I feel that I am getting a good feel for the lifestyle and Tanzanian culture here. Since most of the kids are gone we have been doing a lot of activities that the locals do. For example, we hiked to a beautiful waterfall. It was probably the sketchiest hike I have ever done. I was walking along the narrow ledges, looking down to the steep ravines freaking out a little bit, but the kids we were with were running down like it was nothing. One of the local boys started following us and was running down with a machete so calmly! Anyway the waterfall was incredible. The water was a bit chilly but I still waded in it a bit.
With the kids gone it is a great time to fix up the school. All of the volunteers have scraped and repainted the blackboards in each of the classrooms. They look amazing now! We are also painting one of the walls outside that has the Peace Matunda song and prayer on it. I prob wont be here for the completion of that but it will definitely be an improvement from the green algae all over the wall.
Bella, Kaaya's cousin who does cultural tours, celebrated his birthday. He dressed up as a Rasta Rooster. It was hilarious. All the girls from Peace MAtunda came down and we celebrated with a fruit and veggie cake that he wanted made. It was a fantastic celebration! We also celebrated Jenni's last weekend here. She is going home after 9 months of being here. So in light of that she requested that we all dress up like Safari Animals and go out on the town. We had the big 5 and some other random safari animals. I was a Zebra! The tailor had come up a week earlier and we gave her a bunch of fabric to make dresses, one a zebra print. So I had my dress and I painted my face with black stripes! It was so awesome. Everyone looked great and boy did we get stared at. Kaaya came as our Safari guide, trying to keep us inline. Good Times!
Bella, being the do it all guy in Tanzania, got the "good@ coffee beans from a friend. 10 KG of coffee beans, worth 60,000 shillings. Which isnt that much money but it was supposed to be just for Jeni and I... There is soooo much coffee!!!! We started making it a few days a go and still havent finished. Normally you have to de-shell the beans but that would have added an insane amount of hours onto the task. So we roast them first, until they are almost black and then it is pounding time! I am very excited to drink coffee that I actually made with my bare hands! wooohoo
Another cultural experience I had was buying, slaughtering, and eating a goat, Fred. We all went to a market and Jeni picked out a beautiful brown goat. The next day we all watched as Bella slit Fred's throat, collected the blood, to make soup of course, and continue on butchering it. I have great video of the whole process. It is amazing how the took off his skin in one piece. They also ate the kidney's right out of him! Listening to his ribs crack and watching them break his legs apart was crazy. I held hone of his hooves! And surprisingly he tastes delicious. I didn't eat too much but it was yummy! Great experiences I am having here. Oh, and I got Bella to cut off his chin hair so I can attempt to make a bracelet ! hahahah
Again, sorry this is so random. I haven't written in a while and thought I would update all of you eager readers on my time here. I am headed off on a Safari on Sunday for 4 days! I am so pumped to see so many animals form the Lion King!! Then I am headed to Zanzibar for some island relaxation and hopefully home after!!
Miss you all and I hope everyone is great! Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's and Grandfathers out there!! Love you all
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