Mambo! From Tanzania!

On our way to Tanzania we had a 12 hour layover in London! It was so cool to go through and site see all of the amazing buildings in the area! It was pretty amazing! Right when we were looking at Big Ben they closed off the streets and thousands of people began to gather near the street. I asked one of the police officers what was going on and he said the Queen was coming through to open parliament. I was stunned! We were able to wait with the crowd and see the Queen of England! It was so cool! 

 I have been living in Tanzania for about a week now! So crazy! Tanzania is so beautiful! We settled in to a small suburb of the city Arusha called Suye (soo-yay).  It’s surrounded by lush jungle plants and lots of green fields and mountainsides.  We are quite literally living in a jungle with high humidity and lots of rain.  Animal life is abundant here.  You walk past cows, goats, sheep, dogs, chickens, and ducks just about everywhere you go.  Right now, it’s rainy season, so we’ve seen nothing but cloudy skies and lots of rain. With all of the rain comes lots and lots of mud.  I have come to terms that my feet will never be clean. The people here are friendly and love saying “how are you” which usually sounds like one word when they say it. They all love speaking to the Mzungus and feel very special when we respond back. They are also very helpful although many times they ask for money if we start to accept it. The main language her is Kiswahili so I have been practicing it a lot here. There favorite thing to say to the Mzungus (white people) is Mambo which we are expected to reply Poa! (which is the cool way to say Hi back) and then is usually followed by a lot of laughter. I have loved learning the language! We have a day Guard who speaks English pretty well so he helps us learn! Also today was the first day of a Kiswahili class the group is taking so we can learn the language!

After this first week many things have happened… Good things that is!

1. We settled into our house.
2. I have finally figured out how to navigate the city of Arusha… there are only like four main roads and everything is on these main streets.
3. I can successfully get on a Daladala and got to the city, which is the form of transportation in this area.
4. I got to play soccer and Frisbee with some local kids! It as so fun! They were amazing and schooled me every time!
5. I was able to play volleyball with the local kids as well. After I talked with their coach and asked if I could help him coach his team and he was super excited for me to come! So now I am a coach for a girls volleyball team here! I can’t wait!
6. We also were able to help an HIV/AIDS Awareness group called the Utukufu Group by gardening and tilling an area for them. 
7. On Monday we visited a small orphanage near the Utukufu group. It was so cute! All of the little kids love us! As we were walking the kids would all come swarming around us and grab onto our hands. They are so precious!
8. I have started working with the Inside Out Learning program and have already met with two schools in the area. If we are able to train these teachers we will end up training about 30 teachers which will better the education of about 3000 kids per year! I am very eager to start this project!
9. I was able to go to church on Sunday. The walk there was treacherous… it was raining and super gross… But when we got to the building I was amazed at how nice the building looked. The church building definitely stood out from any other building in the area. Although I did not understand hardly anything that was being said because it was all in Kiswahili… it felt good to feel familiar with something. I am so grateful for the church and how it never changes no matter if I am in Utah or Africa.
10. I do feel famous here though. Everyone here is so happy to see mzungus (which means white people). I have been told “I love you” by strangers just about every day, which is surprising because I definitely do not look my best here… haha I am so grateful for the chance that I have to come here and learn of their culture.

Being in a new area especially a third world country has really been an unique experience. On Friday I went into the city of Arusha for the first time and I was so amazed at what I saw. I could not believe the conditions some people were living in. I had to keep reminding myself I was in Africa and not watching a movie.  The people here live in such poor conditions. Everything is always dirty and the items they sell in the markets are not high quality. My eyes have been opened. I am grateful I have the opportunity to be here and help with what I can.  

Today while I was walking to a school to set up a meeting with the Head Master I was two small girls on the side of the road. One of them was stuck in some thorns because she had jumped into the brush to move out of the way from a car coming down the road. She was crying because the thorns were stuck under her dress and in her skin. It was super sad. I helped her get out of the thorns and then gave her a band-aide for her cut from the thorn. She was so happy and grateful for my help. It definitely made my day!

So some bad news… Our water was turned off for the whole neighborhood because of some construction project nearby. We are not going to have water for about three to four days… which means no showers, no toilets, no washing our feet, and a very dirty group of 16 people. We have had to make latrines in the backyard which has been interesting. And yesterday while walking home from dinner I slipped in the mud…. Which was super gross because I had not way of washing it off besides using tons of baby wipes. Thank you mom for telling me to pack three packs of wipes.

I have only been in Africa for a week and I have already caved into getting my hair braided. Kylie and I are going to get our hair braided for our safari. I vowed I would not braid my hair because I do not look very good with them but… when in Rome or I guess Africa.

Unfortunately the internet here is not fast enough to upload pictures without taking hours and lots of money so you all will have to be waiting in suspense to see my thousands of pictures I have already taken!