Can I just say that I am incredibly thankful to be writing this post on the other end of my bus trip? I left Geita on Friday on a bus, this time well-prepared for the cold nighttime mountain air with a fleece shirt, coat, scarf, and hat. You all at home are probably laughing at me needing that in Africa… but I was definitely glad to have had that all along!
I saw zebras as we passed the Serengeti and stared up at the most beautiful and bright display of stars I have ever seen while we drove through the night. Other events during the fifteen-hour trip included discovering during a rain storm that my window had a rather large leak in it, after which a small container of aloe vera I had with me broke and spilled on my jeans. Yay for being wet and stick and stuck in a bus!
The woman I sat next to also added to the fun when she brought a whole fried Lake Victoria tilapia wrapped in newspaper back onto the bus for a mid-afternoon snack. I cringed at the thought of her eating a smelly fish on the already hot and smelly, cramped bus… but when I heard the words, “Karibu! Karibu sana!” I realized that I was wrong; WE, not she, would be eating the salty, oily fish with our hands directly after a bathroom break (I had hand sanitizer at least). Mmm! Although I do have to say that the fish actually turned out to taste good. Ah, the fun of meeting people and eating local food ; )
Hmm, in other news I decided that it might be fun to get my hair braided before I left Tanzania, so three hours later I had twenty-five mini braids in the front half of my hair. It was a sortof painful experience that I don’t plan on needing to repeat anytime soon, but I figured it would be an adventure to try it at least once. I will post a picture when I get to Germany and have faster Internet, but suffice it to say that I scared myself every time I looked in the mirror afterwards… especially when I took all the braids out and had a giant fro!
Here in Nairobi I have been loving spending a few days with the same family I stayed with on my way out to Tanzania two weeks ago. It cracks me up the way they all converse with each other – half English and half German, sometimes to the extent that both languages are used in one sentence. It doesn’t really matter since we are all fluent in both, but sometimes I don’t know which language to begin talking in!
Even at church today there was a funny language mix-up… the church is made up of people from countries from all over the world, and as the pastor got up to speak and greeted everyone in Kiswahili and then German, he forgot to switch to English and so began his sermon in the wrong language until someone said, “Falsche Sprache!” (wrong language) and he corrected himself and started again : )
Anyway, it’s about time for me to start thinking about how to best jam everything into my suitcase and prepare to go. I have just a few hours left in Africa before I leave the continent and head to Europe again for a week, and although I have mixed emotions about going, I’m really, really excited to be heading to Germany next.
Kwa heri, Tschüss, and Goodbye til my next update from Germany!
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