A Little R&R

I finished language last week leveling out a 1B proficiency in Kiswahili. Glad that's done.

Friday a friend of mine and I flew a whopping 15 mins to Zanzibar. Its Ramadan so arriving early with no breakfast presented quite a challenge. After getting lost for a bit we decided we needed to buy a map. The streets are small/narrow and crowded. If you look up you see wires hanging from house to house quickly reminded these building have been here for hundreds of years prior to electricity. Women dressed in matching kangas around their heads and waist telling the visitor this a conservative island. The big city of Dar is no more. Intricately carved teak doors adorn homes, each one telling a story I wish I knew. The mystery of the island causes it to be almost exotic. On a side note, sugar cane juice is our new favorite thing!

Saturday we went up the island about 1 hour. The very tip top where all these fancy resorts causes one to forget they are in Africa. We went on a snorkeling trip off the east coast to Mnemba Atoll. We werent allowed on the private island, but we snorkeled in the reef around it. I have never seen so many fish in all my life, and Ive done a lot of snorkeling in my day! That evening we made reservations at a lady's house for dinner (my friends had told me about it). We were walking there so we each took about 15$ worth and got lost for more than 20 mins on the way there. Once we found the place there was a place setting for 4 people. We enjoyed many local foods and were finally greeted by a nice Italian couple. When it came time for the bill.... we didnt have enough money... we both stared in fear at eachother making conversation with our eyes on what to do. She blurted out "Um we have a problem!" The spotted us the 6$ we needed.

Sunday we ventured to a spice plantation and learned all about spices and where they come from. It was interesting. We also ran into the Italian couple, and paid them back. Ha!

5 months into my journey and I am already processing and learning much. Today marks Eid which is end of Ramadan- a 2 day holiday around here. Living next door to a Mosque - its been a long month! A heart breaking long month!

Heres some shots from the weekend!

Smelly Fish Market

Today I was asked by my language teacher what I wanted to do today...
I had a blank stare, "nothing" is what came out of my mouth... opps.

I told her all the places I had been with my other teachers. and so she decided we should go to the fish market!
Ummm.... OK!

We rode by DalaDala, which is fine, I love all the weird stares from people who see me riding it, but honestly its a great way to see the city! Here are some pics of the things we saw! I bought some cool shells!

Exit Ramp

I. am. consumed. with. Kiswahili.

This week I will have both oral and written exams. Written will be telling a story based upon some pictures and oral will be some questions. I cant wait until this is over. Framing my certificate for sure!!

A Rubber Band

This week there is a mission team here from all over. My friend and her father are on the team. Oh how God knew I would be here and so would she long before our paths would cross to this being my life now. They have been working along side Kenyans and National churches here and doing hard core door to door. My friend, a guy ( brand new overseas-er, a girl (brand new overseas-er) and myself have been going across on the ferry to the southern part of the city. This is like a little village over there and is known for its beaches. They are all working at 3 different churches separately. Sunday took 3 hours to return to their hotel and 4 hours on Monday. I used more Kiswahili than I had my whole time here in the last 4 days.

Since we have all had such long car rides together we would like to consider ourselves "best friends" now. These newbies have interesting insights to the city I forget. They want to "fix" everything. You can't. Nothing about this place makes sense and it's not going to change, especially in one week. The guy has not been so crazy about our amount of the time in the car- Rubberband- I have been uber tired due to the heat and lack of sleep -Rubberband- The girl has not been so comfortable all the time with some unexpected curve balls - Rubberband- My friend learns " fat" is a complement - Rubberband- When given gifts you don't want to take due to knowing they have no money to buy their next meal - Rubberband- When given a Kanaga in 90 degree weather because the wind is blowing, wear it anyways - Rubberband-

Heres some pics from the week

With all the kids

Maurice and I

Hannah with Mark

Hannah teaching Sunday School