The last two days have been both stressful and relaxing as we wait for things to get done in the Terrawatu computer lab. Yesterday was supposed to be dedicated to working on the Terrawatu computer lab but because the internet was not going to be set up until Tuesday, we decided to make it into a shopping day. We first went to lunch at Masai Café again to enjoy some delicious pizza (I think we’ve eaten more pizza here than in the states!). We then headed to the local craft market where we could buy Masai weapons and jewelry, beautiful paintings, wood carvings and everything else you’d expect at an African market. We spent some time haggling and buying gifts before stopping by the Terrawatu office on our way back to St. Thomas. At St. Thomas we were supposed to give a tutorial to the teachers on how to use various programs on the computer but because of a mix up the teacher’s thought we were not going to do it that day. However, this meant we were able to dedicate some more time in fixing up the existing computer lab here at the school. Then this morning we went to the Terrawatu computer lab expecting that the internet would be there but of course it was not! Instead of taking another relaxation day, we began some of the work we could do without the internet which really wasn’t much. So we spent some of our time waiting around at the computer lab before heading over to Sululu’s house for lunch. His wife prepared a wonderful and filling meal with lots of traditional Tanzanian food. We also got to see his amazing home, which he built himself, and hear about his times as a porter on Kilimanjaro as well as the time he went through the Masai initiation of killing a lion. Although he showed us the Masai technique of killing a lion and told us it is “not so bad really,” I think we all agreed we hope we would never have to fight a lion! After our lunch we made a quick stop at the school where Terrawatu is building a couple of classrooms. The students at this school are often packed in a room no bigger than an average U.S. classroom but instead of 25 students in a room there can be up to 200. We were so happy to see the good work Terrawatu is doing in their community and we know those new classrooms will help this school tremendously. After this visit we returned to the Terrawatu computer lab hoping to find internet. Once again, we found no internet but at least this time there was a new cable that suggested that had started installing the internet. We had a few things to work on at St. Thomas so we came back here for an hour of work before heading back again to Sululu’s house for dinner. As with lunch, the food was delicious and we sure saw the hospitality of Tanzanian people. Although we have been practicing the Tanzanian way of “hakuna matata” (no worries) the pressure of finishing the Terrawatu lab is growing as our time here shortens. We are keeping our fingers crossed for internet tomorrow!
Hakuna Matata!
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