Yesterday was voted the worst day of the trip. By far.
We woke up and got on the ferry to head back to Dar. This normally would be a easy thing to accomplish. However, the three hour boat ride quickly turned into chaos we never expected. Thirty minutes into the trip, the water became incredibly rough. The boat was rising high into the air and crashing back down, much like a roller coaster. Right away, children were screaming and crying. Once the first passenger threw up, a massive chain effect occurred throughout the entire ferry. The sounds of people screaming and violently throwing up almost made us get sick. A few rows away from us, there were a group of women screaming for Allah to help them. We tried to cover up our nose and ears but eventually had to leave. When we got outside it was a lot better, we met an awesome group of girls our age that had just finished climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. After the terrible ferry ride, we went to lunch at our friend Rita's house. We were all very tired so we didn't stay for long. The five of us girls are staying at a house by ourselves. The house is beautiful with a TV room and many American movies to choose from. The generator kept shutting off so we ended up making dinner in the dark. Which was a fun experience for us all.
Today made up for yesterday. We are all extremely excited to go home tomorrow morning. None of us can stop talking about it. Kara and Amy woke up early to send Kara to Moshi for the next three weeks. After Kara left, Amy got ready for her Compassion child, Lucy, to spend the day with her. Once Lucy got to the house, they left for Coco beach. It was the first time for Lucy to see the ocean. She swam in the water and played with the toys Amy brought for her. After awhile they went back to our house to introduce Lucy to the other three girls. We made her a traditional American meal. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Then we all walked down to the Shoppers Plaza to look in the book store and toy store. Lucy was amazed with the escalator and looked similar to "Buddy" in the movie Elf. After about four hours, it was time to say good-bye to Lucy and meet the guys for lunch. We went back to Rita's house for lunch and then went to a market by the ocean to shop some more. Rita treated us to ice cream cones and we are now back at her house until we go out to dinner tonight.
Tomorrow morning we will leave early for the airport and fly to London. After staying the night there, we will start heading back to Dallas! We will try to post again in London so don't leave us yet! Thank you for all your prayers!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Sun
Today was a great day to relax and celebrate the great work we have done in Tanzania.
We met up at the Roof Top Restaurant for breakfast. It was so incredible! We saw the amazing buildings of Zanzibar and even the ocean. The snorkeling place told us to come back at 11:45 so we decided to go shopping. We went to a store that looked like any other store and ended up finding a room with hundreds of dresses! We each bought a dress. We went to a few other shops and then met at the snorkeling place to get our equipment. We laughed so hard while we tried squeezing into our wet suits. When we finally got into them, it was time to head off. We took a 30 minute boat ride to a small island where we snorkeled for 45 minutes, ate an awesome lunch, and then went to the north side of the island to snorkel for another 45 minutes. The second half of the experience was clearly more difficult. The waves were huge and we had a hard time keeping the salty water out of our mouths. On our boat we were accompanied by a couple from Paris on their honeymoon, and a couple from England that have been traveling. They went to Bangkok! When we got back we took the most amazing shower of our lives. It was so nice to get the nastiness out of our hair. We shopped a little more and then met the others for a candlelight dinner at an Italian restaurant. It's been a long day and we are excited to sleep! Tomorrow we will take the farry back to Dar and spend time with Aggripa again.
We think it is necessary to tell everyone our team nicknames:
Bill R-Simba/Lion
Bill A- Fisi/Hyena
Dale- Tembo/Elephant
Marvin- Mmbu/Mosquito
Katy- Tumbili/Monkey
Kara- Mamba/Crocodile
Kristen- Swala/Antelope
Amy- Punda Milia/Crying Donkey (Zebra)
Kelsey- Twiga/Giraffe
We also have received word that our blog is being read in various locations including Texas, Oklahoma, California, Florida, Tanzania, Iraq, Germany, Thailand, India, and Brazil! Wow!
Home soon!
We met up at the Roof Top Restaurant for breakfast. It was so incredible! We saw the amazing buildings of Zanzibar and even the ocean. The snorkeling place told us to come back at 11:45 so we decided to go shopping. We went to a store that looked like any other store and ended up finding a room with hundreds of dresses! We each bought a dress. We went to a few other shops and then met at the snorkeling place to get our equipment. We laughed so hard while we tried squeezing into our wet suits. When we finally got into them, it was time to head off. We took a 30 minute boat ride to a small island where we snorkeled for 45 minutes, ate an awesome lunch, and then went to the north side of the island to snorkel for another 45 minutes. The second half of the experience was clearly more difficult. The waves were huge and we had a hard time keeping the salty water out of our mouths. On our boat we were accompanied by a couple from Paris on their honeymoon, and a couple from England that have been traveling. They went to Bangkok! When we got back we took the most amazing shower of our lives. It was so nice to get the nastiness out of our hair. We shopped a little more and then met the others for a candlelight dinner at an Italian restaurant. It's been a long day and we are excited to sleep! Tomorrow we will take the farry back to Dar and spend time with Aggripa again.
We think it is necessary to tell everyone our team nicknames:
Bill R-Simba/Lion
Bill A- Fisi/Hyena
Dale- Tembo/Elephant
Marvin- Mmbu/Mosquito
Katy- Tumbili/Monkey
Kara- Mamba/Crocodile
Kristen- Swala/Antelope
Amy- Punda Milia/Crying Donkey (Zebra)
Kelsey- Twiga/Giraffe
We also have received word that our blog is being read in various locations including Texas, Oklahoma, California, Florida, Tanzania, Iraq, Germany, Thailand, India, and Brazil! Wow!
Home soon!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Beauty
Yesterday we drove to Dar Es Salaam.
When we got there, one of the guys had to use the restroom very badly. Seeing as most people do it, he just went around the corner and peed on the wall. Some of the locals saw him and found an opportunity for some American money. They accused him of violating regulations and made him go to the police station. There they decided to either spend the day in court, or pay $100. He chose to pay. We went to our hotel and starting getting hungry so we hopped in a van and drove at least an hour and thirty minutes to the famous Seacliff's. Between the six of us girls, we ate A LOT! (Six because of friend, Milka, is now with us) We ended up spending around $100 for dinner. After that we found a little grocery store and bought some American candies. Amy found something amazing and hid it in her shirt. She went around the corner and tapped Kelsey's shoulder and pulled out an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Within seconds Kelsey was crying. Literally. We decided not to drink Dr. Pepper until we got home, but it was nice to know it is here.
Today we got on a ferry and rode three hours to Zanzibar. Katy unfortunately got sea sick but is feeling a little better. Keep her in your prayers. As soon as we got here we found our hotel and went to lunch. We came around the corner, starving, to find our lunch location had caught on fire minutes before. So we settled for a nice place on the beach to watch the sun go down. After ordering our drinks they took our menus away saying "lunch hour is closed now." Bill R. had had enough and said, "I give up! Here is some money and go find somewhere to eat!" So the four of us girls walked around downtown Zanzibar eating everything we found including, prawns, shrimp, crab, chipati, beef pizza, banana and chocolate pizza, sweet bread, donuts, beef cabab, samosas, chicken cabab, and still hungry! While eating everything we could handle, we found a snorkeling place that is $30 for a half day trip, equiptment, and lunch. So tomorrow morning at nine we are going with Kara, Kristen, Marvin and Dale snorkeling.
Also keep Milka in your prayers, she received news today that one of her best friends was shot last night when his house was broken into.
We are having fun without you! But can't wait to see you! Marvin especially misses his wife.
When we got there, one of the guys had to use the restroom very badly. Seeing as most people do it, he just went around the corner and peed on the wall. Some of the locals saw him and found an opportunity for some American money. They accused him of violating regulations and made him go to the police station. There they decided to either spend the day in court, or pay $100. He chose to pay. We went to our hotel and starting getting hungry so we hopped in a van and drove at least an hour and thirty minutes to the famous Seacliff's. Between the six of us girls, we ate A LOT! (Six because of friend, Milka, is now with us) We ended up spending around $100 for dinner. After that we found a little grocery store and bought some American candies. Amy found something amazing and hid it in her shirt. She went around the corner and tapped Kelsey's shoulder and pulled out an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Within seconds Kelsey was crying. Literally. We decided not to drink Dr. Pepper until we got home, but it was nice to know it is here.
Today we got on a ferry and rode three hours to Zanzibar. Katy unfortunately got sea sick but is feeling a little better. Keep her in your prayers. As soon as we got here we found our hotel and went to lunch. We came around the corner, starving, to find our lunch location had caught on fire minutes before. So we settled for a nice place on the beach to watch the sun go down. After ordering our drinks they took our menus away saying "lunch hour is closed now." Bill R. had had enough and said, "I give up! Here is some money and go find somewhere to eat!" So the four of us girls walked around downtown Zanzibar eating everything we found including, prawns, shrimp, crab, chipati, beef pizza, banana and chocolate pizza, sweet bread, donuts, beef cabab, samosas, chicken cabab, and still hungry! While eating everything we could handle, we found a snorkeling place that is $30 for a half day trip, equiptment, and lunch. So tomorrow morning at nine we are going with Kara, Kristen, Marvin and Dale snorkeling.
Also keep Milka in your prayers, she received news today that one of her best friends was shot last night when his house was broken into.
We are having fun without you! But can't wait to see you! Marvin especially misses his wife.
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