Monday, May 7, 2012


Habari za usiku (or Habari za asubuhi for everyone back home!) from Nicole

            Today was another beautiful day in Tanzania!  My day started off watching the sun rise over the mountains while going out for a morning run.  It was a sight to see full of yellows and oranges and very few clouds.  Hopefully we can get some pictures and post them soon.  I can’t say that too many exciting things happened during Swahili class today, except for the constant references to the Lion King (today it was Hakuna Matata J ).  The excitement towards going to the orphanage later in the day kept us all moving though.

Our journey to the orphanage started off great until we reached a giant rain puddle (or more like a small pond…) that we had to trek through to get there.  The nightly rain storms have been leaving these little ponds for us that make traveling difficult but this was our first time having to walk through a puddle this size.  After getting past that obstacle it was an easy journey to the orphanage.  Once there, the kids were super excited to see us!!  We brought our donations to give them and they all wanted to get their hands on the toys before we were even through the doors.  Our donations included a wide array of clothes, soccer balls, books, stuffed animals, coloring books, and crayons.  Before going to the orphanage I thought that the kids would be most excited about the soccer balls, but they were more excited about the crayons and coloring books.  A few of them really wanted to color.  One little boy loved to color all the dinosaur pictures bright blue!  All of the kids were fascinated with the stuffed animals too and they were trying to stuff as many gifts into their small hands as they could.  Besides the colors and stuffed animals, they loved our cameras.  Once they saw us taking pictures, they wanted to take pictures too.  We all got some pretty funny pictures including many close-ups of the stuffed bears and dolls.  As well, they enjoy copying whatever we say.  The favorite line of the day came when a little girl sat down on Emily’s lap and she said “Ouch my leg!” and the little girls said it as well in the sweetest little voice.  Leaving the orphanage is always a little sad, but we plan on making the journey back there again tomorrow!

When we got back to LJS we were excited to see spaghetti for dinner, along with freshly grated cheese, rolls, and fresh pineapple.  I think we all enjoyed a little bit of comfort food and a reminder from home.  Who knows what adventures we will have tomorrow, but whatever comes I know we will be enjoying it!!

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing about the orphanage...what a wonderful way to reach out. Wish I was there!

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  2. We love reading the updates! Thanks for keeping us posted on the happenings.
    -Angie E.

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