Last Thursday we had an evening out! We were going to a benefit concert that evening, where one of us was playing the piano. It was a concert to raise money for Neema crafts, who are currently needing to pay for many of their workers to go and get some prosthetic limbs and the for new building, as Neema crafts is a place for disabled Tanzanians to work. We asked a driver to work overtime, and paid him ourselves, even taking him out for dinner so that we would be able to get back from the concert afterwards. The concert was pretty awesome, with two piano solos, a classical guitarist, a guy playing Spanish dances on his guitar, and a group of Danish (+1 English) singers. Mid-way through they sold some of their great chocolate cake.
Friday, we went on a fieldtrip. After the feedback we had given on the trips the week before, they gave us the vocabulary beforehand (a good thing with words like mmomonyoko – erosion!) and after the morning devotions we left to go to Isimila Stone Age site. There we were met by the guide, Daniel, and given a talk (in slow Swahili, thankfully!) about the stone implements we could see on the table in his office, and generally find all over the site. Isimila is an old lake basically, where animals were hunted as they came to drink, hence the tools found on the “lake bed”, which is now dry. I was pretty excited I could understand most of the Swahili! The funniest thing was the “thousands of years old” tool being used to prop the window open – only in Africa! We then went for a walk to the main site, which had some awesome rock formations! It was a little bit like Bryce Canyon on a smaller scale, and with different coloured rock – very dramatic! Sadly the view was ruined at one photogenic opportunity by a power cable running overhead. We walked for quite a while, and were very touristy taking photos of each other beside big rocks, then made our way back to the cars. On the way back, Johnny, who had been bravely struggling with his crutches through soggy and squelchy sand, was carried for a way by the teacher who was with us on his shoulders: a very funny sight which I have captured on camera.
Friday, we went on a fieldtrip. After the feedback we had given on the trips the week before, they gave us the vocabulary beforehand (a good thing with words like mmomonyoko – erosion!) and after the morning devotions we left to go to Isimila Stone Age site. There we were met by the guide, Daniel, and given a talk (in slow Swahili, thankfully!) about the stone implements we could see on the table in his office, and generally find all over the site. Isimila is an old lake basically, where animals were hunted as they came to drink, hence the tools found on the “lake bed”, which is now dry. I was pretty excited I could understand most of the Swahili! The funniest thing was the “thousands of years old” tool being used to prop the window open – only in Africa! We then went for a walk to the main site, which had some awesome rock formations! It was a little bit like Bryce Canyon on a smaller scale, and with different coloured rock – very dramatic! Sadly the view was ruined at one photogenic opportunity by a power cable running overhead. We walked for quite a while, and were very touristy taking photos of each other beside big rocks, then made our way back to the cars. On the way back, Johnny, who had been bravely struggling with his crutches through soggy and squelchy sand, was carried for a way by the teacher who was with us on his shoulders: a very funny sight which I have captured on camera.
Later that afternoon, some of us began a Lord of the Rings marathon, which I only intended to watch part of, having nothing to prove (after all, I have done it before!). The other crazy people ended at about 4am.
Sunday was another usual ICF church day, and I went snuffling as my cold had progressed during the night. We did our usual internet after church, but first we did a bit of praying over the Neema crafts new building which was supposed to have been finished that month, but was still very unfinished. After a nice lunch I chilled out until 4pm when some of us met for a walk and we went to the waterfall again.
On Monday we found that we had Moshi for our teacher, which is cool as she very nice. We had some new students at the campsite – a family who had just come from 10 years in Malawi, and a couple of single ladies. As a result, we have now got 7 kids and 2 babies on site! After class, we gathered altogether to practise singing 2 songs in parts for a performance on Wednesday. We didn’t do too badly, and Amanda had a laugh listening to us.
Tuesday, and we have continued to practise speaking in our classes, talking on topics such as Jesus’ miracles, his parables and why it is good to read the Bible. We pray for our teachers’ eyes to be opened here too, as we struggle to convey the truth in our faltering Swahili!
Wednesday was great fun, though pretty crazy, as we had lots to do before the evening excitement. We all met together at 5.30pm to meet the Tanzanians from the local church, and after handing out sodas, we got started with a barbeque and attempts at talking to each other (in Swahili). We heard the church choir singing, and performed our little song, then there were some dances and brave contributions from some of the kids. The evening didn’t last too long, only until 8pm, but we had a good time – I hope the Tanzanians did too! The language school presented the church choir with a xylophone mid-way through the evening, though we were unable to find the name for it in Swahili so they had a great time trying to pronounce “xylophone”.
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