happy birthday sarah!!!!

first off! Sarah is 21...YAY!!! i miss you best friend and I wish I could be there to celebrate!!!!

This week has been VERY long but very successful! There is so much to say so it will be choppy...

Sunday was the creepiest, strangest, most uncomfortable setting I have EVER been in! Look up GeorDavie Ministries. This guy is insane. We went with our host family. Didnt' want to be rude, so we joined them for "church". Holy crap this was not church. We were the only white people among eh.... 2000 black people. Slightly intimidating to say the least. So.. they all start hissing and praying this weird prayer. It was so loud the ground was shaking. Then GeorDavie came out and starting saying he was there to take the devil out of the possessed. It was 4 1/2 hours long!!!!!! I couldn't eveb believe what I was seeibng. They started fainted and literally SCREAMING at the top of their lungs. It was so bizarre. Then he said you were blessed if you gave money so all theses poor people were giving money to this creep. It was terrible and I couldn't wait to leave. oh! then they came to take a picture of marianne and I... we said no but were afraid of being possessed! ha.. it was complete nonscene.

So then came monday and i made it to the orphanage. I finally felt like i could call this place home. I met the children and the other volunteers. The children are the most special and the most adoreable creatures on earth; clearly God's gift to me. So here's the scoop! I live with 9 children all ages 4-7. Seven boys, two girls. Just how i like it haha! It is SUCH an experience living with them. They are one big family.. it really is amazing. They go to GoodHope school where there are 32 children. During the day we help teach them basic English, math, and the older kids science. Then we eat lunch, recess, and more teaching. I have had no teaching experience so... man it is tiring! It is hard, but well worth every minute. Then, we go back to the orphanage (its about a 2 min. walk) and the kids sleep for about 2 hours. When they wake up, we color, play football, watch movies, make puzzles, i dunno.. kid stuff. Then they eat at about 7:30 and go straight to bed. My favorite part of the day is tucking them in at night. They brust their teeth, and yell teeeechaaaa!!! They call everyone teacher. We read them a story before bed and they love it. They climb in your lap, play with your hair, hold your hold, and simply just love you. Then they reach out and give you a big hug and kiss.. it is the sweetest.

Kids are kids no matter what language, country, or planet. They just want to be loved and have SO much love to give. They are so innocent and have SO little but jsut love life. It is extremely humbling. I finally feel like I am here for a reason. I was so confused and frustrated before but now I know I am here for a purpose.

Although I love what I am doing, I have had a few challenges so far. I had 70 dollars stolen from me at my host family. SO ANNOYING. I locked it all up but somehow it still turned up missing. And, I got very sick this week. I had to go to the hospital to check for malaria because I had all the same symptoms. Luckily, it was just a very bad flu! Still, it sucked and I was in bed for two days straight. However, I read a WHOLE novel so it made the time go by relatively fast. I am recovering well; the kids make it so much easier to feel better!

The food at the orphanage sucks!!!!!!!!!! I eat one slice of bread in the morning, tea, rice and some mushy sauce, bread and tea, then rice and some mushy sauce. EVERY DAY it is the same. Good for losing weight but man im starving! Right now I am at McMoody's. BEST place ever in Arusha. I actually ate a cheeseburger..... yum yum!

I feel like i had so much to say coming here to write but I left my notepad at home so I am forgetting everything....

I am actually starting to feel like i live here. I NEVER thought I would say that. The things that were so shocking don't really phase me anymore. I never thought I would be comfortable but I really am. Thank heavens! The children make my life so much happier. Even though I miss home and have times when I am super homesick, I think about leaving the kids and it kills me. Saying goodbye is going to be the hardest ever.

Today while I was riding the Daladala to town, we almost fell in a ditch! it was way scary and I was at the window... it's funny now but at the time i almost peed myself!

MY favorite kid is saidi. He's the youngest and sooooo cute. They all dance and dammmmnnnnn babies got back! hahah no seriously, these kids booty shake and they are like 4 years old!!!! It is the funniest thing. I have it on video but it is not uploading!!! ugh! Hopefully soon i can get it to work.

Also this week I washed my clothes... by hand. I will forever respect any mom that handwashes clothing. It was so tiring and took forever. God Bless electronics!!!!

I'm completely blabbing and not making any sense. Tonight I am going to a Muslim Wedding... hmmmmm should be interesting??? Tom. I am going on a walking safari to Mt. Kilimanjaro... can't wait! I am going with my Dar volunteers so I am excited to see them again.

Just a shout out to my Big, little, and new Grandlittle! I miss you and I am so happy to be a grandma! yay!


Well I miss home and everyone at home... Have a wonderful week and remember that you don't have to be in a different country to make a difference in someones life!

"A little rain can make a flower stem grow. A little love can change a life."

<3