Monday, April 11, 2011, at 8:31 am
Our time in Tanzania is almost up! It’s crazy to think about… this semester has seemed to flow by, though it is a slow style of life as well.
So last week we did our long village homestay for 10 days, which is the most intense part of the semester! All of us students went into a small village near Mbeya and stayed with families from a church in the Safwa tribe. Most people were in pairs, and there were a couple of groups of 3, but my friend Bethany Stobbe and I each did solos. I think the solo experience, while making the experience much more intense and even overwhelming at times, was way worth the initial uncomfortability, and I feel like I have grown and learned more …
Monday, April 11, 2011, at 8:15 am
Sorry I haven’t been able to put pictures up in these blogs…it is kind of impossible with the internet connection we have. But I hope you are all enjoying them anyway!!
So, right now I am in town with my bags packed, ready to embark upon a 3 night homestay in less than 1 hour!! It is our first homestay (we will do 2 during the semester) and I can’t wait!! I also have no idea what to expect. This homestay is in town, and is only 3 1/2 days, whereas the other one will be in a village for 10 days, so we are kind of easing our way into it. Yesterday, we did an extensive Swahili lesson to learn a bunch of vocab and phrases that could …
Thursday, March 10, 2011, at 7:07 am
So these last few days have been INCREDIBLE and AMAZING and GROWING
great experiences. I could go on and on all day about everything I
experienced and learned. I haven’t even had time to journal all I
want to about it. But I will try to give you a brief overview of my
time with the Maasai tribe (where we were for 3 days) and some things
I have learned and thought about.
First of all, when arrived at the camp where we were staying right
near Mombaleo’s household (a pretty powerful Maasai elder with 3 wives
who is good friends with Dr. A), we were immediately met with a group
of about 15 Maasai warriors (morani) and elders dressed in red and
pink designed pieces of soft cloth draped over their body like a toga,
with fancy belts …
Thursday, March 10, 2011, at 7:03 am
So the last few days have been absolutely amazing for me. And for no
real particular reason except that God is good and provides wonderful
friends and experiences in life and his creation is incredible.
Originally, the past few days had been a bit hard for me…just with
missing people and the slowness of life (which I’m not used to) and
other such things…but God sure knows how to provide joy and simple
miracles just when you need it!
On Saturday, I was feeling this way when I went on a 5 km run to the
Philip’s farm (which we do every Sunday to play volleyball with cool
expats 
) And it just felt so freeing and incredible! The whole
time I just felt like I could let loose, run with the wind, and not
worry about a …
Wednesday, February 16, 2011, at 10:56 am
So last week we went to Ruaha National Park, and it was such an incredible break from life on campus (which is also amazing, but quite different) and was such a great way to experience God’s creation up close in all sorts of ways. The views and sites we saw were incomparable, and the bandas at the resort where we stayed were right up close to the river (and really nice). Right from our bandas, I was able to observe impalas in depth (which I am doing for my science project), see hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and giraffes all roam around closeby. In fact, the elephants walked RIGHT UP TO OUR BANDA!! At night when we were about to shower, we heard a crunching noise, …
