Bada Bing, Bada Boom.

Okay, so you can thank Davin for that title. At the moment, he is re-enacting scenes from the Bollywood hit, Bride and Prejudice. Shaaaaaaame on you, Davin.

Alright, I just want to throw this out there right now, so nobody gets tooooo offended: I do not have the internet capacity to check my facebook often enough to reply to anybody right away. THERE, I said it. So all y'all can suck it up. My internet time will be increasing soon, as my own internet modem will soon be working. Hopefully. OH and if anyone would like to give me their phone number, I might just be able to call you sometime! I now have a cellphone, (Yes, it took me coming to Africa to get a cellphone) and everything here is just pay as you go. Sooo I throw some credit on my phone and I can call Canada for decently cheap. Yay! And if anybody would like to send me a letter or something.... ;D Here's my address!

Kirsten Hitchcock
PO Box 1966
Arusha, Tanzania
EAST AFRICA

Uhhhh. Stuff that's happened lately? Well my daddio headed back to Canada on Saturday. I yelled at a kitty on the way back from the airport, because its eyes were glowing at me. Aaaaaand I stepped on a lizard today! That's about all the important stuff you need to know! Har har. Jokes, I jokes. So basically I'm doing bookwork here for now. Helping Pamoja switch their accounting program stuff. Went to the Maasai Market on Sunday.. Talked to the people there, bargained for stuff, it was super fun! I managed to get a necklace and bracelet for 1000 Tanzanian shillings, which is abouuuuuttttt 85 cents. Not badddd, right? Considering he wanted just the necklace for 12 000 to start with. I'm kinda proud of that, gotta admit. ANYWAYS, it's late, I'm tired, and you are probably still shaking your head at the thought of stepping on a lizard. Peace it, homeys.

Maasailand

Nothing makes a desert so beautiful, as the Maasai people. On Friday morning (September 17^th) all 9 of us set out to visit Simanjiro, a region of Maasailand. Throughout the entire 6-hour drive, noticeable changes were taking place. The temperature was increasing, and the amount of green plants was decreasing. I’m living in an area which has a fairly high elevation, so it’s slightly cooler and there are lots of plants around. This was not the case when we made it to Olerumo. Thorns, thistles, burrs, and any other pokey vegetation you can name, were abundant, but otherwise.. Nothin’. So we set up our tents amongst the dung & stick huts, (They looked rather out of place) and proceeded to sit down and drink chai. As I was informed by Jeremy, being offered chai there, is like being offered a glass of water in a Canadian person’s home. Most of what we did that evening was.. Sit. When it got dark (Which happens at 6:30, EVERY night here) supper was started, and we ate rice and beans that were cooked over the fire. Yummy! Okay, now I bet you’re just dyyyyyiiiiing to know where the nice little outhouse was. Heh. Yeah right. Now, I’ve peed in the bushes before, people: hello, I’m from QCI. It happens more than it should. But, that’s when there’s actual forest coverage. Trees to hide behind, y’know? In the desert... Not so much. You walk and walk and hope you’ll find a thorn tree big enough to kinda sorta hide behind, all the while staying out of sight of anybody who happens to be herding their cows in the area. Anyways, enough of that!

On Saturday we packed four Maasai into the back of the Safari, so a vehicle which is supposed to hold 7 is now holding 13.. And headed down to Orbili! We visited the new school site and went to a boma where some friends of the group lived. We were of course offered more chai, and sat for a while. This was kind of just how the day went, until we ended up back at Olerumo. More sitting commenced there too, of course, but of a different fashion. The children all got together as a choir, and sang for us, which was really great. I got some video of it, but of course I left my camera there. Which is not good. So, unless something amazing happens, I’m camera-less for the rest of my time here. Oooooops J

During the whole of our Maasailand experience, something occurred that changes this entire account into something better than it sounds. Everywhere we went, people watched. And waved. And came to greet us. Children would come up and want to just hold my hand or touch my hair. In every boma we visited, there were the most generous people. All of them wanted to just say hi, and come watch us as we sat there. Language barriers don’t matter in situations like that. I felt like a celebrity! Or possibly a freakshow... Either way, it was a completely unique experience, and one well worth pursuing, if you’re ever in Africa!

I've realized just now how much work a blog is. So I quit.

Juuuuust kidding. Okay. So we got here. Aaaaaand it's warm. Not crazy hot, unless you sit in the sun. Which I did yesterday. WELL, I actually don't know what to tell you guys, seeing as not too much has happened yet. The people here are so awesome, it feels like I've been here for ages already. Of course I've only actually been here for.. A day. And a bit. It's 11 AM here, so it's probably like 1 AM there. Yup. Fascinating, I know.

So yesterday, we went to town! I was reminded just now by my father, who seems to be reading over my shoulder. Davin! He drove us around! And talked to people in Swahili, 'cause he's cool like that. As you can tell, I'm kind of distracted, my pathetic attempt at blogging shows that pretty well. On Sunday we'll be showing "Nipe Jibu", the movie Pamoja Ministries made, at a local church. I've never seen the film, and I've never been to a Tanzanian church, sooo it'll be good times all around. So that's what's up! If you've been reading my blog, don't be afraid to comment! I wouldn't mind some feedback to keep this thing going!

Have a greaaaaat day :)

Oh heyyy there. I figure I should update this sucker before I head out. Uhm. So. Planes! They're cool, right? Yeah. Ours leaves at 6:30 AM. Sooo we have to be at the airport by 4:30. Which means I have to get up at like 3 in the morning. Wheeeeee! So I had some craziness going on with my India passport, aaaaaand long story short: I don't have it. But I might get it while in Tanzania! Or I might not get it. And just change my plane ticket! Adds some drama, so it's all good. Anyways, to answer some of the questions in your lil' heads: Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm kinda nervous. Yes, it will be fun. Aaaaaand nope, I'm not packed yet. I better do that.


.. Soon.