Today we traveled from
Dar to Iringa where we will be staying at a Lutheran Centre for the final two
weeks of training. We left the city this
morning around 9:00 and began what we thought was going to be a 6 hour
drive. I am learning a lot about time
here in Tanzania. A few days ago we
talked about the American mentality that time is a commodity that is not to be wasted
in contrast with the Tanzanian mindset that time is a gift most valuable when
being shared with others. In theory I love
the concept. However planning on being
on the bus for 6 hours when we left this morning and then showing up at our
destination almost 11 hours after we left Dar made the day seem very long. However, I got to share the time with the
other volunteers making the entire day a Tanzanian success.
A few hours into the
drive we entered into a national game reserve.
It was incredible! We saw giraffes, elephants, water buffalo, wildebeests,
and TONS of monkeys and baboons! The animals were literally just on the side of
the highway, so we had our bus driver pull over a few times so that we could
take pictures… it ended up being an inadvertent safari.
Then we got to
Iringa. It is a smaller city which means
that it has some great markets where we will be able to get some of the last
minute supplies we will need before heading out but it is also very safe to
explore so I am really looking forward to that tomorrow during some of our free
time. We just finished dinner here at
the centre and it was amazing, which is great news since we will be having cooking
lessons here next week (although I am not sure that I will ever be able to cook
anything very well over the charcoal stove with the 5 or so ingredients that
will be available in my village). The rooms
are incredible; I am not sure what Ashley our field director) is trying to do
to us letting us get used to running water (that is warm!) right before we head
off to our villages but I am definitely planning on enjoying it while we are
here.
The internet works really
well here so check back in for updates regularly for the next two weeks. Thanks for reading!
make sure you bring home a monkey for Cara :) you can train it while you're there so it will be ready for her and putt's new home!! Miss you like crazy, praying for you all the time <3 jules
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Carly! This is Uncle Doug and Noelle. We're reading your blog together standing in the bathroom of _6_ Aberdeen while I shave before work. And wishing we were on the spontaneous safari with you. We hope you're having fun. Summer is almost over and it's soon back to school. Noelle is both excited and not excited.
ReplyDeleteLove ya.
Noelle and Uncle Doug
It is so exciting to read your blog! Your experience so far seems like it has been amazing. I will continue to pray for this upcoming transition into your new village and school and can't wait to hear more. love you! Melinda
ReplyDelete