Another day, another dala-dala

Well, the story from today's commute via dala-dala is not a pleasant one. I'm hoping it's the worst of them. Poor Erika had her purse cut in to and her wallet and camera were stolen. Thank goodness she found the wallet on the side of the road with her credit cards in it, money gone. And we have been together most of the trip so I will share my pictures with her. The saddest part is that she leaves on Wednesday. Today was her last day with the Nursery school and they held an adorable little ceremony for her. I video taped their singing, so I hope that I can get it to her when I return.

As I said, today's work day was pretty sad. I'm definitely going to miss having Erika around. Not only with the kids, but on the long haul out there, as well! We are planning a reunion in September that I hope works out. I tell you, the relationships made with the people here are something else.

Caca (brother) Chris moved into the Volunteer House last week and we have a new dada (sister)! Sukhi is from London and is in between jobs on a 2 week stint in Africa. I love her! She is so fun and we both have the same attitude about why we're here and spending time with our darling host family. However, her two weeks is over before my remaining 2 1/2, so there's another impending tearful good-bye!

This weekend was just wonderful. Saturday Erika and I spent the day at Baba (Father) Silvano's village. Unfortunately, it started as most African safaris (travels) start with a whole bunch of waiting around. We were supposed to meet him at the dala-dala stop at 10:00. Around 10:30 we were questioning our typically punctual headmaster. We finally got ahold of him via mobile around 10:45, he showed up around 11:30. Not sure I still have the same feelings about "Africa time" as I did in the beginning...

Anyways (a favorite word of Silvano's, along with "be free!") Silvano and his family are in the Meru tribe, their village literally on the slopes of Mt. Meru ("Little Kili"). We trekked it up the side of the mountain in taxi, something that may have phased me before my trip, but no longer would. We stopped at this beautiful little house on the side of the road and went inside. The living room was decorated with plastic plants and flowers, a few chairs/love seats, coffee table, pretty decent stereo, smallish tv, and on the wall were pictures of white babies posing (Anne Geddes-ish) and a Titanic poster.

We sat and chatted for a bit about education in Africa, the differences in tribes around Tanzania and Africa, about his 4 children, and life at his home. As he walked us around the vicinity, he pointed out his banana trees, coffee bushes, beans, and goat house. He lives on 1 1/2 acres of land on the side of a gorgeous mountain surrounded by lush green. His wife speaks only Swahili and the tribal language so it was hard for her to communicate with us. And Silvano kept apologizing. However, that did not hinder her ability to quickly fall in love with her two new daughters! She brought out lunch and before we began to eat Silvano stood up and spoke about how much he loved that we came to his home, how we will always have a father and mother in Tanzania to take care of us, and how thankful he is that we were with his family. It was just ridiculously touching. Here he is opening his home to us and he is thanking us!

That brings me to our experience from the day before. Erika and I thought we should take a little something to our dear host. So, we asked around at the primary school and everyone agreed rice and tea would be great. After Nursery school on Friday, dear Teacher Angel (she teaches babies) offered to walk us to her local shop to pick out rice and tea. We walked into the shop and thank goodness she was with us! There were HUGE bags of rice and beans taking up practically the entire space of this itty-bitty little shop. We would have never known what to do! Angel picked some out for us to buy and we told her to pick something out for herself. She was shocked. "Really?!? Really?!?" Just at that time, Teacher Happy walked by and came to say hello. We bought her some rice as well and she offered to have us over for pilau (rice, meat, and peas) next week.

When we gave Silvano his gift of rice and tea, you would have thought we'd brought him a new car. He closed his eyes, opening them to reveal tears, saying how very grateful he was to us for thinking of his family. He said his wife would be so so happy, and she was. When we said our good-byes, Mama embraced us and kissed us as we all told each other, "na kupendi!" I love you. I will never forget how welcome and comfortable I felt in my new family's home. After our meal, our new brother walked us up the mountain a bit to get a better view. Oh my goodness, I don't think it gets much better than that! It was incredible! I can't imagine having that view on a daily basis! After that, is it fair to say I've "climbed" Meru? :)

On Sunday it was time to visit another village, the Masai! A group of 9 of us, my new dada included, headed out on the dusty trail with our friend Hasan at the wheel. We stopped at the side of the road and Hasan simply asked (or I'm assuming this is how it happened given that it was in Swahili) a Masai member if he could take us to his village. He jumped in the car and we headed on our way.

Our first stop was the mines where the Masai dig for concrete. It was beautiful! We then went out to our first camp, which consists of a few huts owned by one Masai man and each of his "wives" lives in the hut with her children. There were about 20 children in that camp. The polygamist kindly invited one of the other volunteer to be his newest wife. Hapana asante, she replied!

We walked through some farmland and to another camp. Hasan asked us if we wanted to "climb that mountain over there." "Sure!" we enthusiastically replied! And although the flip flop wearing crew was panting by the end of it, the view was totally worth it. What a day!

Before I bore you to pieces, I want to share a little about my family. Florence's sister has gotten into a little trouble in Dar es Salam exporting elephant tusks. Her little 2 year old daughter (who Benson insists is a terror) was left alone at the house with their young house girl when Mommy and Daddy were hauled to jail. Kind hearted Florence took it upon herself to go get the little one and bring her back home. So, unsure of Mama's return, we await yet another addition to our family. It's going to be quite chaotic! Say a prayer for Florence, as she is clearly worried about her sister and also her job, since she's taken off to go to Dar. And we miss her. I've been trying to be home as much as possible for Benson, keeping his spirits up with card games and watching silly dada Kim attempt to jump rope without tripping herself!

I am sad to say good-bye to some dear friends this week, but am staying positive that I still have 2 1/2 weeks to devote to my wonderful school and my loving family. I know it will fly by!

Kwaheri and na kupendi!

Teacher Kim (what my friends, and obviously pupils, have started to call me. I love it. :)