Sunday-

We had another nice day with no rain, although it spit a few drops about lunch time and we had a nice breeze most of the day. I accomplished getting laundry done this morning with the help of Lisungu again. She washes clothes so fast I can’t believe it.

Memere and Pepere showed up the morning unexpectedly with a truck load of paint from Njombe. She figured that we did not have enough to do while she was running Pepere and Mr V. to Dar Es Salaam. Believe me, we have plenty to do!

None the less we were all very glad and surprised to see them. They were here long enough to unload, give instructions, and eat breakfast then they hit the road back to Kibidula and on to Dar. So the house was being cleaned out today and we are all moving over there tomorrow sometime. We will still use the church for cooking and of course that is where the generator is wired for lights so I imagine we will only sleep next door.

I started making muffins after lunch and I am just baking my last pan at 8:30pm. I had to chop the almonds really fine and soak the dried peaches and then drain and chop them. Then I helped Vanessa finish cooking her homemade pizza dinner. Then I began baking the muffins which it does take a long time up here. Hopefully they will taste similar to peach cobbler.

They killed the first snake today over by the new house. I guess it was mostly a black color, probably a garter snake. Well they killed it and chopped off the head then buried it. Barasa said it was a harmless snake but the African people kill all snakes. It gave the kids their daily needed excitement!

Brent, Chris and I walked up the hill to the duka’s looking for produce and a new chisel. The men broke the chisel they had working on the doors over at the house. Well we found oranges and greens but no chisel so we headed back down. We got to observe the locals in a sad state today; they were all drunk. You could smell the liquor wafting through the air. Some of them were fist fighting and every person that approached us (including the women) were intoxicated. Brent said it is so sad but every Sunday that is what they do. He says they don’t know any better but hopefully with the mission project here that can change for many of them. They drink some nasty bamboo liquor that they make themselves out in the forests.

There was quite a soccer tournament going on right before dinner tonight. Several local boys came by and asked to play soccer so our men and boys obliged them. They all had tremendous fun and those local boys can sure play. I get a kick out of watching our group play many have trouble keeping their hands out of the game.

We had contact from the other half of our group today and it sounds like they are having an overall good time at Zanzibar. Our kids are counting the days when we leave for Lake Malawi. There are no showers, laundry, or electricity there so it will be interesting so get there and see it. I guess the majority of the world’s tropical fresh water fish come out of that lake. Just so happens on the blue planet dvd we watched last night it showed the lake and all the amazing fish in it. So now the kids are very excited to go swimming and snorkeling-without sharks!

Just a note to the girls back home about the skirts and dresses; I will do my best but with the short time some will get dresses, some skirts and some skirts and blouses. It is quite a ordeal to get over to Ikonda for material but I am going sometime Monday (tomorrow) morning so I can get the sewing school all the material and give the measurements. So I will get everyone something okay.

Monday-

Again we had a beautiful day to wake up to with the sun shining and a blue sky. After breakfast we all started moving our stuff over to the house. My family moved all of our stuff except the bug tents which contain the beds we left those for later. I went down and looked and the shirts and skirts that Leah was making for the girls and they are coming along great. She measured me today for my skirts and shatangi. After that Chris and I took the girls and left for Ikonda to get more material and fresh produce. We were out of everything except a few oranges that I walked up and got at the duka in Mago yesterday. We were lucky enough to see a troop of monkeys on the way to Lupalilo and the girls thought that was fantastic. There were several moms with babies clinging on and some juvenile ones but the male was the most striking. He sat on a tree limb and posed for us except I had no camera along (I couldn’t believe it). We kept walking and no bus or vehicle ever came along so 3 hours later we arrived in Ikonda. We had water and dried fruit with us and we played follow the leader games with the girls to make the hike go quicker.

I bought them an orange soda and a piece of bread in Ikonda and then we gathered the items we came to find. One duka had a brand new pile of material and she had to cut it for us but I found a few. Then I gathered the items Shari sent money with me to get. But for our group I got mangoes, huge bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lemons, and a couple green peppers (they weren’t that great). We filled up a couple large burlap style bags and Chris said they were very heavy. We had put the material and Shari’s stuff in the back packs so they were a little heavier and Chris had to carry those big bags but he had to stop every little bit. He said his arms and shoulders were aching. I forgot to mention that we waited in Ikonda for a ride for about a  ½ hour but no ride so we started walking back-imagine that! Well we walked for another hour and a penguin bus came flying along and we flagged it down. The girls were very happy not to have to walk the other 2 hours back. Chris and I were very happy to be packed like sardines into a small bus with people standing along where the door slides open. We were very crammed and I probably didn’t do a good job explaining how jammed. So we figured that we walked about 16 miles total maybe more because we walked very fast going over.

We got back and the rest of the group had spent the day painting inside the church. I am sure we will paint again tomorrow.

Now we have fresh produce to get us through Thursday when memere comes back and now I can get all the skirts and dresses made.

I am sitting out under the stars typing and it is very beautiful with all the crickets chirping.

We met 2 Italian nuns from the catholic hospital today but of course they spoke Italian. Many of the kids would greet us with the Italian Ciao! So we started answering in German, Spanish, Italian, and English. We figured they would understand something. We met 2 English speaking locals and that was very refreshing to have a conversation. One was a student and the other a teacher at the secondary school. My girls want me to mention that we saw 2 leaf bugs that have pretty red wings when they fly. They look like an orchid or a bird of paradise bloom, I can’t believe how neat they are. Well we are tired tonight and as Hannah said in the bus I bet we will sleep well tonight Mom. I  fully agree with her.