So, we have had a great influx of people on the campsite recently - there are now 11 kids and 2 babies! It is probably a good thing we are going soon, as the dining room is full every day and when the teachers are there too, it is pretty hectic!
Sunday was our last chance to go to the village church (we are leading the international service next sunday so kind of need to be there!), so off some of us trotted off there and had a great time in the service. What was even more encouraging was that I actually understood most of the sermon! It was about faith and works going hand in hand, with examples from Abraham and Isaac. The singing was awesome as usual, and we had fun this time since we had bought Swahili song books recently so could follow some of the songs. We had to return as soon as possible to say goodbye to Will and Amanda, as they went off to Dar after lunch, so this time we didn't get to visit any of the villagers who had invited us.
This week we had a bit of a change up with the classes and I found myself in the brainy peoples class (by this I mean that the people in it seem to be human dicationaries). It was pretty discouraging at first, as I found myself slower, but it was a good lesson in humility! Tomorrow, we shall have an oral assessment, to see what level we are at - a scary thought. I am much more confident about my speaking when I am with people I know, but this teacher has been brought from Dar to test us, so that she won't be biased. Argh.
There still seems to be a void of mail at the moment, but I received a rather belated birthday card today which made me happy - it's the little things in life :)
So, one more week to go, graduation, then off to Musoma!
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Friday, 23 May 2008
Old stones and xylophones
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”.
Sunday, 11 May 2008
baridi! kweli, hata katika Afrika!
Well, we’ve had a pretty normal week in terms of class. Each morning has been warmer than the last, but that isn’t saying much as it has been sooo cold before 10 each day. When I go to class, I am wrapped up in as many layers as I can manage. On top of that, we have needed coal stoves in our outdoor classrooms to keep our feet warm. By chai time, I have usually stripped off the hoodies, and the kanga sometimes too, and by lunchtime and the afternoon, I am back to “hot English summer” gear! It’s crazy, but this is the dry season, and I am learning to adapt. I just didn’t expect Africa, and near to the equator, to be cold at any time. How wrong I was.
This week we have had Ismael again, and have been studying more Bible and even learning to read the newspapers, a difficult task due to the new vocabulary needed. So far, we have read Ruth, 10 verses of Ephesians, Psalms 139-140 and some of Genesis. I have received my second Swahili Bible too, this time the Revised Union Version, without the English translation.
It seems that even in Tanzania I can’t get away from people who know my sisters, and have now met 5 such people (same sister) – who would have thought it!
We were told on Friday, that next week will begin our ordeal of group sessions: this involves one or more of us standing up in front of the whole group and preaching/leading a Bible study in Swahili! Originally, they had planned to make us all preach, but we complained (I don’t even want to preach in English!) and they decided to let us do it in pairs, and do a study/testimony instead if we want.
Hopefully next week will produce our licenses, as the police now have the official paper, and are just waiting for the guy who signs them to return so we can get both signatures necessary. Some people’s provisional licenses have expired, but hopefully they won’t have any problems, as Ismael will be with us to help.
This week we have had Ismael again, and have been studying more Bible and even learning to read the newspapers, a difficult task due to the new vocabulary needed. So far, we have read Ruth, 10 verses of Ephesians, Psalms 139-140 and some of Genesis. I have received my second Swahili Bible too, this time the Revised Union Version, without the English translation.
It seems that even in Tanzania I can’t get away from people who know my sisters, and have now met 5 such people (same sister) – who would have thought it!
We were told on Friday, that next week will begin our ordeal of group sessions: this involves one or more of us standing up in front of the whole group and preaching/leading a Bible study in Swahili! Originally, they had planned to make us all preach, but we complained (I don’t even want to preach in English!) and they decided to let us do it in pairs, and do a study/testimony instead if we want.
Hopefully next week will produce our licenses, as the police now have the official paper, and are just waiting for the guy who signs them to return so we can get both signatures necessary. Some people’s provisional licenses have expired, but hopefully they won’t have any problems, as Ismael will be with us to help.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Safari and May day celebrations
On Wednesday, we took a trip into town for our lessons to hear from some Tanzanian women (the teachers and one lady whom they had brought in to talk to us) about their culture. Included in this were hints about wearing kangas, about marital roles, about dress code and much more personal stuff. We got some good advice from them, and the women were really open with us, which was cool. We also got to go and see the stadium, where the May 1st celebrations were to be held. They had set up many stalls around the edge, reminiscent of any event or show in England, except no food related stalls. That evening we had a fun dance party in the dining banda, with line dancing, cha-cha, Viennese waltz and even some Macarena.
Thursday morning; we left for safari. We had to go via town, which was seriously snarled up with traffic for the May 1st celebrations, so that took some time to get through, but we eventually got off, and took another 2 hours or so reaching the campsite where we would stay. We had our lunch there at the camp, and then left for the park. We got to the park on the first day at around 3.30, and driving around got to see many cool animals. We came across some giraffe legs at one point, and then got to see the lions (thankfully fully sated with giraffe) a little way down the road – it was amazing how little they cared that we were there. We got to see some other cool animals that day, including jackals, swala, zebra, rock hyrax, mongoose, giraffe (live ones), and a crocodile. We left as the sun was setting, and made it out of the park just in time before it closed for the night, stopping only once as we stumbled on a giraffe right next to the road. When we arrived back at the camp, we got to eat our pasta and meat in darkness, to the light of a few candles. We discovered suicidal insects, which liked to die in our food, all over the tables too. One even took a nose-dive into my water.
We all woke, and were ready to go by 6am, but had to wait for the food to be ready. We set off and were at the park around 6.45 or 7am, after an encounter on the road with some African hunting dogs, which was pretty exciting since they are very rarely seen. We spent some pretty exciting moments that morning, seeing some new animals, and some old ones that we had seen the day before. We happened upon a lioness with her cubs at one point, which was really cool, and during breakfast we had an awesome view of the park in the early morning. Later in the day, we got to see some animals closer than we had before, for example many hippos (kiboko), some warthogs (ngili), a male lion (simba), more crocodiles (mamba), plenty more elephants (tembo), giraffe (twiga), zebra (pundamilia) and swala, some Grant’s gazelles, and many pretty birds. Daniel was a very good baby for the most part, only having a long screaming fit once, just before lunch on the Friday, which was mainly because he was tired. Alphonce was a great driver, pointing out many animals that we wouldn’t have spotted otherwise, and driving very carefully over the bumpy roads. We spent most of the time standing with our heads out of the roof, which was pretty tiring, so sometimes we sat on the roof itself, which was fun but meant we were very dusty and wind-swept by the end! We returned to the campsite by about 4pm, tired but happy with our sightings, and ready to travel back to camp. The journey took only 2 hours, and we were thankfully back in time for dinner, though I made the bad mistake of not getting changed for dinner and got many bites to prove my stupidity. My shower that evening felt WONDERFUL! Saturday has been pretty uneventful for the most part, except for the very exciting hippo sighting – yes, we have seen the Riverside hippo! He made a big noise, and we all ran out to see him, chasing his bubbles down the river until we saw him (or his eyes and ears at least!). The staff got very excited, when they realised what we were doing, and ran with us to see him. It didn’t matter that many of us had seen multiple hippos the day before on safari – Bartholomew is a special hippo.
Thursday morning; we left for safari. We had to go via town, which was seriously snarled up with traffic for the May 1st celebrations, so that took some time to get through, but we eventually got off, and took another 2 hours or so reaching the campsite where we would stay. We had our lunch there at the camp, and then left for the park. We got to the park on the first day at around 3.30, and driving around got to see many cool animals. We came across some giraffe legs at one point, and then got to see the lions (thankfully fully sated with giraffe) a little way down the road – it was amazing how little they cared that we were there. We got to see some other cool animals that day, including jackals, swala, zebra, rock hyrax, mongoose, giraffe (live ones), and a crocodile. We left as the sun was setting, and made it out of the park just in time before it closed for the night, stopping only once as we stumbled on a giraffe right next to the road. When we arrived back at the camp, we got to eat our pasta and meat in darkness, to the light of a few candles. We discovered suicidal insects, which liked to die in our food, all over the tables too. One even took a nose-dive into my water.
We all woke, and were ready to go by 6am, but had to wait for the food to be ready. We set off and were at the park around 6.45 or 7am, after an encounter on the road with some African hunting dogs, which was pretty exciting since they are very rarely seen. We spent some pretty exciting moments that morning, seeing some new animals, and some old ones that we had seen the day before. We happened upon a lioness with her cubs at one point, which was really cool, and during breakfast we had an awesome view of the park in the early morning. Later in the day, we got to see some animals closer than we had before, for example many hippos (kiboko), some warthogs (ngili), a male lion (simba), more crocodiles (mamba), plenty more elephants (tembo), giraffe (twiga), zebra (pundamilia) and swala, some Grant’s gazelles, and many pretty birds. Daniel was a very good baby for the most part, only having a long screaming fit once, just before lunch on the Friday, which was mainly because he was tired. Alphonce was a great driver, pointing out many animals that we wouldn’t have spotted otherwise, and driving very carefully over the bumpy roads. We spent most of the time standing with our heads out of the roof, which was pretty tiring, so sometimes we sat on the roof itself, which was fun but meant we were very dusty and wind-swept by the end! We returned to the campsite by about 4pm, tired but happy with our sightings, and ready to travel back to camp. The journey took only 2 hours, and we were thankfully back in time for dinner, though I made the bad mistake of not getting changed for dinner and got many bites to prove my stupidity. My shower that evening felt WONDERFUL! Saturday has been pretty uneventful for the most part, except for the very exciting hippo sighting – yes, we have seen the Riverside hippo! He made a big noise, and we all ran out to see him, chasing his bubbles down the river until we saw him (or his eyes and ears at least!). The staff got very excited, when they realised what we were doing, and ran with us to see him. It didn’t matter that many of us had seen multiple hippos the day before on safari – Bartholomew is a special hippo.
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