Habari gani! (Hello!)
We made it! The last two days we’ve spent flying and sleeping (or not) and trying to adjust to our changing time zones. We arrived in the capital city, Dar es Salaam (“City of Peace”), late last night and took a bus to the Catholic Guest House in the city. This morning we travelled from the city out deeper into Tanzania, to Morogoro, where we’ll be staying the rest of our time. The Lutheran Seminary compound is much bigger than many of us anticipated. It houses a kindergarten and a secondary school. Most of the secondary students stay in dormitories on the campus. There are some missionary families that stay here, as do all the teachers. When full, they tell us the seminary holds 800 people.
As we drove the three hours to Morogoro we got to see the city life of Dar es Salaam fade into the mountainous countryside of Eastern Tanzania. People dotted the city sidewalks, women carrying jugs and baskets on their heads, men hauling cargo on the backs of their bicycles. School children in navy uniforms rode on the backs of trucks; lone cows helped the people mowing their lawns that were thwacking away with large blades. We stared out the window at the coconut trees shooting up like poles and the flat, leafy trees with seed pods clinging to the branches. We caught glimpses of baboons nonchalantly walking on the side of the road. When our bus stopped for the traffic in the villages en route, vendors clustered to the bus windows selling cashews, fried bread, and newspapers, knives, and pipes. When we arrived at the seminary, our bus almost got stuck going through the thick, red mud so we got out and hauled our luggage to our respective housing. Most of the girls are staying in a little guest house; the two boys and the rest of the girls are staying in single room dorms closer to the dining area and school. The equatorial sun is hot, but today there’s a breeze that keeps the bugs and sweat to a minimum. Everyone is still awestruck; “This is Africa…” Our hosts have been so very welcoming. Tonight we’ll attend Eucharist. Tomorrow we start Swahili school!
