Planes, Buses, and Jet Lag…

Jambo!

I’m happy to report that all 14 of us made it to Iringa in 14 very excited, very tired pieces. Our 12 hour flight from JFK to DXB (Dubai) went quickly thanks to the beautiful plane and incredible entertainment system. Unfortunately, though, not many of us got sleep so the second flight to DAR (only 6 hours) was much harder (and the plane wasn’t quite as nice…). Both flights were on time, though, and by the time we got to Dar we were all excited to be there. Pastor Tom met us at the airport with John and Haruna, our conductor and driver for the trip. We drove out to the retreat center we stayed the night at to drop off our luggage and then were swept away to the Sea Cliff restaurant on the Indian Ocean for dinner. It was a very, very nice meal on a patio right on the ocean and we had a great time. They told us that that would be the nicest meal we get here, but I have to say I am just coming from an extremely delicious dinner we had at the Lutheran Center in Iringa where we are staying so…

We got up early this morning to shower, pack, and eat breakfast before our long busride to Iringa. The 8 hour busride turned out to be about 11.5 per our short break down on the side of the road, but John and Haruna got us going in about 30 minutes so we were able to arrive here in Iringa just after dark. For lunch we stopped in a game park at a sort of safari lodge that was just perfect. Just as our seasoned TZ travelers at Christiania warned us, at the first sight of animals in the game park we all jumped out of our seats with glee. I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to freak out about the animals, but there I was staring intently out the window, camera in hand the whole time we drove through it. The first animal we saw was a gazelle. Then there were giraffes, an elephant (that not many of us saw..), zebras, baboons, water buffalo, and wart hogs. It was quite thrilling, to say the least!

Tonight we settled into our rooms at the Lutheran Center which are VERY nice and had dinner at the restaurant on site. Pastor Tom requested a cucumber soup for our first course that was wonderful. Then there was chicken, potatoes, and vegetables followed by a piece of chocolate cake. Not to shabby, eh?

Tomorrow we go out to Ihemi to worship with our partner congregation. We are so so excited about meeting our friends at Ihemi. After church all the youth from the preaching points are coming for a singing competition that should prove to be a highlight of the trip. More on that later. I better get to bed now…I was having trouble keeping my head up at 7:30 PM and now it’s probably well after 9!

†peace.

Elizabeth