17 Feb: Charlie Church

After we woke up, we wandered around like idiots for awhile before making our way to the church (its what people do here). For todays mass, the students were singing all the songs. The church was completely full and uncomfortably hot, and after the mass which was of course conducted entirely in Kiswahili, they asked us to come up in front of the church and say a few words. Of course, they asked this of us in Kiswahili, so we sat there like idiots until one of the students sitting by us translated. I said a few words about feeling at home despite being so far away from ours which seemed to be well received, I guess. Afterwards, we had a little pow-wow with the catechist, chairperson, and secretary of the church, with Mr. Kisava translating. Five to ten minutes into the meeting I had one of those moments of realization when I finally figured out that they were asking us to help them find money to start a kindergarten. We agreed to speak with some churches when we returned and deliver a letter for them, and that agreement was so well received that they actually clapped. After that moment, there was about another hour or so of nicities, followed by a brief discussion about HIV/AIDS which was interesting. The meeting ended with soda and crackers which Im still not sure were supposed to be soft and chewy. This was one of those situations, however, when things cannot be turned down. Delicious.

When we got home, I was feeling pretty terrible, either from the crackers, or from convincing myself that the crackers were making me sick. Still, I ended up playing a little soccer for the first time. I am a terrible soccer player and of course couldnt keep up with a bunch of young Tanzanians, but I ended up just playing around taking shots on goal with a few of the students and had a lot of fun. I also came to realize just how little exercise Ive gotten since arriving, which might be related to the drowsiness and trouble sleeping. Not to mention the way these people carbo-load. I should be exercising for hours a day based on the way theyre feeding us here.

Speaking of eating, I still have a tough time handling too much of the African food, though Im getting more and more used to it. But if someone piles more food on my plate one more time without my asking, I might flip out. Thanks, but no thanks. No really. Im good.

Inset: The village Catholic church

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