The One With The Wedding (10/21/2012)

Yesterday the school groundskeepers’ son got married.  The entire school staff was invited so Dahlia and I got to go.  The wedding was in Kapelekese which is a little over an hour from our house.  Moses, the school librarian, walked with us.  In typical Tanzanian fashion we arrived late, about 4 hours late, so unfortunately we missed the ceremony.  But we arrived at the church just in time to see the bride and groom walking out together followed by a procession of all of the guests waving flags of different fabrics, singing, clapping, and whistling.  They walked next door to the pastors’ house where they signed their marriage certificate and then the whole party began the hour ling walk to the brides’ house where the reception was being held.  When we got to the house the bride and groom sat down at a table with their maid of honor and best man behind them (they sat there fanning the couple for the next few hours).  The crowd sang and danced around them while on the other side of the house hundreds of plates of rice and bananas and meat were being served up.  Mr. Mbughi, our neighbor, seemed to be the MC of the night, calling out songs to sing giving speeches and praying over the couple.  Dahlia and I had to leave just before dinner though because we had about a two hour walk to get home and only two and a half hours of daylight left.  But the walk back was beautiful!  And it was so wonderful to experience part of a Tanzanian wedding! 

The One With The Night Of Games (10/21/2012)

On Friday after school there was a boys’ soccer game and there was supposed to be a girls’ netball game.  So I went to the fields excited to see my first netball game.  The soccer game was going on so I watched that for a little while.  The boys were playing so well! But the other team was really good and we ended up losing 2-1.  But it was one of the best games I have seen the boys play yet! And I got to see my first substitution here.  We don’t usually have subs but this game one of the boys needed to come out (I couldn’t really figure out why) so Kivega, the coach, went in for him.  Here is how substitutions work: the player runs to the sidelines and kicks off their shoes and throws them to the sub, they then continue to play barefoot while the sub puts the shoes on (some of the boys play the whole game barefoot because there aren’t always enough shoes.  None of the girls have shoes from what I have seen so they always play barefoot).  Then the player runs off the field, taking off his shirt.  The sub grabs the shirt and runs onto the field while putting the shirt on and begins to play.

The team we were scheduled to play in netball didn’t end up coming so the girls played a match of form 2 against form 3.  It was so fun to watch! For those of you who don’t know, and I didn’t either until 2 days ago, netball is kind of a mix between basketball and ultimate frisbee and it is played with a volleyball.  There are hoops but once you have possession of the ball one foot has to stay in the same spot.  The girls had so much fun and they played so well!

After the games I came back home with some of the teachers.  Dahlia and I had cooked veggie burgers and the teachers were SO excited to have an “American” meal.  We spent the rest of the night laughing and playing cards.  

The One With The Bagea Cooking Lesson (10/16/2012)

Bagea is a food kind of like a hush puppy but made with potato that women sell at the markets here.  Of course, being that it is pretty much just a deep fried potato, it is delicious.  So I asked Elizabeth to show me how to make it.  On Saturday I bought what I thought were the correct potatoes and yesterday Elizabeth came over to cook.  I brought out the potatoes and she started laughing hysterically.  Who knew that not just any potato will work for bagea.  “Hamna Shida,” Elizabeth said, which means no problem.  And then she had me follow her outside.  We walked over to her sister-in-laws house where we went around back and started digging.  Apparently her in-laws grow Magimbe, which is the potato used for bagea.  What a blessing to be able to go to the neighbor’s garden when we don’t have the right ingredients!  Elizabeth and I spent the afternoon cooking with her daughters who stopped by and the bagea were delicious!

The One With The Apology (10/14/2012)

Sorry for going so long without posting! I didn't turn my computer on for a few days and had totally forgotten that I had written but not posted so many blogs.  But don't worry, I am fine.
I also wanted to say thank you again for taking the time to ready my blog.  It is so amazing to be able to share this experience with you and it brings me such joy to know that there are so many people praying for me, my students and this village back home.

The One With The Katengele Market (10/14/2012)

Yesterday morning Ashley and I decided to go to the market in Katengele.  It is a little over two hours each way.  I had thought that the walks that we had been doing had a lot of uphill but compared to this walk that they are nothing.  It was a challenging climb but we got to walk with some students who were showing us the way which was really fun.  When we finally got there I was shocked! The market was enormous! There were clothes and fabric and produce, there were women cooking and selling lunch and places to get tea.  Ashley and I hung out there for about two hours.  I can’t believe there is such a big market way out here in the mountains (and I really can’t believe that so many women walk all the way up this big hill with baskets to things to sell on their heads!)  We finally made it home, tired and a little sore, but it was a beautiful hike and a great market!

The One With The Movie Night (10/14/2012)

Ashley brought with her a DVD of the US presidential debate for Dahlia and I to watch.  We told the civics teacher, Kivega, about it and he suggested that we allow the students to watch it as well.  So he organized a school movie night (apparently they do this periodically on Friday nights).  So Friday night they turned on the school generator and brought out an old TV.  A bunch of students came and packed out one of the classrooms.  Unfortunately after about 20 minutes of trying and failing to get to DVD player to read the disk we gave up efforts to watch the debate and the students put in a Tanzanian movie.  I didn’t quite follow all of the plot but there was karate and kung fu and a gang and lots of really dramatic music.  The students were more fun to watch than the movie, they totally loved it! Another great Friday night in the village!

The One With The Football Match (10/14/2012)

On Friday there was another football (soccer) match in Kafule.  The games are so fun! The whole town comes out to watch and all of the students cheer and dance the whole game.  Kafule played really well and won 1-0.  I really enjoy getting to watch the students at these games, they are just laughing and having a great time with their friends the whole time and it is such a blessing to get to watch!