i love tanzania

YAAY we made it safely to Tanzania and it's just been awesome!!!!

kinda weird how 'at home' i feel here in Africa. i forget what my last update was and this internet is way too slow to check so.. ill just explain a bit about what i've been experiencing...

i think i already mentioned about the slum that we visited in niarobi... very sad... the reality of life for some in Africa definitely hit me that day... the church that we went to was like a little light within the slum. at one point during worship i just had to close my eyes and soak it all in... it was encouraging that the presence of God was so strong for me even though i was in such a depressing place.

then.. later on that week we were off to tanzania... wow, has it ever been great since we've been here in tanzania. during the drive (6 hours of insane driving on dirt raods.... really squished!) we saw a bunch of different animals... some highlights were..2 MASSIVE giaraffs on the side of the road.. just staring at us, it is crazy how huge they are... and to see then in the wild was that much more exciting... then, later on, we drive up to a dead cheetah.. someone had hit it w/ a car and its face was all smashed in..that was just crazy as well.

so once we finally got to tanzania we all seperated to our different houses. i'm rooming with a girl named alicia. we're very similar and its just been great. she's been such a huge support to me and has helped me in my lonely moments... definately like an older sister. the rest of our team is also good. definitely feeling unity.. we've been working on the construction of the church every day... crazy.. no machienes and doing everything w/ our hands. dave, i've been taking pictures of how they are putting this church up b/c i know that you would be curious as to how they do it.. lol.. and i want to be able to show you exactly how it's done here in africa.. haha...i'm pretty sore.. we're all going to be so huge by the end of the month.. lol. luckly alicia is a massage therapist so i've definately been capitalizing.

my house situation itself has been a bit of an adjustment...we use bucket showers.. as in a sponge bath kinda thing.. our team started a list of 'you know you're in africa when'.... on the top of the list is 'you're not sure whether or not it's dirt or a tan on your arms..' which definitely happens to us everyday... haha...interesting... so far we've all stayed soooo healthy.. the food is amazing actually.... mama beth (my mom while i'm here) is such an amazing cook. i have complete confidence in God that i am going to stay healthy for the remainder of the trip... its exciting... oh, about my family... we have 2 sisters and a brother... 11, 7, and 6.. they all speak english but our mama doesnt so that's been interesting... the kids have been doing a lot of translating for us... we've also been trying to learn the language as well.. jina langu ni jen.. my name is jen... jina lacko ni nani? what is your name.. haha... our whole team is very excited about learning the language and we've all been trying our hardest.. its been fun..

such a different experience.. walking down the street and having everyone stare at you... saying 'munzungu' which means 'white person' we definitely stick out here but it's nice.. we get the speacial treatment all the time.. haha... front seat of the dala dalas... which is what we use to get around everywhere.. it's like a small van.... but they literally squeeze 28 ppl in them (that is the max) but i love it... i love just looking out the window while driving and seeing all that everyone is doing.. just so many market places... women walking around w/ piles and piles of things.. balancing on their heads... babies always tied around their backs. its just such a beautiful thing. i love just staring out the window and just thanking God for this amazing experience he's blessed me with... it's pretty undescribable..

tomorrow we are going to be working w/ kids from compassion international so we're all pretty excited about that... definitely going to be relying on God.. suposed to be like 300 kids and 8 of us :S but we all have confidence and complete faith that it will be nothing short of amazing..

so i think that updates you guys until right about now... i've been keeping a journal every night.. i just dont want to miss any moments.. taking one day at a time... trying to soak it all in.. everyday...

i hope things are going good at home... dont forget to msg me b/c i want to hear from you all..

xo
Jen