April 6, 2007
hello everyone!
the days have gone by so fast so far! yesterday i went into the town of Arusha with an African couple from the base, their one year old Joshua, and a German DTS student. It was much more crowded than i had pictured, people everywhere, cars all over the place, people selling things on the street. a YWAM couple is getting married this weekend so we had outfits made for it. there are fabric shops everywhere and women sitting outside on the sidewalk with their sewing machines taking measurements and making the clothes. i'm having a skirt and top made out of black fabric with big bright green flowers on it. i like the idea of having clothes made to fit you exactly! too bad it's not this easy at home!
this morning i had breakfast with Baba Choi, the founder of the Arusha YWAM base. He is Korean and is here with his family. He had me and four other new people over to his house. we had mangos, pineapple, pears, tangerines, oranges, bananas, toast with honey, tea, avocados, pumpkin...all fresh and without chemicals!! some of the fruits are called the same as ours but look and taste really different. for instance the oranges and tangerines are green on the outside. everyone is very welcoming and it feels like a real family community on the base.
after that I accompanied John and Baba Choi to the Maasai land where YWAM has a preschool. The Maasai are a Tanzanian tribe that you can recognize by their bright red and purple plaid fabrics. they walk with walking sticks and herd cattle and goats. they live off of their animals so they move to wherever there is food for them. they build houses called bomas to live in that are round with sticks for roofs. i got to go inside one and i wanted to live in it! half the hut is their bed, so that gives you an idea of how small they are. the bed frame is made out of sticks and then they normally cover it with animal skin to sleep on. the women build the huts, the men are used to sleeping on the ground when they are out with the animals at night.
the maasai land is expansive and flat with flat African trees, bushes on the ground, herds of goats and cows, and Masaai wandering around but very spaced out. you can easily spot a Maasai in the distance because of their bright colors. there is a main road going through the land with obscure dirt paths leading off of it. we would be driving along and then John would suddenly turn off onto a rocky dirt path and drive on it for a while and then we would be in a maasai village, or where one of our schools is. i was very impressed that he knew the land so well.
on our way back we gave a man a lift who has seventeen children! he was very proud of that fact, which i imagine he should be. (i have since discovered that is a small family in comparsion. My friend Mark's dad has 70 children and quite a few wives. They have big families to get help with the cattle....since the cattle represents their entire economy).
it's easy to make friends here because of the YWAM community. there are students and volunteers around my age from all different countries. we worship together twice a week and will go to church off the base together on sundays. a lot of people speak english but there's still a big communication gap with Swahili some of the time. i found out that i am the MAIN english teacher for ESL. that was surprising. and that it is MY school, in the words of John, the director. i decide when the classes meet and what we do. considering that i have never taught english before, or anything in a classroom setting for that matter, i could definitley use prayer for this! i know i can do it, and that i will grow and be challenged and it will strengthen my faith, but the prospect is a little fightening. as of now i know two Swahili words. so many interesting emails to come!
thank you again for your prayers. i'm trying to stay awake all day today so i can sleep tonight! last night i heard wild dogs barking...it sounded like they were eating an elephant they were so loud and mean sounding. then this morning i found out they are Baba Choi's two german shepherds that he brought all the way from Korea. so some things aren't as exotic and dangerous as i might let my mind think!
So continued prayer for the time change, and prayer for preparing my English school!
God bless,
Christina
the days have gone by so fast so far! yesterday i went into the town of Arusha with an African couple from the base, their one year old Joshua, and a German DTS student. It was much more crowded than i had pictured, people everywhere, cars all over the place, people selling things on the street. a YWAM couple is getting married this weekend so we had outfits made for it. there are fabric shops everywhere and women sitting outside on the sidewalk with their sewing machines taking measurements and making the clothes. i'm having a skirt and top made out of black fabric with big bright green flowers on it. i like the idea of having clothes made to fit you exactly! too bad it's not this easy at home!
this morning i had breakfast with Baba Choi, the founder of the Arusha YWAM base. He is Korean and is here with his family. He had me and four other new people over to his house. we had mangos, pineapple, pears, tangerines, oranges, bananas, toast with honey, tea, avocados, pumpkin...all fresh and without chemicals!! some of the fruits are called the same as ours but look and taste really different. for instance the oranges and tangerines are green on the outside. everyone is very welcoming and it feels like a real family community on the base.
after that I accompanied John and Baba Choi to the Maasai land where YWAM has a preschool. The Maasai are a Tanzanian tribe that you can recognize by their bright red and purple plaid fabrics. they walk with walking sticks and herd cattle and goats. they live off of their animals so they move to wherever there is food for them. they build houses called bomas to live in that are round with sticks for roofs. i got to go inside one and i wanted to live in it! half the hut is their bed, so that gives you an idea of how small they are. the bed frame is made out of sticks and then they normally cover it with animal skin to sleep on. the women build the huts, the men are used to sleeping on the ground when they are out with the animals at night.
the maasai land is expansive and flat with flat African trees, bushes on the ground, herds of goats and cows, and Masaai wandering around but very spaced out. you can easily spot a Maasai in the distance because of their bright colors. there is a main road going through the land with obscure dirt paths leading off of it. we would be driving along and then John would suddenly turn off onto a rocky dirt path and drive on it for a while and then we would be in a maasai village, or where one of our schools is. i was very impressed that he knew the land so well.
on our way back we gave a man a lift who has seventeen children! he was very proud of that fact, which i imagine he should be. (i have since discovered that is a small family in comparsion. My friend Mark's dad has 70 children and quite a few wives. They have big families to get help with the cattle....since the cattle represents their entire economy).
it's easy to make friends here because of the YWAM community. there are students and volunteers around my age from all different countries. we worship together twice a week and will go to church off the base together on sundays. a lot of people speak english but there's still a big communication gap with Swahili some of the time. i found out that i am the MAIN english teacher for ESL. that was surprising. and that it is MY school, in the words of John, the director. i decide when the classes meet and what we do. considering that i have never taught english before, or anything in a classroom setting for that matter, i could definitley use prayer for this! i know i can do it, and that i will grow and be challenged and it will strengthen my faith, but the prospect is a little fightening. as of now i know two Swahili words. so many interesting emails to come!
thank you again for your prayers. i'm trying to stay awake all day today so i can sleep tonight! last night i heard wild dogs barking...it sounded like they were eating an elephant they were so loud and mean sounding. then this morning i found out they are Baba Choi's two german shepherds that he brought all the way from Korea. so some things aren't as exotic and dangerous as i might let my mind think!
So continued prayer for the time change, and prayer for preparing my English school!
God bless,
Christina
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