Karibu/Wilkommen/Welcome in Geita!

After a very long and cold and bumpy bus ride, I finally made it to Mwanza, Tanzania and later arrived in Geita (pronounced “gay-tah”) on Thursday afternoon. The whole experience wasn’t quite as awful as I had thought it might be, mostly because the seat next to me was empty and I could sortof stretch out and catch at least an hour or so of sleep. The highlight for me was seeing the Serengeti on my left and Lake Victoria on my right after we crossed the border. I also thought that the mountains that popped up out of the plains were really cool - they were covered with big, smooth, gray rocks that looked like they were all stacked and arranged by hand. I can only compare it to Stonehenge... but on a mountain.

For the next two weeks I will be living with Daniel, Steffi, and their three girls Marina (5), Hannah (2), and Nele (7 months). They live on the outskirts of Geita in a newly-built house where I have overtaken Nele’s room for the two weeks I will be here. I share the room with a little lizard who is sadly missing half of his tail. The house is lovely, but the problem at the moment is that their well isn’t working, and the barrels that catch rainwater as it falls off the roof that we have been using to shower and to filter for drinking water and such are nearly empty. Apparently they are going to be able to get water from somewhere else and bring it back to the house, although that sounds like a lot of work. Guess we are about to start some serious water conservation efforts!

The Kroppachs have been really nice and welcoming since my arrival, and although I haven’t gotten to actually see much of their work with the youth here yet, it sounds really interesting what all they’re doing with the youth. This new phase of research is going to be a lot different than the first. Speaking of which, with this move to Tanzania, I have also entered the German-speaking phase of the trip, as that is what we speak here at home and because most people in Tanzania speak only Kiswahili and their tribal language... so much for English being helpful!

On Friday night and all day yesterday there was a meeting for all (four) of the other German missionaries who work with Allianz Mission in Eastern Tanzania, the organization that sent Daniel and Steffi, so all of a sudden the house was full and I found myself in the middle of what was like a small group. We sang songs and had a few devotionals and it was really fun to be a part of that all! I didn’t expect there to be any sort of community like that out here, but I just happened to come on a weekend where people had driven several hours to come for the meeting, so it worked out nicely.

All day yesterday I was on kid duty with another girl about my age so that the parents could talk, which was fun... and exhausting! We made crafts, played games, read books... I have been playing with the girls a lot since I’ve gotten here since they usually don’t have much company around, which I think they are loving. And which is tiring me out a little bit since I'm not used to being around younger kids ; )

We went to church today in a nearby village, and I was very thankful that it wasn’t quite as long as the last service I went to in Diani. Daniel and Steffi translated into German for me so I wasn’t completely lost. Afterwards we were invited by the pastor to eat at his house. It was so gracious of them to ask us to come, but I felt bad at the same time eating their food as they clearly were not well-off in the first place. I was also excited because I thought I was going to eat the freshest meat I’ve ever had (i.e. chances were high that they would catch and slaughter a chicken and then cook it for us), but sadly we just had beef... of questionable sanitation. But I was thankful for the food!

Also... I took pictures of lots of things to be able to show you all and for some reason can't get them to load on this computer : ( Hopefully I'll get it worked out soon!