to turn off the switch, there is a cord from the light in the center of the ceiling all the way down the wall to her bed- so she can just reach up and shut it off! Also, out back of the house…these aren’t just “outhouses,” as there is actual plumbing, so a working toilet!!
For the next hour/ hour and a half we sat around chatting- mostly Luka, Moreto, and myself…inside the church for a while, then it became too warm so we moved outside in the shade where PH was registering for baptisms. The guys asked me how come girls/women in America do not have shaved heads and I explained that unlike here, a bald head is not considered a sign of beauty…so therefore, women in America grow hair!
The service began about 1:45-2pm and lasted until 5pm as the choir had many songs. There were also 13 babies and young children baptized and it was just a packed service again so therefore communion took longer also.
One of the things that still amazes me (I have mentioned this before)- is the great clash of tradition and modernity when I see the Maasai talking on their cell phones… and especially when cell phones ring in the middle of a church service…even coming to East Africa out in the middle of the bush, cell phones still are not turned off (the rich elder’s phone went off twice)!!
Before we exited the church, one of the Evangelists auctioned off a few small bottles of juice with biscuits that were brought for the offering.
Of course, after the service is over and everyone is outside, I cannot get very far. PH and Luka go to collect the things from the altar, Moreto goes to talk to some Maasai men, and so I’m left alone with the crowd of girls and this time even the mama’s all surrounding me like I’m this spectacle…which, in a way, I am to them. But of course they are trying to speak to me in Swahili and they don’t understand when I want them to go slower- or even if I take a second to think about what they said they all laugh and think I don’t understand- when sometimes I do, but it just takes me a minute. (sigh) oh well- such is life I guess…I’ll keep trying my best!
Finally, after maybe only 10-15 minutes Luka came over and told me that we needed to eat. There were only two separate bowls so Luka scooped a ton of rice into the bowls (one for PH and one for me)- and then he had to put like 3 chunks of goat meat on mine along with a lot of sauce. Now- here’s the thing- the sauce always adds great flavor, but when you have to use your hand it is MUCH more difficult to roll the rice into a ball to eat as it just falls apart. Also- it’s not that I don’t not like goat meat-but typically there is SO much fat on it and that is definitely a texture no-no for me- and also, when you have to just pick it up and practically tear it the meat gets wedged in your teeth like you wouldn’t believe- maybe this is one of the reasons why men eat separate from the woman… I don’t mind being an “honorary man” most of the time, but this is one instance where I would definitely rather be more “petite” about how I am eating the meat! :) Again- I do my best…and whatever is left over- rest assured-will always be eaten after we’ve left!!
We took off about 5:45pm and on the drive back I was able to see another beautiful sunset (when there weren’t too many trees in the way). I really have not been able to see any because where the school is located- we are really tucked back into so many trees. We returned about 7-7:30pm and I did a little more catching up before I crashed for the night.

Thursday February 28th

Roger gave the morning devotion today on John 11:20-27 in which Jesus says “I am the Resurrection and the life-he who believes in me, though he dies, will love forever…” He was a Baptist pastor at home in Ohio, and it was his first devotion…of course I appreciated someone actually talking about what it means (their own interpretation) as opposed to just reading it :) Class went well- Ancy is super encouraging and I don’t feel like I have to be so hard on myself! Today was SADLY Sister Aileen’s last day and I will dearly miss her- especially as she has always been in the study gazebo next to me the whole time! I think I have mentioned that she literally laughs before she can say words, and her laugh is super contagious and I love it…it makes me laugh! So I got some videos of her laughing today!! When I was videoing her after tea break, her teacher-Godbless (23)- came in and set his chair down and hit a couple modeling poses before he got embarrassed! It was a great video!! :)
I stopped my lessons at noon again today- so I was free all after lunch. I had a pretty important e-mail home to write and that took most of my afternoon. I went to tea for a few minutes at 4 pm- we had popcorn for the snack and they make it excellent here! Then before the volleyball game at 5pm Jan braided my hair!! She just told me today that she braids- and I was excited because I have been trying to do even easy braids and I am helpless! I also miss having my hair braided- and it’s cooler! I will have to take advantage of her services the next 2 weeks!! :)
Anyway, volleyball was excellent fun!! Lars (Norway) bought a volleyball when he was in Dar es Salaam last weekend and so this week he planned a game for the language school students as well as the teachers if they wanted. We had about 12 people- along with some other secondary school guys that joined in. I was the only girl on my side and Emily (12) was the only girl on her side. Her dad, Roger played also…and Harold is just great! He continues to surprise me as he was moving all over the court to go for the ball, and has a mean serve as well! We only played from 5-6:15pm (about 4 games) but Harold decided to be the referee for the last 2 games and did a wonderful job!! A few of the lady teachers came to watch, and some other secondary school boys did as well! Jan played a couple games, and teachers that played were Godfrey, Godbless, and Mcharro. Godfrey had never even played before but he caught on very quick! And I mentioned before that Godbless is a basketball player…which means he fits the stereotype of being one because he is super tall (he’s gotta be 7 feet!), therefore he was obviously VERY good at standing in the front near the net to spike! I just enjoyed it so much because it was some physical activity outside-with the mountains as a nice background setting- (then again, to me, mountains make a nice background setting no matter where I am!)- and people of different cultures and races were just having fun playing a few simple games of volleyball together!!
We had dinner (with bananas for dessert!) so I was a happy camper!! I finished up some writing and went to bed at a decent hour for once!

Friday February 29th

Sister Aileen left this morning. Sad day :( And then, Jan decided to move into Aileen’s gazebo…I wish she wouldn’t have so I would have had an empty place to gaze at in Aileen’s absence… but, one can’t hold on forever. LJS truly is a “station” with people coming/leaving... my lessons went well until 12pm- and then after lunch Jan helped kick my butt in gear about my laundry and convinced me to finally just have Elidui- the laundry guy- do it… it would only be 1000 shillings. So she helped me gather all of my clothes- it was a lot because I had only washed some things by hand a couple weeks ago. During the afternoon I rested and worked on catching up in my blog…I’ve been behind this week so I apologize!
I went to tea about 4:10pm and chatted with Jan, Sofia, and Julie for about 20 minutes, then Julie and I ended up talking for the next hour and a half and at 6pm when everyone else started showing up for dinner, we hadn’t moved from our table! She (and her family (from Ohio) in general) have been such a blessing and I have always longed for an older female mentor. I think mentors are super important to have-as it is good to have someone else’s opinion besides your parent’s…however I have never found a married woman in her late 20’s/early 30’s. Anyway, we were able to talk about marriage (as she and Roger married at 20), and faith (her family is Baptist) and struggles and she opened up to me about her childhood/young adulthood living with her family… I was feeling very refreshed after dinner, and then Jan and I decided to walk down about ½ mile to the other end of the school- by the secondary school and volleyball court where there is a small duka (store)… I’m glad I’m finding out about these things now that I am leaving here in 2 weeks! haha We were able to buy COLD soda for about 35 cents! A 350ml bottle! I had something called Spar-letta…. It is the same as the soda “Squirt” to us Americans!! So we walked back and chatted with our sodas, and then when we were almost close to our rooms we run into Sofia and MeeHa who were out for a walk…so we all chatted/laughed for a few minutes as it grew dark! It was now about 7:15pm and I was going to get my laundry off of the clothesline outside but it was gone, and we realized that Eliudi had put it inside to continue drying. So he took all of my clothes back off the outside line, and put them all back up again on the inside line…so much work, even if it is his job. Well, we spotted Eliudi walking by for dinner so we caught up with him and I apologized…and then I started to explain in English (as he speaks English)-but he and Jan encouraged me to use Swahili, and I said ohhh fine- I don’t think I know how to say what I want to say but I tried…it was pretty good-haha. What’s great is that most of the workers know English so they are SO wonderful about being incredibly patient while we struggle to practice with them and to answer their questions- but that they can explain in English what they said helps me to understand better! I’ve mentioned this before- but it really is excellent…and I don’t feel as “stupid” practicing with them, as it’s SO important to practice actually speaking the language- it’s the BEST way to learn…
Finally, about 7:30pm I came back to my room for the night feelin pretty good! I chatted online for awhile, and did some more writing…. I am also trying to work on a very short mid-term paper but I think because it is just a summary of what I’ve learned/experienced so far I am finding it harder to write as it’s So hard to summarize and be specific, therefore I have been putting it off!! I went to bed by 10:45-11:00 so I could get sleep before going to the market on Saturday…

Happy Leap Day!!! :)

Trusting Him,

Alana :)

Penye nia pana njia

2008-02-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Translation: Where there is a will there is a way…
*on the way to the village PH mentioned that somebody once told him he must be crazy to take all of the roads he does to the places he goes…but I am reminded of this Swahili Proverb as God’s will is stronger and more powerful than even our own will and He can instill his will in us…

Sunday February 24th

What a day, what a day!! WHEW… Today was all sorts of fun and wonderful experiences…I think THIS was my best village visit now!!! I went to breakfast and had a little time after to write about my day yesterday. About 8:40am I went out to wait at the car and then we took off about 8:50!! All I knew was that Harold (from Germany) was coming with Luka and PH and me today…well, it was a full car again as Godfrey and Moreto (friends/teachers) also came along! And a man named Grant…he’s from Oklahoma and has lived here for 8 years (in his mid 30’s I think). Anyway- he travels with PH maybe once or twice a month.
We only had to drive a little over an hour…although the last 20-25 minutes were terrible! Today our problem wasn’t mud/water it was a little hillier, and although it was incredibly dry (this area hasn’t received rain in a few weeks!), it was just uneven road and many potholes!! We were definitely out in the bush today…as we were on a little higher elevation and I could see quite far… all green bushes/trees though…nothing else (besides a few random thatched roofs-Maasai houses)!
The first 15 minutes or so after our arrival at 10AM we sit on some benches under a tarped church made of sticks- it was kind of like a tent! Then we hear a girls choir in the distance and about 15-18 Maasai girls were singing/playing a drum as they were walking to the tent. They had walked all the way from their village to come as guests to this one! So we greet them when they come and clap along of course. Then it was time for the first sacrament: Chai (with Maadazi today)!! About 11:15am Luka and Samuel (the evangelist for this village) came and got myself, Harold, Grant, and Godfrey and they told us we were going to go look around the “shamba”, or field… that was fine with me as I usually sit all day long anyway! I was excited for the chance to “explore” and get some exercise walking around (although it was very warm with the sun shining brightly today)! We walked through much of the green over to a field about a half-mile away…and we went through a small stream of water that apparently never dries up even during the dry season. It felt SO good to stand in the water as it was very refreshing! Then we walked back in the direction of the tent but turned off a different “path” into some more bush as we were now going to see cattle…well, we get to another boma (Maasai grouping- usually a few houses and a little “corral” made of sticks for the cattle) and there were no cattle. A couple men and women greeted us and we rested on some stools they brought us. This whole adventure took about an hour and I talked to Grant pretty much the whole time about my major and what “my” “future plans” both are and aren’t… as anything specifically is up in the air- and will be as God reveals more and more and opens and closes doors… we also talked about mission trips/service trips we’ve done (even to the same city in Mexico: Juarez)! We talked about different denominations as he grew up Methodist but really likes liturgy so he shared experiences of going to Catholic masses with friends- also with his family members in Brooklyn, NYC.
As the 5-6 of us were coming back to the tent, we could see that it was completely filled already…there must have been 50 people sitting underneath it, and then another choir (this villages’ choir) was standing in the back singing also… so we arrive and these two girls choirs are “competing” as PH joked. They were both singing different songs (very loudly, might I add)! There wasn’t much space up front- just a small table for an altar, and then there was a bench perpendicular to the altar that we all crammed on… a couple elders, Godfrey, myself, Moreto, and Harold… PH and Luka were on a small “bench” in front of us (so our knees were practically in their hips)! Then outside of the tent sitting/standing were a bunch of Maasai warriors. It was a packed house today!! The service actually began about 12:45pm I think…and lasted until oh 3:45 about! The service lasted a little longer than “usual” as there many people, two choirs to sing, and many guests had come from other villages so the evangelist, during his time to speak about matters of the church in this village (so Pastor H can here), had many introductions to facilitate…then of course PH had many people to facilitate as well as Harold had to share, and the two teachers, and myself! I am getting much better at my 4 lines of Swahili as I say the same thing in every village! I have added “Nimefurahi sana kuwa hapa” or, I am very happy to be here! (The villagers (those that know Swahili) really seem to like that as it shows that I have learned how to form sentences)!!
There were about 17 baptisms I believe…including a few very elderly women and a man-some young children- and 3 Maasai warrior men (in their 20’s?). Obviously, the Life Expectancy is not very high as Tanzania is still a developing country, so it is very rare to find a person over gosh 70 I would say…but one of the women baptized they figured out she was born probably around 1910 as PH said she told him she was “this high (motioning with her hand” when the Germans left… that means she is at least 98 years old, if not older!! Also, it is a really big deal for these Maasai warriors to be baptized because once becoming a warrior, you never bow your head to anybody (or it would be a sign of weakness, and they would lose dignity, etc)…**Side note: Young children bow their heads to Pastor H for sure, and often the Evangelists, and sometimes even me (as I am older)… The response is for the “elder” to put their head on the child’s head as a blessing…this gesture is therefore stopped when the young boys are initiated into the ranks of warrior hood.
Now, hopefully that gives you a better idea of how important, and meaningful it is especially for these men, to bow their heads so they can be baptized…and these men do it proudly…and that is even more meaningful for me- to SEE how proud they are…they know that faith isn’t a sign of weaknesses…that the power of the Spirit is more powerful than having the title of a Warrior.
After PH’s message, we had communion and two offerings back to back, in which the second one was accompanied with many many items to auction off after the service!! (Including a goat, a chicken, bottles of juice, soap, onions?, a 24 case of glass bottled soda, a few Maasai beaded cross necklaces and another Maasai necklace that has many of the silver charms hanging off from it to make noise when they sing/move!

Well, from the time PH and Luka (who was the assisting Evangelist during the service) started singing # 317 and formed the first 2 people in the circle to begin shaking hands… the rest of the day was full of more adventure…Harold and myself were right after PH and Luka, so we shook hands with most everyone right away as they filed out…and I was only right outside of the church (or from underneath the tent) for a couple minutes, when I look to my left down a few people and see a man maybe in his 20’s (wearing a t-shirt and jeans whom I saw at the service) fall backwards stiff-legged into one of the Evangelists arms…I was trying to watch and shake hands with people still coming out/singing. Then about 6 men have to carry him away from the circle, and they are trying to hold on to him- he must have been convulsing and then the men have him totally off the ground- some are holding his legs, his middle and his arms- and they take him over by a small hut to pray over him. This is all happening at the end of the song/ the beginning of the auction. I looked at PH right away as I knew that this was another demon possession-or to put in less intimidating words- a man troubled with an evil spirit… PH said that he has not seen a man in a few years-because it is normally always women who go to sorcerers (“traditional healers, or medicine men”).
The auction probably took a good half an hour or so as there were many goods!! I was so glad to experience another auction, as the only other one happened a month ago when I did not know any numbers yet- so I especially didn’t know how to bid! I was proud of myself- not just because I was able to buy some things, but because this was something that I could fully take part in and fully understand!! I also hope that it showed the people that I truly cared about being part of the culture. The goat and chicken went first- and PH bought them for the village so they will have an Easter feast together now- as eating a meal together is of high importance to the Maasai! There were about 3-4 kitenge’s and the first one had a really great design so I jumped in on the bidding after it was at “elfu tano” (5000 shillings), well then someone went up to 6, and so I simply said “elfu saba!” and it went to me for 7000 shillings (or around 7 dollars)! Before the auction began, PH and Luka and I decided it would be a good idea to buy the soda for the girls choir that walked from their village…so- Moreto and I went back and forth a little bit, and the people really enjoyed this!! Haha It went to me for 13000 shillings- and then the leader of the girls choir came to get it. There was a small hand mirror next and I wanted to buy it just because I knew Jan here at the school has been looking for one- but Luka ended up getting it for me anyway! Haha Well then they auctioned off a Maasai cross necklace with the same type of necklace the girls choirs wear- it is worn like a choker fitting just exactly around the neck with many little silver charms dangling… I thought it would be good to have something to remember (or represent) the villages by…well I didn’t have to buy that as the Evangelist, Samuel bought it for me! I didn’t even know he was bidding on it for me until PH told me- and then as he’s bringing it over to put on me PH says- now this will mean you’re engaged to him…and I’m like what??! I said softly-maybe he shouldn’t put it on me then... haha but PH said- no, it doesn’t mean you’re engaged- so I accepted the gift! Then I bought another colorful beaded Maasai cross for 3000. Whew- that was enough! I now had quite a bit of bling!! Once the auction was finished we stood around for a little while waiting to eat. PH had to finish filling out a few baptism cards. We were invited to eat inside so I, as the “honorary man” crammed into the little room with a wooden table and chairs to eat some rice with a different kind of orange sauce! The sauces always have such good flavor! It was about 5:30pm so I figured we’d leave shortly after we ate, but of course people had to talk to the Pastor…and he always talks with the evangelists privately before we leave- and he also talked to the man troubled with the evil spirit as well… during this time Harold, Grant, and myself stood outside, and of course I couldn’t go anywhere without a crowd following me- so the girls choir all surrounded me, especially after Godfrey took a picture of me with a few of them. Then it’s just a staring contest…well- I purposely lose and pretend I’m interested in something else- but I just keep a smile on my face and let them look at me, and feel my hair and touch my skin and laugh at my bangs… they also tend to like my digital watch- and so they ask “Saa ngapi?” or what time is it? And its good practice for me as the time is still tough to say sometimes! At least one of the girls knew English- but of course she didn’t say anything until the very end right before we were leaving…and I found out we are going to their village on Wednesday so they were all asking me if I was coming and saying “Karibu” (welcome)! And as Grant said, you’ll have a fan club waiting for you when you arrive!! Haha- that will be something new- to see familiar faces besides an evangelist maybe!
PH said that when he talked to the man troubled with the evil spirit, the man said that he had been planning on being baptized today but when the time came to go see PH to register he could feel it “coming on”- whatever that means… I guess- he could feel/sense that this evil spirit was going to react- and obviously it would if he wanted to be baptized… so the man decided he better not. Well- he is coming to the village we’ll be at on Wednesday to be baptized…so we’ll see how that goes!!!
We finally took off about 10 minutes to 6 and everyone followed us to the car to wave good-bye…a bunch of the girls were outside of my window in the back and waving and putting their hands on the window!
I listened to Julie’s ipod again for the hour drive back home and it was so nice and relaxing. We dropped Moreto and Grant off at 7:15 at the school entrance and then kept going into town as we had to drop off a maasai man that was sick (probably TB). I was going to get off early, but I figured, what’s another 45 minutes??! We also got to see Amina again(who I found out is 25 and does indeed have AIDS)…we then went to a couple different rooms to see some more Maasai patients that PH had brought just this past Friday- and also to pray for them.
I finally arrived back in my room about 8:15pm and I wrote as much as I could about the day before I got ready for bed and collapsed!
At the end of the day I have dirty feet and dusty clothes and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but I am so completely humbled by the attention lavished upon me by these people…especially the girls choir… I am overwhelmed once again by the kindness/hospitality of these “strangers.”

I’m struggling with what to do these last couple of weeks before my parents arrive as I LOVE going to the villages and I especially feel like I miss out on so much learning and other experiences if I do not go… and I could literally go all 4 days of the week that PH goes out, but that will leave just 2 days for learning more kiiswahili with a teacher- and I am cutting down to only studying in the morning from 8-12 so that really lessens time for language… although I have surpassed the 40 lesson mark which Wartburg students are required to do I still want to continue learning a little more (hopefully if I shoot for doing 50/60 lessons that will be good)… but I also have much writing to do and my body definitely needs rest and sleep as that’s important too.

Monday February 25th

This morning I planned to get up at 6:45 but I overslept until 7:02…it’s a good thing I never make it to breakfast until like 7:09 every morning anyway! :)
I have a new teacher this week named Ancy- she is beautiful and overly nice- haha, but I guess that’s ok as I don’t feel as stupid taking forever to make a simple sentence as she compliments non-stop! It was very warm today and that didn’t help my tiredness already… so after the break (during which I wrote) I finished up my exercises and said that I was going to be done for the day at 3:15pm (45 minutes early). I just couldn’t do anymore.
After tea, I went to town with Mr. Korean man (as I call him) and Jan. He has a car, so it’s a lot faster to go to town. I really only wanted some a bunch of bananas but Jan needed help getting passport pictures to send to the government to apply for her student residency permit as I had done my first week…and of course I knew where the photo place was. So, we got her photos, and we went to the market so I could buy 5 bananas for 250 shillings (5 cents each)!!! I felt like I was cheating him! I also stopped at the corner supermarket to buy some more cereal, apples, and peanut butter for my morning toast (I think the kitchen is almost out)! I had to go to a “duka la dawa” or a medicine store a.k.a. pharmacy to buy some eye drops for Sister Paulette. I treated myself to a pineapple Fanta soda on the way back, and then went to dinner at 6pm where I discovered that 3 people now have Malaria- Sofia, the german kindergarten teacher has it for the 3rd time in 6 months, and Julie (Rogers wife) and Mrs. Korean woman! Julie looked ghostly the one time I saw her today- and I guess hers is a level 3…it’s better to catch Malaria at level 1 obviously because the higher level the more serious (closer to death) it gets. I do not know how many levels there are though… Julie and Rogers 7 yr old daughter, Amy- had to get tested 3 times last week as one test was positive, one was negative, and so they went to get a third one done in town.
Whew- that’s something I’ve definitely been blessed to not have to deal with…I’m praying that I can hold out for another few short weeks!!

Well, I’ve got quite a bit to work on yet this Monday evening… I keep trying my best to upload pictures, but you might have to wait until I return home in a month where I can put so many more in albums and post a different website!!

Have a great last week of February!! Thinking about you all!

with a joyful heart,
Alana :)

chocolate keki

2008-02-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

Translation: chocolate cake! :)

Saturday February 23rd

(once again, trouble uploading pictures...will add some as soon as I can!)

I got up and went to breakfast at 7am, and then it was time to say good-bye to Sister Annette who was going back to her convent in Arusha (north Tanzania), and to the Stubb Family (Randy & Carol- Megan, Nathan, Marissa) as they were also going back to Arusha to Makumira University where they teach music!! PH says LJS (the school) is just like any ol station- with people arriving and/or leaving at all different times… it’s hard to believe the time to start saying good-byes has come already… just under 3 weeks before my parents get here now! I worked on trying to upload pictures, however certain times are better than others… then about 9am I went out to the “parking lot” to meet Jan and Roger so we could wait for the bus that goes to town every Saturday about 9:30am. The bus dropped us off in the market actually so Jan (it was her very first time to town) and myself walked around the market (we only had about 35 minutes before we had to meet a contact) and I showed her where some things were and we looked at many different kitenge (African cloth) shops and we found one shop that had some beautiful ones in it. A single kitenge is so large that two people can share it, so we had the woman cut it in half and I can still easily use it as a wrapped skirt- it is a beautiful darker blue design! Then I bought another one as it has many snail shell designs all over it and I LOVE the snails here- they are so cool!! (I forgot to mention in my last post, when one was sliding its way across my classroom gazebo that the Swahili word for snail is konokono)!
Then we left the market and walked a couple blocks through the main shops to the supermarket so I could pick up some dry cereal, and we both split a package of toilet paper (as we are only rationed one roll a week at the school…and one is not enough when you need to use toilet paper as tissues also)!! Then we walked to a small corner gas station where we waited for a woman to pick us up! Jan was given this couple’s name and number as a contact as they live in Morogoro and work with University students, doing leadership training and holding a “Fun, Food, and Fellowship” night every Friday night at their own house! While we were waiting a young boy about 7-8 maybe walked by with a large plate of bananas on his head (he had an even younger boy with him)…I was really craving a banana, so I bought one for 15 cents today…
Vivian picked us up and we drove a couple blocks further down to a gas station that also has a small café attached to it: Ricky’s Café. This café is excellent as the people that own it are of Middle Eastern descent and they are cake makers/decorators! They make shakes/floats and cappuccinos and lasagna and they have a few different kinds of ice cream (not in a freezer like the grocery store-but like a real ice cream shop)!! It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon to sit outside where there were many tables and chairs- just chatting with this couple (her husband, Ralph, joined us) with the mountains in clear view behind us!! I had a burger (it was alright- but any burger you get here is made of different meat) - and a coke float (so a coke with vanilla/chocolate ice cream) and ALSO chocolate keki!!! (chocolate cake)! I have been craving cake since Sister Annette started joking about it as dessert my first week here!! It was a splurge day, but well worth it!! :)
Ralph could only stay maybe 10 minutes but he bought everyone’s meal even!! Ralph is from Texas originally, and Vivian is from Georgia so Vivian has this great southern drawl still. They are Southern Baptists and have lived in Tanzania for about 25 years total, but in Morogoro here for about 7 years! We ended up chatting for about an hour (mostly listening to what Vivian and Ralph do, have done- and how they ended up here (being called of course). Jan also shared about when she lived in Kenya for about 4 years (that was 10-14 years ago though) and the organization she works with now (who gave her Vivian and Ralph’s contact info)! It was about 12-12:30pm and Vivian was going to give us a ride back to the seminary so we didn’t have to take a taxi, but she first had to go home, which was just fine as they live on the base of the mountain, so it was wonderful to drive just uphill slightly (on terribly bumpy dirt road)… and they have a beautiful home!!! We pull into her driveway after the native Tanzanian man (a “housekeeper”) opens the gate and she mentions that she has coconut trees, bananas, mangoes, lemons, avocados, oranges…I think that is all…right in her yard! Oh-also a tree out back that has tons of clumps of small purple “berries.” I tried one- and the first bite is like that of a grape, but then it was just a bad aftertaste and left my mouth really dry. I don’t remember the name of it…it was oval shaped- a bit bigger than a grape!
In Tanzania, the outside of the houses basically look the same (the ones not made of sticks/mud, and/or dung), but the inside is what counts… as the inside looked plenty “modern”- or like a typical house and style like one would see in the U.S.! It was small, but there were many rooms- and a nice, long screen porch out back…and they even have a guest house in their backyard!!
Then we drove down a couple different roads to a nearby friend’s house…a different couple (both from Texas) and they work with “True Love Waits.” Another beautiful, gated home with a male “housekeeper.” They had an absolutely excellent view of the mountains (the rest of them as they are already up in the base of it)! They also had a few nice white comfy sofas, and more modern furniture and such inside! A 12 inch TV but with a DVD player and their ipod with speakers! Jan and I sat on one couch while Vivian talked to the couple about some book-keeping business…I petted 2 of their 3 grey schnauzer dogs!!!
It was wonderful to see a different part of Morogoro and see some homes/ find out more about the lives of these people working as “missionaries” in a more “modern” setting than PH! I say “missionaries” because really, we are all called to be missionaries (wherever we are at)!!
We arrived back at the seminary about 2:15pm but then Jan and I brought Vivian in to the computer room so Roger and Julie could meet her as they are also Baptists (well, Independent Baptist)…but it ended up being another 20-25 minutes before I went back to my room as Vivian sure can talk!! I sat outside for about an hour- figuring out more details for when my parents get here, and I was able to work out and sweep my room again, as it collects so much red dust/gravel! After dinner I ended up talking to Julie for a bit outside of her room, and we talked about music- how she plays the piano and is a solo singer- she also has arranged some of her own music…then we got into Christian artists…as she likes Michael W. Smith and the Newsboys/Casting Crowns…she shared some other artists with me- but I don’t know as many solo artists- and she didn’t know many I mentioned because she said she grew up listening to nothing but Southern Gospel music!! Then she gave me her ipod and pointed out a few artists for me to listen to!! I finally made it back to my room by about 7:15pm to finish some cleaning, and then chatted online with some people the rest of the evening. Still haven’t gotten any more clothes washed… :(
I went to bed at a decent time- about 10:45pm or so because I desperately needed to get up at 6:35am to shower!!

God’s grace and peace be with you today and always!

In joyful love,
Alana :)

It's a small world after all...

2008-02-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Explanation: (sung to the tune of “It’s a small world after all”~ this song rings true when you meet up with people half-way across the world that are from the same area as you)

Godfrey, myself, and Sofia!

Thursday February 21st

Class went better today, but I also took a half hour break from 9-9:30am as I went over to the kindergarten area (which is a building with a few classrooms) and I met Sofia who took me to a couple different classrooms so I could take pictures. I am helping out a Wartburg friend who studied here last winter term- she is doing student teaching now in Iowa and is teaching her class about Tanzania! It was fun-as I had not been over to see the Kindergarten yet. There are not many children- only like 12 that come normally…but today there were only 8 as it had really rained last night and so the other children couldn’t make it. Students go to Kindergarten to be prepared for primary (grade) school…therefore they can start at age 3 and go for up to 3 years!
I studied during break (after lunch) and took a test at 2:30pm- and the rest of the day I did some studying/blogging. A new student arrived on Wednesday and started class today…her name is Jan and guess where she is from!?? South Minneapolis- MN!!! She works with an environmental organization in Kenya and will move there after finishing the long course here in May! (I think she is in her late 30’s/early 40’s).

Friday February 22nd

Happy 2-22 to everyone!!! It’s only the best day of the year! (For those of you that do not know- I have a thing with the number 22!!) :)

I got almost a full 8 hours of sleep which of course helped immensely with my attentiveness and retention in class today!! The morning went great as I was able to remember words and figuring out sentence formations went much more smoothly! There was a small snail (maybe the size of a small apple) that inched its way across our gazebo as well…I really enjoy snails!! I liked them at home too, but I have never seen snails so big in nature before! (I only remember getting to have a pet snail in 4th grade when the class paired up and we got to do different experiments and tests with the tiny snails)!
After lunch/break I went to my afternoon session from 2:30-4 and then quickly grabbed a couple Maadazi before heading to town with MeeHa and the Korean couple, as well as Sofia and my teacher from a couple weeks ago, Eliza! We walked all around looking at different shops that had kitenge material (the beautiful kinds of cloth material)…and we went to the market where Sofia and I bought a banana for a snack (only 10 cents and we could have gotten it cheaper…)!! Unfortunately the grocery store closed before 6pm today so we just missed going there. I will have to return tomorrow now… anyway, Sofia and I stayed in town as as we wanted to try something new (well, a new experience for me anyway!) so about 6pm Sofia and I walked a few “blocks”- down a street- to meet Godfrey(a teacher/friend) at a restaurant called Savoy. Everything is outdoors really- with maybe something overhead…it’s the most beautiful weather so it works just fine! Sofia and I talked for a while and watched Godfrey play a few rounds of pool. I also bought an English Tanzanian newspaper for about 50 cents…I try to buy a newspaper when I am outside of the school now because otherwise I cannot find an issue to keep! Then Sofia and I played a round of pool and I think it took us the same total time to play one game as it did for Godfrey to play like 3-4 rounds! Haha It was like 30 cents to play and Sofia and I spent at least 15 minutes trying to get one ball in to figure out who was stripes/solids!! (hey, I hadn’t played in a looong time)! Well, then somehow I got 3 balls in a row in…and ended up winning!! It was a lot of fun as I finally remembered/grew more confident in playing! Then, Godfrey had ordered 2 plates of kiti moto (pork)…it was very small pieces…mostly fat, but what was meat was great! It was in a darker orange sauce that was Excellent…very similar to BBQ!! I think a band was slowly getting ready to play, but in the meantime there was some loud music coming from a speaker…some good Tanzanian pop/hip-hop! We took the taxi of Godfrey’s friend ($2.50) and we were home by 10:15pm! Now, I am going to sleep so I can get up for breakfast and have a full and productive day of cleaning/studying/washing clothes/ catching up!

Only one more week in February to go!!! Have a fantastic weekend!!

in joyful hope,
Alana :)

Don't judge a village by its chai...

2008-02-20T05:34:00.000-08:00

…or chairs, or food (or lack there of)

Explanation: something that I had found myself doing after my first week was “judging” a village… like, if they had a church then we would probably get chai And a snack in the morning, and even soda with our meal after the service…or if the village hardly had any chairs for us- just some small stools and only chai then the people probably wouldn’t be as friendly…. It sounds ridiculous but its true. So, whether or not we get Chai AND maandaazi or chapati, or nothing at all, or whether or not the chairs are “nice” or not, or if we get soda… one cannot judge the character of a village and its people like this!!

probably one of my favorite pictures!!

a glimpse of the "mazingera" (or environment) of the place I sat all day (and where the service was held)

Pastor Heri serving PH communion after everyone else

Tuesday February 19th

I was still tired today obviously, but was grateful for a casual day in a village and a break from my lessons. Luka, PH, and I left about 8:45-9am and after about 35 minutes we picked up an evangelist named Luka, and then a couple more evangelists, and then we picked up the evangelist Moi who I was so happy to see again (it had been a month)!! The last person we picked up was Pastor Heri ( he was one of the three pastors with us a week and a half ago and I did not know his name- so in the picture from Fri the 8th he is nameless)! The secondary and tertiary roads were interesting to get through again- but we made it eventually…about 10:45-11am. Today was much more relaxed than normal as this was a very small village- and not a typical Maasai village as it is very “progressive” according to PH- therefore they had some houses that were not made of mud/dung/sticks/bamboo- and I guess the father has made education a huge priority for all of the children/young people. A different evangelist greets us and the 9 of us sit on plastic chairs/stools underneath many large shady trees for essentially the next 2.5 hours. I was definitely the only female again all day and did most listening of course! PH and Luka left a couple different times for about 20 minutes or so- looking around the area I guess. A young man- who was also 21 I guess- chatted with me for about 20 minutes because he just finished Form 5 in Dar es Salaam and is home for a break. Therefore, he wanted to speak in English and we talked about our majors, and about the differences between American and Tanzanian weather and food! We had the first sacrament, chai, around noon or 12:30 and then I did more listening… they told a lot of animal tales/stories- about snakes, baboons, cats/dogs, cows- and once in a while PH would only have to say a couple words and then I got the general gist of the story. About 1:30pm I walked with PH and a couple others down the road a bit to see the church as of now- just made of sticks- and there are some small benches in side- made of sticks…PH said- imagine that…in America many people will complain about sitting on padded pews- how would you like to sit on a stick/small log. One would have a very sore bottom… anyway, the first picture is of PH with two little boys holding his hands….they were adorable and immediately latched on to him and grabbed his hands when we started to walk to the church and then again back from it…and then when he was sitting in his chair next to me the two little boys just loved to stand near him and play with his hands…
For the next hour, people slowly gathered under the tree- and Luka and I chatted before we finally began about 2:30pm. It was very small today… mostly all women/children. In fact, the only baptism was one young boy- about 14-15. The service went by fast again- and we even had men’s choir-which I LOVE…and Moi is great at leading with his loud voice and confident personality…it’s really great to hear the men sing in kiiMaasai- it sounds really cool :)
We ate after the service of course- about 4:30pm-rice and some beans and potatoes in a nice orange sauce :) Also…many times when babies don’t actually breastfeed (which is rare) they will drink milk out of a small gourd….well-at this village there were some larger gourds and moi shook one of them and says to me “maziwa” (milk)…I said “Najua” (I know). However…they pour out this kind of “milk” into glasses and people were drinking it straight…even PH I think (unless he put in sugar). I have seen what it looks like before (similar to the runny yogurt at the school) and I cannot even look at it without my stomach feeling queasy… well- they eventually put a glass in front of me- and I did NOT want to drink it because I KNEW it was going to taste as bad (if not worse) than it looked but I wanted to be a little respectful so I took a small drink and tried to keep my look of disgust at a minimum before I handed my glass to Luka. I don’t know the best description…watery cottage cheese…or think of the smell of sour milk- that’s maybe been left out of the fridge for a day or two… I was brought a nice glass of wonderful chai though!!! :)

We left about 5pm and eventually dropped everyone off…I was tired and lonely- haha. Before going back to the school PH, Luka and I went to a small hospital in town to visit Amina (I had not seen her since my 2nd week here in January)…she is a young woman- couldn’t be more than 25- who has HIV or AIDS and has been taking ARV medicine that’s literally keeping her alive… PH told me some drama that occurred a week and a half ago when the other center was at threw her out and her father had to come get her and she had stopped the medicine…well, anyway- she is still alive and we visited (well, PH did) for about 10-15 minutes, and then returned back to the school here about 7:15pm. I had some studying to do as well as more writing the rest of the night.

**Thought I would mention something about today’s baptism. The people in the village have all been baptized, but PH said he noticed this young man (14-15) sitting off to the side very quiet and PH asked him if he would like to be baptized and smile spread across his face and he just shook his head yes enthusiastically… turns out, he had the name of the type of ants that were trying to run all over my legs in the village a week ago, and he told PH that he was “just the Herd Boy.” So, he asked his mother and got the OK… he also therefore was not literate and so I think PH gave him a small work book (grammar) to start with.

Wednesday February 20th

After breakfast and morning devo I had class all morning…it went alright- I’m still moving pretty slowly. After lunch I took some time to write so I brought my computer outside to sit in the sun for about 35 minutes. My afternoon period from 2:30-4 just went downhill as I lost all energy/motivation to focus and my head started to hurt. I grabbed a couple small bananas at 4pm tea break and brought them back to my room to eat so I could just sit and relax and try to upload some pictures.

I went to dinner feeling pretty disheartened, but thank God for Julie who actually asked how I was doing and then actually stopped to sit down and talk with me...and while doing so, sharing a bit of her own struggles and even opening up very briefly about her past... it was such a blessing to chat with her...even if she and her husband are very outgoing baptists!! :) I also received a small package from the Wartburg College GMCS office (Global and Multi-Cultural Studies)- it was a Wartburg Newspaper from Jan 28th, and a notepad and even a couple pieces of candy! Those starbursts sure tasted great!!!
I really think I just need some sleep. I think that Im feeling a lot more tired because I stopped taking an iron supplement and another vitamin as I wasn’t feeling well digestively a week and a half ago… though I am feeling better, on the flipside I now feel like I am more lethargic.

Maybe I’m feeling the weight of mid-terms and the winter blues here…I don’t know how it’s affecting me, but somehow it is??!

**Note: I forgot to mention…the older Maasai men, they actually wear gym shorts underneath…so they don’t just have their red pieces of cloth slung casually over half their body…thought I would inform you! :)

Praying that you take some time to rest as it is very important…and as I seek to do the same!

struggling to stay afloat,
Alana :)

"And a little child shall lead them...

2008-02-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

Explanation: Isaiah 11:6 (Jesus)

Sunday February 17th

Today was probably my best day here yet~ and probably one of my favorite village services!!!!! After breakfast, we left about 8:45am…all 9 of us, before Pastor Malaki joined us! The Stubb Family came with PH, Luka, and myself…so the 3 children (Megan(14), Nathan(11), Marissa (12) and their mother, Carol sat in the back while Godfrey, me, Randy, (and eventually Pastor Malaki) sat in the middle!!! The Stubbs are great~ Megan is excellent at kiiSwahili and has already surpassed me by 5-6 lessons!! The parents are very nice, but boy they sure can talk a lot!! (you all thought I talked a lot…) haha Seriously…sometimes I just like it to be quiet in the car- to listen to music, or to just look out the window, and I really do like to listen to the conversation that PH/Luka/ other evangelists or pastors usually have to see if I can pick up anything!! However, Randy decided to talk to me pretty much the entire way to the village- about Makumira University where they teach music. *Note: the Stubbs are a very small/thin family- that is why 4 fit in the back so well! :)

Well, we drive for about 10 minutes maybe when we get an incredibly flat tire. PH pulls over immediately (thank God there was an area of extra road on the shoulder for buses)! So, we all get out of the car and Luka is very speedy at changing the tire and within 15 minutes we are going again! *Note: they do not carry spare tires here, they carry extra tires…
About 45 minutes into the drive, we pick up P. Malaki on the side of the road and shortly after that we turn off onto a Secondary Road that seemed to go straight forever…however it was very bumpy as we went from one side of the road to the other to avoid various dips and potholes and puddles of water/mud-sometimes there were patches of water covering the whole road- we prayed that they weren’t too deep! After what seemed like an hour (probably only 30-45 min) we turned off on yet another “road.” Now we were to the Tertiary part of the trip…basically following some tire tracks through the bush… there were a couple terrible parts of the grass that were submerged in water that we had to get through… and then we stop because we see that just ahead of us has eroded: ½ the road is dry gravel but the other ½ is a watery, muddy mess. Well, Luka and Malaki have been directing up until now, but then Luka gets out to figure out how to go around this bad area. We follow him through some trees and then a small child (about 9-10) suddenly appears with a huge smile on his face and he shows us the way. We follow he and Luka until the little boy has shown us back to the “road”…more like a path… and then he gets in and sits on Luka’s lap to continue pointing PH in the right direction…right up until we stop before the brick-built church! I give Randy the credit for remembering this verse… it was great because right before this child appeared Randy and I had been sharing previous village experiences and we were talking about how being here, in this culture, it makes the Gospel come so alive- meaning, I feel like I could be walking around with Jesus…
I think we arrive around 11-11:15am and after a few greetings Carol and I head off into the bush to find some trees to use as a restroom. Now, every village visit up til now I have been able to wait until returning to the seminary, but those roads were so incredibly bumpy that I found myself needing to go… so I relented and was thankful for the company!! Haha I’ve gone to the bathroom in a few crazy places before when I was here 4 years ago, but it was still akward, knowing how many people were just beyond some trees in the church, and many Maasai women were cooking at a fire as well… and it probably wasn’t the best day to wear bright orange :)
We join the rest of the group, now standing outside by a sand pile engaging in conversation… a couple small kids come over and Megan absolutely loves kids and since her Swahili is so good she tries talking to them… we learn the name of one of the two: Kennett. He is a little rascal and trouble-maker but has the greatest laugh and a cute smile….when he wasn’t smirking! Anyway, we took a couple pictures with them…and of course, the close-up pictures I have with them the children aren’t smiling! But sometimes, children don’t know to smile for pictures so they scowl or just stare… we go into the church and there are a few benches and some other children hanging out… well- somehow this game got started between Kennett and myself because he climbed up on the bench and reached out to me and so I would “catch” him and swing him around… he just loved this and squealed with delight every time I did it…over and over and over again… about 15 times!!! J I enjoyed every minute of it as I haven’t gotten a chance to play with many children…(it really helped to have along the 3 American children because it made it a lot easier) and Kennett just clinged to me! :)
Then the Mamas brought in chai and shooed all the children out of the church. We were served wonderful chapati And maandazi…but the chai was NOT TRUE Maasai chai!!!! I was bummed and surprised as the Chai is obviously absolutely wonderful!! But PH did say this was a very poor village, so it is possible they did not have means to obtain the ginger to grind. After chai/conversation PH and Malaki go outside to register for a few baptisms and the rest of us stay sitting. The Stubbs, myself, and Luka were on one bench and Godfrey was behind us. Women and children start showing up and a choir gets assembled on a few benches and so they start some pre-service singing (the men of course gather outside to chat before the service). After a few minutes Luka gets up to go bring in the kneelers and the rest of the things used so the spot on the end next to me is open for quite a while until suddenly the most beautiful Maasai man just plops down next to me (of course, I did not know this until after the service as I really only saw the side of him)…although right after he sat down he turned to me and asked me “Are these liturgy books?(referring to the stack of 4 books between us)” in excellent English.
I remember looking at my watch at 12:30pm while the pre-service singing was still happening and I told Carol that if we start the service by 2:30pm we would be doing good!! Not too much later (maybe 30 min or so) we actually started! It was about 2 hrs again- and just wonderful!! The girls choir sang and also the “Von Trapp Family Singers” as PH liked to call the Stubb Family! They sang a couple songs in English and one in Swahili in the beginning of the service…then there were a couple baptisms- a baby and a young boy…PH gave the message and this one was a lot harder to understand- or maybe it was just harder for me to concentrate as we were all squeezed onto this bench together…so on one side of me was this Maasai man and the other was Marissa (the Stubb’s daughter with Down Syndrome)- she is a delight, but sometimes its hard for her to pay attention for so long, so she was taking over my “personal space bubble” as we might call it…actually- after riding packed in the car for over a month now and thinking about my other experiences…there’s not really a personal space bubble anymore! Haha
Communion time rolls around and typically those baptized go first, then the young Maasai warriors, because supposedly, if they do not go right away they will not go at all….well, the 8 or so young men were sitting in the rows behind us but it looked like PH was motioning for us to go, so we started to walk up- and well, I just kept going because no one else was getting up behind us… so I ended up taking communion with all of the warriors first! Haha- then again…every village we go to I am always an “honorary man” anyway as I eat first… :) During the offering, the Stubb Family sang “Thy Word” and they sang in English, but Megan would sing the verse in Swahili right after…so it was a beautiful flowing mixture of kiiengereza (English) and kiiswahili!!! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but after the offering, there’s a tiny bit of liturgy left, then the pastors kneel facing the altar and the whole congregation sits to have a couple minutes of silent prayer/reflection! Then the Pastors/evangelists exit first and we start to sing # 317 and file out to shake hands until the last person or child is out! PH says a blessing, and then the service is over and people slowly disperse!
Well, as I went around shaking hands I ended up being across from 3 Maasai men (including the one sitting next to me)…and I knew that he would want to come talk to me as he knows English and the men were looking in my direction… (I was also surprised and intrigued about where he was educated though) well, sure enough… he heads in my direction and comes right to me- (I was standing nearby Randy and Carol) and says “ I want to know you better- where are you living?” haha and I said-right now? well, I am (we all are-motioning toward the Stubbs) all from Morogoro- the Lutheran Junior Seminary. Then Randy talks to him about for awhile as Megan and I step a few feet away to take pictures of the children that were all lined up in a group nicely. Then, he came over to me again and asked if I was married yet…I said not yet- but I am with someone back home! He acts very surprised (about not being married) so I explain that in America many people do not get married until their mid-20’s, like 25 or so, because they like to finish school first. He then asked how long I will be here for, and I said only one more month. PH came over and said “Marko!” so then I knew his name at least!! PH said- I wanted this guy to be an evangelist!!
Then we had to eat- with my right hand of course! I must say…I am getting the hang of it!! We all chatted/said good-byes to different people… I was able to get a picture with the two Evangelists: Moses and Mathaeo (matthew), as well as another Maasai man and Marko!! Except, in the picture he is not smiling and he had a wonderful smile and excellent teeth! Now half of our group is in the car ready to go, but I was still outside and Marko told me that the children were saying- is this an ndege (meaning airplane)- and he told them no, it’s a gari (car) …and they said-what’s that? He thought it was funny… then he shook my hand and told me- “God-willing, we will meet again.”
Malaki then grabbed my camera and had someone take a quick picture of us…little did I know that Marko happened to be in the corner of it! so now you can see his great smile!
We finally get going and Luka drives back on the Tertiary Road and gets us through the mud/water…then we hit the Secondary Road and we stop briefly to see this Evangelist Center that Luka had built…and also the water pump that pumps clean water…PH pumped it up and down quite a bit and then the water finally came! Luka and Malaki did some pumping as well…and then I tried it!! It’s not hard, but you have to pump it MANY times so I got tired- but I did manage to make the water flow!! Almost as soon as we get back in the car it starts to downpour for about 30 minutes… then PH and Luka switch once we are back on the Primary Road. We drop off Pastor Malaki and continue back to the seminary arriving about 6:10pm… Luka and I went to PH’s room to look at the calendar so we could start planning for the week my parents will be here…then I went to dinner about 6:35pm- everyone else had finished but Sofia (who is finally back after being gone about 9 days in Dar for a volunteer meeting through her missionary organization) and Godfrey were there to keep me company!
The rest of the night I accomplished uploading a lot of pictures and then just reflecting… I hand-wrote a bunch of thoughts/feelings down… it was just a good night of brokenness and I learned a lot…but therefore also didn’t go to bed until late.

Marko was a wonderful guy- and yes, I think the Maasai are in general a beautiful people…but marriage proposals from other Maasai men, I was definitely like, that’s alright- not exactly into half-naked men that carry a large knife/club on their belt (for safety!)…however, Marko was so beautiful to me- maybe because he spoke English well that helped me to see a different side in a Maasai warrior… he was gentle, humble and intimidating all at the same time and to say the least, I was flattered! But who wouldn’t be… yes, I may have been homecoming queen at Wartburg in the fall but what does that mean??? It has absolutely no meaning here… so I’m not anybody special…just another mzungu (white person) that is treated with the same respect as any other visitor to the village… I really don’t deserve all this attention- they give attention to any white person/visitor…but this place really does to wonders for one’s self-esteem!! :)

Monday February 18th

Well… what went from the best day of my time here so far changed to one of the worst on Monday. My new teacher for the week is Amani and he is also teaching during his 3-week holiday break from the University… quite the contrary from past teachers, he explains almost too well- or too much, maybe is a better word. I didn’t even get through one full lesson all day…the lesson was about Mount Kilimanjaro and climbing vocabulary- so that was okay, but it’s the exercise practice sheets that just take me way too long.
I was doing alright until lunch- but then after lunch I was starting to get crabby and tired and so the afternoon period of class from 2:30-4pm was awful…I was useless and I felt very sorry for my teacher. My brain just didn’t want to function…I was ready to cry tears of frustration and just walk right out (I have only wanted to do that one other time…this was worse!) haha Finally, 4pm hits and so I head back to my room for some personal space. It was good to just forget about studying so I looked at a couple friends’ pictures/read a blog as one is currently studying in Botswana (southern part of Africa) and a friend that was in the Sierra Leone! After dinner (which I didn’t eat much of) I started writing about Sunday uploading pictures right away as I had taken so many good ones! However, about 9pm the power goes out and I once again lose pictures (about 5 too)! :( Bummer… so, now you will read in writing and then hopefully soon I can get some pictures up so it will help you connect names w/faces and environments!!!

Blessings for your week!

in His grip,
Alana :)

soko confidence!

2008-02-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

Explanation: market confidence :) (the Fri the 15th writing explains)!

Tom and Sally Roach: the ELCA global missionary reps that we had dinner with (Thursday Feb 7th)!

Sister Paulette, me, Sister Aileen- eating ice cream to celebrate all of us making it to Swahili Book # 2 as well as my half-birthday (Monday Feb 4th)!

THESE PICTURES: Feb 1 Village visit!

Godfrey teaching me for about 20 minutes!

kind of blurry, but right when the rain started before communion!

PH and me~ soaking wet! but happy :)

me and nicole

me and PH with some Maasai warriors!

Nicole, myself, Godfrey eating/drinking more chai after the rainy service!

with the first man that wanted a picture :)

Thursday February 14th

Happy LOVE Day!!! (wait…shouldn’t EVERY day be Love day??!!!)

Godfrey gave quite the morning devotion this morning. Aside from having us turn to our neighbor’s and tell them “Happy Valentine’s Day he talked for quite some time about Daniel 3: 24-30 (I believe). I think others were hoping that he would just finish talking, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as he talks about what the passage means for us… he talks slowly and confidently- challenging us to think. He has great poise and confidence in the way he holds himself and knows how to draw people in and captivate their attention. He discussed the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego…how they were willing to be thrown in a firey furnace for their faith. Godfrey posed the question to us: “Do we have a faith like that?” Harold, a delightful German man that joined us this week, was the first to raise his hand and admit “I don’t!”
Class was good all day~ I studied after lunch as I had a test after my break. My teacher, Gloria, is 20 and she finished From 6 last year and is actually in her first year at the University in Moshi (northern Tanzania) studying accounting. She is teaching here at the school during her holiday break for 3 weeks! She is actually very young it seems to be at the University already- compared to “most” Tanzanian students. I learned the colors- which are quite difficult to remember and some have prefixes. Then we got into a discussion about gender after she figured out that my favorite color was blue (she said she noticed I had a lot of it!) :) She said that when someone has a baby and they want to give a gift, pink is given for girls and blue for boys- nothing different there! We also got into a discussion about stereotypes and movies when she asked about cheerleaders- although she didn’t know the name! She loves movies and asked me about Mean Girls (with Lindsay Lohan) and said she likes movies with Lindsay, Hilary Duff, and Kirsten Dunst! I was able to bring a couple movies and so I lent her one of my favorite “chick flicks” called Center Stage! (She liked it so much she said she was going to watch it again Friday night)!
After dinner on Thursday, one of my roommates had informed me that Luke Menard made it into the Top 24 for the seventh season of American Idol!! He is from the wonderful a cappella group: Chapter 6!! I met them when they came to Wartburg my freshman year, and then again my sophomore year where I was one of two girls serenaded on stage by Luke and another member!! They also came this past fall to Wartburg again but I was unable to see them :( He’s a wonderful guy and I was very excited to “know” someone so I went to the American Idol website for a while to look up some info!

Friday February 15th

Jacob gave the morning devotion on 1 Corinthians 13 (the Love chapter)…and he read us a cross-cultural worker version of this chapter produced by the ELCA maybe?! I will get a copy of it and write it sometime soon!! It was just excellent!! Class was great today! However, 5 minutes before noon the rain decided to come…it poured for about 25 minutes so we had to watch from the indoor classroom. Then, our usual walking path (on the red soil) back to the blocks/dining hall was a river, so we went the long way around-through the school (which had large puddles of water here and there due to leaks). However, 1 hour later the sun is out and the ground is already almost hard again!! After class at 4 I went to town with the Koreans: MeeHa and the South Korean couple who have their own vehicle! It was fun walking around with them…the poor man- he had to tag around and watch us ladies looking at kitenge (skirt material) shops!! So sometimes MeeHa would speak in Korean to them, and then tell me in English so I wouldn’t feel left out- then we would speak Swahili to the shop owners to ask them questions! I felt SO much more confident going to town this time and I could tell that I had improved since going to town on Monday the 4th- almost two weeks more of lessons really helped my vocabulary and confidence! I am getting more and more comfortable with where things are located in the market or other stores, and also with my greetings! Tanzanians are very friendly and most of the time they will always greet you with something…but now, I’ve decided to try and be the first one to greet others and I love to walk away seeing smiles cross their faces and their heads perk up at this pale-skinned girl crossing the communication barrier first! :) We found so many more shops with beautiful material and so I will be going back of course!! The last place we stopped was Pira’s- the infamous grocery store on the corner that is one of the best in town so we park by it every time! I had to pick up some things for Sister Annette and Carol, and also myself! I bought more apples as they were down to 600 shillings (60 cents)! And I splurged on cereal- but the cheapest kind, so it was 5,200 shillings… but well worth it if it helps my digestive system!! :) We arrived back just in time for dinner at 6pm and the rest of the night I spent doing a little studying and caught up somewhat on my posts!!!

Saturday February 16th

I got up and went to breakfast at 7am, and then came back to sleep some more! However…I really should have learned by now that it’s better if I go to bed early and never take naps because usually the workers are always doing something-but really, the loudest ones are the children that are running around by 8:30am playing outside…and the two little Norwegian children that live by me are not very well-behaved… So I do not feel very rested but hopefully tonight I will sleep well! I spent most of the day on the Bread for the World website- it’s a wonderful Christian domestic/world hunger fighting organization and the hunger awareness group at Wartburg, called Manna, that I have been a part of works with this organization!! Well, then I got all excited just for God’s plans for me and what I hope to be doing occupation-wise, etc and so I read a couple of the introductions, are parts of other books that I brought….they have been sitting on my bookshelf untouched and I want so badly to read them but right now I still have more Swahili to be studying and more writing to be doing…but it excited me about being here as well as going home and just about being the church…being part of Jesus’ great commission- knowing that the Kingdom of God is not just meant for later, but for now- here on EARTH as it is in Heaven…and what we can be doing- at home and/or abroad to stand up for truth and fight for justice!!
I sat outside for about 30-45 minutes working on some writing...but I can’t do much more than that because the past two days, I have noticed that after sitting in the sun for 10 minutes I am already drowning in a pool of sweat!! But the actual air temperature is so nice, and so I really enjoy the warmth of the sun! Megan has coined the word “sweat bath” when she sees me sitting in my blue chair! :) I did a nice work out before showering and heading to dinner at 6:10! Tonight I have much e-mailing catch up to do, and hopefully some of these pictures from the past couple of weeks will decide to work! I am in dire need of washing more clothes so hopefully that happens as well…as far as studying goes- well, that may have to wait until after I return from the village tomorrow night! Goodness~ time just keeps flying!! My parents will be here in less than a month now!

**If anyone also has any news on the shootings in Illinois please let me know~ it is hard to find out much here!! This really hits home as the Stubb family (Randy and Carol and kids) who teach music at the University in northern Tanzania are from Illinois and went to the school-they both have taught in the same auditorium… small world, huh?!

In my thoughts and prayers…

Lala salaama (sleep well)!

with sorrow and love,
Alana :)

Practice makes... sentences?!?

2008-02-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Explanation: in my case, practice doesn't make perfect...rather I feel successful making a sentence!! :)

Wed 2-13-08

standing next to the Maasai girls choir (2-13-08)

a maasai warrior baptized (I love that you can see the cross on his skin)!

Wednesday February 13th

At breakfast this morning I had an orange (that was green before it was peeled)! However, it still took a lot of work, as the outer whiteish membrane is much thicker than an orange we would eat-therefore I had to take out the seeds first then peel the thick membrane off, and then tried eating/sucking some of the fruit out-but it’s shaped more like a grapefruit inside. Also, it is much more tart than the oranges we eat! But, I was grateful for something new! Although, I was really enjoying eating bananas…something I’ve refrained from eating my whole life…until the past week! :)

After morning devotion I went to class for a half an hour to finish up my exercises and that way I will start fresh on Lesson #35 tomorrow! I came back to my room and for about 20 minutes was able to talk to about 4 different friends online (quickly of course)- but it was wonderful! I talked with a roommate of mine who was just here in Tanzania for the whole Fall semester and I have never typed more furiously as she asked me about certain people and experiences and I know the very same people or have been to so many similar places- so she understands and can relate completely! It was very exciting!
Anyway, Pastor H and I took off from the school around 9:20am (therefore I got to sit up front again) but we had to actually go into town to pick up the Evangelist for the area (Samuel) as well as Malaki again (one of the newly ordained pastors)!! Then the drive was really only about 45 minutes on almost all nice Primary road- just about a mile or two into the bush we had to go (but that was very bad “road”)!
On the drive everyone was reading newspapers as the President (Jakaya Kikwete) has just downsized his cabinet- cutting some people and adding more honest, and dependable people.
We arrive about 10:45am or so and another man (an evangelist I think?) joins us and we just sit in the church on a bench. One Maasai woman on crutches comes into the church and sits down on the bench next to me so I got about ½ page of reading done in my book… then PH and Malaki waved me over to go look at the herd of cattle that was walking by in the nearby trees. However, the cattle keeps running away from us so Malaki is leading, then PH and then myself but after about a minute we realized that we were not going to catch up with them, and then I felt something on my feet and realized that this was an area where there are Large ants running Everywhere- and they bite…so I started slapping them off of my feet and ran back to the safe zone: the church :)
Well, then PH tells me, ok- we (he plus Malaki and the evangelists) have to go now (of course I don’t know where or to do what) so I guess you’ll get some practice speaking today… so there I was sitting in this church next to this Maasai woman who knows not a word of English. What was I to do?! *(Luka was supposed to come with us today but since a wall fell over at one of his sites because of a storm he had to go fix it today- and although I still would have practiced Swahili with him, he knows some English and is more of a comfort as a companion-sometimes just knowing one friend helps…)
So, for a few minutes I try asking this woman her name (Marea), what she hurt (as in, the reasons for the crutches), and also about her family, my family, and simple info that I know how to say- like what date I came and how long I have been studying the language and when I will leave… (turns out that she is the mother-in-law of the Evangelist (Samuel). She also noticed one of my rings. I wear two silver ones: one with a cross and the other that says God is love… well- I told her what it says in kiiSwahili and then she wanted to try it on of course- and I figured she would want to keep it anyway so I never asked for it back… I have had it for years and so I really wasn’t heartbroken! A few more mamas came in and sat down as well as a few children…and somehow within a matter of minutes I found myself surrounded by about 20 children and about 5-6 mamas! I introduced myself again and told where I came from and I showed them a picture of snow on my camera…and also of my parents and Paul :) I showed a few of them some pictures from my mountain climb and some animals from Mikumi…then it was time to put the camera away! I was thankful when PH and the others came back but then they went to set up a couple benches under a nearby tree to start baptism registration…well that lessened the crowd a bit as Mamas went to register their babies/small children. I realized that sometimes it’s okay to just sit in silence and just sit and smile…because sometimes that’s literally all I can do! The elder mama came to get me for chai and I was excited, not just because I could get a little fresh air, but because I LOVE Maasai chai!!! I went to sit on the benches with the other men and while we were drinking our chai many more people had shown up and they all started to sing! Finally, it was bout 2:30pm and the 8 or so baptisms were registered and we were ready to begin! I went and stood in the back for the opening song and then the elder mama and the evangelist-Samuel- showed me to a spot up front on a bench. I sat all the way over right next to the wall!
The service was wonderful as usual…but it was definitely the best Maasai girls choir I have seen!! They had some awesome choreography (if one can call it that!) and sang quite a bit!! I have a shorter video that I will try and post soon!
In the previous post I added a picture of myself and a couple older Maasai warrior men…they sat perpendicular to me on a bench and at one point they leaned over to ask me my age and then talked amongst themselves and a few seconds later they asked me something about, do I want to live here, (meaning in the village of course)…and then I heard ng’ombe (cattle)…and immediately I knew what they were discussing! Haha It’s funny how when one hears simply one word they can figure out the meaning of the conversation…and especially if it involves a girl. When “cattle” and “girl” are talked about it’s always about a brideprice!! :) So I just laugh and say “labda, labda” (maybe/perhaps)…

This was a packed house with all women and children on one side and the men on the other. It was mostly young warrior boys (in their young teens)…supposedly they have been a Christian congregation for about 3 years now but the only people that were singing the liturgy/hymns from the book were PH, Malaki, the other assisting pastor that rode his bike to come to the service, and myself… granted there are only about 4 hymnals, but I guess it’s the job of the Evangelist to teach them the liturgy/songs…one wonders what has been going on the past three years?!??
I obviously had no one to translate any of the sermon but I catch a little bit here and there and PH is so expressive so that helps. This congregation was SO captivated by PH…it was wonderful to look at their faces, just intently watching/listening to him. He makes them laugh with his actions/antics and knows how to make the Gospel completely relevant in their cultural context… after we sang my favorite song and exited the church, the Pastors asked if anyone wanted prayer and so many went back in to gather up front around the altar. I stayed outside and was surrounded by kids again- just looking at me…some touching my watch, my skin, my hair… and Samuel introduced me to his wife, Esther, as well as their baby. Esther took my glasses off to try them on! Then I showed the girls some of the pictures I took of the choir…my goodness are these kids desperate to see themselves on the camera. So, after a few minutes it was time to eat and I say “Inatosha!” (enough)! PH and Malaki and the other pastor were taking care of some other business so I sat down with the two Maasai men to eat. (Since the evangelist didn’t exactly get the news out that we would be coming for a service, no meat was killed…but that was fine by me!) We had bowls of rice and potatoes and that yummy orange sauce! ooh-and More Chai again!! There were actually a few spoons to use, but I decided to use my hands because honestly, the past few village visits we’ve been privileged to have silverware to use and I feel like I’m getting more of a “cultural experience” or just engaging in village life with them when I use my hands! I’m getting much better and making “snowballs!” :)
We left around 5:15pm and drove back to Morogoro, dropping Malaki and Samuel off in town before arriving back at the seminary about 7pm!

in Him,

Alana :)

Dagaa

2008-02-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

Translation: a stew with fish

**NOTE: these few pictures are from WED...I will add the written post (that goes with these pictures) tomorrow!!

place of worship: 2-13-08

Malaki and PH giving communion

the two elder warrior men that I sat near during the service!

Tuesday February 12th

First of all, the reason that I’ve typically been a day behind or added 2 days together on one post is because the power went out Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday afternoon…for at least an hour or more- and all during prime times for me to upload pictures or add a post!

I got up about 5:45am to do a little workout before I showered and went to breakfast so I would feel a little better!
I had class all day-got frustrated...nothing new there! :) and studied all day during my breaks as well! The only thing interesting that happened today was at lunch… I go to lunch like usual, and typically I always know what we’re having because like I mentioned, I think, there are about 3-5 “different” meals and we just keep rotating. Once in a while the Mama’s will throw in something new…well, I was just putting some food on my plate- some rice and potatoes, and usually there is a sauce mixture (with carrots/meat or just carrots and beans) which is like a dark orangeish color and it’s very good and I like to put it all over the top of my rice/potatoes… so I came to a bowl that looked just like the sauce mixture- saw some darker pieces were in it so I assumed it was meat. Well, I poured it over most of my rice/potatoes and sat down. Thankfully, Randy and Carol sat down by me (the couple w/the family that has been living in Arusha for over a year) and exclaimed, “Oh- you’re eating dagaa! That’s what we feed our dog!!” (It even sounds like dog!) I said- oh that’s just great…what is it?!? and they said “maybe we shouldn’t tell you until you try it.” Hmm… well they said it was very tiny fish and normally I can eat most kinds of fish, however, I took one bite of my mixture and that was all I could handle… I said, yeah, it’s a little fishy (no pun intended)! It was more than a little fishy…I could barely handle the smell of the sauce on my plate. Needless to say I ate only half of my meal!
If you read my post from Mon the 4th when many of us went to the market for the afternoon and I described it, I said that there were large piles of tiny fish… well, especially after seeing that pile of fish and knowing that I just ate some of that pretty much got rid of any appetite for lunch! The fish are boiled and they end up basically flat (and about twice the length of a fingernail)…after I learned that there were mini fish in my sauce mixture I could see silver shining and I was like- well, that’s definitely not meat!! :) No more dagaa for this girl!! And I am much more careful now about making sure I know what is in a bowl…

Siku njema! (good day)

satisfied in Him,
Alana :)

"We're not politicans, we're pastors"

2008-02-12T05:50:00.001-08:00

Said by: Pastor Herb Hafermann (keep reading for further explanation)!

the secondary school (2-10-08)

the classroom we used for worship!

the form 5 and 6 girls after PH prayed a blessing for them

the Maasai girls choir in the courtyard after the service

**NOTE: the views expressed in this post and all of the previous posts, as well as future posts are only MY opinion!!

Sunday February 10th

I have discovered that breakfast is my favorite meal and that 7am-12 is my favorite time of the day! I am loving the morning~ although that doesn’t mean I am quite yet a morning person… (I’m getting better)! After breakfast this morning I took a shower and got ready to leave at 8:30. Olivia joined us again, as well as Godfrey and Moreto (two of my friends/previous teachers)!
I had the privilege of riding shotgun today as Luka was working on building his Father’s house. It’s even more exciting to ride up front as I can (literally) see more! I also enjoy conversation with Umchungaji (Pastor). Once again I am overloaded with more knowledge than my brain can remember, let alone retain on a word document… but I do my best! (I even tried writing today; however, those tertiary roads make it just a bit difficult sometimes)!
Anyway, today was exciting, especially as this was a completely new experience for PH as well!! I said, “something new after 45 years?! This MUST be a historic day!” :)
I say new because we did not go to a village…we went to an all-girls Secondary School (or High School) because they’ve been basically forgotten about. There is an Evangelist for the area but no Pastor has been there so today there would finally be a Pastor! (It wasn’t just a coincidence that today was the day before the Form 6 girls start taking their national exams!) We drove about 45 minutes and then turned onto a Tertiary Road that went way back into the green bush… we passed a couple of compounds that were VTC’s (Vocational Training Centers (schools), and finally came to the Dakawa High School. We arrived about 10-10:10am and were led to a classroom built to hold 40 students (I later found out that the large assembly hall we normally would have used wasn’t available because it is used for the test-taking). There were many metal chairs set up, and a table covered with a white cloth that was to be used for the altar. There were a couple chairs right behind the altar, which PH pointed out to me and then tells me that politicians are behind podiums but “we’re not politicians, we’re pastors!” :)
The service started at 10:30am and was done about 12:45pm. It was very warm inside as there was not much air flow- only a small breeze once and a while from the nearby windows but the service was great! I’m really getting a hang for the liturgy and know what pages to skip around to in the book, and I am even hearing the numbers of songs…although I have to admit that I have some favorites so when I hear the tune I already know which number the song is!! :) *Note: I should mention that there were some men at the service-it wasn’t all women…some of them teachers, some walked from the VTC’s down the road. Two choirs took turns singing a couple songs in the first half… the all girls group of about 6-7 was real good!!! Then as someone is announcing that it will be introduction time there is all this commotion going on as a girl tells something to the two rows of the good girls choir and they get up at different times and walk out the back and stand outside… well, turns out about 15 or so Maasai women and young girls (and about 3 men) have walked from their village to the school because they knew Pastor was coming…so they were warmly welcomed and invited in to sit down… this is all happening during the time Olivia, myself, Godfrey, and Moreto are trying to introduce ourselves (in kiiSwahili of course)! It was a large surprise, but a huge smile crossed my face as I saw who was coming to worship with us- and I KNOW it brought and even bigger smile to PH who was grinning in his chair up front! He was just gleeful watching them sing a couple songs as well!
Godfrey translated a bit of PH’s sermon but it was hard to hear him. We had communion, and the offering (both accompanied with music of course)! Then the Evangelist invited the Maasai girls choir to sing a couple songs in the middle of the circle outside once everyone had a change to file out. I was able to get a couple short video clips. We were served lunch about 1:15pm (actually a decent time for once!) and at the other end of the table were all the Maasai girls/women/couple men since they were also guests! We got to choose which soda we wanted and I was finally able to try the yellow Miranda kind- which is like Fanta pineapple!!
It was good :)

We said good-bye at 1:45pm and before we could come back to the school we had to stop at one of the VTC compounds as the Evangelist told PH that a couple elder women would like to have communion brought to them. We drove to a house in the compound and a guy that looked like he was in his mid to late 20’s welcomes us into the living room where the two women are sitting. So we start with a great hymn and then do a little of the liturgy pre-Eucharist and PH gives out the communion to them and then we of course end with number 317- my favorite! I don’t know where my confidence to sing with only a few people came from (esp. a capella (I still can never spell this right!))…well, I mean I know that God has given me the confidence but it’s really surprising me! I think because I know the liturgy/some songs so well that it enables me to sing with more confidence and for some reason it is so easy to blend in/harmonize. It was just great- 8 or so of us sitting in a living room and having a 15 minute service…it was mostly Godfrey, Moreto, PH, and the Evangelist (and sometimes his wife) singing- I was the only girl as Olivia wasn’t exactly singing.
Then we walked to the next house over, a couple hundred feet away (the Evangelist’s house) to just sit for 5 minutes and PH prayed a blessing on the house and the family, then we left about 2:30pm and drove back to Morogoro. We returned about 4pm and I studied and rested until dinner. After dinner I worked on some writing/studying and the power went out for about 20 minutes… right at 9pm, which was exactly half-way through the African football(soccer) final match!! So I am writing, and I hear this loud groan echo from the common room and from across the compound as many of the secondary school students had been watching as well. PH was at the office writing an e-mail and he stopped by to tell me that he now has an excuse to get some rest…well, 20 minutes later he walks by again and says “well, I’m not too old that I can’t stay up and try to write some more…” haha

On the drive home PH talked about how pleased he was with the fact that the young women studying @ this secondary school were not too sophisticated that they would receive these young Maasai girls so well!! There ended up being a total of 137 attendees and 110 to communion! (I knew the actual numbers today)!
I was also able to look out the window and reflect a little… I realized how I take the sacrament of communion for granted as I am able to get it so often at home… the Maasai and the girls at this secondary school are only able to hold services with their evangelist so it’s a really big deal when the pastor comes because he brings this wonderful sacrament! Also…the offering. At first I really didn’t like getting up out of my seat every time to bring my money to the front…but when I finally remembered that the offering in church is really between just God and me I have enjoyed getting up to go to the front because it is the actual motion of really getting up and I feel like I am actually giving to God by dropping it in the basket in front of the altar. And what I put in the offering is about what I personally feel like offering up at the time… sometimes I don’t want to believe scripture in that whatever I offer God will provide, and tenfold even. It’s more about trust and where my heart is at- rather than, oh the church wants my money again…but the money isn’t ours in the first place - (gosh it even hurts to say that sometimes) but it is also humbling. When I have noticed, all of the children in the Maasai villages each have something- even if it’s the smallest coin, they will put something in.
The more I hear about the Pentecostals and the work they try to do, the more I find myself being frustrated. I do not want to be as it is important to, well, not only love all while serving Jesus-but especially my Christian brothers and sisters…if we do not show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ (no matter the denomination) than how should we expect that anyone without a faith, or with a different faith will ever listen to us?? The reason I am frustrated is because the Pentecostals (I’m generalizing here) go at Evangelism/missions with the mindset of black and white theology… but when trying to minister to other cultures that’s now how we can do it. One’s culture is also one’s way of life, and to tell someone what they can and cannot do is placing a hierarchy between people immediately… Also, PH said that it’s nice to hear songs about how we should be putting our trust in Jesus rather than some choirs that have been influenced by Pentecostals talking about God smiting us all… I’m sorry, but that’s just not the way that Jesus came to us or what he preached. We cannot scare/force people into a faith of love…then that’s not true love anymore… and we know what love is: the cross- sacrifice- 1 John 3:16 “this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” I fail at loving every single day…loving Jesus and loving others…even loving myself (which we have to love ourselves, but not so much as to be prideful)…but every day is a new day and a new chance to try again and to try to do better.

Monday February 11th

Well, after morning devotion we switched teachers as it is a new week. I have a girl named Gloria and right now I do not know anything else about her! She is very sweet, especially as being a Monday, I struggled through the morning lessons as my exercises required me to make up many sentences… during the break I did some studying and took a nap. Instead of the afternoon lesson, today I joined the long course group for their first “orientation” session: an early history of Christianity in Tanzania led by Pastor Herb Hafermann!! There was obviously a lot of information, but I enjoyed it. I don’t know how well the American couple (Roger and Julie) enjoyed it though as Julie was talking to Carol (the wife of the other American couple) in front of me on the walk to afternoon tea at 4… PH always talks about how unity between Christians is so important, despite the denominational differences...and even if the group that’s here now all gets along, it does not mean that all groups do when they come here…I mean, now we have a man from India who is a Catholic Priest, we have the Lutheran missionaries teaching in Arusha, we’ve got Roger and Julie’s family with Roger, a Baptist pastor… and the Norwegian couple is part of a Church of Christ or a Scriptural church. I do not know about the Korean couple, and a man named Harold, from Germany just came as well. Something interesting about yesterday morning (Sunday) is that Julie was asking Carol about what the service here at the school is like and Carol said- oh, just a traditional service with liturgy and hymns etc…and Julie still didn’t get it and kind of sputtered and just said, “uh- what does that mean? What is liturgical? I don’t know that word….” I said, it’s a structured pattern that you can follow along with in a book- it’s great! (As I had been to the Wednesday service) Gosh- I almost couldn’t believe it… here I grew up with such traditional structure and grew very bitter towards it for awhile in the beginning of college…but I have really come to appreciate some structure/tradition in worshiping!! Again, this is my opinion, and the way that I feel spiritually fed!

After tea I came back to my room to work on some more writing before dinner at 6. Julie wasn’t feeling well, which caused she and I along with Randy and Carol to discuss illnesses/body problems for a few minutes- and especially malaria…and how its better if we get it here than in the states because here they definitely know how to treat it, and Carol knows people that have gone back to the U.S. and been mis-diagnosed and ended up getting extremely sick. Then Carol asked me about my time here so far and if being here has changed my future “plans” etc…and also what has been the most eye-opening experience thus far… so it’s good that I’ve been reflecting as it’s one thing to think about my experiences, and another to try and explain to others!! They were telling me about some more of their experiences living in Tanzania the past 15 months or so… I was able to come back and do some online chatting as I hadn’t been able to in a week! :) Then, as I was finishing up adding pictures to this post and literally was 2 minutes away from posting my Sunday blog the power goes out at 8:30pm…30 minutes later I hear the thunder and soon after some rain starts!
Well, it came back on already- that wasn’t even an hour! Except, my pictures that took forever to upload are gone and sometimes the internet connection doesn’t work until the next morning… so you may read this today or not…!

Have an excellent week!

trying to love like Him,
Alana :)

more mikumi pictures

2008-02-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

the entrance!

eating dinner!

Luka, myself, Sophia, and Pastor H

these are the nice huts we stayed in!

the python that PH touched!

stork (I don't know the specific name)

baboon: checkin out the nails!

warthogs @ the lodge's water hole!

impala

wildebeest + some impala

Saturday Feb 9th

It was a low-key day as I got some sleep and was able to finally check e-mail, write blogs, etc... I studied for a little bit and I washed more clothes...I feel like I will be washing every night for a week before I get it all done!!!!

Hope you enjoy the extra game drive pictures... now I'll catch up with some extra village pictures as soon as possible!!!

Pole sana (sorry/sympathy) for the extreme cold...but enjoy the SNOW for me :)

with joy,

Alana :)

ALIVE

2008-02-09T02:54:00.000-08:00

Explanation: the church amongst the Maasai

this is where we held the church service (2-8-08)

back: Luka (another evangelist), Yohane (evangelist), Malaki (pastor)

front: Daniel (pastor), ??? (pastor), a man that was cut out-an older pastor or evengelist

Friday February 9th

I was waiting for today ALL week as my heart was aching to go to another village where there will be maybe 50 or so people. Last Sunday was good but very long and crowded with 500+people in the church and outside (I can only handle so many Swahili-speakers around me at one time)!! :)
After breakfast I went to morning devotion and then I went to class for about 35 minutes so I could finish my exercise practice page and start fresh with lesson 32 on Monday with a new teacher! I was going to try and check my e-mail in the office as that is the only place around here that has had internet for the past 2 days however it was busy and Chuma said that the Fundi (repairman) was coming to fix the internet today. I was hoping to be able to post online when I returned after dinner tonight however the power had went out for about an hour because guess what? Another storm came through for an hour!! The power came back on about 7 though and internet still isn’t working though!! It was fine earlier in the week but this last half I have been more frustrated because I have wanted to put up my posts instead of having them all saved! Oh well~ not much I can do about the unreliable infrastructure :)
Anyway, PH said we would leave about 9am… so I was ready to go however PH had a meeting from 7:30-9 with the Roach's and so I had another half hour. Luka came by and I needed his help to change the light bulb in my room because I was not tall enough J and then we tried to fix a 3-ring-binder (my 2nd “book” of lessons) as it wouldn’t close. Neither of us was successful. We went to the car and waited for PH to come and we eventually left about 9:40am! Hakuna shida (no problem)! It was the first time it was just PH, Luka and myself…but of course we would pick up people- that’s always a given now :)
On the drive we stopped to buy a couple Tanzanian newspapers (one in English and one in Swahili) because I never know what’s happening in the country!! And I believe it was Wednesday that the Prime Minister turned in his letter of resignation to the President as well as other members of parliament. I don’t know a whole lot…but Friday a new Prime Minister was already chosen.

Also, on the crisis in Kenya: 1000 people have been killed, thousands injured, and about 300,000 have been left homeless…due to this ethnic rivalry between the two largest tribes− the Kikuyus and Luos. Nicole who was at the language school during January and was working on Mombasa, Kenya had said that she knows there are refugee camps in Northern Tanzania for those that have fled the violence.

About halfway into the drive we pick up our first extra passenger: Luka (who is either an evangelist or another pastor). Then we pick up Yohane (an evangelist), another man, and eventually 3 of the 12 pastors that were ordained in the big celebration this past Sunday!!!! (Malaki, Daniel, and one more whose name I forget)!
I have decided that I really need to be keeping a notebook actually OUT with me all of the time because so many things happen that I need to write down right away- or PH just has the funniest stories/comments sometimes and I think I will remember them, but throughout the course of a day so much information is coming in and out that there is an overload of knowledge to take in and absorb, but even though I am typically good at memorizing I just cannot remember it all! Yesterday PH asks me (the only woman in the car of course) if I was going to be able to handle being with all these clergymen, because add Pastor H and Luka (evangelist) up front to all the passengers and that’s a lot of clergy!! :) He also was telling Luka that he would probably be good at herding cattle too (as he is obviously a great builder and good at most everything he does)…and that when he owns 100 cattle someday that Luka can be in charge of herding them!! I said, PH just where are you planning on getting 100 cattle?! (I probably shouldn’t have asked as PH could probably easily get them…)! He said, “well- I will get 20 for you!!”
Hahaha- such is the humor of Pastor Herb Hafermann…more to come in subsequent posts!
We arrive around 11:30am I believe. It was a beautiful location with a small mountain close by… sometimes I get mad at myself when I return because I didn’t take more pictures, but again- it’s just so touristy to take pictures and one never knows the reactions they will get when brining out a camera. Sometimes the kids will never stop bugging you to take their picture and I feel that most mamas generally just don’t like it… I don’t want to be disrespectful in any way…just my presence is usually foreign enough and I always manage to make at least one small baby howl.
Most of the men in the car went in the church and chatted on some benches…I brought my newspaper with and “sat” (more like leaned against) on the cement “window.” Soon I had about 3 young Maasai men (teenagers) on my right and about 4 little boys on my left looking at the paper with me. Yohane came over to talk to me and asked me some questions in Swahili (turns out he knows English pretty well and I believe also speaks kiiMaasai)! Also- his name is pronounced just like mine! Johane and Alana… Yohane is actually “John” in English!
The rest of the afternoon flew by as Luka came over to sit by me and we really worked on my Swahili! I struggled, but I worked on forming some sentences! I also helped him with some English words. PH came over and told me I have a new Swahili teacher! :) I also asked him if he had been outside of Tanzania (never) and if he wants to go anywhere else maybe… he said, America. Turns out, he tried to come in the Winter/Spring of ’06 because he was going to work with Habitat for Humanity on building homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast… he applied for a 3-month Visa but they denied him because he did not have a wife! They didn’t want him finding an American wife and then staying in America…
Then, Yohane took Luka’s place and he was talking to most of the children- showing them a Bible translated into kiiMaasai. Yohane asked me if I wanted to try reading kiiMaasai and I laughed and he gave me the Bible and so for the next few minutes I had children around me as I am sitting in the window REALLY struggling to read this incredibly hard tribal language. Yohane told me I couldn’t speak any kiiIngereza (English) the rest of the day! haha
Well, then I showed him some verses in Jeremiah in the kiiMaasai Bible and he looked them up in the kiiSwahili Bible. Then we switched and he picked a couple passages and had me read them in kiiSwahili. It was such a relief to see kiiSwahili after trying to read kiiMaasai- I was thankful for something that I could pronounce!! :) Just a wonderful, surreal experience again…

Before I knew it time had flown and it was about 2:15-2:30. Mama’s had slowly been filing in with their children for the past hour and we were ready to begin. I sat on a bench in the back between Yohane and Luka! The service was wonderful (one of my favorites so far)! There was a nice cool breeze flowing in and up front there was a couple steps of concrete so the pastors were raised up a little bit (therefore I could see easily)! And it was neat to see 4 pastors up front (the other 3 new pastors took turns splitting up the service to get more familiar with it)!! There was a “men’s choir-“so about 5 guys (including Yohane and a couple of the pastors) and then many of the young girls/women sang songs as well! I almost knew all of the pages to turn to for the liturgy- but it was wonderful because Luka translated some of PH’s sermon and during introductions and Yohane had a kiiSwahili Bible so I could follow along with the scripture reading!
And the very end of the service just made my heart overflow with joy as we sang Wimbo # 317 (my favorite, and in English it’s called: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less). As the pastors walked out PH looked over and smiled at me because I told him a couple days ago how much I love to sing that song as everyone files out to shake hands in a circle!!! :) I have the chorus memorized already! I will have to try and take a video of this to show you all. I have many videos that I will also try posting later on as well!!
After the service was over the clergy disperses to clean up and Yohane and I hang out by all of these children around us. Well, he is chatting with many of them, and they make some comments about me I’m sure- but they loved to feel my hair again…and a couple young girls (including mothers) about 17 or so came over and just liked to look at the white girl. They seemed to be pretty curious about my bangs as they pushed them to the side, only to see them fall just above my eyes again! :) Yohane was great to have around! He has such a jovial, friendly spirit about him (like Immanuel and Mliga- the other evangelists I’ve mentioned how much I like), and the difference is that he actually knows English too which is always a big help (when people know both kiiSwahili and English).
About 4:15pm we (the men, and me as the typical “honorary man” in the villages) sat on a few benches outside. One Maasai man sitting next to me asked me (in kiiSwahili of course) my name and where I am from, but then the problem comes when they go further and say another sentence and then I am like, shoot, and I sit there helpless as the other men laugh :) Anyway, food is served…we each had an individual bowl of rice with some kind of greens on top and a SPOON!! No meat, as supposedly some people didn’t get the word that Pastor was coming to do a service today…I however, was just fine with that!
We left at about 4:45pm and it was a good thing as there was a large dark wall of clouds rolling in. We get out of the tough tertiary road and had just dropped off one of the Pastors at his home when the rain started… oh did it rain. It was a bad storm (with some small hail and lightning). We had to drive real slow as it was practically torrential rain. We even stopped alongside the road for about 10-15minutes. The ditches were already rivers so it was a good thing we were back on paved Primary road! The next Pastor we drop off has to first roll up his pant legs and take off his shoes and socks and put sandals on and then we watch him run across the road down through the water-filled ditch to a hut with an over-hang. This pastor, Daniel, was sitting next to me in the car and he was reading my newspaper. He also knows English and so he asked me a few questions- and I showed him pictures from Mikumi National Park as I had pictures and videos of giraffes (plenty)! On the way back, I forgot to mention, we drove by a “farm.” A rich Arab owns a few camels (we didn’t see them) and ostriches and also zonkeys! (a cross between a donkey and a zebra… the legs were striped! A wartburg student coined the name a couple years ago supposedly)!
We continued to drop people off and eventually get back to the school by 6:45pm. I had an apple and a granola bar for dinner as once again, on village days I eat breakfast at 7:00-7:30am, then lunch at 4-5:30pm in the village and that is usually it! It was raining hard here as well though and guess what? The storm had knocked the power out of course, so even though the Fundi had come to fix the internet I still wasn’t able to use it!!

I can never start writing right away as sometimes, the way that God breaks me is to reflect and to cry. Most times I come back from villages and the day goes by so fast and then I’m sitting in my room and it’s overwhelming and it is such a release to listen to music (usually Jeremy Camp, who writes songs exactly how I feel and is very reflective) and to pray and just think. It’s like this sudden rush of emotion hits me when I am suddenly back. During this time yesterday evening the word “Alive” came to me as I thought about the church service that afternoon and all my previous experiences…I’m almost half-way through my experience already and my first 3 weeks of village visits are practically a blur…with what pictures I do have I can remember, but what I will take back with me are experiences and thoughts and emotions that I cannot put onto film, or even fully describe. Yes, I kick myself when I return sometimes, but certain villages I just don’t have this need to take any pictures…I only want to just simply “BE.” To be present. What I will remember and take back with me will forever be on my heart.
The church is SO ALIVE in the Maasai people, and those that are working with them- such as Pastor Hafermann and all of the Evangelists and other pastors that I have met (and those many that I have not)… The ordination of those 12 pastors last weekend was Huge! And I know I keep saying that, but again, I know that I still don’t realize how huge it was/is and probably never will…but Pastor LeeAnn (from my first week) was right: We are living and breathing the early church… I feel like I am walking through one of the Gospels. I started thinking about how I have worshipped with many Maasai in a variety of different places…under a large Tamarind tree, near some smaller bush-like trees, in a typical Maasai hut made of mud/cow dung/thatched roof, in an open-air church made of sticks and a thatched roof, and inside a church made with cement walls... I began to wonder about the hearts of the Maasai and what they really think about Jesus and Christianity and for me, I’m all about meaning… (maybe that’s why God gave me the gift to FEEL so much through music and not the gift of an incredible singing voice)… but this spread of Christianity is still pretty recent in the Maasai villages. It brings me such joy to see these people coming together in one place though, and just singing their hearts out (maybe with some actions too)! And I thought about worshipping under a tree and how it really was a fine place to worship but what is SO great about building at least a cement block church is that these people have some place to gather for a service, and not only that, but do you think that maybe the Maasai are in awe that people would CARE that much about them (about their hearts, their souls, and their culture) to come drive all the way out to them, and then to build a church there. Wow. That is why God made us relational people at our core…and why Umoja ni Nguvu…why unity truly is strength. To build a church it costs $5000, which is a lot, and yet not very much at the same time…

Well, I am glad that the power was restored about 10pm last night, so I was able to put up my other posts from the week!! It is still taking a long time to upload pictures… today’s pictures are 2 of maybe only 4 that I took!

Blessings for the weekend!!

unified through Him,
Alana :)

Mtaka yote hukosa yote

2008-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

Translation: The one who wants everything loses everything (swahili proverb)

**NOTE** Due to either no power or no internet connection all week I have not been able to put up posts…if you want to read in order I suggest scrolling down to start with the Mon Feb 4th entry!!!

Wed February 6th

We had French toast this morning for breakfast :)
I also talked with Pastor Hafermann about his day in the village yesterday…I’m sad that I missed it as it was quite eventful!!!
Class went much better all morning, although it started out a little slow- and at tea time we had white keki (cakey) :) I learned a couple more proverbs including the one mentioned in my title again… I was able to discuss a couple with Godfrey. It’s always interesting to discuss the different viewpoints…

Oh- I also learned that there are 5 different verbs meaning “to wash.” Haha!
*To wash clothes = kufua
*To wash face/hands/feet = kunawa
*To wash oneself = kuoga
*To wash someone else (like a baby) = kuogesha
*To clean (wash) house, car, windows… = kusafisha

The power had come on last night at 10pm (so about 2.5 hrs without) - but the internet wasn’t working so I couldn’t post anything! It must have went out soon after that again because we went almost 24 hrs without electricity (as it did not come back until 6:30pm-Thursday)

After my afternoon class I went to the Ash Wednesday service here at 4pm. It was my first time in the church for the secondary school and it is much bigger than it looks! Goodness did the place get full…there must have been 400 students in there…and then me in the back (the only white person) until Pastor H. enters with another Pastor to lead the service! It had stormed during my afternoon session from2:30-4pm so it was pretty wet and I tried not to sink into the red soil and get stuck walking to church. Church “begins” at 4, but I got there a little after and it was maybe only a quarter full. By about 4:20-4:25 it filled up and the service began. It was the same liturgy as what we do on the weekends in the Maasai villages which I am getting super familiar with and it helped to know the pages we skip around to! It lasted an hour and a half and I don’t know how but these long services just seem to fly by even though I don’t understand very much! I love to sing the Swahili hymns (I’ve mentioned this before!) And even the liturgy, as most of it is indeed sung. But I just LOVE to listen to the students singing! A couple different Forms (remember they have Form 1-6, and a form 1 student is about 12 years old) have choirs and all they use is their voices or maybe a hand drum, which really added to one of the groups!!! I could have sat and listened for another couple of hours! It’s wonderful because if there is no official hymn to sing a choir will just start in. And after the service was over, everyone filed out (front row first, then to the back) and once outside everyone gathered in a large circle until the last people were out. We did not shake hands like in the villages but it was still really neat!!

I then went to dinner and everyone cheered when the electricity came back on (as we were eating with candles!). Then I washed some clothes in my bathroom… gosh it is really tough to wash clothes by hand…I did not get very many done in the hour and a half I spent washing! I did a little writing and studying and went to bed by 10pm!!! I was planning on getting up early to maybe run finally, but it was raining through the night so I knew the ground would be saturated…I definitely enjoyed sleeping until about 6:25am as I needed sleep badly!!

Thursday Feb 7th

This morning I gave the devotion on Jeremiah 18: 1-6 about the potter and his work… how can a pot say to the potter “you did not make me!” just as we can not (should not) say to our Creator “you did not make me!” Jer 18 v. 6 says “ O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declared the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O House of Israel” Sometimes I forget that I am not a product of this world because I deny Christ by the way I life this life given to me…by my actions/thoughts/words. I think that I am the center of my world and I want God to fit into my mold-into my own clay pot (creation)… but God cannot be put into a box or a bag or a clay pot…it’s not about if God is on MY side, but am I on HIS side?? When guilt and bitterness and self-loathing and jealousy are at their worst I am saying to God that He did not make me good enough…or smart enough…or good-looking enough… or talented enough…etc etc etc. I love verse 6 because it humbles me and brings me back to “reality,” or in a sense, a more focused and less idealistic picture. This past Sunday it was put on my heart that I am still just clay and I remembered there was a passage in Jeremiah about that and so I was led to chapter 18. There is a wonderful quote by John Wesley and I do not remember all of it but he says something like “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, etc…” I easily forget that this quote doesn’t mean (and God doesn’t expect me to) do ALL the good…in ALL places…to ALL people. The emphasis should be on the CAN. That’s why it reads, do all the good you CAN, in all the ways you CAN etc etc…we are not capable to, but God is- and He enables and empowers US to do what we CAN… It is encouragement to my heart that God is continually re-shaping/re-forming/re-molding our lives…we are never completely “perfect.” Learning and growing is a life-long process until the day we see Him face-to-face!! :)

We got started about 8am as usual and an hour and a half into the morning lesson I finished book one!! (30 lessons) After tea we started book two (the last 30 lessons) and there is a lot more vocab and things to put together on the exercises so it definitely takes longer! I enjoyed my lunch as well as the break that followed although I studied the whole 2 hours for my test on lessons 26-30 that I took at 2:30. I was feeling more confident at the end of today as I have finally “caught up” to my other short course friends (the sisters and MeeHa) who are in book two already!

During afternoon tea I was able to chat with Randy and Carol (mostly Randy). He’s very talkative and friendly, although they really do not smile a lot :( Anyway, it was neat to hear more about the work they do as teachers at this University. He’s an organist and choral director but I’m not sure about Carol. He told me how many suitcases they had to carry over of instruments/music books this past summer and how they have taken over and essentially made this Bachelor of Music degree what it is because it only “existed” before they came. There were really no books/materials but it “existed.”

After tea, Godfrey and I went to the road to wait for a dala dala…we talked for about 15 minutes and it still hadn’t come. Finally, a few minutes later (about 5pm) one showed up that was half empty so at least we got a seat! I was able to talk to Godfrey a lot more about his life (presently anyway) and what he wants to do but doesn’t know what God exactly wants him to do… He’s become a very good friend of mine and I am so thankful as I am learning so much about someone my own age from a completely different culture with a completely different background that lives halfway across the world from me- yet we share the same faith. I will continue to learn more as it teaches me more about myself and my culture and my own beliefs! We went to the supermarket as I wanted to get some apples and cookies and then we went back to find a dala dala that would take us back to the seminary. It takes 30 minutes by the time we leave from in town to get back to the seminary and the seminary is one of the first stops! I got back right at 6:30pm and I didn’t know if I would miss Pastor H. or not as we were going to meet eat dinner with a couple missionaries/ELCA workers in town… sometimes it’s hard to know the time. We were all Americans, but we are in Tanzania so does 6:30pm mean 6:30pm or 7ish?!?! Well, I went to start getting dinner and then I hear PH calling my name and I am SO thankful as I wanted to go so bad! So I ate my pineapple slices in the car on the way! Turns out, the missionary family from the school, Randy and Carol and their kids are ELCA missionaries and they were who we were going to eat with and also Barbara!! (from Sunday) and then we met Tom and Sally Roach~ an amazing couple that has been working for the ELCA in the Tanzania headquarters in Arusha! I forget the exact title that Tom told me but they are basically the global representatives and oversee all 20 dioceses in the country! So, basically they travel all around and meet with the missionaries and their families and they take them out to eat and/or participate in the different work people are doing (so they’ve been out with PH to the villages)!! Or if bishops come to town they meet with them. Mr. Roach said that they are really just about personal relationships and it’s talking about the good times as well as the problems that arise! They have been doing this job for the past 4-4.5 years but he will retire in June and then they are both going back to the states (probably for good now) to work on Obama’s campaign.
I had the wonderful privilege of sitting across from Mr. Roach and we talked 1.5 out of the 2 hours we spent at this place. We ate at a tiny hotel: Acropol. It has a nice restaurant and bar and boy was it nice to get away for once. I was just in awe (not only at the cheap prices: 7000 shillings for steak!) at the selection and everything looked good. Again, not used to so much variety to choose from!! I finally settled on mango juice and the breaded (pork) Schnitzel (as I love schnitzel and miss German food sometimes) ~ with rice of course, as I can’t get away from that! :)
It was EXCELLENT! But I was super full afterward as I am not used to eating such big portions! That’s something that has especially changed since being here: my diet and health habits… there’s pros and cons of course! I am definitely losing weight, which in America is a good thing, but I don’t think it’s that healthy as having the same thing every day really can’t seem to be. Although I am taking vitamins I don’t know how nutritious everything is. Also, since we don’t get much in the first place I can’t have large portions…I think that is a good thing as portion control is something that well, we don’t really have to or do care about in the U.S. necessarily. The hard part will be to try and maintain the portion control when I go home to practically endless amounts of varieties of food!!

Back to my conversation with Mr. Roach… I can’t even begin to explain how perfect it was that I met him and that we “happened” to sit at the same ends of the table. It’s one of those things that God had planned… a connection/contact that is just what I needed! He and his wife first lived in India for 2 years doing the Peace Corps, then they lived in Washington D.C. area, then they lived in Bangladesh for 4 years (where 2/4 girls were born) and then they moved to Kenya for about 4.5 years and then they moved back to Washington D.C.. All the years abroad Mr. Roach worked for non-profits like CARE (don’t know this one- I will look it up) and Lutheran World Relief- his wife had a teaching degree and followed him to these countries and worked with different primary schools and volunteer programs, then they lived in Washington D.C. a second time because she felt called to go to seminary. She grew up Catholic and started at a Catholic seminary but while there felt the call to become an ordained pastor so switched to a Lutheran Seminary. Then they were transferred to Oklahoma (where they first grew up) so she could preach. This time he followed her and in these years he worked with a number of homeless organizations- helping homeless get transitional housing and he started a couple non-profits for homelessness. They were asked to apply for the position they have now and have been here in Tanzania for about 4 years now!
That was our conversation in a nutshell!! It was so intriguing listening to the places they’ve been/lived and the organizations he has worked with and the work he has done with them! He also questioned my plans to go to Denver Seminary which I was surprised by at first because people usually ask what you are doing and not why, but it’s good to be questioned because it makes one think again and when we “teach” we learn/understand better- whether that’s learning a language or “solidifying” a calling!
We said good-bye and Barbara also mentioned going to dinner together somewhere again (just us!) so I will have to take her up on that!! We didn’t get back to the school until almost 10pm and I had to do some writing and get some things ready for Friday’s adventure so I didn’t get to sleep until 11:30!

Amani kwa wote! (Peace to all) (This was painted on the back of a dala dala)

still clay,
Alana :)

Umoja ni Nguvu

2008-02-08T12:14:00.001-08:00

Translation: Unity is Strength (Swahili methali (proverb))

Tuesday Feb 5th

This morning at breakfast I discovered a toaster (which, supposedly has been sitting in the same place for the past month but I somehow never noticed)…so I had toast, with peanut butter on top… but don’t worry, it was Tanzania peanut butter so it’s natural and nothing is added…it’s much healthier and I enjoy it! I refuse to buy, let alone eat any more American peanut butter… I still feel sick just thinking about it! I also had some of my instant coffee that I bought yesterday at the market!! It is a wonderful treat in the mornings as breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day!! :)

I was excited that the rest of the new people were able to start learning Lesson 1 today with their teachers!!

The morning went well, and for tea we had one of my favorite snacks: biskuti (shortbread cookies)! Right before lunch I learned a few Swahili proverbs that have an overall theme of community/unity and I was supposed to think of a proverb from where I come from, and I couldn’t think of any phrases on the spot of course, besides the word Independence/Individualism…as that is what America seems to be all about…everything is about the individual. It seems like such a self-centered way of living…ok- not seems, it IS. This is one of those topics that I could also talk about for hours, but today I got very frustrated as it became even more apparent how opposite some of the ideals/values are of these two countries… the problem I think, is that too many people believe that Independence and freedom are synonymous… but one can be dependent and still free… Jesus came to give us freedom, and freedom in Christ is true freedom. Jesus taught us how important community is-as God created us to be relational people!
*Galatians 5:1~ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…
*Galatians 5:13~ You…were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Therefore, it’s more about interdependence…because Christ frees us from sin to obedience (living in the Spirit…what does that mean? Galatians 5:22-23); from self-indulgence and selfish ambition to serving one another in love!!

I don’t know if I mentioned that on Sunday, Barbara told me, “that’s one thing about being in Tanzania…everyone looks out for one another and everyone shares food.”
I was a little late (to lunch… and well, I mean by American time) as I was talking with my teacher. She brought up something interesting today.
She said, one difference that I see between Tanzania and America is that in America, people are not “friendly” (and by this she means, we say “heyhowareyoubye” without taking time (2 min) to actually care), but people give money to poorer countries and help them out. In Tanzania, everyone is friendly, but the few rich people do not do absolutely anything to help the people here in need.

Well…I probably thought way too much about this proverb all day long and probably could have written more, but I’m wiped and need to take a break from my own brain…if that makes sense! I think that I am also so mentally exhausted because every day my mind is on overload with thinking/observing/reflecting…not to mention trying to earn an entirely new language in 2 months…

After lunch I worked on another blog post until class at 2:30. This was my worst lesson so far as I definitely found my weakness in Swahili grammar… it was awful. One part of the Exercise gives short answers and we have to come up with a question. Any time I am asked to make a sentence it is ridiculously tough for me…because I almost always make things harder than they should be (I don’t know why, I just do!), and I do not to well with such broad/vague instructions…which is why it takes me extra long when a professor is not specific about what is to be in a paper! I felt terrible for my teacher…I must have looked pathetic…whining quietly sometimes! Haha There is either SO much to choose from, or I don’t know enough vocabulary… I was very close to getting up and leaving and saying, I’m sorry but I can’t do anymore of this today…but I was almost done with the Exercise and then I would be moving on to a new lesson so of course I wanted to finish. I was so grateful to hear the little ding-a-ling (bell) ending my day at 4pm!! I was frustrated and upset with myself and crabby and sick of this roller coaster ride of up one day and down the next…but, alas- “Jipe Moyo,” or take heart! as is a Swahili phrase that I learned! I like this because it reminds me of John 16:33: “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world.” Hmm. Okay. That seems simple enough. Jesus has overcome the world, yet all my problems/troubles, or even one (to me) seems like too much sometimes and I don’t feel like letting go to let God…

After class at 4, I came back to my room and was thankful for Tae-Bo again as it felt very good to exercise and work off some stress! I showered quickly before dinner and as I was leaving, Chuma- one of the head teachers here, handed me two letters!!! THANK YOU to a couple of the wonderful women in my small group!! It was absolutely perfect timing after my terrible afternoon!! I thought it took longer for snail mail to get here, but the post-marked dates from Iowa were Jan 21 and 29! I came back to my room at 6:45 to start writing and at 7:45pm the power goes out randomly, but then I hear some thunder almost right after so I assumed it went out because a storm is coming…however, it is still out and nothing has happened. It’s a lot more eerie when the power just goes out and it’s silent outside (besides all of the insects)! Amy Grant keeps me company when the power goes out at night…it’s weird because the 2-3 times it has gone out at night for some reason it puts me in an Amy Grant mood!! She was/will always be one of my all-time favorite singers though…I grew up listening to all the cassettes of music she had, and then almost all of her CD’s also!!
Well~ it’s been an hour and a half already as its 9:15pm…I think I will study and go to bed EARLY. Tonight I am making myself. I have no excuse…no distractions as the internet is obviously not working. If it comes back on I will post these two tonight…otherwise it’ll be another day yet! I apologize! Oh- and now I am completely unable to put up pictures…I do not know what happened since last week!

Also: ate 2 bananas today….that’s more bananas than I’ve ever eaten my life I’m pretty sure (at least of the life that I can remember)!!! :)

And I almost forgot…MeeHa gave me my nickname finally!!! She has been giving us another name just for fun…Sister Aileen (from the Congo) is “Mwalimu” and it is a big joke between the 5 or so of us short course students as Sister Aileen has far surpassed everyone in learning kiiswahili!!! Anyway, my nickname is “Hodadi” (pronounced Ho-dodd-E) and it means energetic/able/effective and I told her I accept it and that she should not call me peanut butter anymore!! :)

taking heart,
Alana :)

"Orange Juice on Steroids"

2008-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Translation: Passionfruit (Roger’s explanation…keep reading for more!)

Monday Feb 4th

Today marked exactly half-way to my 22nd Birthday this summer!!!! :)
It was a wonderful day!

Sister Paulette started off with an excellent devotion on Psalm 139 (“you knit me together in my mother’s womb…”) and explained that this part of scripture describes her life story, as she feels everyone probably has a verse, or passage that may describe their life story… because she said that her parents already had 5 children and did NOT want anymore, so when her mother got pregnant with Paulette she took some kind of pill to kill the fetus but it didn’t work…she took many pills, but as Paulette said, “God wanted me to be born…there was a purpose for my life, just as there is a purpose for every human being’s life.” So, she was born, and is now a nun originally from the Philippines, but also living in Arusha-Northern Tanzania. She is also completely “normal” as far as I know. She was nervous, but one couldn’t tell. I thought she was brave for sharing and for even singing us a little song in her sweetly soft, and quiet voice!!

At 8am we began classes. Eliza is my teacher this week. She is very tall and thin and I thought she was like 18…turns out she is 25!! She has completed Form 1-6 and was able to be sponsored by a couple different people, but at 25 she still cannot attend a local university (for undergrad study) because she does not have anyone helping her. Anyway, her English is also excellent and that helps as of course, nothing changes as I get more and more lessons under my belt…each new lesson brings up new vocabulary and especially new verbs and that leads me to ask questions about how the words relate to the culture… I struggled with learning the time, however (and still very much do)! The Swahili clock is different…for example if someone says (in swahili): I will meet you at saa nne (time of 4)…it is actually 10am. One has to look at a clock face and the actual number is opposite: so 9 and 3, 12 and 6, etc… goodness it’s confusing- especially adding how to say a quarter after or a quarter less… anyway, she is very patient and understanding as I sit in my chair struggling to speak 3rd grade Swahili!! :)
As I’ve mentioned before, the workers are very friendly! Yesterday, I was able to talk to a couple as I finally know their names. Shedrach, he is always doing landscaping by our rooms, and the dining room so I pass him everyday before and after meals! And Eric~he is just so cute- haha. He normally works at the “gate” out front. It’s like one of those arms that you have to go through at parking ramps and he has to lift it up for cars so with Pastor Hafermann I am going through frequently, and since day one, he gives this big smile and the thumbs up sign!! :) Yesterday he caught me going to lunch and said hello my white friend!! And then he taught me another word- slang I believe for white person…except I have forgotten already so I will get back to you on that one! They just put a smile on my face and enlighten my heart with their kindness. They (along with most people in this area, and really, the country) really do CARE about how one is doing…as in America we just say “hello, how are you?” and keep walking (most of the time).
I suppose I should give an update on the new students!!

I mentioned one American family from Ohio. Julie and Roger are the parents (that I really enjoy), and they have 3 kinds: Emily~12, Amy~7, Josiah~6.

The other American Family is from Illinois (Chicago) and the parents are Randy and Carol and get this, they also have 3 kids that match up almost perfectly with the other family!! Megan~14, Marissa~12, Nathan~10/11. It may not seem close in ages, but Marissa has down syndrome and looks like she is about 8 (and is the same height as Amy). Nathan is so short for his age that he’s not much bigger than 6 yr. old Josiah!! They all make great companions for one another! (Both families home-school also)!

Here’s the difference: Randy and Carol’s family has been living in Northern Tanzania (close to Arusha) for the past year and a half as Randy and Carol are both music teachers and they have developed the very first Bachelor of Music degree at their University (and the first in the entire country as well!!!) So, they all know quite a bit of Swahili, even Megan and Nathan, but as Megan tells me, “Yeah, but I learned it all from the market so it’s mostly slang- I don’t know the grammar!” She is an extremely bright, affable, independent girl. Her younger brother, Nathan, is also incredibly smart. Both of these children have passed their parents up in the Lesson book!!

The Norwegian family living at the other end of my block- Chelsea and Lars are the parents, and their children are Simon and Lea. He is about 4-5 I think I mentioned and Lea is adorable and about 3!

There is a Korean couple but I don’t think they speak any English and they just started learning Swahili…they pretty much keep to themselves though.

Continuing with Monday! After class at 4 we went to afternoon tea/snack break and then Sofia and I were going to take the Dala Dala to town, but Chelsea offered to drive us as she and Lars have a car!!! Roger and Julie wanted to come to town as well just to check out the surroundings and get their feet wet. We had about an hour before we needed to be back for dinner so we checked out a couple shops and then went to the market (it was actually my first time to the market in town)! It’s probably just as you would imagine- many stands of food: different beans/seeds, LOTS of fruit, clothing, some tables of dead tiny minnows piled high (awful-smelling as we passed by)… Since Sofia has been here 6 months already she has been to town and to the market many times…and since she’s white, people obviously remember her too… so all 5 of us are walking through the market and about 6 different guys say hello to Sofia and they love to do “knuckles” so all 5 of us gave knuckles to many different guys!! Sofia bargained for a large wicker basket for Chelsea (was 1.50), and then Sofia also bargained for an avocado for herself and for a bag of passion fruit…there had to be at least 15-20 passionfruit in one bag and it started at 2000 Shillings, but she bought it for either 1.00 or 1.50!! I have heard of passionfruit and we get the juice here sometimes but I never knew what they looked like! I was shocked to see a bag full of whiteish/yellowish large bouncy ball-like objects… we continued on and found a jewelry shop!!! It was Wonderful and I will definitely be going back as we were on a time crunch… I just love the cow bone necklaces and earrings and beaded bracelets! I wanted a pair of earrings and they were 2000 shillings- Sofia talked to the woman in swahili and then all I had to do was say, elfu moja mia tano= 1500 shillings and she said ok. I had given her a paper 1000, and then I only had a 5000 or 10000 which of course I didn’t want to have to bring out and make change for so as I kept digging she said it’s ok… therefore I paid a grand total of $1 for them!!

It was pretty fun being the only 2 that knew any Swahili out of the 5 of us…so it was a little role reversal as these 3 adults were dependent on us to get around!!

The last place we stopped was the supermarket…we’re getting to be regulars (at least once a week)! I wanted some apples and some instant coffee powder (from Kilimanjaro! It’s the best kind)!! I also wanted some more of those vanilla wafer cookies with chocolate in the middle! It’s my one guilty pleasure!! Also, after picking up about 5 things off Sister Annette’s list I bought a carton of plain vanilla ice cream as we (Sisters, myself, MeeHa,) have been planning on celebrating moving onto book two for the past week and a half!!! We drove back and Sofia rushed the ice cream to her refrigerator and we went to dinner. Then after dinner, we sat outside of Sofias room and dished out bowls of delicious vanilla ice cream!!! Although I will move on to book two late tomorrow or early Thursday we also celebrated my Half-Birthday!! :)

Ice Cream has never tasted SO good before!!! It was an excellent treat!

About 7:20pm I came back to my room and had some e-mailing to catch up on as e-mail hadn’t been working for a day and a half, and then I spent the next couple of hours writing yesterday’s blog!

**For the further explanation on the title and for those that have never seen/tasted passionfruit before: at dinner, we had Passionfruit for the first time since I’ve been here (which is about 4 weeks)! I sat with Megan and Emily (the two oldest girls) and Megan was saying how much she enjoyed the fruit as she cut it in half for me and showed me the inside…she said, “I like it, but some people don’t because they think they are eating little bugs.” I was like greaaaat, that really makes me want to eat this now… it is extremely tart naturally so usually people put some sugar on it (which I did). At different times during dinner people would eat it, and some, like Nathan, just inhaled his in 2 spoon-fulls! Megan kept pushing Emily to try it and she relented, but ended up loving it! Then I hear Roger say, “oh my gosh, it’s like orange juice on steroids, whoa!” He made a good face at the tartness! I waited until the end of the meal and the more I looked at the inside the more I was grossed out… it reminded me of fish eggs…or tadpole eggs…or something?!! There are little gooy yellowish/orangeish/clearish balls with tiny black crunchy seeds inside…so when you cut open this tiny fruit one gets two halves of a spoonful of goo on both sides! Well, needless to say I tried a small bit on my spoon, and the texture was a little weird going down, but I enjoyed the tartness and wished I wouldn’t have put sugar on it! I think I was used to it somewhat after having Passionfruit juice so much (although it’s sweetened a lot)!

Wishing a good day to all!

remembering His promises,
Alana :)

Barbara, the Bishop, and bluntness...

2008-02-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

** This is the only picture that I could put up for now!!! I'm still trying... :)

w/ the Bishop!!! (that is also my new bag that I've mentioned)!

Sunday Feb 3rd

Although my stomach was pretty queasy in the morning, we left a little after 8am! Luka, two Tanzanian women who are teachers at the kindergarten, myself, sofia, a Tanzanian pastor that appeared, and Pastor Hafermann of course! It only took about an
hour to get to the church as it was Primary road literally the whole way there except for about a 1/2 mile of secondary/tertiary road! We arrived at 9:10 and boy was the place already hopping! and I was surprised to see about 4 other cars already parked in a line!!
I knew this was a BIG DAY...and definitely a unique experience as 12 new pastors would be ordained...but also the church was re-dedicated I believe! But I still didn't know just how big until people kept coming and I could sense the importance and feel the anticipation rising. Sofia and I followed PH and Luka around shaking hands with people for about 10 minutes, then of course Luka and PH know so many people and so they go off chatting while Sofia and I find a bench near some Maasai women to sit on and we just watched...and waited. Today was not like a typical village visit so I really had no idea what to expect at all... still tough for someone who used to be (still am?) SUCH a planner... I think my experience abroad here is already helping me to be more laid-back!! Anyway, some more cars pull in and out comes Martin, the German pastor from the village of TwaTwaTwa that I met my first time out in January...and a bunch of Maasai men with him (with cameras of course...and Martin is about incorporating such technology to expose these tribal warriors to more of the "outside" world). Another truck shows up, with....a BAND??!! haha- it is true. About 8-10 men with a couple drums, trumpets, trombones and that's all I think. And a white woman who drove them. I watched her shaking hands with everyone as she seemed to know mostly everyone as well... then eventually she came over to say hello to us because she has met Sofia and comes to the seminary once in a while to do some work stuff with PH... anyway, I liked her (Barbara) immediately :)

And then the service began, at 10Am (on time, according to Barbara)! The rest of the day she was by my side as she translated everything!!! Barbara was a teacher in the U.S. (Seattle, WA) and then decided she wanted to go someplace warm and so through the ELCA she ended up here in Tanzania. She came on a contract for a couple years, but that was in 1999...and as she says, "you can see how that worked out!!" She is the offical HIV/AIDS Programme Officer for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania in the Morogoro Diocese but she tells me she has all sorts of jobs!! She does much with community development work, including HIV/AIDS programming, digging water wells, women's centers, etc. She lives in Morogoro by herself and invited me to dinner sometime. Gregarious is a wonderful word to describe her and actually all day long I was contemplating if she was related to Bill Yonker and finally decided that this was the FEMALE Bill Yonker... for those that don't know who this man is he is one of my most favorite people ever and is my favorite speaker! He is a pastor in Illinois and he leads Bible Study for the staff training at camp every summer and has spoken at camp many times...he is a dear friend and so meeting and sharing with/learning SO much from Barbara was an incredible blessing!!Like I said~ about 10am, the service starts...as a parade...so the people gather round the entrance of the cemented church with many benches inside) and the band comes...so the people follow the band in, and Luka, Sofia, myself and Barbara sit a couple rows from the back on the end of a bench...soon following the band, in came the soon-to-be ordained 12 pastors, and then PH and the 5 heads of the other districts/regions in the Morogoro Diocese, and of course the Bishop!!More people kept pouring in: Bantu people and tribal(Maasai) people mixed...there had to be at least 500 people packed into the church, and many more stood in the last 1/4 in the aisle. What a celebration! The church had tiny boquets of pink flowers everywhere and there was some electronics set up as there were abot 3 different choirs that came to sing...and get this, the most expressive group (they all wore yellow and were definitely the crowd favorite as they danced/moved around a LOT)...they were lip-synching for the most part because they pre-record!!! HA! I couldn't believe it... I would seriously have just rather heard the voices, as it takes time to get the equipment working right, and although it was nice to actually have a microphone up front for the Pastors and the Bishop to use, it went haywire a couple times causing everyone to cover their ears!!
The service started just like any other village service I've been to (the same liturgy)...we sang a couple of hymns, listened to/watched different choirs, scripture was read, and then it was time for the sermon... mind you, it was already about 11:30am (Remember: church started at 10AM!). However, the sermon was phenomenal and although Ive gotten used to not understanding anything, or hearing bits and pieces I was grateful to have Barbara translate the whole thing (about an hour long I think!) The Bishop is such a wonderful, charismatic person and I think the best thing about him was is bluntness. However, people are not offended because they respect him, and also I believe they truly know that things need to change/that they need to change- or be a part of the change... I wish I would have had a notebook to jot down everything he touched base on, but I'll do my best to remember. He first of all spoke in general about Jeremiah 3 (the main verse being 15: "Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding")... and talked about God calling Jeremiah when he was very young, and although Jeremiah thought he was only a child, he listened to God's call and embraced new confidence. **Just read Jeremiah 1: 4-10 (it is in much better words!)**
The Bishop related it to these 12 new pastors as they are all young- in their 20's- and told them that they need to FEED THEIR FLOCK. He reminded them what the church should be like and said, if someone is sick and cannot go to church one Sunday, GO visit them... pray for the sick, visit the orphans, rejoice at weddings, grieve at funerals...for thus is the job of Pastors- to shepherd their flock... The bishop put it context with the culture, so of course talked about herding cattle (instead of sheep) and said, if you feed your cattle you must herd your cattle, and if you herd your cattle you must feed them...it's a continuous cycle!
Then he touched on SO many areas and again, was amazed at his bluntness!! He told stories, and really, used his sermon as an educational tool :)

(NOTE: one of the choirs had a song about AIDS and how all it causes is more death, and more orphans. Barbara says once in a while a choir will sing a song about AIDS in church, so education abounds even in singing!)

He touched on issues of modesty, saying women, if you wear a shorter skirt and are sitting in the front row, how can the pastors concentrate on the liturgy if you are giving free views, and for the men: I’m not sure if he was addressing Maasai (as they obviously do not wear many clothes, mainly just “robes” pretty much) or townspeople but he mentioned low pants and said men, we don’t want to see you sagging so pull up your pants… he also brought up AIDS and said, we have to stop this from continuing…look at how many orphans there are... “we are in the age of science and technology” (he said this quite often actually… I highly doubt we, in the West, can say that these people are primitive and/or ignorant)…it’s important to be knowledgeable, to have some education, to especially send your children to school…to not have so many children as you cannot feed them all/educate them all properly…

Again, I wish I could remember more, as it was all so good…he ended by talking about how church doesn’t mean just coming to a place, or a building on Sundays… and reminded the pastors why especially for them to FEED THEIR FLOCK… it’s similar to the quote we hear in America sometimes about “Going to church no more makes one a Christian than sitting in a garage makes one a car…” or in Tanzanian cultural context, “ Going to church no more makes one a Christian than sitting in a field/hut makes one a cow!”

I think I appreciated his bluntness so much because this is something that would NEVER happen in America…or at least very unlikely. One could argue, yes, well this is more cultural, but is it really??? I mean, cultures may be different, but there are plenty of issues/areas that we could be blunt about… but then I was imagining if this Bishop went and used the same bluntness in an American cultural context… people would be extremely offended… why? Because no one wants to admit/verbalize/bring to light these issues or problems…and people are very prideful: “Who are you to tell me what I should/shouldn’t do, what’s right/wrong…etc?” I believe that we, in the West (a.k.a. the industrialized world- so not just America) are so distracted/blinded by this veil of American ideals, especially Individualism (which is different from Freedom), and this idea of “success” and money, and the “American Dream” which I believe is fading anyway. So why were these people laughing at his stories and not getting offended and walking out and leaving? Because deep down they know it’s true- they are not blinded by so much consumerism and industry… this is what the Bishop meant, I think, when he said that we cannot allow the ideas of the West to influence us, and said that it is basically bad. He wasn’t saying that the people are bad (although I’m still sitting there thinking, great, I’m one of three (not counting PH) white people out of at least 500)… that’s different than saying” this is an age of science and technology,” for obviously not all industry is bad…it’s the amount, the intentions, the consequences...

Gosh, one could go on forever but I’ll stop there… it was about 12:30-12:45pm and the first offering (of like 3-4) took place, which was not organized at all (then again…not much is structured when it comes to stuff like that) as the front rows filed out (first around the back) to walk to the front to put money in the basket, then go back to their seat… it was very stuffy in the place (even though sitting near the wall where there were designs in the cement so air could get through) so after we put some money in we walked outside, where there were maybe 40 people hangin outside the entrance to the church as the two main doors were wide open. We needed some fresh air and Barbara shared a bottle of water with Sofia and myself. She introduced us to a couple of people, but I just stood by her truck under a tree, taking in my surroundings. A few minutes later I look to my right and I see about 5 guys standing together and I have to do a double-take, but I am very glad I did as I recognized a couple of the Evangelists and they waved!! I was very happy to see a couple familiar faces!! Then, one came over to me and asked me in Swahili if I remembered him, I didn’t answer him right away and Barbara helped me, but I knew what he was saying :)
His name is Peter, and he is one of the Evangelists from the very first village I went to on Friday Jan 18th… but I had forgotten the name of the Village so didn’t know at first when he said the name: Kimambo… I think?! It’s always akward after the first 5 minutes since I can’t exactly further communicate! Lol I don’t know how to explain it without sounding cheesy, but I felt “special” that he made a point to come say hello( I mean, most people obviously remember me…because I’m the white girl of course! Haha), but it was still very nice of him to do so!!! Barbara and I went to the side of the church where we met a couple office workers for the Diocese and a young girl brought a large pan of boiled peanuts from her home I’m guessing! Then I decided I should probably go to the back and stand in the entryway to at least watch some of the ordination of the 12 pastors, as that was the main reason for the big day!! They ordained them all together essentially, instead of reading to each individually 12 times-but they each had their own short oath I guess. I went inside a bit and to the back where I saw Sofia so we watched until the rest were done (only about 3). I decided to stay to watch as all of the wives went forward for a special blessing (which took at least 20 minutes)! Then, I moved forward down the center aisle with many others to watch the choirs again, and another 2 offerings happened…during that time I saw another Evangelist friend, Mliga, and we shook hands and said hello!!!! After the last offering, then it was gift time. My goodness, so many people were bringing nicely wrapped gifts (with typical Christmas style wrapping paper that you and I would use) up front. If you knew one of the pastors then you could bring a gift…so obviously that took a while! Finally, it was over. The time was 3pm… everyone filed out of the church, but the new pastors, choirs, bishop, etc made a circle outside the church until everyone was out… the Bishop prayed and then it was greeting time as everyone dispersed to find family/friends and to take pictures. There were quite a few people with cameras/videocameras!! I bought a CD of one of the choirs (the expressive one I think)! I also shook some more hands and Sofia and I said hello to some children!! Oh~ I almost forgot… toward the end of the service, a young boy- Zambro? who was 11 came up to me and said “I want to speak English with you!” haha We talked a little bit, but I wanted to use some Swahili too! After the service he followed us around, and took an interest in my mini kiiSwahili phrasebook! I found PH in the midst of the mass of people and asked if it was possible to meet the bishop and he took me right to him and introduced me, and the Bishop thanked me for being there- in English (he was educated in the U.S.). He was great :) And I even got a picture with him!!!

Well, then it was time for food…and this time, there were 4 HUGE crock pots with 2 different kinds of rice, some chicken pieces, and some sauce for the top… luckily Barbara knew what was going on so we were one of the first few people to eat! We had water and some soda as well!! We ate super quickly as Barbara had to get the 10 guys in the band to a place to catch their bus and she wanted to take us with so we would get back earlier…she knows that PH doesn’t leave (or doesn’t get to) for a while! We took off about 4pm or so and sat in the truck with Barbara while the 10 guys were in the back! It was a great hour or so trip back as we all chatted about church life and denominations and she shared a lot about Islam as well. Basically, the further East you go in Tanzania (closer to the coast) the more Muslims there are… in Morogoro there is a mosque on practically every corner (which I really haven’t noticed, but I guess I haven’t been paying too much attention specifically)… and she said the Christians and Muslims are relatively peaceful with one another.

We got back to the Seminary at 5:30 (a good hour or so before PH) and hung out in the common room (which I’d never done yet!)… Godfrey and Moreto were watching some music videos (English of course) and Olivia had come by for a couple hours… I was able to read/skim a couple English Tanzanian newspapers so that was nice!

Sofia and I went to dinner at 6:15 and I had some fruit (as I wasn’t very hungry) and had a good time laughing with MeeHa and the three Sisters for awhile!! There was also another American family that had arrived!! (more on them later)

I caught up on some writing, although it wasn’t much obviously!! I think I was so tired, or mentally exhausted after being overwhelmed with so much information from Barbara (and well, thanks to the Bishop for his sermon)… that is why I am still a day behind!!

Praying that you are well!!

continually seeking,
Alana :)

"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young; but set an example in truth, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity" *1 Timothy 4:12

new faces

2008-02-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday Feb 2nd

I know that I am behind and I apologize. This weekend I have been lacking motivation and feeling, well, more or less lackadaisical… I also have not felt very good and have been itching my legs (just my calves/feet) like CRAZY!
I slept in and after lunch began cleaning like crazy! I swept all 3 of my rooms and then found a squeegee (closest thing to a mop) so I poured water on my bathroom floor as most of it was dyed red from tracking in so much of the clay soil…it all went down the shower drain! However, I don’t know if this had anything to with the reason (for the very first time) why the water that came out of my shower, faucet, and toilet was completely brown… my tae-bo dvd was a wonderful exercise break and then I went to dinner about 6:10pm and another family had come! They are from Ohio and are Awesome!! I sat and chatted with the parents (Julie and oh no, I just forgot his name…) for about 15-20 minutes after dinner and found out what they were planning on doing and I was completely open with them in the 20 minutes that I knew them…but they are just awesome people and I’m thankful for their presence and excited to get to know them better. They actually MOVED here. They are here @ the Language School until May and then they will go to Northern Kenya to live and they will be doing church-planting! They have a 12-year old daughter and then 2 little ones (girl and boy) about 6?? The more that I think about it the more I am humbled by this family as I realize how much they gave up/are giving up…and these children especially- leaving all of their friends and coming to a completely different country to live.

I will write about today, tomorrow… but I think today was the first time I felt “tired” of it all… the first two weeks of overwhelmingly exciting and new village visits has worn off as now I have been here just short of one month. It doesn’t even feel like it… today wasn’t actually a “normal” village visit as it was a very unique experience, but I became more “tired” or frustrated with the language barrier…I know the language on paper and understand it, but it’s a speaking on the spot issue as it’s way too easy to become flustered when it comes time to using the language. I’m just glad for a week where I won’t have to miss half of my Swahili lessons during the week, and now I will have a major chunk of time to focus on it!!

Blessings to all!

Alana :)

mvua mvua nende!

2008-02-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

translation: rain rain go away! :)

I could only add these couple pictures as it would not let me add any others :( I promise to keep trying!!!

I took this out the back of the car...the tertiary "road" we just went through!

The Maasai man that rode with us-Paulo (I think) leading us through the road turned river

Friday February 1st

Happy February!!!!

What a day, what a day… after morning devo I finished up some e-mail business and we left at 9:10am for another village! Godfrey (my teacher) sat up front with Pastor Hafermann so Nicole (from Germany) and I sat behind them. We chatted for awhile and I tried to do a little studying on my own. It did not take very long to get there as we took Primary road almost the entire way until the end when we had maybe about a ½ to a full mile of Tertiary road so it was not bumpy for too long! We arrived about 10:40am (the earliest we’ve been to a village so far)! I’m thinking, great, we arrived early, now everything will be done earlier…of course I should know better!!! :)
The four of us get nice plastic lawn chairs to sit on with a small table but after only 10 minutes we follow PH to go look at all the cattle under a tree nearby. I found out today that every single cow is named (and this is how they tell each household’s cattle in the village)…now, usually this is about 25-50 cattle at least but sometimes the herd can be as large as 100 and they still name every single one and know the “personalities” of them as well… I was thankful for Godfrey as he was able to translate most of the time…the Maasai, remember have their own language: kiiMaasai, which is very difficult, however, while we were looking at cattle (pretty much just going to the bathroom the whole 10-15 minutes we stood there) a Maasai man and some young children- boys about 8 or 9 and a few younger were standing near us. Godfrey said the man was talking to the children and commenting about how we are very different people in this world, but yet we all still live in the same world…something like that! Then he touched my hair and was holding some up to show the children, but they backed away and then I was like, no-its ok, they can touch it if they want so I held some out to them but they giggled and backed away even further and Godfrey said they were afraid of my hair!!!! Crazy!
About 11:30 or so it was time for the first “sacrament” as PH calls it: chai! And we even had chapati (like a soft tortilla shell)!!! Also, some small pieces of meat that Nicole and I didn’t feel like eating in the morning…I had 2 mugs of the chai…it’s one of my favorite parts of going to the villages- the ginger they put in it just adds so much zip! Haha. There was the native Tanzanian pastor that I met last week that joined us as well as two teachers at the school in the village. They knew English pretty well so they were asking me questions about Minnesota(the Midwest in general). I told them that it is below zero during this time of year and one of the teachers said, what if I come there- how will I live?? It was quite funny! I said you must wear a lot of clothes, and that we have heat in our houses! One of them was confused and thought I lived in Canada, although I already said I was from America and Canada is a whole different country…hmmm. They also were curious to know about a Bachelor’s degree and if we had to take a big final test to graduate (like I will in May). Well, then the next 1.5 hours was just spent sitting and listening to the conversation around me… I understand at least the topic of conversations now at least, and some people are easier to understand as they articulate better (like PH)! I know that the U.S. presidential election was talked about as one cannot mistake “Obama” and “Clinton!” Also, the men shared different stories about Swahili proverbs and snakes!
Finally about 1:30pm Godfrey and I went to study a little bit as PH registered for baptisms, except we got maybe 30 minutes in as we were ready for the service to begin at 2pm and I kept asking PH if he were serious because it seemed WAY to early! But there were only 4 baptisms as this was a mainly Christian village already! Some of the Maasai men cut some bushes so there was more space to sit under an alcove of small trees. The number of Swahili hymnals with the songs and liturgy is down to about 4 and typically a service has about the same number of singers since the Maasai generally do not know the songs. A group of 9 young Maasai girls (ages 7-12?) did a couple songs for us… I love when there is either a girls or mens choir~ it is so wonderful! :)
I could see clouds coming in as PH was starting the baptisms and then he gave a short sermon and then started the communion portion…well, right as the first group went up for communion the rain started…and this time it just POURED. Nicole, Godfrey and myself were huddled under a small tree with some other Maasai women but it did nothing. The Maasai women were smiling and laughing (we were too though), because this village has needed rain very badly!! We went up for communion, and then the rest was a whirlwind as someone set a bowl on a chair and people went to put some money in for the offering. I dropped some coins in and PH said a prayer and everyone dispersed…us to the car! We were completely soaked to the bone!! It did feel pretty good though as it was nice and cooling/refreshing once we were in the car. We waited about 10 minutes and then we drove a couple hundred feet to a building of the school because they didn’t want us to leave without eating of course! Always being honorary/special guests is tough work ;)
For about 20 minutes we waited inside and eventually about 10-15 or so Maasai men came in to eat as well. We stood around and shivered for a bit and then slowly our nice plastic lawn chairs and the table was brought in. We got to use spoons as we ate our rice, with a little bit of goat meat and a topping of potatoes and a buttery tomato sauce! Yum! And we could have soda if we wanted, but today I was SO thankful that they brought in more hot chai for us… not only do I adore this drink, it was also warm as it was probably my first time actually being a bit cold here!!! :)
After we ate we took some photos with a few of the Maasai men and of them as they loved to see themselves of course! Then when were getting ready to leave about 5pm a couple men stopped me at the door to ask me a couple questions about what I am doing here in Tanzania then I went to the car, except Nicole said this man wants a picture with you, and this one also! Haha the first man (is wearing blue) and he had this long wooden dowel in his hand and he gave it to me to hold…I am not sure what the stick is used for…but I felt pretty special!!
Nicole and I had to sit in the very back as we brought two Maasai men with us to drop off and a young 17/18 yr. old 6-month pregnant girl that we brought to the hospital in town. She had already lost one baby and they wanted to make sure she didn’t lose another so PH said he would bring her to the hospital where she could stay for a couple days to get better as she had a terrible cough (possibly TB). Nicole asked PH who pays, and PH said that he does. Whenever he picks someone up to bring them somewhere, he pays for them. The hospital was about 1500 shillings per day (remember: approx 1100 shilings= $1).
Nicole and I had a nice chat about the new work opportunities that arose for her here in Tanzania as she can not go back to her base in Kenya because it is not safe. She is in Africa for 9 months as part of her Masters and I keep forgetting that she is a doctor- delivers babies, does C-sections, etc. She is 31 but looks younger, and she paid me a compliment by thinking I was 24 (like Olivia)!! :)

We wanted to beat the rain as Nicole had clothes drying outside, but even though the sky was very dark and it was thundering it never actually rained in Morogoro. It was about 6:45pm when we returned and I sat outside looking through some of the Swahili hymns for a while, then eventually decided I had better shower and get into something dry! I studied some and started to journal before deciding that I was exhausted!

*Nicole and Andrea left today :( but there are about 14 new people coming this weekend as the Long Course in Swahili starts on Tuesday I believe. The long course students only study one lesson all day, so they are here for at least two months min.

*I have neighbors! At the other end of my block is a family of 4 (and another adult male but I don’t think he lives with them…). They are from Norway- Lars and Chelsea (the parents) speak good English, but their two small children (a boy about 6 and a girl 3 or 4~ both super blonde!) don’t speak any I believe. I was actually getting used to the sort of peaceful block (although the common room block is right behind me so I hear the TV going at night, and people talking…), and these kids aren’t the most quiet! I guess you’ll have that! I am excited to see who else comes though!

That’s all for now!!

Usiku Mwema (Goodnight)!

with joy,
Alana :)

peanut butter...

2008-01-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

a wonderful view from my school!

(my block is the one in the middle)

this is the mountain I climbed!

(the right hand peak)

Thursday January 31, 08

Not much to talk about today. It was nice to have a full day’s worth of Swahili lessons w/ Godfrey! I now know how to add/subtract/multiply/divide (in kiiswahili)!! During my two hour break this afternoon, the power went out again so I still couldn’t finish the blog from my “get away.” I took a nap instead! At dinnertime~ 6pm it started to thunder a little and it poured for about 15 minutes but that was all…nothing like yesterday evening’s storm! I ended up reading a couple of older blogs of some May Term trips to Tanzania and it was fun to compare experiences and see some pictures of my many Wartburg friends that have been here also!!

A couple of things: after trying Tanzania peanut butter on some bread during the mountain climb on Saturday I decided it was pretty good (healthier than American peanut butter) and so on Sunday when Nicole went into town I had her get me some peanut butter and a few apples, as they are excellent and very much worth 600 shillings (60 cents)! Well, she came back with a small jar (12 oz) of American chunky peanut butter… YUM. Let’s just say, when one is without a certain kind of food for quite some time, they tend to indulge…and indulge I did…as within 3 days the peanut butter (eaten with multi-grain crackers) is gone already! I know, I know…that’s pretty gross…well, trust me, it tasted like some of the best peanut butter I’ve ever had!!! Haha Didn’t feel so good later on after eating it these past few days, but I think I will refrain from buying anymore/keeping it in my room!!! :)
Also, I learned a new verb this week: kusindikiza which means “to accompany a parting guest a little way on his road as a gesture of respect.” It is an African custom where it is not polite to say good-bye to guests at the door, rather it is better to follow them at least to the boundaries of your plot!!! I thought this was very neat, and definitely different than what we practice in the U.S. so I had to share!!!

*Tonight for dinner we had Rosella juice!!! I think it is made from a plant or flower…PH said to make a pitcher one takes a ½ cup of the mixture and mixes it with boiling water, than let it cool and strain it and you have this wonderful juice that tastes like cherry or cranberry kool-aid!!!! :)

I had better get some sleep as I have another big day ahead of me tomorrow!!! Another village visit, and Nicole will be joining us, as well as my teacher, Godfrey…who has lived in Morogoro his 20 years and never been out to the villages!! (by the way, he is 20, NOT 21 as I was told…)!

Peace to all!!!

resting in Him,
Alana :)

Twiga Twiga Twiga!

2008-01-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

Translation: Giraffe Giraffe Giraffe!

*I have a few more pictures I will add, but the connection is very bad today and the upload time has been twice as long! I apologize!!

absolutely beautiful

a couple elephant families coming to the mud/water hole!

I don't think this animal needs any explanation! :)

Baboons and Impala

me with some of the buffalo herd!

Cape Buffalo!

Me + Twiga!

Sofia and myself: up close and personal w/ giraffes (and a few zebra)

It’s been an adventurous 30 hours to say the least!! Then again…what isn’t an adventure here I guess?!?!? :)

I went to class all morning and finally after 4 really long/slow lessons we’ve moved into learning times/dates/numbers/math!! I wasn’t feeling the greatest (kind of sick to my stomach all morning) but I ate a quick lunch, grabbed some clothes to pack and met Pastor H, Luka, and Sophia at the car about 12:40pm. Sophia is 20 and is from Germany. She is here @ the Seminary for one year teaching English to the Kindergarten class (she has been here since September already). It was nice to have some company! We had to make a couple errands in town, and then it was off to Mikumi National Park (the 4th largest game park in the country)! It is only about 45 minutes away to the non-official entrance to the park, then we had to drive another 30 minutes on the same paved road where we were able to see a few elephants before actually coming to the official entrance where this is a tiny museum. As soon as we drove through the entrance we turned right into our lodge for the night so we could check-in and drop off our things. It is a nice safari lodge-as you are literally in the game park and the lodge had even created its own small waterhole near the restaurant/lounge area so one can see animals while eating.
It was about 3pm when we went out for our first game drive. Luka drove our vehicle the whole time in the park to give PH a rest!

NOTE: if you have never been on a game drive before, it’s not like what we see in movies or think: there are not animals everywhere ALL the time…one has to look for them. It is a Large area and most of the animals travel in packs or herds and they move around…a lot! It does not mean that when we were in an area where there were many animals that we had to stop the car for many a zebra crossing, or impala, or buffalo, or elephant, or giraffe!

We drove around from 3-7pm and at first saw quite a few elephants near the road (the elephants at this park are not real large- about medium sized) - also some baby ones! Also right next to the road were about 6 or 7 large buffalo practically submerged in a pit of mud/water staying cool (it made for a good photo)! We saw herds of zebra, impala, eland, and giraffes!! I absolutely fell in love with giraffes as we saw SOOO many of them! When my family visited a few parks in Northern Tanzania we saw some giraffes, but not that many and very few up close…but Mikumi Park is crawling with giraffes!! After our trip 4 year ago I ended up really not liking zebra because it was like seeing deer in the States…but at this park I think I saw more giraffes than zebra so I was a happy camper!!! We saw some waterbuck, and some wildebeest (surprisingly and unfortunately not too many though). We stopped at a hippo pool where we saw about 15-20 hippos in the water (their top half anyway) and there were also a couple crocs in the water, except they of course only show their eyes!! :(
We saw 2 different cape buffalo herds, and one of the herds was incredibly large- at least 100+ and we stopped the car because we saw that the whole pack was slowing moving across the road right to the other side where there was water/mud…it was exciting to watch for about 20 minutes as the buffalo just kept coming and coming from the field… most of them stopped to look at us for a few seconds before continuing on…I only got scared a couple times… but when you have a hundred buffalo staring at you wouldn’t you be at least a little concerned?!?!

Many times we will be driving and see nothing so it’s nice to just feel the warm/cool breeze (as it got later) on my face and see the sun setting behind the clouds…it was so peaceful. I would also say it was something tranquil to see a lone giraffe in the distance slowly walking gracefully, yet confidently across the plain, with the outline of the sun behind the clouds and the shadow of continuous mountains…

It’s one thing to just see the animals, and the herds standing around and eating grass…it’s another thing when you see other interactions between the animals and realize that there is also so much Life. For instance, driving close to an impala that is right next to the road standing completely still with it’s beautiful horns and beady eyes- practically a statue…and then all of a sudden it turns and sprints away into the trees… or watching two male impala fighting each other using their horns… to turn off the car, silencing the engine while we watch the buffalo herd ever continuous follow one another to the waterhole…witnessing 2 giraffes “necking” as PH calls it- which actually means they’re fighting…I had never seen it before, but it is incredible how they can swing their long necks in a circle to hit the other… a 3rd giraffe was standing nearby until all of a sudden it too, joined in on the fight… I took a couple videos of this!!! When we were driving back to the lodge for the night we also saw a mother elephant very close to the road and the young one nursing :) This is what I mean when I say that the animals aren’t just animals to look at and take pictures of anymore, but rather, it is a witnessing of great life inside this park.

Once back at the lodge we washed up and went to the lounge area where we had some water and popcorn and read some newspapers. A man who works at the lodge (therefore obviously knowing PH very well as PH brings students here all the time) sat with us and we chatted with him for a few minutes, then we decided we had better get to the restaurant to the table prepared for us. We had ordered our food dinner when we checked in earlier, and I had trouble deciding as it was a 3 course meal and I am not used to having so much to choose from…let alone anything to choose from! :) I had a salad, some (warm) bread, beef kabobs with rice and vegetables, and for dessert we all had some warm pieces of banana in a sweet/cinnamon sauce (amarula?)…it was very tasty!! The man that knows PH is very thankful for how much service he brings to the lodge and wanted to thank him so he ordered us a bottle of wine for dinner!! When I was in the supermarket I looked over the wine section and noticed one kind called Tall Horse (but there is a giraffe on the front) and the red merlot kind had a blue giraffe! I have always wanted to try it, so guess which wine was brought to our table??! The same one!! My favorite color with my favorite safari animal…and red merlot wine is my favorite wine! (It is actually South African wine). I was incredibly full, and it was 9:30pm. We went to our rooms and Sophia and I sat outside to see if we could see any animals…there were a few gazelle or impala behind our cabin, and some in front as well!! We had our own little house as there was one room with 4 small beds in it and another room with a HUGE bed in it (bigger than King size)! I wanted to sleep near the window though so I could look out at the stars before going to bed so I took the smaller bed in the other room!!
It was finally about 10pm when I went to bed, but I did not sleep very well because I was paranoid about the noises I was hearing ( it seemed like there was an insect party in my room)! Haha Anyway, 5:30am came way too early!!

Wednesday January 30, 08

Now, of course I should have remembered that this is “Africa time” therefore it’s always at least a half hour later then when people say to meet…but I guess I forgot, or just assumed that since we were at this park that it was a tourist place and so we would just be on time… so Sophia and I were out on our porch with the coffee brought to us at 6am (it’s still dark) waiting for PH and Luka to meet us at 6 like they said, so we could get out on a game drive early- at 6:15ish….well…. they eventually make it over-about 6:40am and after they finish we get going around 6:50!
We are driving for maybe 10 minutes when we run into a couple that had a flat tire and had the manual out on how to change it…so Luka, being the jack-of-all-trades that he is, hops out and changes it for them…super quickly! In the meantime, I had plenty of giraffes to watch in the field nearby! Sophia and I got out to take some pictures with the giraffes behind me :) We drove some more until we came to a large dip in the road where there were large trees on both sides….and Tons of baboons sitting in the road and the trees…there were some little ones playing and swinging as well. We stopped the car to watch them for a while…also getting some good laughs! Talk about entertaining… We continue on to the hippo pool…the crocs are still in the water… we then drive over an hour around a different end of the park, which was completely barren- it was a densely wooded area but we saw maybe a few impala, a couple buffalo, and a couple giraffes, and guinea fowl of course… there were also many tsetse (?) flies in this area so we kept our windows up! We were supposed to eat breakfast at 10am back at the lodge, but because we were so far out we didn’t get back in until 10:30, but it was nice to just eat by ourselves…with the company of watching an elephant family in the distance, some buffalo, giraffes, and at the waterhole right next to the restaurant area a family of warthogs came to play in the water!! The little ones were so adorable! (Note: Whenever we would see a warthog, PH and Luka would call out: Wartburg!!) We had bread, cereal (with warm milk of course), mango, watermelon, pineapple, and they would make an omelet or eggs any way you liked, so I got scrambled eggs and bacon!! Another big meal! Also, one other thing I should mention… there is something called Marmite which the Australians and New Zealanders eat much of…but it is thoroughly disgusting, unless you are Pastor Hafermann… it is 100% vegetarian, and It comes in a jar and it looks like a solidified form of car oil…maybe like molasses (dark brown in color)…it is topping for bread and PH enjoys it, with some Banana jam on top, because Marmite is incredibly salty. It may look like chocolate in a jar, but don’t let it fool you! I decided to try some on my bread- just one piece… it was, well, I kept it down-let’s just say that! PH has story after story of people coming to try it and vomiting it back up! Haha Luka won’t touch the stuff, and Sophia didn’t try it either.
We decided to go back out for a couple more hours so we checked out and drove around from about 11:45-2:45pm, visiting the Hippo Pool two more times and the crocs still hadn’t come out to sun themselves :( We did see a couple different kinds of storks, some quails (?), and a couple bald eagles…along with numerous giraffes of course! We watched a couple small elephant families spraying mud and water on themselves at a small waterhole. Also, Luka spotted a small box turtle on the side of the road, and a young python about a meter long. Well, little did I know that PH used to have a python as a pet, so he really likes them. We get out of the car and I carefully follow him as he follows, or “chases” the python slithering through the grass. He tells me to get my camera ready and leans down to touch the end of the snake and as he touches it, the snake lurches, I took my picture and took off running for the car! Sophia and Luka watched from the road! :) PH had a good laugh about that one! If pythons bite, they are not poisonous though! In all the years he has been coming to Mikumi he has never seen a python so he was very excited!

We were getting very tired, and I was getting a headache from furiously looking for a lion for the past day, so we headed out about 3pm!

NOTE: Although PH had story after story about encounters with a lion (or lions) we did not see any. However, it is very rare to even see one so I was very lucky to be able to see quite a few when I was here 4 years ago! I was pretty bummed, but I am not in Tanzania to see lions, and I kept thinking, is it really that big of deal? It’s exciting to anticipate seeing one, but once you do, will I say, okay-my trip is complete, or my life is complete because I saw a lion??! So, I am okay with the other wonderful animals we did see :)

I took a nice nap on the way back to the seminary where Sophia and I got back in time for tea at 4:30pm. I started to journal until dinner, and when I went to dinner at 6pm the sky was incredibly dark and I knew a storm was coming any minute…well, during dinner did it ever lightning and thunder! I don’t think I have ever heard thunder so loud (maybe that’s because here, there is no where to go to be completely inside, so it’s much easier to here!) Sister Aileen and I do not like storms so we cringed and I covered my ears every time :) We knew the power was going to go out, as unreliable as it already is, so I come back to my room to sign online for a few minutes and at 6:45 I was on for maybe 3 minutes to say some hellos, and the power went out. So unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything on my computer the rest of the night, nor finish this blog! I studied Swahili for 2 hours and was going to go to bed by 9:30pm, but it ended up being around 10pm, right as the power came back on actually! I thought I wouldn’t get it until morning!

Hope you enjoy the few (of many) pictures from the mini-trip!!

with love,
Alana :)

"Follow me..."

2008-01-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Playing Uno!!

l to r: Sister Annette, Sister Paulette, MeeHa (from South Korea), myself

Andrea (from Germany) and myself!

The Three Sisters!!!

(Sister Annette (from ohio originally), Sister Aileen (from the Congo), and Sister Paulette (from the Philippines))

Habari za usiku!! (How is your news this night? as it is indeed night for me!)

**Recently made aware that there are more people reading this… a very warm “Karibu” (welcome) to my blog, and to Tanzania (through my eyes of course)!!

I realize that I have two days to “catch up” on…although probably the least eventful days since I have been here!! That means I am going to do some more processing/reflecting…

Sunday January 27, 2008

I slept a LONG time… and as dreading, woke up SUPER sore…as I said before, after not having a work-out that intense since track freshman year of college I feel as though my calves and quad muscles doubled in size!! Haha

It was definitely a day of rest as I did not leave my room at all except for my lunch and dinner meals in the dining room with the others… I spent all day uploading all of the previous pictures…which took at least 6-7 minutes per picture!! I also spent all day studying as I waited for the uploading to finish… I decided to organize my thoughts and the lessons from the book, so in a separate notebook I wrote down every single verb that I knew so far, as well as all of the nouns (some 200+), and adjectives, invariables, questions, the different tenses and personal/possessive pronouns and subject and object prefixes, etc… I’m hoping it will help!!

Monday January 28, 2008

This morning, Sister Annette gave the morning devo and focused on Jesus’ call of the disciples-specifically Levi…but the most important thing that she focused on was Jesus’ words when calling His disciples, “Follow Me.” She said that once we listen to that call, and do follow Him, another question we should ask ourselves is HOW are we following him. Yes, we can say we are following Jesus Christ, but HOW are we? How are our lives reflecting that? I would even take it a step further as a challenge to think about WHY am I following Jesus, or why should I follow Jesus… as my History professor Dr. Walther has ingrained in his students head the two most important questions one can ask are How? and Why? because they challenge one to critically think and to analyze and process/reflect.

My new teacher this week is Godfrey! (I climbed the mountain with him on Saturday)! He is my age…in fact I am exactly one month and two days older than him! :) Anyway, he is fast becoming a good friend/brother! He is the best teacher so far as his English really is pretty superb after only having it 2-4 years in Secondary School….but he tells me that he loves American speakers, and he watches American movies, and listens to American music and reads American books to pick up the language!! He also wants to come to America for college…well, specifically Wartburg since we have such a connection with the Language School. But he has to finish up at least one more year of his “Forms” (grade) before he can come and the I-20 form is super expensive to get and he’d need a good scholarship from Wartburg to come as an International Student… so there are many setbacks…but God-willing he hopes to come someday.
I did not get much further in my lessons because I continually ask questions ( I am learning more Swahili slang!!) and we go off on tangents and other topics sometimes related to language…but I enjoy helping him with some English words as well!! He couldn’t remember what the lines on a zebra were called in English! I really do not know how people teach or even learn English as I realize how complicated it is… I’ve never really thought about it grammatically until trying to compare to some tenses/forms in Swahili… We talked some more about stereotypes because Olivia, Godfrey, and myself discussed racial stereotypes that specifically many (white) Americans have of Blacks... and how the media~ specifically movies, portray Blacks therefore easily feeding the stereotype making us all think that all Blacks are dangerous and in gangs… like all stereotypes, some fit, but many/most do not… but we talked about stereotypes that people here in Tanzania also have of Americans…every country, every culture around the world has its stereotypes and IS stereotyped… and I’ve always gotten upset over stereotypes and wondered why people make such a big deal about Differences… because I have always liked Diversity(not just racial), since I was probably most exposed to it- Middle school and the beginning of High School- because the more I am exposed to and experience Diversity (racial, social, economic, political, religious, etc) the more I discover how similar we (as humanity) are… and maybe this is how I experience and best see/view God… these are the gifts and passions he has given me…eyes to see and opportunities for experience and exposure to His world… I have learned that some things transcend all races/religions, transcend borders/stereotypes… such things/feelings as depression, love, pain, hurt, anger, joy, hope…and these cannot be measured…but in discovering the similarities among humanity it brings me great joy to know that we have been made in the image of our God… we were created by Him and for Him…and the greatest gift is that we can work WITH Him… the world is only a reflection of our Creator…but it is indeed Beautiful.
I used to get so upset when I learned that people in other countries/cultures were getting “Americanized” and would only listen to American music or watch American movies, etc…but Godfrey has made me realize that he is doing so to learn the language…to become educated so he knows more about the world than just his own country, his own region which he has never left… he even wants to learn another language. And I have grown in me a greater respect for my own country as I used to be practically Anti-American… haha I used to get so frustrated with arrogant America…but my heart is being softened to see the good as well!!

Well, I am pretty tired…can’t believe that I’ve been here 3 weeks already…it seems as though time is flying and I can’t seem to catch up with it!!!!!! I think I have written enough for now…a little shorter entry!! ;)

I will write again (and add more pictures) in a couple days, as I am spending tomorrow evening/night and Wednesday morning @ Mikumi National Park about an hour from here!! I am very excited as I am told that we are staying in a lodge with many kinds of food!!! :)

**I hope by now you have been able to see some of my pictures and that they have helped to make clear some of my descriptions and writings!!! I am glad you are able to also put a name with a face (as I have mentioned many people)!!

Have a great last few days of January!!!!

continually seeking,
Alana :)

Pictures: Uhluguru Mountain climb

2008-01-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 26th

Olivia, Godfrey, and myself...startin the climb!! :)

walkin through many banana trees!

the last 1/2 was basically all forest!

what a view...of fog!

this was absolutely stunning...

At the Top!!

(Godfrey, Me, Olivia)

this tower is at the top!

a view from the top

gettin closer to the bottom...

my wonderful piece of smoked corn on the drive back!

not feeling the greatest after the climb... haha

Pictures: Jan 22 & 23

2008-01-27T06:04:00.000-08:00

TWO MORE VILLAGE VISITS!!

*NOTE: in the next few posts of pictures, I have used some of LeeAnn and Andrea's pictures therefore I gave them credit!!

the four guys trying to cut down some bushes to clear a road for us!

the church is still getting built...

(the goats like to itch themselves on the wood)

the fabulous chai time!!!

(l to r: Moreto (my teacher), Immanuel, Pastor H, me)

(LeeAnn's pict) as LeeAnn and I were chatting away, this Evangelist was doing a "Bible Study" (we assumed) with some Maasai men that had joined him!!

(LeeAnn's pict) watching the approaching storm as the service is just beginning...

(LeeAnn's pict) pretty sweet sky, huh?!

these young Maasai warrior men were excited to be baptized!

sooooo many people to be baptized!!!

(LeeAnn's pict) not everyone likes getting baptized... :)

some of the men's choir!!

(the four men on the right are the Evangelists: right to left: ???, jose, and my favorite two~ immanuel, and mliga)!

(LeeAnn's pict) some Maasai warriors taking communion

starting the adventure home wed night!

(back: Maasai man, evangelist Jose, evangelist ?

front: evangelist Immanuel, and me!)

I'm getting used to cuts/scrapes like this :) haha

(It's better than itching bites...which hasn't really happened

much since the first week)!

Pastor Hafermann makes a sign of the cross with water on their forehead and their upper chest/shoulder area... significance?? I will get back with that one...

a young Maasai girl getting baptized

(I used the color accent feature on my camera)!

Beautiful!

LeeAnn and I eating (w/spoons!) before the storm hit!

this large Tamarind tree seems like the perfect place to have a church service huh?!!

Pictures: Jan 18- Jan 20

2008-01-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

MY FIRST WEEKEND OUT!

**Just so you know: these pictures are in backward order... sorry about that!!

(Andrea's pict) So, remember when people used to tell you to make sure you eat everything on your plate because there are starving children in Africa that will eat it? Well, as Pastor Hafermann says, "Here, one can actually say that!" Now, this does not mean that people are starving in the Maasai villages- not at all- but these children are getting what's left over from the guests!!

(Andrea pict) eating w/my right hand since we're in a village!

*Olivia is next to me!

(Andrea pict) my teacher and friend: Moreto (in red)

this is the chicken I bought @ the offering auction

(that I gave to the young woman)!

(Andrea pict) Luka auctioning off one of the chickens!

(Andrea pict) post-service tradition of the shaking hands circle that I love!!

**Can you see me?! It's not like I stick out or anything... :)

(Andrea pict) I like this man! He helped lead the singing before the service, and now he's bringing some of the chickens for the offering!!

(Andrea pict) all of the mothers carry their children this way

(notice the jewelry on the women as well)

(Andrea pict) a look inside from the back

(Andrea pict) this is where the church service was held!

(Andrea pict) just arriving @ the Maasai Village Sunday 1-20

children sometimes go really crazy when a camera appears!

(they LOVE to see themselves)

going to look at some needed repairs for the church Luka built:

(left to right: Luka's cousin, Luka, Pastor Hafermann)

at the (maasai) market sat. afternoon: eating my coconut!

(LeeAnn's pict) Sat 1-19 waiting for the wedding blessing service to begin

(LeeAnn's pict) Alana: a.k.a. Carnivore!! :)

(LeeAnn's pict.) Me with LeeAnn inside of the church

looking @ cattle on my first village visit 1-18

a (pretty smooth) Tertiary road...

a typical Secondary Road (looks can be deceiving though) *notice how I took the picture straight on, and in Tanzania one is supposed to be driving on the opposite side of the road!

Pictures~ introductory

2008-01-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

a picture of me! (by my bed)

This is the block I live on~ my room is the first one on the left!

(my bed (there are actually two next to each other) with mosquito netting of course)!

(the first of three sections in my room~ I spend most of my time here)!

The view from my doorstep! (down the path and to the right is the dining room)

The Franciscan Catholic Church we went to on 1-13

This is my classroom during the week :)

Climb every mountain...

2008-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

…ford every stream

I have always loved The Sound of Music, so I think these lyrics from the movie fit very well for my adventure today!!

Today was the day that I finally climbed the mountain behind my school…I think I mentioned that this range is the 4th highest in Tanzania called Uhluguru…I don’t know the exact height yet, but I will look it up!!

One thing is for sure…now that I see where we climbed too, it doesn’t look that high, or far up…but it definitely was!!

Godfrey, Olivia and I left after I had breakfast at 7:15am here at the school…we waited for a dala dala by the road, but it didn’t come fast enough so Godfrey called his friend who is a taxi-driver to pick us up!! He brought us up a little ways into a village where we started our climb!! Godfrey and Olivia had climbed the mountain back in September when there were other Wartburg students here…but there are 2 different routes he says: one that is longer but not quite as steep, and one that is shorter, but steeper…It didn’t really matter to me, but since they both took the longer route before we decided on the shorter, steeper route…I do not know if that was the best choice for me :)

We started the climb about 8:30am and climbed for 2 hours…the first 2 hours were not bad at all and about an hour into the climb, 5 guys caught up with us that were climbing today as well and so joined with them. They are natives though and are in much better shape and practically bounded the whole way up (though they were kind enough to point out which bushes had thorns on them so we could watch out for them)! There were about 2 guys my age and the others were a little younger. Anyway, after 2 hours we reached a “halfway” place called Morningside. It is an old run-down building that used to be a language school…the view is supposed to be pretty good as many people hike only to this point…however the morning was very cloudy so all we saw was fog! I decided that today was more for exercise than the view…hopefully another day when we climb it will be nicer! We stopped to rest for about 45 minutes and I had a delicious apple that I bought at the supermarket a few days ago (it was excellent, as I had been craving one since I arrived!), and a granola bar and some bread with peanut butter made in Tanzania! The peanut butter is surprisingly good- it was my first time eating it as I had been leary of it…but there are no added preservatives so it is much better for you also!! All three of us just talked about life, and love and relationships!

The next two hours were incredibly tough…as my legs grew more and more tired and I slowed down a lot…it was almost totally uphill the rest of the way except for some breaks where we walked flat…the trail was literally just big enough to put both of my feet on it at the same time and we walked through banana plants, and much grass and plants and across streams; under and over logs and rocks, running through large ant trails, etc. About an hour from the top, Godfrey found a large branch and took off the smaller pieces so I had a nice, authentic walking stick that helped! I was already soaked through my clothes, from purely sweat, and a little mist/rain sprinkles mixed in probably! The last hour up to the top is in forest for sure…dense rainforest! I was wearing shorts and athletic gear as I knew it would be warm, but thank God it was actually cloudy today or it would have been tougher I believe. I wore shorts because Olivia suggested that it would be much cooler than jeans…the only bad thing is that I got all scraped up going through grasses and bushes etc…but I only managed to bleed once when I barely hit my knee going over a rock!! We were super close to the top but my legs were just killing me so I rested a bit and then kept going!! There is a large tower at the top of this peak that one can see from on the ground. We rested for about 35-40minutes and had some more food!! The clouds cleared a lot during the time we were at the top so we could actually see a lot then!! But it also was cooler, and even though I like it we put on our rain-jackets for some warmth as it was windy and we had sweated so much we were a little cold!

We headed down about 2:30pm and it was easier physically, but more dangerous as it was much easier to fall!!! We merged onto the original “easier” route on the way down so it wouldn’t be as steep! And we managed to make it back down by 5:50pm where the Taxi was waiting for us which was excellent!! He even “bought” us a piece of smoked corn on the cob and bottled water… I enjoyed my new food!! :) I paid 5000 shillings for a ride to the mtn. this morning and 7000 for the ride + food on the way back…being comfortable was well worth the money, especially on the way back! I couldn’t walk anymore!!!

*I got back in time to have some dinner quick here at the school, and then I took a long shower to clean out all my scrapes and get rid of all the dirt! I was filthy and sweaty!!

I am absolutely exhausted but it is a good thing I have tomorrow off so I can do much studying/resting!!!

I definitely got the work-out I wanted!!! But I have not worked my legs that much since being on the Track team @ Wartburg my freshman year!!!! I don’t want to think about how sore I will be tomorrow!!! :)

** I also found out more about Olivia, as remember, I said she was a lot like me?! Although I did say I was intimidated by her (still am- she is incredibly smart and mature for a just turned 24-year old)…I guess that makes me intimidated by myself! Haha
Well, for starters, she played soccer pretty much her whole life up until college, just for fun….she did gymnastics for many many years, but also just for fun. She has an older sister and a younger brother all 3 years apart (just like my siblings!) AND the craziest part: She pole-vaulted all through High School and was recruited to pole-vault at Harvard where she only did her first semester as then she was injured!! Oh-and she graduated this past May(’07) with a degree in Anthropology and Spanish/Latin studies… I was thinking of doing Anthropology as well…. Way too alike, huh?!?!!

Well, I think that about sums up my day!!! It took a total of 4 hours on the way up and 3 hours and 20 minutes on the way down!! I think I will get some much needed sleep now!!!
It sure was still beautiful and peaceful (although tough at many points) as we hiked/climbed today!!

Thinking about you all….

in Him,
Alana :)

Safi sana

2008-01-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

* this is a slang reply if someone says "Mambo?" to you...meaning how are things? Safi sana is like, very nice, or clean... I have come to enjoy hearing others say this phrase....especially some of the workers around the school here! They are making the grounds look so beautiful!! I appreciate that they always ask me 1) How I am doing 2) How did I wake up (umeamkaje?) and 3) how is my swahili studying/lessons going?! :)

Thursday January 24, 2008

My days have been pretty uneventful since Wednesday...however I still have not been able to get very much sleep as journaling and studying have been pretty time-consuming!!

I had class all morning with Moreto and after lunch I took a nap before the afternoon class time. Then at 4:15pm Andrea and I went to the road to wait for a Dala Dala (we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes)...however it was completely packed and the 20 minute ride to town was very uncomfortable and my legs were bent at an akward angle... I think this is the most people that I have been on a dala dala with...there were 27 or so...with the money guy hanging out the side door...

As soon as we got to town we went to the tailor's to pick up our skirts and bags!! I had paid about 5000 shillings (or $5) and then for 12,500 schillings for the skirt and the bag made out my material...not too bad at all!!!! :) **Remember, about 1000 shillings to the $1
Then we had to go to the supermarket and I picked up some more crackers, and a 1.5 lit. bottle of water (700 shillings!) and an apple for the same amount!! Apples are very expensive!
We had a list of things from the others at the school so we walked around some more picking up cell phone cards and notebooks and pens! We found a dala dala that would go our direction, by the seminary and waited about 15 minutes before it left about 6pm. In the meantime, I ate my Twix that I bought earlier!!!
As soon as we got back we went to dinner at 6:40pm and showed the sisters, Meeha, Sophia, and Nicole our purchases! I had to finish my long journal entry from the day before, and I chatted online (perhaps a little too long) as I stayed up for two more hours studying for my test this morning! *We have a "test" after every 5 lessons!! I was exhausted and collapsed finally around 12-12:30am...

Friday January 25, 2008

My test was the first thing this morning, after breakfast and morning devotion of course... and I did NOT do so well... I was very upset with myself because it ws stupid little mistakes, with one simple letter prefix, but of course they all add up. I know the material, but not having sleep-so being physically and mentally/emotionally tired definitely does not help when learning an entirely new language... but the rest of the day was pretty good. I took a long nap during my break after lunch and we made it half-way through Lesson 20 so it was a good place to end! At tea time I talked to Godfrey for about 10 minutes or so about the mountain climb we're doing tomorrow, and about some more swahili slang, and also some English words, although he speaks very good English! I am very excited that he is my teacher for next week!!! Although, I will not be in class on Tuesday, and I don't think Wednesday either as I am going with PH to Mikumi National Park for a game drive!! Perhaps he will come with?!? otherwise, I am going to be "behind" in learning swahili again even with only a 2 day break!
It felt wonderful to work-out for about 45 minutes as I have been very lethargic the past week... dinner was short and then I played UNO with the 3 sisters ( I don't know if I mentioned that a new sister came from the Phillipines on Monday....Sister Paulette!) and Andrea and MeeHa for about an hour!! Sister Aileen, Sister Paulette, and MeeHa had never played the game a week ago and now they love it!! MeeHa is such a riot to have around~she is always making everyone laugh at meal times...and, well-all the time!!! :) I'm glad she will be around for awhile....as Andrea is leaving next week to go to Southern Tanzania for her work experience: teaching kindergarten for 10 months!
I am again, exhausted, and need to get some sleep for my big climb tomorrow... Olivia,I mentioned her from last weekend, is coming with us... I don't know why I was a little "mad"...maybe because I am so intimidated by her- yes- that is the word. I said last weekend that she is 24 and in grad school I think. Well, she also went to Harvard for her undergrad... I need to stop being bitter and thinking she's raining on my parade because I know I could learn so much from her, as Nicole (the young german doctor here) is friends with her and tells me that we are very much alike... Well, tomorrow I will be spending 12 hours with Godfrey and Olivia, so there's bound to be some good conversation/discussion!!! :)

** Not much to reflect on in these days either...but even going to town I feel much more comfortable now... and I love surprising the native "townie" Tanzanians as I know how to say a proper greeting, and return one....and also the slang "Mambo" and the replies... It is fun to see their faces smile and laugh reassuringly!!

*** It's amazing how much I took for granted before now... coming from the country where I can practically have everything I want at any time- a surplus of goods and services- to a place where diversity does not ring true in certain instances... like food! Sister Annette and I were salivating yesterday after dinner when she said she was craving Dairy Queen!! And we still joke that the Mama's in the kitchen are bringing out chocolate keki!!!! I'm going to really fatten up when I go back...haha! However, I have come to realize that it isn't always about having so many choices...then I don't waste time and I am grateful for what I do get...it's much easier that way sometimes! And I will settle with my nanasi (pineapple!) for dessert for now!

You are in my thoughts and prayers...have an excellent weekend!!!

peace and love,
Alana :)

"Ain't no mountain high enough..."

2008-01-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

…ain’t no pothole deep enough, ain’t no bush thick enough to keep us from getting to you!

**This is by far the best description I could ever give you about how we got to and where this village is… (thanks to LeeAnn for bringing up “Ain’t to Mountain High Enough”)…although I changed a few of the words :)

The best part of the day was the driving experience (on the way there and equally on the way back)!! I didn’t feel too good Tuesday afternoon/evening, nor in the morning yesterday, but I downed some Pepto Bismal and was ready to go again! PH, LeeAnn, myself and my teacher, Moreto, came with again. I went over a lesson while we had nice, paved Primary Road for the first 1.5 hours…then of course, we pick up more passengers! :) We went to practically the same place as the day before, therefore we picked up the same 4 guys who are Evangelists!! I did not mind one bit as they are wonderful and I knew there would be an excellent “men’s choir” again!!! :)
PH warned us that he did not always know the conditions of the road because if it had rained, it would be a whole different story… this is one of those “impossible” roads, because again, rain makes it all the more dangerous of getting stuck.
PH also declared it a “Hold-the-goat-day” meaning that the villagers do not know if the Pastor will make it so they wait (“holding a goat”) until they hear a car motor coming signaling his arrival and that they would in fact kill the goat for the after service meal.

Mliga, the Evangelist who grew up in a village “near” the one we were going to was an amazing navigator, therefore he obviously rode in the front with PH. We were on Secondary Road maybe 15 minutes, and the rest of the way was “impossible” road. Granted, there are areas or patches where the road is decent but we dip, jump, slant, squeal, spin, and swerve every which way!! It had rained a little bit the night before so there were also some areas of muddy standing water that we had to avoid, or if they didn’t look too deep PH would gun it through them! A few times Mliga would hop out of the car and run ahead to inspect the road and which direction to go. Kulita= left, Kushoto= right, moja kwa moja= straight ahead, Hapa= here.
One time, Mliga is looking and says, uhh kulita, Kushoto- hapana (no!) kushoto porini (meaning left in the bush…so, into some grass, off the road) and PH agrees and says Kushoto kabisa! (Absolutely left)!
Then when I think we’re getting “close,” whatever that means… we could go left, however it was a large dip into muddy water and we figured we’d never make it back up the slant out of that, but to the right, there was no road at first as there were bushes and branches of leaves that had overgrown the road… so Mliga hops out to inspect…comes back and simply opens the door, says one word to the Maasai man in the back of the car and is handed about a foot-long knife (specifically what all Maasai men carry around). So, we see Mliga chopping at some small bushes trying to clear a way…then the rest of the guys in the car get out leaving PH and LeeAnn and I to watch all the guys pushing branches aside and cutting at the bush…all of a sudden there was an opening and I could see the road again! They had cleared a perfect path! Also, out of nowhere appeared Manuel (or actually, Immanuel)- my Evangelist friend from the day before too!!! When I say out of nowhere, I literally mean it, because after the guys came back from clearing the path, Immanuel was with them!! These Evangelists are incredible. They are so dedicated to their job and have such great respect for PH. They truly care about their “work” and have just as much desire as PH to get to these Maasai villages, therefore they will find out routes to get to them and will walk or bike, or travel with us to get there! This is what I was talking about in the beginning…that there is literally NOTHING that will keep us- mostly PH and the Evangelists from getting to the villages. Places where you don’t think a car could go…WE go. Places where a vehicle probably should never go…WE go. Talk about the church should look like, and how it should act… PH’s discipleship…I would not say “mission” as he does not have a “goal” to just go into these villages and convert...but he is simply one of those people that went to the ends of the earth as part of the Great Commission that Jesus gave years ago.
Anyway, back to the journey… I can’t imagine how many miles in the middle of nowhere we were. It probably wasn’t that many miles- maybe 3-5 at most, but it took us over an hour obviously because of the road conditions. We passed a couple villages and I kept thinking, okay, we’re finally here…but we weren’t. Finally, at about 12:15pm (we left at 9am) we arrived.

(I forgot to mention that we stopped very briefly a couple times…once for a bathroom break, another time to see some men building a cattle dip? I guess it is supposed to be a flea dip…and also once at a village because we though we were picking up an Evangelist so we waited about 5-10 minutes and this was the first time that the language barrier made a huge communication problem as someone got out of the car, then a Maasai man walked over to the car and was talking to some people inside and then one of the Evangelists in the back kind of gives my shoulder a little push as Moreto (my teacher) opens the door and tells me to get out and stay, and I was super confused, and I said what?? And Moreto’s English is not the greatest, and I asked him why and I think that because they thought we were staying they wanted me to see the village...I don’t know if PH didn’t hear them talking or what, but I raised my voice and said PH, should I get out? WHAT are we doing? He said, No, no- we are just waiting for an Evangelist but don’t know where he is (mind you, all of the Evangelist’s have cell phones at least), but stay in the car. So the door remained open, I still had a confused look on my face, and by this time there were all these children crowding the vehicle outside with this man, and Moreto still motioned toward the door. I have no idea why PH couldn’t tell them No, and why I had to… ohhhh goodness)

For the first 30-40 minutes it’s always greetings, but once greetings are done with, then it’s just an akward staring contest sometimes :) I remembered my Frisbee this time though, so LeeAnn and I start tossing it and it attracts attention- from not only the people in our vehicle, but many of the Maasai warrior men. Well, Moreto and Immanuel ended up tossing the Frisbee with us for about 20 minutes, then it was time for tea!!! It was Incredibly hot today so we had to wait awhile for it to “cool,” however I wanted to finish it fast because we were attracting SO many darn flies.
Remember, yesterday I said that there were really only tiny stools for everyone, and a few plastic chairs? Today, there were only little stools, and huge pieces of tree to sit on. However, at tea time a man on a bike road in with 3 wicker chairs…one for PH and the two female guests! We always get bottles of water too…we are treated SO well and it is hard to accept many times. Well, of course baptism registration started after a while (about 1:30pm) and today there were SO many… He wasn’t done registering until 3:30pm therefore we didn’t start the service until about 3:50-4pm. It was Super humid today actually, and all day LeeAnn and I were watching the sky as more huge grey clouds were rolling in slowly (just like the day before).
During the baptism registration, LeeAnn and were able to chat again for a couple hours- just about seminary and classes and interpretation and FGM (female genital mutilation) and what’s being done to stop it as it has been a very prevalent tradition.
About 30 minutes or so before the service, many women and children had gathered and had started singing and clapping…then the Maasai elder (man) called us over and we didn’t know if he wanted us to sing and they follow, but I knew that wouldn’t work! Haha Well, bless LeeAnn’s heart as she tried to sing “We Are Marching In The Light of God” in a language she thought was kiiswahili…but it wasn’t…therefore we just stood with them and clapped along with and tried to sing if we recognized some words…however sometimes they sang in their tribal language: kiiMaa(sai).
Well, one time, this Maasai elder (woman) came over to us and she wanted LeeAnn to try and grunt and jump/bounce like the men normally do…it was quite entertaining as she tried to teach LeeAnn!!! :) (and quite entertaining for everyone else…including the men watching us all at a distance!)

The service starts and the mens choir sings and I just adore that. We sing in Swahili, and then it’s time for the baptisms to start, so the Evangelists have to organize everyone up front…that meant 54 PEOPLE!!! 43 children and 11 adults. PH had to say no to about 7 more babies.
By this time, it’s cooling off, and the winds are picking up and I’m freaking out with LeeAnn in the back trying to figure out different situations because the planner in me came out and I was like oh no, this isn’t good, the baptisms are Just getting started-how are we going to get through them all, And communion, And the offering…it’s totally going to start downpouring on us any second…and oh gosh- if it rains, we will definitely Not be getting out of here with those roads… so we’re going to have to stay in the village tonight…but we can’t do that because LeeAnn has to catch a bus at 8:30am back up to Arusha (northern Tanzania). Maybe, we can get through the baptisms and then wait out the rain, and then we can finish the rest of the service, but oh no- then we really will never get out….but I really wanted to finish the baptisms and the service, so I really just didn’t know what was going to happen. Well, I of course freaked out for nothing. LeeAnn and I went up front to watch the baptisms and take some pictures and halfway through them the wind is just incredibly strong (one of the Evangelists is holding the communion wafers and wine) and the dust is blowing as well. Then it starts to rain but not too hard so we keep watching…well then, the rain picked up and so a few of us ran to the land rover but we only had to stay in it for about 5 minutes as the rain was just a sprinkling the rest of the time. However, we stepped out of the car and it was COOL. It was the best temperature yet!! :)
PH finished the baptisms and all those that were part of the congregation not getting baptized that had left the service came back and PH did not give his sermon, but he always talks about the meaning of baptism for a few minutes. We had communion and the offering, and of course the “men’s choir” made up of Evangelists and a few Maasai men, including a male elder sang and “bounced” and of course I loved it :)
I did not have a Swahili hymn/liturgy book after the baptisms so I did not know the call and response songs by heart, but as I go to more and more services I am remembering more and more as well! I have made it my goal to for sure memorize the “Our Father” in Kiiswahili before I leave!
My favorite part of the service is still the very end when we sing the same song that is SO catchy (and I love it), and we make a big circle and shake hands with everybody, starting with PH and the Evangelists!! It was still softly raining so I thought we would just leave, but they wanted us to eat still!! So, the men (Evangelists) served us (as PH said, the men serve the guests here!)…they brought our chairs over and a table and poured the water over our hands to wash them so we could eat the wonderful rice and LeeAnn and I even had 7UP! So, this was my 2nd time eating since 7:15AM that morning!
We really had to get going if we wanted to get to the Secondary Road at least before dark, but that wouldn’t happen as it was already 6:15pm. We went a different route on the way back to the Secondary road…it was longer, but it was supposed to be better than the other road we came on, especially because it had rained some. Except, that is what is so weird about the storms here…the clouds were super threatening and all of these grey ones were rolling on above us, yet hardly any rain fell…and on the drive back, you could tell it only rained in patches. It took a good hour and a half…the first 30 minutes it was light and I took a couple pictures of everyone in the car! It was much fun, and we all laughed a lot… and the Evangelists are always willing to help me with some new Swahili words, or to correct me!! We went through more scratchy trees… and let me ask you: what do you do if you are walking through a forest or an area with many bushes and there are branches that stick out…we would duck or dodge them of course…well…it was funny because PH would do that sometimes, but Mliga, the Evangelist and wonderful navigator also up front would duck his head EVERY time… and all of us in the back just cracked up laughing…and it was even funnier after Mliga’s Evangelist friends in the back said something to him…Immanuel, who was sitting next to me was even Crying because it was so funny… and I found that great because when I laugh too hard I also cry!! :) I felt a little bad, although we meant to be laughing With him… it was just too cute…and he was so focused on helping PH that it was a natural reaction to duck, even though we were in a car!!!
We dropped off Jose, an Evangelist and a Maasai man and continued on through the night. LeeAnn and I realized that when it’s nighttime and one is driving on roads like this, the time seems to double as it seemed like we would never see a sign of civilization again…
Once we finally made in onto Secondary Road, PH had to stop and call Luka quick to see how the building was going, and then we continued for another 40 minutes or so before we stopped in a town right before the Primary Road. We had to let out Immanuel and Mliga~my two favorite guys!! Mliga was much more relaxed after making it through the bush and I stepped outside to let them out and say good-bye…they are so genuine and warm and just being able to meet them and be part of what they are doing the past two days was such a blessing…and watching them sing/”bob” as well just makes my heart smile :) I dearly hope I get to see them again before I have to leave in 2 months or so…(look at me, I’ve only been here 2 weeks, but I’m already realizing that time is flying by…) I hopped back in the car and waved good-bye and I will never forget their grinning faces with both hands waving furiously good-bye back at me :)
We dropped off one more Evangelist as we continued, and the rest of the time I leaned forward to listen to PH talk to LeeAnn and I about some more stories…including the service where he baptized the most at one time (over 80) and one of the most vivid demon possessions he has seen in his time here….very interesting indeed!
It was 9:40pm when I got back in my room and I was way too exhausted to write…plus I had to upload LeeAnn’s photos from this past week too. Now I have at least many of her pictures from the weekend, as I didn’t take hardly any!!

*A few interesting facts about Wednesday: PH said that sometimes there are elephants roaming in the bush that we drove through…wouldn’t that have been something to see!!
**Also, this was only the 2nd time that PH has ever been to this village (once in Dec), therefore I am the first Wartburg student to have ever come to it!! (The name of it is Lukenge). Maybe that is why LeeAnn and I had sooo many stares from all of the women and children, and well everyone…more than usual I mean :) because if PH has only been there once before, and unless some of these Maasai walk to a town/market, they definitely do Not see any white people!
*** PH also said that Mliga often hears among the Maasai “What are white people doing here? There must be gold or diamonds or something around… they wouldn’t just come here to come here…” Interesting…

NOTE:
~ I have a correction to make: I found out that the first place we stopped at last Friday-called TwaTwaTwa the German Evangelist is Actually the Pastor for the village!! Hmmm…he was another story….

~TUESDAY: I forgot to mention I think, that before we left the village one of the Evangelists set fire (burned) to the necklace that had the “medicine” in it!!

~TUESDAY: Also found out that the village on this day was a new preaching site for PH, so that’s exciting!!! :)

**One more NOTE: On Sunday, I mentioned my teacher, Moreto...he grew up kiiMaasai and is 8th out of 9 kids....that is with one wife... I did say that his father has 8 wives...but I found out the actual number of total children: 52 I dont think I can say anything else but, wow.

WHEW… I apologize that these entries are so long all the time, but I don’t know any other way to really describe it without being as descriptive as I can…My words don’t do justice to this beautiful country and the beautiful and even more intriguing people…but I do want to do my best to give you a glimpse into another world, another way of life. I mean, the way of life just living at the seminary is already totally different...but when one goes to the villages…that is completely different…and the “townie” Tanzanians, as I call them, know that! In fact, one of the teachers (21), Godfrey, whom I’ve mentioned, told me has never been to a village before…I told him he is coming with me the end of February or March!!!

Also, instead of doing two separate journals for my classes this blog is going to suffice for both, so that is also why they are going to continue being long!!!

** Thank you for your time and patience when reading these…I appreciate your comments and thoughts very much and I hope that maybe some of this reading will perhaps give you a “breath of fresh (warmer) air” as well during these cold and often monotonous days!!!

In awe,
Alana :)

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
*Romans 10:15*

22 baptisms on the 22nd :)

2008-01-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

NOTE: From NOW ON I am going to refer to Pastor Hafermann as PH!!!! :)

Ohhh what a day!!! I did not get very much sleep last night and now I am especially feeling it after the day is over :(

I got up about 6:30am to shower so I could wake up and went to breakfast (which I am thouroughly enjoying going to)! I had today’s morning devotion again at 7:45 so I talked about John 15:1-5. I Love John 15…excellent chapter!!! Verse 5 always rocks me: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Yes, just last Friday in my devotion I talked about relying on God always…but sometimes, I do not WANT to…and that’s my selfish/prideful/ independent fallen humanity side coming out wanting to be a branch that breaks off from the vine and go off on it’s own…but apart from the TRUE VINE (Jesus) we can do nothing… maybe for a while we will survive or think we are doing something…and we may even bear fruit….but according to Jesus…not fruit that will LAST… Are we bearing fruit that will Last?!?!

Then I had a break from 8-8:40 before we had to leave for another village. Remember, time in Africa is never “on time exactly” so I forget that when Pastor H says we will leave at 8:30am it’s more like 9am!! So today it was PH, LeeAnn, myself, and mimi mwalimu (my teacher) that came along! Therefore, for the first hour or so I was able to continue in my lessons! However, the last 30 minutes or so we ended up picking up 5 more people!!! (At least 3 were evangelists I believe). So there were 3 in the back, 4 squished in the middle and PH and LeeAnn up front!! PH was definitely not lying yesterday when he said “oh don’t worry, we’ll just pick up more passengers.” Sometimes I do not know where everyone comes from! But it is always exciting!
We only had to drive about 20 minutes on a secondary/tertiary road to get to this small village today!! (Unfortunately we had to go through MANY scratchy trees/bushes…and we didn’t even take a wrong “turn” this time)!
We arrived about 11:10am…pretty early! Todays service and an all day “coffee (tea) fellowship” BEFORE the service took place under a Large Tamarind tree (yes, there is a juice called Tamarindo juice that this tree has a part in somehow)! There is no church built here yet. So, for about an hour LeeAnn, myself and PH sat on some chairs and chatted in English, and PH would talk to the other men (about 4 Maasai men and like 10 others- most Evangelists I guess) in Swahili of course. Then everyone gathered around a small wooden table to have chai (the SAME delicious chai we had in last Friday’s village with the ground up ginger) oh, do the Maasai know how to make tea!!! We also had Maadazi with the tea!! (my favorite food in Tanzania…I’ve mentioned it previously)!
Finally, about 12:30??! PH decides it’s “time” to start registering for baptisms…so he and a couple Evangelists take the Baptism cards and go under a smaller tree and people start showing up… I remember PH saying there was a family that needed to be baptized here, but remember, with Christianity being recent in the past few years in these villages many of these families are HUGE still, with one man having many wives and children… For the next 2 hours, LeeAnn and I had a wonderful conversation about life and the church and seminary and about my family’s sponsorship of my Tanzanian sister, Selina and her home congregation in Virginia! (We took a 10 minute break early on to walk to the land rover to get some water and as I walked around back to my side my right eye came straight into contact with a branch sticking straight out at my level… So I couldn’t open my eye for a couple minutes, but Moreto (my teacher) and my favorite tall Evangelist friend (whom I talked about and met on Friday showed up here at this village as well) helped look at my eye and I put some eye drops in it to flush it out!! Moreto helped me study for a few minutes as well… then LeeAnn and I went back to our conversastion. It really was so peaceful sitting under the tree as it was much cooler and breezier and we were out of the sun and 4-5 men were just singing Swahili hymns softly in different harmonies and the other men were chatting. Note: there are only 2 wooden chairs (which we had) and like 3-4 other plastic chairs…then there are maybe 6 tiny stools a few inches off the ground…nothing else!
As we talked about struggles in finding out exactly one’s calling and what one is supposed to do with there life, and about trusting God to reveal in small amounts…she reminded me of how humbling it is to be here because it puts life in perspective… as I worry daily about what I’m supposed to do with my life ( how can I live both lives…truly live what I believe without constantly feeling like a hypocrite? When in reality…we are all hypocrites…) there are people here worrying simply worrying about HOW to live… and then there’s another part of the spectrum…the part that is so easy to fall into and I will take the first blame for it…about wondering what in the world am I going to wear, or what I’m going to do this weekend… but living simply so far has been great!! Simple outfits, and no make-up (granted, one always looks better w/a tan!), and only some gel for my hair…it saves time in the morning, so I can sleep, or get my journaling done!!!
Anyway…the registering is done, and somehow an area is organized into a sanctuary as some chairs are set up one side (and since we were the guests, LeeAnn and I each got one) and the little table is used as an altar and of course, PH’s 2-3 cushion kneelers… then PH asks me what time it is and I say, about 2:50pm and he said, oh my we better begin…I took Luka’s place today in telling him what time it was, and LeeAnn took Luka’s place as co-pilot to be PH’s pair of second eyes!!
So, the service began, with the men on one side (we were honorary men today…well, come to think of it whenever we eat we are honorary men!) and the women and children sitting on mats or the dirt ground on the other side of the tree. The service is always good and goes by fast…although it’s well over 2 hours and I never look at my watch! I love to sing the Swahili hymns, and today one of the Evangelists who has a super loud voice shared his hymnal and Swahili Bible with me~ it was great!! Also, more organized like the first village on Friday that we visited, they had some songs “prepared,” so many of the men- the Evangelists and Bible School students (or soon to be) formed a line and did some songs…I love it because to keep the beat they bob their bodies and do a sort of grunt-hum and stamp…it’s hard to describe…it’s a bob, or a bouncing action maybe, or a wave?! Good thing I took some pictures today…and a video!!!
It makes me laugh…as well as the Maasai men, to watch :) (but because it’s so fun) Today we had 2 pastors up front, as a native pastor joined PH so there were basically 2 sermons, communion, offering, and of course the baptisms….
There was only 1 on Friday and then on Sunday there were many but it was so crowded and since there were so many of us wazungus(white people) I didn’t want to feel even More like a tourist, so I didn’t take any pictures really, and I couldn’t see. (I always struggle with picture taking here…especially of people, and the services, even though it’s completely okay. I just don’t want to come across as exploitative, but no matter what, some villages there are probably always going to be a few that feel that way…) Today, in fact, a couple of the Evangelists literally told LeeAnn and I to go to the front to take pictures…it was pretty incredible. I mean, it’s one thing to see pictures of PH doing this all the time, but experiencing it is a whole other feeling!!! It was mostly children and then some mothers and a couple very small children… the children included some young girls, 8-15 and then 6 young 15 year old Maasai young warrior boys. They definitely do not look 15!!!!
There was indeed 22 in all!!! :) What a perfect day to have 22 baptisms…on the 22nd!!! My favorite number of course!!! I love watching PH…when the men sang and “bounced” some more later on, he was just sitting happy as a lark in his chair up front, smiling giddily and bobbing his head and mouthing some words along with the men!!! It made me laugh :) He also is incredibly captivating to watch and listen too when he gives a sermon (even if I understand practically zero of what he is saying). He has a way of reaching out and keeping everyone’s attention, from the children to the adults, to the elders… then again, that’s why He’s here, in Tanzania using his gifts…and has been for 45 years!!! *I found out that of the 13000 people he works with…there is 113 villages, and 70 evangelists…he does services 4 days a week: Tues, Wed, Fri, and Sun!!
Anyway…after the service since we can’t obviously file out the “back” at all, we do the wonderful shaking hands line in a half circle around the tree….I am near the end and happen to look over to my left, where there is a woman on the ground looking like she is having a seizure and an Evangelist trying to help- he had his hand behind her neck/head…well then we finished the prayer and as people were dispersing a bit, this woman just went absolutely crazy- shaking uncontrollably and waving her arms back and forth and yelling/groaning and then there were like 4 Evangelists, trying to get her to sit still, and then the 2 Pastors came over, and they kept praying over her…well, when she was still (after the evil spirit had left her) she said she wanted to be baptized, so there was one more baptism after the service today… her husband told the Pastor’s, Yes, please baptize her, this evil spirit has been torturing her and our family for years and I can’t take it anymore… *NOTE: the women (and therefore children I believe) have to have permission from their husband’s to be baptized
PH said they gave her the Christian name~ Magdalena: “one whom Jesus has cast seven spirits out of!”

More of the story came out when PH came over to us and said she was completely fine and free of this spirit… supposedly she is 36 and went to a traditional medicine man or similar years ago when she was giving birth…well, that’s when she received a necklace to wear in which the spirit resides… it is “supposed to” help with pain, and problems giving birth-fetal issues so of course many women are desperate for something. Well, how these traditional “healers” keep getting money and keep existing is because the women have to go back to them so they can “put the spirit to sleep.”
Turns out, this same woman had just come from doing that and was walking back but didn’t make it in time for the service, but the first Evangelist I saw with this woman saw her coming and as soon as she got to the area she started convulsing and so he put her on the mat and immediately noticed the necklace and took it off of her… (this is when I saw)…then you know the rest! Praying in Jesus’ name is Powerful…because He IS all-powerful and greater than any work of darkness…
So, that was my first live demon possession…

My goodness I’ve had a lot to take in the past few days of my first village visits!

Well, it was about 5:20pm by this time, and there were dark storm clouds rolling in, so food was brought to us!! The pastors and LeeAnn and I sat around the table and guess what?! We got spoons to use!!!! No eating with my right hand…I couldn’t believe it!!! And we got glass bottles of Pepsi even too!!! This was the best village visit yet ;)
Unfortunately, the rain came in so fast that we had maybe 10-15 minutes to eat, while we saw an amazing rainbow, then it started raining, and so we quickly (all 9 of us) went to the car to leave by about 5:45-5:50pm…then the other Pastor biked ahead of us to lead us to a place where we could get back onto the tertiary road…it was Pouring by this time and he was soaked!!! I was worried, as the “roads” were already getting soggy…so we were fine for a while and going in the right direction, but then the men in the car were confused, as it was tough to see too, and we had to turn around a couple times before we finally got on the Secondary Road then right to Primary Road for the rest of the way!! The last hour or so Moreto and I worked on another lesson!! He’s very gentle, and patient, and I appreciate that as I was tired and couldn’t think very well!!!

It was a great day!!! I was so happy to see my tall Evangelist friend and finally find out his name, Manuel! I didn’t get a picture with him :( But I shall see him again I’d assume!!!!

Tomorrow, we go yet again to another village!!! I am already exhausted, but tomorrow is my last village visit for at least a week, as PH and Luka have to go a village super far way ALL weekend- from Friday to Sunday :( But, this will force me to rest, at least on Friday and Sunday as I am climbing the mountain on Saturday!!! Hopefully I can upload pictures this weekend too!!!!

Well, I need to get some rest!!!!

Happy Reading!

In awe,
Alana :)

A day of Rest?

2008-01-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Monday Jan 21,2008

*I need to bring attention to something that I wrote in my last blog…something about how the sun sets in the west here and not the east!! Thanks to those that pointed it out! :) As I said, I was Super tired when I got back last night….but I remember Pastor H. waking me up to ask me if I’d ever seen the sun set in the east or something like that…maybe since I was tired I heard wrong… just wanted to clear that up!!

*As I think back to my very first village experience on Friday (18th) I remember that same mother who said she would like me for a daughter also wanted to know my age (21) and then proceeded to say that I should have had babies already…and I’m thinking, I should have had many babies by now!!! (with as young as some of the mothers are…mere teenagers). This was all said to me in Swahili, so of course Pastor H. is translating for me! But I take it as a compliment when some of the mama’s in the villages tell me I could stay and live there!! :)

As I get more comfortable being here, not only in Morogoro but going to different villages as well (although, that is always a different experience) I get more used to the way of life…the sights, the sounds, the climate, the smells…oh the smells… I’m even smelling like the villages now-which have a very distinct smell…we would say literally “it smells” but it is just distinct and unique and I don’t mind it so much! :)

Today I thought I was going to have more time to study/rest, but again, such is life~ hakuna matata, right?!

It is a new week so we changed teachers! I now have Moreto (whom I mentioned came with us to the village yesterday)! He is a tall, quiet fellow…and actually kiiMaasai! But he is educated, obviously and living here at the school. I do now know much more except that he is 8th out of 9 children and his father has 8 wives… I hope to learn more about his life this week?! He is a patient teacher, but doesn’t know as much English, and so whereas Elizabeth could easily answer all of my crazy questions about the language, it is harder for him.

I learned the verb for to have diarrhea… yes, that’s right, there is actually a verb for it!! Because it is so common here it is not a taboo subject (as in America…)!

My afternoon lesson went much better as I was not as rusty as the warming…taking 3 days off with no practice was not good…but for now I am back on track!! I do not know if my teacher will be coming with on the village visit tomorrow or not… part of me hopes not as I am still tired from last weekend and would like a break! Or maybe to read a book actually! I am sad that Luka will not be coming with us, but Pastor H. sent him off today to work on building a church somewhere 5-6 hours away for the week… but that means as Pastor H. says, “we will still pick up plenty of passengers!” :)

Not much to reflect on today… am definitely feeling tired (as I’ve mentioned before)!!

Have a good one!!

abiding in Him,
Alana :)

The road less traveled...

2008-01-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it was another 12 hour day today…and I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t As exciting as Friday-maybe because it wasn’t my first service…or because we had so many people. Sometimes I am selfish and want Pastor’s and Luka’s attention all to myself because I just love to learn from them and I had to share them today :(

*Before I discuss today, I want to bring up the situation in Kenya…which, hopefully many of you know is the country right above Tanzania and to just think that I am practically in paradise and 10+ hrs North of here there is so much turmoil going on…well, such is life I suppose. Anyway, Dec 27th I believe was a flawed election and so protests/riots/demonstrations have been happening- in Nairobi and also Mombasa and other cities. I say this because actually a few people studying @ the School here with me for a short time fled Kenya and came to Tanzania. MeeHaa, whom I’ve mentioned before is here learning some kiiswahili…she will be here for a couple months though! Nicole, from Germany, is a doctor and was working with an AIDS organization in Nairobi and is here just for a short while to learn a bit of the language in the meantime while she figures out what to do (she arrived just this past Thursday I believe). And LeeAnn, the pastor from Virginia, was in Nairobi with her husband who is a doctor. They were supposed to be in Kenya for about 6 weeks or so, but they spent a week in house arrest before eventually deciding it’d be safer to leave so her husband stayed in Arusha (northern Tanzania) and she somehow had a contact that knew Pastor H. (remember, he is a celebrity, so it doesn’t surprise me)!! :) So, that’s who I’ve been hanging out with this weekend especially!

Today’s adventure started at 8AM, as it was pouring rain when we left Morogoro (after a great breakfast…Im really liking mango even more~ now that I know how to prepare it)! We were a full vehicle with Luka and Pastor H, Moreto (another 21-year-old teacher here at the school), Olivia and her friend Dawn (24? And 31~both of whom fled Kenya and are now in Morogoro working), LeeAnn (27), and my friend Andrea from Germany that is here studying with me (26). So, I am a youngin in the group today and it definitely put me in my place today…
We had to drive about 2 hours- on primary (tar) road though…except Pastor H. said there were about 20 speed bumps on the way…he wasn’t joking!!! I was squished in the back with Andrea and LeeAnn and Pastor H. kept asking if I was still “with us,” haha.
I definitely hit my head on the ceiling one time though…but at least it was fun!! :)
The road was also more curvy and we went up and down hills…it was nice to see some new terrain! I tried to sleep a little bit, but was pretty unsuccessful! Then, we turned onto a secondary road for about 10 minutes and stopped at a church that Luka had built. Right next to the church is the Evangelist’s family’s house and they served us tea and something like chapati (remember, like a soft tortilla shell), only much thicker, and with some cinnamon on it maybe?!
At the beginning, I said I was “put in my place” today…well, during tea time it was more of a conversation between Olivia and Dawn and Pastor H. as they are very well-educated and have so much experience…Dawn is a doctor and Olivia is also in healthcare or some type of medical work. I was intimidated by (or maybe just jealous of) Olivia as she learned Swahili here in the fall and went to Kenya to do work (although is obviously back here), and she is VERY good at it!! I honestly feel “stupid” because I can hardly communicate past greetings or my name or where I’m from. It is very frustrating at times, because I just sat quiet. Olivia also can talk with Luka and Moreto and again, I’m just listening… what’s most frustrating is that I do love languages and want to learn, but I also have these other 2 classes through Wartburg that are obligations as well and take up a lot of time. I don’t know if I mentioned this before or not but Andrea asked me how I am motivated to study the language and I said well, I just love to learn… but she’s right- because I’m really just taking it for “fun!” I get asked sometimes where I’m going to work after I leave here or what I’m going to do and I simply say that I’m just studying here and then going back home… so part of me wants to just learn the language during the day and that’s all I get, but in order to fully participate in my cultural immersion one has to know the language…it’s a toss-up! I may just choose one night to maybe stay up all night and try and catch up on what Ive learned so far, so that makes sense and I can get a better handle on the language…
It was definitely humbling though, as I was thinking, who am I to think I’m so special or I’m so great…and I’m just a young idealist, I can’t really do anything… I guess, that’s what happens when you meet people just like yourself… I realized that these women were also super passionate about what they do and specifically in a developing country…I don’t mean many people like me back home, but it was different meeting some older women who have been through/are going through grad school and are really just living their lives/doing their jobs that they love!

Back to the day….
After tea we drove another 20 minutes on a Tertiary road and I knew we were close… (that’s been the pattern with roads lately…when we go to a village for a service it’s Primary, Secondary, Tertiary)!
We arrive about 11:45am and of course, greet many people…especially children as there were many in this small village! The church was open air- under a tent basically…made of sticks and a thatched triangle roof of bamboo branches. PastorH, Luka, and some of the other men go off to look at the spot where a cement church will b built (by Luka of course), and LeeAnn and I just sat. This place did not have nice benches, a few stools like 5 inches from the ground, and the “benches” were like 8 inches off the ground maybe and were made of branches…so from like 12:15-2ish while Pastor H. was registering all the baptisms (19 in all I think he did during the service today) I sat on the branches that would “brand my butt” as PastorH told us! However, we were entertained with much singing and clapping though as more and more children and Maasai mothers came. Finally the service started about 2:15-2:30pm and Luka was the Evangelist up front with Pastor H. this time. Right before the service I had given up my seat because a mother with a baby on her back was looking for a place to sit…therefore I stood in the back the entire time, where there was way less shade…but I didn’t mind. A young boy handed over a small baby girl to me so for about 10-15 minutes I got to hold her and keep her quiet. She really enjoyed grabbing my bangs! :) Then, the Maasai mother came and took her. During the baptism time (about the middle) it got really wild. This was a much smaller, and less organized area than Friday’s church and so it go to be just crazy at times!! Children yelling and Mama’s everywhere, and all of those to be baptized(many infants) were all up front! Then after communion was the offering where everyone files up to the front to put their money in a bowl, or whatever else they are offering… this is when 5-6 live chickens (kuku) were brought in with their legs tied together. So now, we have squawking chickens and crying/sucking babies, ornery children, and Pastor H. trying to preach/pray!
It was harder to follow along in the book because there are so many different liturgies and I didn’t have Luka to help me. But Pastor H. would try and also say a page or song number in English just for us!
After the service and of course the circle of shaking hands....there was an auction for the non-money offerings. Luka auctioned off the 6 chickens and I believe 4 of the 6 chickens went to wazungu (white people)…Olivia, Dawn, Andrea, and me of course!! I payed 4,500 schillings for it (about 5 dollars)! Although I don’t know the numbers in Swahili yet Luka just told me in English how much… don’t worry I have a picture!! Then there was a nice kitanga fabric/material and some bags of food… (all of us gave our chickens to different families by the way)! There was one young woman (with her baby) that I was drawn too and since before the service began we just kept smiling at one another…and after the auction I looked around the circle and made eye contact with her and I knew I wanted to give it to her. She shyly put her hand on her heart as if to say “me?” and I held out the chicken and she nodded and so I gave it to her! She was very grateful!!!
Then it was time for the food of course! The 8 or so of us get stools and some wooden tables and practically an individual large bowl of rice, with some beans and a few pieces of some meat on top…I had a lot of the rice, not much meat though… I was just super dehydrated and so the large bottles of water we received was wonderful!

It was 5:30pm when we finally left, after Luka pumped up one of the tires…this time we switched spots so now I could sit in the middle of the middle seat. I like this spot as I can see straight out the front window! After about a half hour I layed my head on my backpack in front of me and slept…often interrupted with speed bumps though! :) And to see the sun set in the WEST and Not the East (remember…different hemisphere)! It became dark eventually and when we were about 10 minutes away I stayed up to watch the heat lightning in the mountains. We got back to the Seminary about 8pmish and again… pretty wiped out!! I was also incredibly dirty so I showered and felt much better!
I am excited to get hopefully a full 8 hrs of sleep and am looking forward to a day off (as in, more of a structured day)! I haven’t studied my Swahili since last Thursday sadly, but can’t wait to start in again! I will have a new teacher because it’s a new week!

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow (Monday) marks the day I left two weeks before!!! Time is already flying by…

with a grateful heart,
Alana :)

a wedding blessing, speaking swahili?, cattle market, coconut juice, blonde hair...

2008-01-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 19, 2008

Whew… another day, another experience! I overslept breakfast as I went to bed late…so I missed pancakes- maybe more like “pancakes??!” But I had a granola bar anyway as I showered before leaving at 9:30am this morning. We drove about 15 minutes away to a small town so Pastor H. could do a “wedding.” A prisonguard was getting married and they wanted a blessing because it is much more simple, and way cheaper than a wedding. Well, once again, it was “supposed to” start around 10am… It’s a nice church with benches, (this is Not a Maasai village), and a cool breeze blowing in through some windows, and the back doors. The guests were all in the church and LeeAnn, Luka and myself were sitting on a bench near the back waiting to start…but that didn’t happen for a good hour or hour and a half as I guess more people were coming since they heard Pastor H was here…a woman wanted to get confirmed and there were 2 infant baptisms all before the wedding blessing. During the time before everything “began” a woman started some songs and all the guests sang and we clapped our hands…the choir of some adults and 8 or so children led many songs as well. Luka also played baby-sitter a couple of times with a baby girl and a little boy…(during communion a woman handed Luka her baby so she could go up and receive communion) :)
The service was good…lots of different things going on though so it was hard to find songs and sing, then find the different liturgies in the book…well, I should say, Luka was trying to find them for me, and trying to translate as well. The sermon that Pastor H. gave was from Matthew 7 I believe, and I heard 2 words and I knew exactly what he was talking about! The word kujenga (to build) and the word nyumba (house)…so of course, he was saying how important it is, especially for a marriage to be built on a solid foundation- on rock…as opposed to sand, as that guarantees the house to fall… He also told a story about a baboon… this baboon is supposed to build a house but on the day he was going to it rained, so he said tomorrow I will build the house…except the next day was sunny and dry and so the baboon said, I will build it tomorrow…
Hmmm…how many of us are like the baboon when we apply that story to our lives with anything…. I’m guilty of it!!! The couple signed the marriage certificate, there was an offering, and communion and then it was over and once again, we did the fun handshake circle outside!! Then Pastor H. had us introduce ourselves again…me, with the little Swahili I know! After that…guess what time it was?!?! Food time again!
We went back inside and sat on a bench with a plate of spiced rice across from us this time… (the wedding party- of 4- were on the opposite side). The rice was excellent- it was brown, so with some kind of spice! And we got chicken legs, and some other meat (beef) perhaps? Again, not a big texture fan of some of this meat but swallow it down anyway with my bottle of water! We actually got spoons and individual plates so it was much easier!!! After the meal, the photographer wanted a picture with the wedding party, Pastor H, luka and me and LeeAnn (the wgeni: guests)! :)
We said good-byes and shook more hands and left about 2pm I think?! We drove back to the Seminary so Pastor H. could change and then we drove about an hour on Primary Roads (yay!) to the twice a month cattle market!!

Since it was late afternoon we missed the auctioning but went to see some of the different cattle being auctioned off. From the moment we arrive and step out of the car doors it was like a celebrity just came to the Market…but Pastor Hafermann really is a celebrity- especially among the Maasai…and this was almost totally a Maasai marketplace! It’s just in open rural country-side…sort of like a Farmer’s market?!? Some fruit being sold, and lots of meat being smoked…and all sorts of Kitangas (the colorful long skirts women wear) and sandals and pots and pans and beads and 10-12 inch knives with covers (that the Maasai men also use). I can’t tell you how many times we stopped to shake hands with people. We were for surely the only 3 white people amongst hundreds of Maasai. It’s not a Huge market, but decent sized. But, I don’t mind following Pastor H, since we’re treated as special guests. Sometimes I feel important being seen with him…haha… (one time, a young man came up to him and I guess said, hey Pastor- you baptized me-remember?!) … but if there’s one thing I have learned about Pastor Hafermann- the best word I have to describe him is Carefree. He is such an important man and does SO incredibly much (Has Done so incredibly much) but just walks around casually and completely humble…as he told us in the car: “I’ll probably know a few people and will say hello- it’s just bound to happen” I should have known “ a few” meant about 70% as LeeAnn said!! Haha Also, Respect would be a second word as he receives nothing but it, and gives it unconditionally…
We continue looking and I buy a beautiful kitanga…one could use it as a long skirt or a tablecloth, or make curtains out of it even!! It was 4800 shillings (1160 to the dollar)! Then a man on a bike with coconuts in the back came by and Pastor H. bought 3 coconuts!!! The man had a large knife and cut open the top so we could drink all the juice inside first (it was very good…and supposedly very healthy for you!) Then he used his large knife again (haha) to cut it completely open and cut out the gooey inside…it’s the texture of a flattened marshmallow…but not really sweet…I sucked one side of the inner coconut goo down and Luka ate the rest! The last stop was to sit on a couple benches under an open air hut- made of just some bamboo- to have a glass bottle of Pepsi!!! Again, it was a rare delicacy!!! :)
Well, there were two young (20’s?) Maasai men sitting in there, whom of course, Paster H knew….they were sitting across from LeeAnn and myself…and as I turned to talk to PastorH. or just listen really…I could see the two men just staring!! Haha and he took a picture with his phone so my face (and hair) will be shown all over his village somewhere! Well then, when it was time to go, the one man touches my bangs that are across my forehead and right above my glasses… and then Pastor H. said- oh yes, they like your hair…. So I let them touch my head and my ponytail…they were so in awe…
We left the market about 4:30pm and brought Luka’s cousin that we picked up @ the market…then we drove about 10 minutes on the other side of the Primary road into the country a bit to see another church that Luka has built that needed repair and to drop off his cousin… in the meantime, children run over to the white women and so the extent of my Swahili goes to telling them I am studying Swahili and trying to speak it, and to ask their names! Then we go inside the church and see a couple older children learning the alphabet (English I think) on a piece of blackboard… then I dared bring out my camera and literally the Second I did 10 children just scream for joy and run over because they ADORE getting their picture taken so they can look at themselves… so I took one of many of them and then held on as they all crowded together close to laugh and giggle. I also took a picture of LeeAnn sitting on a bench with about 6 others. Then about 20 minutes later we left and drove the hour or so back to Morogoro (not without picking up someone at the market and dropping him off on the road so he could go to his village)… I slept in the car the best that I could.
We arrived a little after dinner time so I got to eat dinner here…I actually missed the little more variety we have here!!! Haha And it had seemed like forever ago since I ate with the rest of my fellow students Friday morning at breakfast (yesterday morning was the last time I saw them!) It was nice to see MeeHa and the two sisters again! And they even said they missed me!! Awww :)
I have been journaling ever since!!! I needed to get caught up as tomorrow we’re going even farther away to a village service and we’re bringing many people with us!! The 4 of us plus, Olivia, a German woman working in morogoro and a friend of hers, Moreto (he’s one of the teachers here @ the language school) and possibly my friend Andrea from Germany, who is also studying Swahili here! Should be another grand adventure…many more guests!! :)

I am pretty exhausted… but having an absolutely wonderful time!! I don’t know how much detail I will go into in a week or so as I wanted to cover all of my first experiences very well…then that gives you a background feel for what I will be doing the rest of my time then!!!

Hope you are all trying to stay warm…it’s hard to believe that it’s practically 90 degrees hotter here!!! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

Blessings and joy,
Alana

tertiary roads, shaking hands, goat meat, white skin, new friends...

2008-01-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Whew~well, here goes nothin…

Friday January 18, 2008

I did the morning devotion for the teachers and students on relying on God, our one and only constant whom we CAN rely on to never change as things, people, experiences change all around us and if we try and hold on to or reach out to these at some point we will fall. I talked about Exodus 17:1-3 and trusting that God will continually provide and he already has, and I ended with Hebrews 13:8 Yesu Kristu niyeye ule jana, leo, na milele (Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever).
About 8:30am LeAnn and I went to find Pastor Hafermann and Luka. I am SO grateful for Rev. LeAnn from Virginia. She is only here a week, but perfect timing because for my first weekend out with them I would have been THE only female, 2nd Muzungu (white person) next to Pastor H. She was wonderful company! :)
We drive a good 30-40 minutes on Primary Road(this is Nice, smooth, beautifully paved tar road which feels like a luxary to be driving on now)! Then for another 30 minutes we drove on what Pastor H. calls Secondary Road (dirt/gravel roads, mostly smooth, sometimes have to drive on the wrong side of the road and on our side to avoid dips, but it isn’t that big of deal as these roads are less trafficked). Then for the next 30-40 minutes we turned off onto Tertiary Road (just some tire tracks in the dirt to mark a “road” and pretty windy through other maasai villages and many trees as well…much bumpier than Secondary road and practically impassable during the rainy season when the road is then mud). Note: I asked Pastor H. if there was a 4th level of road and he chuckled as he said: Impossible. While on this Tertiary road...we took a wrong turn once and ended up going through trees with thistles on them...imagine the sound of trees sweeping car windows as we drive by...NOT FUN many nails on a chalkboard... I still shudder thinking about it!!
We finally arrive at a tiny village far out in the middle of the “bush” so Luka can inspect the church’s lost wall. A German Evangelist greeted us and there was about 15 or so Maasai men hangin out in the church. (These churches I talk about that Luka builds are pretty “big” and made of cement blocks with a triangle tin roof). This was an interesting group as when we first drove up (mind you, on tertiary roads there literally is NO traffic Ever) they all walk forward to greet us and about 2-3 men has nice big cameras-digital I believe. Talk about an oxymoron- a traditional tribal, Maasai warrior with a big camera around his neck snapping photos of the Muzungus! (Some also have cell phones hanging around their neck...I did not expect that I would have to get used to that)! Everyone shakes our hands and greets us of course! Note: there are like 20 different ways to say “hello” in kiiswahili!! We only stay for a short while but LeeAnn and I talk to the Evangelist who showed us the small sheet they hung up where they show movies on the life of Jesus, a Christian Maasai man documentary, on AIDS, etc. He brought a generator out to use as electricity. Note: Evangelists typically live with the people in their village, or have a house next to the church. So we leave after maybe 20 minutes and bring with us an Evangelist for the next village we’re going to and a Maasai man whom we preceeded to drop off about 20 minutes later in a village where there is a Secondary School. We stopped for 5 minutes to look at it, and LeeAnn and I were invited to sign the guestbook. We finally got back onto the Secondary Road and the village that is right next to the road has some electricity and a water pump! It turns out, the World Bank does to some good, contrary to popular belief! About 5 % of this water project that has changed the life of this village came from the district council (like a county court) and 5 % from a single person, and then 90% from the World Bank!
Anyway, we continue on Secondary Road for about another half an hour-40 minutes passing through a town on our way out to the village. Again…not many vehicles pass through these towns/villages so we get lots of stares of course! Pastor Hafermann knows everybody everywhere practically…but as I found out yesterday, I guess that’s what happens when he works with 13,000 people. Unbelievable! That may count people in villages, so not completely one-to-one basis, but pretty darn close! He has also baptized over 10,000 people in Tanzania- “regular” Tanzanians and Maasai in the villages. An incredible man! A man at his youth group years ago talked about how no one was going to villages with the Good News and asked the youth group who would like to do that and PastorH said, “I raised my hand and said I’ll go.” He went straight to (Wartburg) Seminary after undergrad school and then straight to Tanzania where he has been working for 45 years!!!! :)
Back to the village…we arrive and are greeted and shake more hands- about 15 men are around, and this time like 6 little boys running around. If one doesn’t know much about the Maasai they might not understand that these people are all about simplicity, including clothing….for the youngins anyway! These boys have sticks (instead of spears as they are not yet warriors) they carry with them for helping herd the cattle and they wear really a dark red “robe.” I forget what this is called, but it’s slung around one shoulder. We walk over to this cement like trough where there is a generator pumping water into it. The cattle use this water and it’s also for the village. Well, Pastor H. suggests we go look @ the cattle herd- maybe 30 or so standing under a big shady tree. Looking @ cattle is very important, as it is the sign of wealth for the Maasai so they are very proud when we do. Of course, I’m not so impressed as I am from the land of cows, but the cattle here are different…they have a large hump on their back and are more solid colors as compared to the typical black and whites back home. Well, we are standing around, as the little boys are running here and there (uncircumcised might I add, as again, they are not yet men, warriors), and a few of the men come over and talk with Luka and PastorH. LeeAnn and I got used to standing around listening to everyone talk Swahili around us. Turns out, the men were already conspiring how many cattle they would give for a hand in marriage. I could have gone for 16 cows, however PastorH. explains to them that we are “spoken for,” is the word. HaHa. It’s not even noon yet!!! :)

The rest of the day flies by as about 12-12:15 we are invited into the church. A small hut that you have to duck your head to get through the doorway(it’s just shorter than me), but then you are able to stand inside. It is made of traditional mud, sticks, and dung with a bamboo like triangle roof. There are many benches inside and Pastor H, Luka, LeeAnn and myself, along with the Evangelist that we brought with us from the previous village are invited to sit and they chat with some of the young men in the village who will be attending Bible School up in Kilimanjaro (northern Tanzania). Some women and children are sitting on the side, and we are brought mugs of hot chai tea. It is made with milk, water, and ground up ginger…it is a special chai that this village makes and it is the BEST I have ever tasted!!! It beats Starbucks and Caribou by far!! NOTE: I looked at my watch about noon, then not again until 3:40pm, then after that not until maybe 5:30-6pm so I will be giving rough estimates of time!
After tea, we sit around chatting…taking a few pictures. (well, LeeAnn took pictures as she is more of a tourist this weekend, and I was planning on using my USB cord to get her pictures off her camera, also I decided I would be going to plenty more villages, but I still took a couple). People started showing up and Pastor H. is always wanted and busy talking and then eventually they started getting the few things ready for the service-which includes some padded kneelers and a basket with communion wafers and wine? or grape juice maybe). Eventually the place fills up with about 50 people…many children as well. The girls choir- about 10 girls sat up on the front benches, and the children all were squirming behind in the back on the dirt ground. The service had to have lasted about 2 hrs, but even though I really didn’t understand a thing, besides a few random words here and there, it went by fast as there is so much singing…in the hymn book or listening to the girls choir, and the rest of the people sing. Swahili, as I’ve mentioned is very phonetic, so one can sing and read along!! Luka has to translate a lot to me as his English is pretty good…and it’s his job!! There was one baptism, as a 17-year old girl talked to PastorH before the service and she signs a little card certificate. There is a sermon, and an offering, communion, another offering for the 2 young men going to Bible School. Singing is of course throughout the whole service-and clapping…just very joyful and very alive!
I checked my watch, and it happened to be about 3:40pm but now it was time for the food! Most everyone cleared out as we were the guests so we eat first of course. Everyone else gets leftovers… anyway some women come around with a bucket and bowl of water- they pour water over our hands before we eat. Then the largest plate of rice I have EVER seen is placed on a bench in front of us. 5 people ate about half! Theres also goat meat chunks with the rice, and a separate bowl of more goat meat… I had a piece, but mostly goat meat has fat on it..not a very good texture sliding down my throat! But when there’s not much fat, it tastes just fine! Oh- we also don’t use silverware…you have to take some rice in your hand (ONLY RIGHT HAND, as left is for wiping…) and so I made “snowballs” (as LeeAnn called them) of rice!! Well, Luka and Paster H. were on LeeAnn and I to eat our 1-2 meat chunks, but we were kinda putting it off…here’s the deal: one, it’s not expected that we would leave any meat left over for the rest of the people, and we shouldn’t… two, women typically aren’t allowed to even eat meat in front of men… well, it became kind of a joke with me as I told Luka (pretty much an animal- and will eat anything) that my meat would simply taste better because I was waiting and saving it for last…so I kept eating rice, and He and Pastor H every once in a while would mention the fact that I still have some meat left…Haha. :) I just smiled and said the famous “Haraka Haraka Haina Baraka” (hurrying hurrying is no blessing)! Well, then I had no other choice…so I attacked the meat- and LeeAnn took a picture of me looking like a carnivore…it also looks like I had eaten all of the rice on the tray myself! Pretty funny stuff! Hopefully I can get her pictures somehow!!!
Oh- we also were given bottles of water And…. COKE bottles!!!! Now, I stopped drinking pop a couple years ago (except for every once and a while) but I hadn’t had any here so far and it tasted SO good…something sweet that wasn’t fruit for once! Soda is like a delicacy!!
Finally, I was finished, and we got to wash our hand as mine was covered in rice…haha (It is definitely a good thing I had practice eating with my right hand last March at a study abroad meeting @ wartburg)!!!
We eventually left…maybe 4:40pm ish?!? And everyone followed us to our car to send us off!! A bunch of young people- mostly girls around 10-13? And younger ones crowded around me by the car as I was saying good-bye to them and they all just watched me. Some touched my hair and they touched my skin…just layed their hands on my forearms, even stroking my skin to see if it would “come off” maybe…but just in awe- with giggles, smiles and sparkling eyes… then it was time to go! Besides the 4 of us we had 4 more guys in the car (the same Evangelist we brought with us earlier, who happens to be super tall) and 3 others! The two young men who are going to Bible School and one other one. We drove back into the town near the village and dropped off the one man, and the other two grabbed their luggage (just a couple small bags) and we were off again. I knew we were bringing them to the bus stop…but Pastor H never mentioned where….so I eventually figured out they were riding the 1.5 hr trip with us back to Morogoro. It was a good trip though as the first hour the tall Evangelist was sitting in the middle seat between LeeAnn and myself and he was teaching me Swahili the whole time!! I had my big binder out and am on Lesson 13 of 30 in the book….but we proceeded to flip through all the remaining pages and wherever there were pictures with vocab words he would say the word and I would repeat it! I’m sure the rest of the car was sick of hearing us go: Fisi, fisi (hyena), moyo, moyo (heart), daraka daraka (bridge), seremala seremala (carpenter) the whole time!! However, there was a time when I had to say cattle: ng’ombe…I can spell it, but saying it is a whole different ball game!! It’s like an “ny” sound…like making the “n” sound followed by the “y” sound, like at the beginning of the word “yuck.” Oh goodness, I tried 15 times with the Evangelist, Luka, Pastor H. and the other 2 guys in the back all saying it before I got right a total of about one time!!! It proved for quite the laugh!! :)
Well, we get back to the main round-a-bout in Morogoro (where I live) and just drop the Evangelist off on the road- literally! Don’t know where he was going…but that’s what I’ve realized lately….we just give rides sometimes, and I don’t ask anymore!! We dropped the other two guys off at a guest house for the night because the 8 hour bus ride didn’t leave until the morning.
Then, we had one more stop to make. Pastor H. got a call on his cell out in the village (Yes, there is definitely service out there!) from a young woman recently diagnosed HIV positive. So, although it was dark by this time we went to see her at a non-profit small care center in town. We just went through a gate and stayed outside as Luka and Pastor H. talked with her and she just wanted to talk and tell about how the ARV (anti-retroviral) medication was doing…making her legs swell, etc. LeeAnn and I chatted about her seminary experience @ Luther in St.Paul, and about some other countries she’s been to. 20 minutes later we were off back to the Seminary for the night…it was about 8pm and I was WIPED OUT!!!

* I want to mention some more about my first village experience…

I feel as if anything I say now will not do justice…I know that I have been descriptive with my blogs before, and I will continue to do my best…hopefully pictures will help a little if I ever get at least some up now…but even words or pictures probably can’t describe such an experience…

Because, literally 3 weeks ago (from Fri the 18th) I was standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City and now I was sitting on a bench in the same hut I described earlier in the middle of the rural countryside in the middle of Tanzania. Surreal is the best word to describe it. One gets used to the stares, and the “scantily clad” culturally dressed people...especially the 5 or so women breastfeeding out in the open during the service. One also gets used to the flies…as these people do. We see so many pictures on television of starving children that have noses dripping and flies swarming around them and on them, but as LeeAnn and I discussed…they are used to it- they don’t notice it. Sometimes it’s not about having the best of everything, it’s about a different way of life… not better or worse…just different.
Since I obviously don’t know much Swahili…though I did have to stand up and introduce myself at the service with the little bit I do know…it was nice to just sit (or stand) and simply WATCH. To take it all in and think… these people, their way of life before Evangelists came were typically Muslims I believe…or they practiced traditional African religion, or perhaps nothing at all. But, because people like Pastor H have taken time, and were willing to drive all the way out to villages and physically meet with people thousands of Maasai have changed their way of life (and yet, still keep it at the same time). Pastor H. did a seminar in December and talked about why it is important to only have one wife, and less children…why education is so important…why protection is so important against AIDS, malaria, etc…and why it’s important to be baptized.
Pastor H. tells us also after the service that he got a couple calls…one from whom he found out someone he knew died of Malaria and another man’s house got burned down by thieves so Pastor was going to send some money…he also said that before the service a woman had walked 6-8 miles JUST to ask Pastor H a question…she knew he was coming and needed to ask him about a hospital, something to do with health care… and she couldn’t stay for the service because she had to walk all the way back before dark. Another young child at the service had come down with a bad fever and is left mentally disabled and was making some noises during the service…Pastor H said he had to tell the mother there was nothing more he could do…
All in a days work I guess. Sometimes I don’t know how he does it…

**The last thing about today is that after the service, the Pastor goes out first, then everyone follows, but they line up in a big circle, and as you leave you go around and shake everyone’s hand until you get to become part of the circle, then the rest behind you shake your hand until everyone is out of the church!! I really like this tradition!!! :)

I’m sure that I am forgetting so much as I was pretty overwhelmed with feelings and emotions after returning from such an eventful day (and first experience which intensifies it all)!!

I hope that you still get somewhat of a picture!! Try doing a Google Search or something on the Maasai people… they are a smaller number, but one of the most famous tribes of Northern Tanzania, Southern Kenya! It may help you understand some of what I’ve talked about as there is so much that I don’t even know/understand yet!

This covered Friday for you…now I’ve got today’s events to cover!!!

2008-01-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

Hello!!!!
SO, yesterday was terribly exciting and overwhelming.... but I am off to more adventures with Pastor Hafermann and Luka...check back at a later time!!!!! :)

Blessings and joy,
Alana :)