Today is the day...

that Charity and Travis come back from likizo. Yippee! By the way they are my supervisors and they've been gone for too long if you ask me. It's about time that they come home. They've been gone for half the time that I've been here. I don't know what I'm going to do when they have to go stateside for 6 months starting in December. I realized on Sunday that I was definitely ready for them to come back and here it is. Of course I'm not sure when I'll actually get to see them, but it's possible that I can. I do hope they enjoyed their vacation though and I look forward to hearing about it. This is them...

The Theater and stuff...

I had my first experience at the only theater in Tanzania. And that is something I can say for only a few more months because there is another one being built right across the street from my house. Of course the other theater is located about 5 minutes down the road. Don't ask why, it's Africa. So the only two theaters in Tanzania are in the same area of the country. It's crazy I know. And to true African form, the electricity cut off right at the end of the movie (by the way we saw Poseidon). It's a good thing we saw them get out and they weren't still stuck in a vent or what not (sorry if I've ruined the movie for you, but hey I'm in Africa and you should have seen the movie already if you wanted to see it). We just missed like the last two minutes of the movie. But of course we still hung around for a bit just to make sure and sure enough the power came back on and we saw the ending. It didn't matter though because we had already seen the ending. I think we were just hoping there was something more to it. Oh and by the way they have assigned seating, it's nice I think. And now for a picture of my ticket...

And today we decided to go to the Salvation Army girls' home. My roommates have started to clean out some of their closets and so we took some of the clothes to them. It was so much fun to hang out with the girls there. We sang and danced and played games. It was great! A good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. In fact it is one place I would love to go back to again especially after I've had some more language acquisition and I feel more comfortable speaking it. I was able to understand what was going on for the most part. But there weren't a whole lot of opportunities to converse with them because of all the singing and dancing. It was so great! Have I said that yet? It was awesome!

And lastly I would just like to say Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I miss you and I miss being able to just sit and hang out. I love you so much and I hope you are enjoying your day!

Habari za Tanzania?

Nzuri! Habari yangu? Nzuri. Habari za marafiki zangu na Marecani? Sijui. I haven't heard from many of them in a while. (Translated: How is Tanzania? Good. How am I? Good. How are my friends in America? I don't know.)
So these days I'm in language school and it has been going pretty well. I should be conversing with people more often but I haven't. I'm not exactly sure why. I have been around some Tanzanians and they speak Swahili and I get the jist of the conversation but I don't really ask questions or converse back. This is because I've been with my housemates each time. Speaking of...here is a picture of us (at least the housemates who are on the university team with me, I don't have any pictures of the other housemate)...

Anyway...We've been learning a lot about the grammar and some of it can be difficult. Like there are a lot of rules about possession. In English we have my, yours, ours, etc, and they have that too but with different nouns you use them differently. For example, I said marafiki zangu above, but if it's singular you say rafiki yangu and if you have a husband it's mume wangu and if you say my name it's jina langu and all of those are for my. It's a bit too much. Then you use negatives differently for the different tenses. It's all pretty crazy if you ask me. But enough about that...now a picture of where I spend my mornings Monday through Friday...

The other day I was driving down the road and because I enjoy science I began to think about erosion. Why you ask? Well it rained practically non-stop for two days recently (strange it seems though since it's not rainy season) and well the roads here aren't the best. So I began to think about the process and how pot holes get bigger because tires going through them speeds up the process. The rain came and softened up the dirt, the tires went through them and picked up the sediment and made the holes bigger. It's crazy to actually see the process in action, you don't get to see it much in America. I hope you can tell what is in the picture below...one evidence of the erosion process, I just wish I had a picture of the before because there was definitely not a drop off like there is now.

The Aminals...

Thursday and Friday I had the opportunity to go on safari with the volunteer team. It was so awesome! We had so much fun gazing at God's creation and it is so beautiful here, who could expect anything less when God created it! We took a 4 hour drive to Mikumi making a few pit stops along the way. One being for my driver's license which I didn't get that day because of waits. Oh well. We finally made it to Mikumi, separated into our cabins and settled in. The pictures below are from the way there and of our place. The cabin I was in had 3 twin beds and a double (which Lindsey and I volunteered for) and they all came equipped with mosquito nets. It also had a little back porch where we could sit and take in the sights.

Then we headed out to see the aminals. We got to see some elephants and zebras and giraffes and impalas and baboons and wildebeasts and cape buffalo and birds and hippos. We were hoping for some lions but the lazy bums didn't come out for us. And we got to see the most beautiful sunset and a great sunrise. God is faithful even when we don't get to see the sunrise or set because of rain, the sun is still there, shining!

Then we headed back to Dar, but along the way we decided to stop again to try for my license. A true African experience if you ever need one. We (Charity and I) had to go to the traffic office to get a form and we had to wait for him to get there. But he finally showed up (about an hour later) only to tell us that I needed to get an eye exam. So we thought we were done, but luckily Charity remembered where a clinic was so we stopped to get one. It was the best eye exam I've ever had, a little form filled out, a signature, and I was on my way. It's a good thing I could read the bottom line anyway. Then we were on our way back to the traffic office for the form. In the mean time the rest of the team decided to pile in one can to head back...poor kids all jammed together...I'm sure it was like a pack of sardines. So we got back to the traffic office, cut in line in true Tanzanian style, got the form filled out and headed to the place where they would put another little form in a little booklet called my license. But while we were there we had to go upstairs to see a mama who would stamp the first form. We went back downstairs got the little form in the little booklet and we were on our way back to the traffic office to get the final approval so that I could drive. What an experience! As Charity would say we felt like we were on the Amazing Race just for a license. But I'm just saying that I think we would have won if we really had been on the show. All of this took about two and a half hours, although it seemed like a lot longer. Then we headed back to Dar and met the rest of the team for dinner at the most wonderful Indian place. It was great, a good way to end the day and celebrate me getting my license. I'm not going to lie, I did a little dance when I got home (Amber, you know the one).

Oh the Goodbyes...

So I had to say more goodbyes tonight. You would think with only two weeks to get to know a group of people, saying goodbye to them would be pretty easy. And well it would have been if the group of people hadn't been so stinkin "AMAZING". "I AIN'T GONNA LIE" it was pretty hard to say goodbye to those kiddos. And they were "HARD CORE" men and women of God and that's what brought us together so quickly...the Lord! It's "amazing" to think how the Lord blesses us each day and how He ordains the time and how being of a likemind, wanting to bring glory to God, draws us together. The Lord is "amazing", "I'M JUST SAYIN". And now they are gone and it's time for me to "ROCK N ROLL" with Jesus, spreading His name throughout campus and making some solid relationships. (Ok, I think I got most of Josh's sayings in)
So my pray for you all, Lindsey, Alaina, Chris, Josh and Douglas is that the Lord would bless you and keep you and that He would make His face shine upon you. That you remember that "light shines in darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5)" so go out and be bold wherever God has placed you because you are the light shining in this dark world and Christ in you cannot be overcome! And that you would always "Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)" Each of you has done a great thing here in Dar and I can't thank you enough for all that you did to jump start my time here. It was a blessing to be able to start off with a team and have that encouragement behind me. God has blessed me by this probably more than you will ever know!

Now in Dar!

I arrived safely in Dar es Salaam almost a week ago. I can't believe I've been here for a week. The trip here was pretty long and I was very thankful to get off the plane and go to my new home. I had an 8 hour layover in London and did not get to see much of the city but oh well. It was a dreary, cold day in London and I was not prepared. So this is what I saw of it...

I had a day of rest after I got here and the next day I hit the ground running. A volunteer team came in the night that I arrived and I've been spending a lot of time with them on campus. We've been walking around campus each day and meeting some of the students there. There have been some great conversations about the Lord with some of the students. And I have gotten some digits so that I can contact them and begin a relationship with them. Pray that God would help me discern who to pour into. Yesterday I was able to go with one of my roommates to some Bible studies she has and it was so good. We met with this one Muslim girl that she has been storying with. Currently they are going through Acts and we were talking about Saul and his conversion. It was great to be able to share this story with her. Then we shared our stories and our encounter with Christ. She's on the brink of accepting the Lord! She's asked us to pray that God would help her to believe! So be praying that for her. And the volunteer team is so awesome. I've had so much fun spending time with them! So much fun that saying goodbye to them is going to be hard. I thought I was done with goodbyes for a while when I left, but I guess not. Oh well, part of my life. God is faithful through it all!
(So two top left ones are of campus, the top right is a band in a truck for a wedding, the middle right and bottom left are the volunteer team and the bottom right is one of my housemates)

Packing...

I tried to put off packing as long as I could. And to do this I played...spent time with friends, shopped (although it was for things that I needed to get for Africa), etc. I even went and spent some time with some crazy youth. It was so much fun to see my kids again. We cooked out and just laughed. And a concert was even put on for me. Then we just took a lot of fun pictures...good times. I'm going to miss those silly kids. When I get back they will all be driving and I can't believe it.


Then I woke up on Friday morning and freaked out a bit because my room had exploded (evidence below). But my mom and I went to get a massage and that was an absolute beautiful thing! Came back shortly after very relaxed and started working on it. And so the craziness of packing is pretty much over (many thanks to an INCREDIBLE friend), which is a good thing since I'm leaving on Sunday and I have no other time to get it done. And now my life is crammed into 4 suitcases, hopefully I'm not missing anything.

Back in Houston

As usual it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. I continue to be going at a mile a minute and I have no idea when it's going to slow down. Last week was a very rough week, but also good in a sense. I hadn't planned on meeting some awesome people in Virginia that I would have to turn around and say goodbye to. I think I cried constantly for the last five days that I was there. But it's a testimony to how much God blessed me over the past two months. I learned so much from them and was continually changed because of God working through them. Thank you so much for pouring into me, I miss you gals!
Before we had to do all the goodbyes we had a chance to go out to Virginia Beach for the day. It was so much fun and relaxing! All we did was lay there in the sand and rest. And reflect on the fact that as many as are the grains of sand on the shore is how many thoughts God has of us! Isn't that incredible?!? He thinks of us that much...why do we ever doubt His love?!? He is so faithful too...the God who is faithful to cause the earth to spin so that the sun will rise and set at the perfect time is faithful to provide in every way.

Then on Thursday I headed to the homestead. And as soon as I got off the plane I hit the ground runnin'. We went straight to eat...Mexican food, mmmmm good! Then I came home dropped off my stuff sort of unpacked just to get my dirty clothes out and then left to surprise some friends from church. It was so awesome to be there and share all that God did over the last two months. I felt like I was running my mouth at a mile a minute but I was just so excited and I couldn't stop smiling because I was around these great people talking about our Lord. I came home after that really unpacked only to repack for the beach. We left Friday and then I was able to relax. But it has all picked up again because now I only have 6 days before I get on a plane to leave this country for two years. How in the world am I going to pack for that? I have no idea but it will all work out...moving one step at a time and eventually it will get done.