Safari means journey:

Hello Friends and Family! This is Clara. Tanzania is so beautiful, and we wish that you could all be here with us! Yesterday was our first day of Swahili class, and it was crazy! We learned about as much as I did in my first year of Spanish class, only we learned it all in 3 hours…a little overwhelming! It turns out that Kyle is the most advanced of all of us because he has already begun to speak Swahili in his sleep. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to get out into the community to practice what we have learned.

Yesterday we also had the opportunity to visit the orphanage for a little while. As we approached the orphanage, we were all greeted by the children running into our arms. They were definitely not afraid or shy. I don’t think that anyone was able to set a child down long enough to take out their camera to take pictures, but don’t worry…we are going back on Monday!

                Today we spent the day at the youth prison and the cattle market. At the cattle market, I felt that we were on display as much as the cattle were. Every pair of eyes was on our group, and we definitely stuck out with our mid-west-just-got-done-with-winter skin! We won’t be so white and pasty for long though…we have been getting plenty of sun. The cattle market was a blast! We saw a goat being slaughtered, and then we even got to try some goat. It wasn’t that bad. Dani really liked the goat meat, and she even tried some of the bone marrow (along with Amy, Ellerbroek, and Drolet).

                Tomorrow is our first village visit. We have been having choir practice, so we should all be ready to sing tomorrow. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for us while we are here J