An Amazing Start to the Trip

I can't believe I'm in Africa. This is crazy. I never though I would be on a trip like this. And yet, here I am, sitting on the porch of our house watching the beautiful, much-needed, life-inducing rain fall on the Tanzanian village of Chamwino.

Yesterday was a long day. I woke up in Dar es Salaam after only 5 hours of sleep. We hung out at a house at the University of Dar es Salaam for a few hours, ate a small breakfast, and then left for the bus station. Talk about a crazy area. There are tons of bus companies and hundreds and hundreds of people. Since we were the only white people, we were the center of attention and everyone was trying to sell us bus seats and other things. We already had our tickets so we made our way to our bus and got our bags loaded. Then the waiting game began. Buses typically don't leave until they are almost full, so we waited an extra hour past the time we were supposed to leave. The worst part about that was that it was ungodly hot yesterday in Dar (like every day) and incredibly humid, so we were pretty uncomfortable, sweating like crazy.

The actual bus ride wasn't too bad though. It lasted 7 hours, which was pretty long after our previous 2 days of flights, but it was really awesome to see the Tanzanian countryside. So beautiful. We stopped for food once during the trip, in Morogoro. Unfortunately, a torrential downpour started about a minute before we got there. So in just running from the bus to the food, we got drenched. About 3 hours later we arrived at the Chamwino Junction and were ushered into the village on the back of motorcycles (piki pikis). That was the best, most fun transportation we had so far. We were greeted by Nasson and Pastor Daniel, hung out with them for about half an hour, ate some food, and hit the sack. What a day.

This morning I was awakened by a series of rooster calls. So fun. One of them has a messed up voice box, so he sort of sounds like he is coughing or choking each time he crows. Funny. We are going to have some breakfast and then head to church. I am preaching this morning, so I'm a little nervous. It will be strange to use a translator. Should be a good experience though. I'll let you know how it goes.