life so far...

i have safely arrived in Tanzania, and have enjoyed every minute so far! Let me just tell you a little bit about life in Africa so far...

our first two days in Tanzania were spent traveling to the Serengeti and going on a safari...and can i just say it was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. seeing God's masterful craftsmanship in creation was a truly humbling and awe inspiring time. the land is absolutely breathtaking--i feel so close to God when i am basking in His glorious creation. not only was the landscape amazing but so was the variety of animals we were so privileged to see. we saw tons of zebra and wildebeasts (they are migrating through the serengeti at this time of year), crocodiles, lots of hippos, elephants, baboons, giraffes and the best of all lions!! we spent the night in the park and at night with no lights the stars took my breath away, i have never seen so many stars in my life--our God is such an artist!! kate (one of the women i live with) climbed up on top of our van to stargaze. i loved it!

on monday we had the chance to run around town and do some errands, change money, buy water/soda, etc. and then in the afternoon (and by far my favorite time) we went to the orphanage to meet the kids again for an extended time. when we first met them it was so late we only stayed for a few minutes. they are the most amazing children, so full of life and have so much to offer in the ways of love. i spent a lot of my time with nosi, she is the youngest of the kids at angel house at the age of 4, she has quite the little personality on her! she will cling to you and climb you as if you are a mountain, it's great, and she also squeezes harder when hugging than any burly man i have ever hugged!! :) my friend holly has been in Tarime since January and has set up a pen pal program with the kids and people in the states. i feel so privileged to be a pen pal and even more excited that i have met her and will get to form an in person relationship. her name is grace and they call her gili. she is very shy but we were watching a skit and i waved at her she came to sit with me, the others who have been here since jan. were really surprised that she came and sat with me, which made me feel pretty good. she doesn't speak english so i am going to try real hard to learn some phrases so i can converse with her. needless to say, these kids have stolen my heart. i am overjoyed to spend the next 5 weeks with them!!

now i want to tell you a little bit about life in Tarime for an american...

so i came knowing and expecting to not have power and water 100% of the time--and sure enough our first night back we did not have power. interestingly enough we will not have power for another whole day and then after that for the next 2 weeks we will only have power at night (which in all actuality is only a convenience for charging our technology) going without power is so liberating and has really shown me how simple life can really be when you only have the basics--it's an adventure and i love it. also, on the "waterfront" we don't really have running water or water pressure at the moment so i haven't had a "real" shower since we left from nairobi, so about 5 days. i have learned to bucket bathe like a pro! and, yes, i think that that is liberating as well. our laundry gets washed and hung on a line in our courtyard and all around our veranda, it's kinda weird at first to see all your stuff hanging for all to see but it's fun too! also, i have had my first visit to a doctor here (don't worry i am fine, just have a small infection) but they drew blood to test as well as urine--it is interesting to have experienced a doctor's visit here.

so that is just a small taste of life so far, i really really love it and i cannot wait to see what else God has in store for me here. thank you again for all your support, love and prayers! hope to update again sometime soon!!