Last few days with the women from T.H.E. Mission...

Everything is going very well on the African continent for me. Some of the highlights from the last few days - Sunday, we went to a Masaai village to bring the community food and attend their mass. It was amazing, as I am completely enamored by the beauty of the Masaai. All around me were people with holes in their ears that I could practically put my hand through, beaded headresses, necklaces the size of dinner plates, and DARK black skin - so so beautiful. They were a little ambivalent of us at first, but when they realized we were there to bring aid, and not just tourists snapping photos, they were VERY welcoming, and proceeded to put on a performance for us, jumping around like crazy, chanting and singing (I did take video!). I'm beyond fascinated. We also got to tour a Masaai home belonging to a student we are sponsoring, made of mud and a thatched roof. It's amazing to me that people are living like this! Their poverty is overwhelming, but their joy is infectious! Yesterday, we went to an orphan school called Niruvande. It was pretty tough - all small children that were orphans. The school was VERY poor, most children had shoes that I could see their toes in, dirty clothes, and were sleeping 2 and 3 to a single bed. We brought tons of school supplies for them, but the soccer balls (footballs here) were the biggest hit by far. As soon as the teacher gave them the go ahead, they all charged down the hill to the field and let loose. It was really touching to see kids in such a sad situation letting go for a few minutes. All the kids are completely fascinated by my arms, as they have never seen arm hair like mine before, so they will take any opportunity they can to stroke it in wonder. It's pretty amazing. I took some really moving pictures of the kindergaten students sitting in their school house classroom, which is basically a shoebox made of jagged timber. We also brought them food, which I was happy about, they looked hungry! We taught an english lesson, and I was very impressed at their english skills. Today is Tuesday, and Thursday the group of women that I am here with, THE Mission - Pam, Sarah, and Jehane, will be going home. I'm pretty sad about this, I've really gotten connected to all three of them, and being that our program has been so regimented, I haven't had to really get involved in any planning. I'm a little nervous, as once they leave I will be on my own in Africa. My Kiswahili is coming along slowly, but I'm definitely not conversational yet. Once the women leave on Thursday, I will be going to Old Moshi to visit my friend Tino's family. My friend Alison in Sebastopol, who was in the peace corps, met her husband, Tino, while she was working here in Tanzania. Tino gave me several things to bring to his family, and introduced me via email to his friend Furaha here in TZ. So, I have made plans to meet Furaha at the highway junction near where I am staying in Sanya Juu, and he and I will board one of the dala dala's, which are CRAMPED minibuses, and we will head to Tino's families house. I'm planning on staying with Tino's family for two nights, and returning to Arusha with Furaha on the 13th. I will spend one night in Arusha, and on the 14th, will meet the group I am going on safari with. I can't wait to go on safari for a week, it will be a nice break from the intensity of being in the villages. I also can't wait to see the animals, as I've been in Africa for two weeks, and aside from millions of bugs, birds, butterflies, and one monkey, haven't seen any African wildlife. When I get back from safari on the 20th, I will make my way to Moshi, because I got a job! The Moshi Airport School (has nothing to do with flying) has invited me to volunteer as an English teacher to the primary school students (1st and 2nd graders). I am ecstatic! They also will provide accommodations, so it's perfect! I think I will be more effective here teaching english, than doing medical work, because in the hospitals, most of the patients from the villages don't speak english at all. I am in love with the children here, so I think the English gig is a great job for me. I stopped by the school today, and was very excited to meet the students, and they were VERY excited to meet me. After about 5 minutes of them petting my arms, I learned all of their names, and was VERY impressed by their english already! It should be very fun. From there, I think I have decided to make the trip to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas, but I'm not sure about that yet. I'm going to take things as they come. As they say here - Hakuna matata!