{you had me at mambo}

Lake Chala!

This weekend we had a nice little get away! Lucy, Sarka, Matt, Sarah, M’Liss, Cami, Frederick, Ben and I. Ben is the only one that isn’t from our Hostel and he’s from Britain working at one of the schools out here. He’s been here for 7 months and still has 2 left! So long!

Anyway, Lake Chala. To get there, 10 of us (including our driver) crammed into a 7 person van and drove an hour and a half away on dirt roads to get to the Lake. It was a pretty crazy drive. The drivers here and maniacs. I honestly wont be surprised the day I get hit by a car, I can’t believe it hasn’t happened yet. We slid all over the road, and I concluded it was better to just not watch where we were going. Besides, I was squished between Ben and Frederick in the back, so if anything really happened at least I had some padding right?

When we got there we hung out, had lunch, and then hiked down to the lake. The hike was through tons of the green green brush and trees along this dirt path just wide enough, with rocks you have to climb down, and steep drop offs on the edge. The water at the bottom was so warm and blue! Its was gorgeous! Oh and there were these two little canoes at the bottom made out of wood that looked like it was patched together and they were half sunken. While we were swimming some local came and just hoped in, bucketed the water out, and paddled away in it. I hope he didn’t drown in it.

That night we had an awesome BBQ (bbq’d goat, fried rice with potato and steak mixed in, and chips (fries, but better!)) and played games like smirt, and the worst-case scenario survival game and such. The next morning we went hiking and I literally felt like I was searching through the jungle. We didn’t really follow a trail and were constantly getting cut up by brush (the trees here have needles sticking out every centimeter of the branches, creating quite the death trap). Plus, we were all covered in mud because of the rain the night before. However, we made it to this tree which is the epitome of an African tree. As if that wasn’t cool enough it had these natural grooves in it making it easy to climb and look out over the whole Savannah. So pretty! Afterwards we packed up camp and made the treacherous drive back home again, with even worse roads because of the heavy rain, but luckily we made it.

            I am loving it here. Although the week days can become very routine with classes nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction and excitement when one of my kids begins to catch on, especially my little Bonny. He’s doing so well with his colors and numbers and I’m so proud of him! Not to mention I love playing soccer with them. Today, we taught them Down By the Banks and they loved it. Sometimes I wonder if they think of us as the funny mzungu’s (white people) that don’t know how to talk. No matter, I love each of them and am so grateful for each experience I have here. Not to mention, when the weekend rolls around, there is always something fun going on whether it be going to the circus in Arusha, hiking to the waterfalls, the hot springs, or just swimming at the nearest hotel.  As you can probably tell, I’m enjoying my trip here tremendously. Thanks to my parents for helping me make it happen and encouraging me all the way along.

p.s. A special thanks to all of you who made donations! The kids love all of the soccer balls I got them, the books, medical supplies, and especially the candy.