so this is life

I have been a terrible slacker in posting more about everyday life here. Pole sana! (sorry!)

We also forget to take pictures and video when we are hanging out with our neighbors and friends but I FINALLY took some video of the market, public transport, the crazy rain here, etc (see below). It is a completely random mix but I hope this gives you some idea of what our life here is like. I also wanted to post a few pictures of some friends we have been hanging out with. I absolutely crack up at these pictures because I look like a giant as I am at least one foot taller than any woman I have met here and always a shiny, sweaty mess!! A documentary could be made about me called From Somewhat Pulled Together to Sweaty, Crazy Mzungu: One Woman’s Journey to Africa. We are really excited to be making more local friends as we learn more language. Jason goes biking and swimming with friends and this week he was the only white boy on a totally local beach. It is a gym where they use rocks for weights, do karate, and swim. A ton of people wanted him to give swimming lessons because he was so fast in the water! I am thoroughly impressed with his language ability, he has done amazingly well. Our teacher at language school said he should be in the intermediate class not beginner! I am proud of mume wangu (my husband). Although women have a bit less freedom and there are more “rules” that govern their behavior I have been able to make some great connections as well. I usually have a friend from the neighborhood stop over a couple times a week and a few days ago she came in and jumped in to help me bake some banana bread while we talked and I could actually understand most of what she said! yeah! She also told me I had to get her a gift when I went to Dar which culturally is a good sign that we are becoming friends. When she told me a few days ago she is going on a trip I told her she has to get me a gift:) It feels so weird to ask for a gift but culturally that is what friends do and since I am a gift-lovin’ gal I like it! We are still getting used to people stopping over constantly unannounced but we know it is a blessing that they feel welcome. We are also excited to be able to say more than “hello, how are you?” and then just stare at each other. We actually are able to communicate a bit more and hopefully language school will help. So here is a slice of life on the sweaty side….

visiting friends from our home stay

ladies in the kitchen

Jason & his rafiki go biking to the local beach