Life in Iringa

Wow, we have a decent internet cafe in Iringa, which is a quaint little mountain-side town about 500 kilometers from Dar where we're studying Swahili.

It really feels like a reprieve here, which is funny to say b/c we've only been in Dar a month, but the air is much cooler and we're up in the mountains...it feels so much like Wyoming - like a vacation. The people here are super helpful and our language instructor, Kondo, is great - he's been teaching Kiswahili for like 20 years. We sit in a little banda by a small flowing river with the Millers and Grace. We do as much language and practice as possible in the 5 hours we study formally everyday.

We have an interesting schedule, which is a nice change of course.

700 wake up get the boys ready
730 breakfast
800 - 1300 Kiswahili class ("child minders for the boys")
1300 Lunch
1400-1600 Study / kids nap
1800 dinner
2000 Kids asleep - study some more.

We've jammed so much language into 4 days - we can "easily" get around the market and have basic conversations...it's so great to get some language under our belts. There are also some really interesting people at the camp - Wycliffe translators planning to work in remote areas of Tanzania who are studying for like 4 months, seminary professors, nurses, and some other hospital and development volunteers. The campsite has food prepared for all meals and it's quite tasty - we didn't know what to expect. It's really nice not to worry about food or anything else really while we study language.

We've had some interesting evening events in our "chalet". It's a small stone structure that has two small rooms and a bathroom. We actually have hot water for showers which is so great b/c the temperature gets down in the 40's and 50's at night. The first night went well, but the second night we had some visits from furry friends. They were going crazy running around our room and making weird noises. We didn't sleep too well that night. The next night we were ready with some traps, and we caught all of them, we think, even the flying mice...literally it would try to run up the wall, or the book shelf, and then launch itself off the top and run under the bed or something (I never did find their hiding spot). Needless to say, we've caught 4 mice in the room and last night we slept well, sort of.

Please pray for the boys b/c they haven't been sleeping that well and now jude is quite ill...stomach issues. Asher seems to love it here and he's constantly dirty, except for immediately post shower. Also, there is another couple who is coming at the end of the week and we might have to reduce our living space to 1 room if they are unwilling to take one of the tent-bandas. We're not sure how life will be if we're in one small room - literally just enough space for the beds...I guess that's Africa right...also, our car has gave us some fits on the way here and we hope it can make it back to Dar okay.

Well, Kwaheri, for now.