Mambo?

On Tuesday,  there was class in the morning. We got out a little early to walk into Morogoro to eat at a restaurant. While waiting, I walked with another girl and the two professors for my class farther up the mountain. We came across a waterfall. A young man led us directly to the waterfall. We even got to climb it. At times, it was quite the challenge because of the rain not to long before made it muddy. Because of the mud on my shoes, I slipped a couple. Thankfully, I did not hurt myself. I worried the professors more then anything though.  The view from the mountain side was absolutely beautiful. We even climbed the waterfall. The water was cool. By the time, we climbed up to the other end of the trial and walked back down to the restaurant, the chips mayai was ready. The food took so long that we messed afternoon classes so we just rested.

 Wednesday, we visited Faraja Trust Fund which works with HIV/AIDS prevention and education. I thought it was interesting that one of the ways they educated youth was red business cards with a list of risky behaviors. Someone can give their friend a "Red Card" for risky behavior, going on their love for football (soccer). Afterwards we ate at a restaurant, where I got to try Tangawizi, a ginger soda pop. After eating, we went to the supermarket.

Today was the last day of Swahili classes. My group asked Agnes, our teacher about dating here which was quite interesting. For her, one does not have friends of the opposite gender. They might text or talk but in public if a guy and a girl are seen together it is believed they are together. If a guy likes a girl then he can ask her to lunch or something but then the girl owes the guy, usually expected in the form of sex. After classes in the afternoon, we went up to the orphanage again. I love watching the kids play with all of us. On the way back to the seminary, I talked with Santiago, a student at the Swahili school from Columbia. He is a priest who studied English in Kenya before coming here to learn Swahili. He is going back to Kenya for a mission. Though at times communication was a little challenging it was interesting to get to talk to him about what he is doing and share with him about myself. At the market yesterday, our professor bought a pineapple to share and the two boys from the class were keeping it on their stoop. Today, it went missing. After our choir practice tonight, we sent them on a scavenger hunt going to the rest of the group and the professors to get it back. We all had some fun and a good laugh. When they finally finished, the one boy cut it up using the Maasai knife to share it with everyone. There's nothing like fresh pineapple.