Soo... It's been forever- the whole blog idea hasn't been consistent as I had hoped- oh well- you've got to be flexible here in Africa. :) But I have better internet access now, so I might do a couple more.

I've been here in Arusha, Tanzania- an hour away from the almighty Mt. Kilimanjaro! I've been working with CMF International since the end of April -so by now I'm adjusted more to being here.

Excitement in my days:
I live on a missionary compound and I'm not allowed to go walking outside alone, so I walk the dogs outside. When you step outside the gate onto the dusty road, Mt. Meru- Kilimanjaro's less famous, but still very majestic sidekick looms in front of you. On a clear day, you can see the peak- it's an inactive volcanoe, so it looks very cool. When I walk past the small, mud houses each with a tin roof, the kids come running and yell "mzungu! mzungu!" which means white person- not an insult - just a statement. And they try out whatever English they know on me. "Good morning, teacher!" is the most common- any time of the day - morning, evening, it doesn't matter. So I just skip correcting them and say good morning back. So me and Kaluha- the dog - or the simba (lion) -I was walking were just strolling along when she saw a herd of mbuzi (goats)- she suddenly jolted against the leash- and altough I restrained her- I must have pulled too hard on her collar, because she broke free and dashed for the mbuzi. "Njo njo! Baya mbwa!" I yelled (come here come here- bad dog!) - but she wouldn't have it. With little kids screaming- and goats running everywhere I sprinted after her through a dusty shamba (field) kicking up a dusty trail behind me. There has been no rain for a long time here. And finally I caught her. Apologizing to everyone I explained in swahili that she isn't a mean dog- she just likes to play. hah- the kids were more amused than afraid and their Mama said "Hamna shida! Karibu tena!" No problem- you are welcome again. Which made me laugh- Tanzanians are awesome like that. But sorry Kaluha- no more walks outside. For me either probably.

Another fun moment. My good friend Elinipa (which means God gives) who works here on the CMF base and I were talking about music and she was saying that Africans love music. And I told her Americans do, too. "Kweli?" she said- "really?"- she seemed surprised- so I took my IPOD over yesterday and let her listen to everything from the Backstreet Boys to 1000ft Krutch to Coldplay to Savage Garden. And of course "I Bless the Rains Down in Africa" by Toto. She loved it- haha- we both got a kick out of it. She thought it was cool that the Americans had written a song about Africa. Good times!

So my next endeavor- is next week - Mama Joshua is going to teach me how to "kupika kuku" - thats right -cook a chicken- and by that I mean I'm going to buy a real live chicken :) -and we'll take it from there. She looked surprised when I asked her to teach me how to cook one. But she said okay- if I really want to. haha- so that will be an experience.

More to come on what God's been teaching me here and my work with CMF soon!

Well it's going good here! Can't include it all here, but no worries- hakuna shida!
Mungu akubariki!
God bless!