Preparations for Seminars

Jambo everyone at home.  Last night we went to the safari lodge in the dark for dinner with our torch lights.  I made Steph cover up her hair on the way to the lodge.  She received too many stares and pointing of fingers during church services.  We should have died her hair brown prior to leaving for Tanzania.  That is the one difference this time for me.  I'm more aware of the dangers with Steph in tow than I was on previous trips.  Back to last night, we decided to go to the snack bar  which meant walking in the dark.  Well, Alexa and I were trying to find our way with the torch, we missed the fact that we were walking down two steps.  So through the air we sailed and luckily we did not break bones or twist ankles.  As we limped towards the snack bar, I am reminded that God is good and we are always in his hands. Thank God also for tylenol pm as two tablets later, I did not feel a thing anymore.  Steph loved the samosa and spring rolls at the lodge last night but they were a little too spicy for me. Peaceful sleep ( lala salama) was wonderful last night - in fact so wonderful that after 3 hours I thought it was time to get up and begin preparing for the day.  Luckily I checked the alarm clock before leaving the mosquito netting.  I realized that it was only 12:34 am TZ time and I could sleep for a few more hours.  This morning, the rooster began crowing at 4:00 am.  One of these trips, I will find the rooster and present him to Rachel for her cooking pot.  A dripping hot shower greeted me.  I could either have a trickle of hot water or I could have a wonderful freezing cold shower.  Lightning Mcqueen, our shower lizard, has not come back for which I am grateful.  It was also a rainy morning at Mwangaza.  Rain is different here as we do not get the thunder or lightning just a continuous mist or soft rain.  John Kavishe, former volunteer with Alexa and now part of the management team here, greeted us after breakfast.  We began to share reading materials and ideas of professional development.  I brought along the materials from the last IL meeting as here in TZ, teacher evaluation is very important.  These documents will help Mwangaza develop tools to evaluate, gather data, and determine the needs of professional development in the ELCT schools.  This is always the most amazing aspect of our visit.  Although our countries are very different in many respects, we share the same needs in our schools.  Until later,  Donna