A quick update!!

Here are some pictures from the last week in Arusha!! We have been busy hanging out with friends, hosting visitors (Christine's friend Megan from Chicago and Ann and Grant from Uganda), going to goat roasts, running the Kili 1/2 marathon, and packing for upcoming trips. Christine and Brandon are returning to the states tomorrow (via London) and I am flying to Egypt for a week!

With Heather and Mollie (medical students from Wisconsin) at our new favorite hangout Africafe!

My new housemate Dave (medical student from Case Western) with Heather

A cutie on the road to Selian



My favorite flowers...I hope we can find them in the states because I'm thinking wedding cake!

I went to Mt. Meru University for a goat roast in honor of Professor Brandon!

A shot of Mt. Meru from the Uni gate

Goat roast! This is a Maasai tradition

As the guest of honor Brandon makes the first cut into the ""goat cake." It was surprisingly tasty! We also ate some goat liver...not so tasty.

More goat cake

Mt. Kilimanjaro 1/2 marathon in Moshi! We ran 6.5 miles up the mountain and then turned around and came down. It was incredibly difficult, but fun!

We got some sweet foam visors at registration

Ann and me with the Kili sign

Megan, Brandon, Ann, me, and Julie ready to race!!

The start line. All of these Africans are about to whoop my butt (wearing soccer cleats, moccasins, and aqua-socks no less)!!

Ann and I crossing the finish line. Look closely at the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background! Awesome!

Yay! We did it!! (Now time to go puke!)

Time flies in Arusha!!

The last few weeks have been life as usual in Arusha! No big trips; just the daily adventures of this crazy place called Africa! We have kept busy visiting the Gracious school, meeting up with friends for dinner, touring new doctors around the city, studying, and training for the Mt. Kilimanjaro ½ marathon that takes place next Sunday February 28th!

Last week, Christine and I hopped on a bus and traveled just over 3 hours to the Msafiri boarding school in Kisangara. The headmistress, Grace, has friends and family in Minnesota, so we have met her several times in Arusha to deliver supplies sent to her from the states (ie: the huge duffel bag of urine resistant bed sheets that I brought over in September!). Grace is a savvy and well-respected business woman who started the boarding school over 5 years ago with the help of a German teacher and support from a German institute. The school now has over 130 students ages 5-12 and has a steady influx of German teachers and volunteers. It is nestled below the beautiful Pare Mountains, not far from the village where Grace was born and raised. Grace is a wonderful hostess and she treated us like queens during our 3 day visit!! In between playing with the kids and helping write lesson plans, we enjoyed fabulous meals and relaxation time on the veranda of Grace’s house.

Christine and I with Grace

Lunch on the veranda with some of the volunteer teachers from Germany

Morning songs and exercises with the students

This girl helped lead the morning program and had some serious rhythm!

Time for class

Back in Arusha, Christine, Brandon, and I were invited by Magdalena and Tumaini, 2 of the Gracious School teachers, to a “thank you” dinner at the house of David and Miriam Ramsey, the couple who first introduced us to the school. Magdalena and Tumaini prepared a wonderful meal for us and then sat us down for a “presentation.” They sang us a song in Swahili and then had David read a letter they had written explaining the history of Gracious School and thanking us for the time and support we have given the school. With everyone near tears they gave us small gifts and handmade cards with notes from the students. They even had a gift for me to bring to Phil to thank him for his help with the fundraising and for visiting the school when he was here. It was a very special evening and we are all dreading the day we have to say our final goodbyes to the teachers and students.

Dinner with the Gracious teachers

Brandon, Christine, Magdalena, Tumaini, and me

We also had a fun dinner last week with Philipo, Sanaa, and Andrew, the interns from Selian. We went out for Chinese and then had them over for homemade banana bread and chocolate cake (yes, we have finally figured out how to bake here!). On Friday night we went to see the movie Invictus and had beers afterwards with the other medical students and doctors from Selian. On Sunday after church, we took the girls from Whisperers of the Jungle orphanage out for ice cream in town. They invited us to a dinner at their house tonight!

Out with the interns...Philipo, me, Christine, Sanaa, and Andrew

Ice cream with the girls from Whisperers!

The whole crew from Whisperers

This week Ann and Grant are coming to visit for a few days and then Ann is running the Kili half marathon with Brandon and me! Wish us luck!! 13 miles up the side of a mountain, yikes!

We are celebrating my birthday on March 1st and then on March 2nd Christine, Brandon, and I head to Nairobi, Kenya. From Nairobi, Christine and Brandon are flying back to the states (tear) and I am heading to Egypt for a week!! Pyramids and sphinx here I come!

Gracious School...building brick by brick!!

Go to the people:

live with them, learn from them

love them

start with what they know

build with what they have.

But of the best leaders,

when the job is done,

the task accomplished,

the people will say:

"We have done it ourselves."

-Lao Tzu

We spent the morning at Gracious School today and could not believe the changes taking place there! The new classroom is completed and looks fabulous! It has windows and desks for the students! They have also built the playground! They have 2 swing sets with 2 swings each and a seesaw. The kids were so excited and the school has been growing since the construction. They have several new students and a new teacher! The next project is the new bathroom. Construction for that is starting this week and should be complete by mid-February!

On a side note...I have a new nickname. I taught the kids this banana chant that I learned while teaching vacation bible school on my church servant trips. They love it and have taken to calling me "Banana." One of the teachers said that while I was in Cape Town they were asking, "Where is Banana?" Too cute!!

The original 4 room school

Construction of the new 5th classroom!!

The completed classroom

One of the new swing sets

Cuties!



The new playground!

Cape Town!!!

I have just returned from a wonderful 2 week “luxury” vacation in Cape Town, South Africa! Beautiful scenery, great friends, fabulous food, and plenty of adventure! I met Ann and Grant, my classmates who are living in Uganda, at the airport in Cape Town and the excitement began with the rental of our little manual transmission Hyundai Atos! Ann was our fearless driver and quickly adapted to shifting with her left hand while driving on the left side of the road. As we drove to our hostel I turned to Ann and said, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Africa anymore!” Paved highways, shopping malls, traffic lights, grocery stories, and white people everywhere!! We checked into our hostel and began exploring the city!

Our first night we met Justin, another classmate who has been volunteering in Cape Town, for delicious burgers and beer on Long Street!


The following day we spent at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront! The scenery was amazing with Table Mountain in the background. We explored all the shops and restaurants and ate sushi and gelato!




Wine tour!! We got picked up at 8:30 am in a minibus for an all day wine tour! We started in the Paarl region at Fairview winery. The vineyards and surrounding mountains were beautiful! We learned about wine tasting and then started practicing! We tasted fabulous wine and cheese and then drove to Solms Winery where we were able to walk through the vineyards. For lunch we went to Le Pommier and I tried South African bobotie. We visited 2 more wineries after lunch and also did a chocolate tasting. We drove through the adorable town of Stellenbosch and visited the University there. What a great day!

We loved the Pinotage...South Africa's specialty wine!

yum.....cheese.....

Lunch!

Justin...where did all that chocolate go??

The day after the wine tour Ann decided to cut off over a foot of her hair! It is so cute!

Cape Point! We spent a day exploring the coastline south of Cape Town and visiting Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope in Table Mountain National Park! We drove along Chapman's Peak, where the the cliffs drop off into the crystal blue ocean. We visited Camps Bay, Hout Bay, and then went to see the penguin colony at Boulders Beach. There were hundreds of penguins and they were adorable! Phil told me I'm not allowed to bring home any African animals or children, so I had to leave the penguins behind. After seeing the penguins we drove all the way to Cape Point and hiked up to the light house there. It was so beautiful and reminded me of the Italian Riviera. That night, back in Cape Town, we had Shabat dinner with Justin's family. It is a Friday night Jewish tradition and they were so kind to include us. The food (all kosher of course) was wonderful and we loved having a home cooked meal!

So adorable! I really think he would love MN....please Phil!

Our Hyundai Atos! So cute!

Gorgeous!

The following morning we hiked up to Table Mountain! It took about 1.5 hours and was a pretty tough and steep climb. From the top of Table Mountain we could see all of Cape Town and the surrounding mountains and ocean. After the hike we drove to Camps Bay to have lunch on the "strip" and then met Justin at Clifton Beach. That night we went to a Jazz Club with a friend of Ann's and the music was great!

Taking a break during the Table Mountain climb

A view of Cape Town from Table Mountain.

All dressed up for the jazz club.

Ann and I went for a 10 mile run along the boardwalk in Cape Town! We are training for the Mt. Kilimanjaro half marathon at the end of February and needed to get in some miles. After the run we went shopping at Canal Walk. That night Justin took us out for a wild game dinner. We had warthog ribs, crocodile, kudu, and ostrich steaks! After dinner we went to a Goldfish concert on the beach. The music and crowd was great and we were even able to sneak in our own box of wine...classy!

Warthog ribs!!

mmmm....meat.....

Goldfish concert!

Mom, you would love this boxed wine :)

Ann and Grant headed home to Uganda and Justin and I visited the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. They had lots of cool statues and Justin really loved the "useful plants" area where he was a little too brave in tasting all sorts of mysterious leaves.

I visited Robben Island the next day and saw the prison where Nelson Mandela spent over 20 years of his life. I learned more about apartheid and the history of Cape Town.

Mandela's cell

After visiting Robben Island Justin and I decided to hike up to Lion's Head peak for sunset! We thought it would be an easy hike and set out with sandals and bottles of beer for the summit. The hike was tougher than expected and we ended up scaling rock faces using chains and ladders! We made it to the top and it was beautiful. We drank our beers and then descended. That night we went to Dizzy's to eat pizza and sing karaoke! On my last day in Cape Town, Justin and I drove out to Stellenbosch to hang out in the city, shop, and have lunch! It was a fabulous day and I was sad to be leaving South Africa.

I flew back to Dar es Salaam Tanzania and spent the weekend with Imee and her roommate Tom! They work in public health at the CDC and live a wonderful expat life! They have a great apartment, satellite tv, a swimming pool, a washing machine, and cars. They were wonderful hosts and we had a relaxing and fun weekend. We went to the market, spent a day at the beach, and had plenty of wine and good food! On Monday morning I caught the bus back to Arusha and it felt really good to come back home. I missed my house and the craziness of this town, which I have grown to love!

Tom and Imee!!

A shout-out to my wonderful sister who just celebrated her birthday!! Love you so much and wish I could bring you some Kiri cheese! Miss you!