Current Happenings

this morning i went to the Vineyard Church in Arusha with some visitors from South Africa. they had been to the church many times, so traveling there by bus was no trouble. the church is filled with mzungu, white people, who speak english. the service was so american. we sang songs from Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, etc. - all the typical songs. i sat around the table with 2 people from south africa, two people from Tanzania, and another guy from Denmark. we all were there for different reasons. we had oppotunity to meet everytone at the table and share prayer requests. that was my favorite part of the service. it was good for my soul to know the lyrics, yet something within me missed the culural diversity of the Swahili churches. it's an odd feeling, and i'm completely missing the mark on how to explain it. after church we flagged a taxi, bargained the priced down, then went to the supermarket called 'priceright'. this is where all the foreigners go for supplies. many mzungu in the store snatching up crackers, candy and fruits. i got some beef jerky which is completely terrible, but will be fun to share with my roommates.

on the bus ride home we sat near a woman from seattle. she's a HIV/AIDS researcher working for a British company in Uganda. She's been in Africa for about 16 years. Currently she's traveling with a cycling group who are traveling from Egypt to South Africa. This is about 1/2 way for her. It was fun to talk with her about different things.

at the church i met a lady, Leah, from Illinois. She's working with a group regarding community awareness for HIV/AIDS and also with a group of muslims. she volunteers as the children's coordinator at the Vineyard Church. She and her family are about to return to the states for furlough. they've been here in arusha for 2 years, and are returning to the States for schooling and to raise some more support. she said that since she was 12 she knew that God had called her to missions. while attending college to become a missionary she met her husband who was from Tanzania. crazy how God connects people from all over.

sundays are quite laid back around this base. there's barely anything to do besides hang out and talk, and since talking isn't really an option for me, i tend to spend time on my computer. hence, the reason for this update. for lunch today we had bananas and bread.