Georgia Girl Speaks...: Finding my way in Africa ...

Arusha hillside... behind Camp Moses

The infamous "dalla dalla" ~ My daily transport, entertainment and fright fest in 1!

Daily happenings on a corner in Arusha ~ fruit and craft selling

“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.” —Tom Robbins

Hi there! A quick check in from my second week in Tanzania. Things are going well, getting the hang of things for the most part and learning to "go with the flow" Tanzanian style.

On Friday I had the chance to visit a baby orphanage " Cradle of Love " outside of Arusha ~ my new friends Heath and Liza both volunteered there in 2008 and it is also where Heath met her baby Neema. It was so fun to visit the babies and play with them for awhile! I spent time with Nina and Ava who are triplets... there other sister was sleeping. This orphanage is very nice and has all of the necessities for the little babies, including a slew of volunteers and paid "nannies" and "mama's" to care for everyone. I honestly did not know what to expect before we arrived, but was touched to see such a well run establishment and home for these precious babes.

The weekend was fairly low key, Saturday started off rainy but turned into a nice day. We were originally headed to the town of Moshi about an hour away from where I am, right at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro.... but things did not work out as planned and with the rain and delays we were not able to go. Hopefully another day!

Sunday I visited the Vineyard Church which is comprised mostly of "westerners", volunteers, missionaries, etc. and enjoyed a nice service, spoken in English! :-) I then spent the afternoon exploring a bit of town and then went to Camp Moses to play with the kids for awhile. I think they were surprised with a weekend visit and we all had a good time! I somehow thought it was a good idea to get out the camera and take pictures, but soon realized that all of my new friends were aspiring photographers and really wanted a chance to snap away! I learned my lesson, so for now on I will have to sneak in my picture taking.

Life with my host family is going well... still adjusting to the daily Tanzanian lifestyle. A few days without running water makes you realize how lucky we all are! I've learned that security is a very big deal in Tanzania... all of the homes are gated or surrounded by walls with a guard or watchman of some kind. The house I am staying in has a wall that surrounds it, as well as a large iron gate and a house boy who is present all the time to let us in and out. I noticed this morning during breakfast that on the sides of the house, the top of the wall is lined with broken shards of glass Pepsi bottles?! I thought this was somewhat humorous and interesting all the same.

Hope you enjoy the random stories and hope to have more exciting adventures soon!