Karibu! I seriously cannot believe I’ve been in Moshi for five weeks now! And I just finished the fourth week of school with my first graders! I thought I would start doing this every few weeks, just a little update on how things are going, and random pictures or thoughts. So here’s my five week update!
Seriously, guys, I can’t even tell you how much beauty is here! Thanks again for the incredible camera, mom and dad! I seriously have been loving playing around with it!!!
So let’s see- my journey began on August 20th, leaving Omaha and hopping over to Chicago. Then was my long international flight to Doha, Qatar! God was so good- as I didn’t have to lug any of my big luggage through any airports during layovers! I had about eight hours at the Doha airport. Thank goodness for free wifi! Here’s a glimpse at the crazy huge airport!
My final flight was to Kilimanjaro Intl. Airport! It took two days to get here, with the time difference. I also love pictures from the plane, Although there should be a little space in the plane windows that is perfectly clear so we don’t get the frustrating splotches of who knows what! (My weird dreams…or inventions?!) Top left is my first sight of Mount Kilimanjaro, Top middle is my first view of Tanzania, Right is from my plane to Doha I think?! I took off from Chicago around 8-9pm, and got to Doha during it’s sunset too. Crazy flights and time differences! But I love this of the sunrise or sunset on the horizon! And finally, a picture when I landed in TZ, at the bottom.
As I mentioned in a previous post, it took me about a week to get over the jet lag. That first week was spent mostly getting acclimated to life in Moshi as well as meeting TONS of new faces and getting to know all the amazing people around me! I met up with Melinda, one of my roommates, in Chicago and we flew over together. And my other roommate, Cyntha, joined us the day after we arrived. Unfortunately, Melinda had to leave about two weeks ago, so now it’s just Cynthia and I! It’s been so fun getting to know each other and experiencing this awesome adventure together! The house where I’m staying is absolutely incredible. It is huge and totally beautiful! (VLOG HOUSE TOUR COMING SOON!)
The first week I was here was also teacher planning week at Hope! You can read more about that here. I went through curriculum, decorated my classroom, and prepared for my firsties to get there! Here is one of my fun little decorations I forgot to put into to my blog post about the planning week. I found some colorful foam butterflies, wrote each of my students’ names on them, and put them on my classroom door to welcome my first graders into our classroom! It was so cute- some of them took pictures next to their name on the first day!
Changes happen all the time, in every school, in every classroom. And there were definitely some that took place in mine! The first day of school I had maybe six of my nine students show up. Through the past four weeks, we have gone from having five students one day, to now having thirteen on my classroom roster (two which will be coming in the second semester, one who only comes in the afternoons, and one who just moved up from Kindergarten this week!). I also switched assistant teachers twice, and was without one for about two weeks. But I absolutely LOVE my T.A. Sarah so much! She is awesome with the students and I am so grateful for her!
After the first week of school and some reevaluation, we switched classrooms with the Kindergarten class, due to size issues. Through and through, God has been my Rock, and I will not be shaken! Here is a picture of my new classroom from Friday, where we were working in centers!
Hope is such a fantastic school, and I’m very grateful to be able to be a teacher here!
Besides teaching and planning, we’ve been having lots of other adventures! I go to town at least once a week for groceries, and sometimes for fun! I have a blog post talking about that too! We get together with other missionaries here in Moshi at least once a week. Every Wednesday is potluck and worship night, and several families meet at someone’s house for that. We’e having it at our house this week! A lot of the missionary families here send there students to Hope.
Ryan and Stacy also host a intercession worship night the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month that is more of an intense time of prayer, verses fellowship. We also get together as a Global Effect team (Global Effect is the umbrella organization that is over Hope, that Ryan and Stacy also founded) for house church on the first Sunday of the month to connect and grow. The community of missionaries here is so cool, and I’m loving getting to know everyone!
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| Last weekend we celebrated the 2nd birthday of the daughter of Brandon and Melissa- one of the families part of Global Effect. It was a camping theme- SO cute! |
We’ve taken a couple of trips to Melinda’s and also went up Kili a little bit to get tea at a resort one day. The power in our house goes out almost every other day…TIA! We also have pasteurized our fresh cow’s milk from the neighbors, are in the process of making our own Komboucha, and are trying to sprout some avocado trees! We have walked to town, were so grateful to find (after looking several times) a french press in our kitchen, and see Kili almost every day! It is quite the adventure here in Tanzania, and I am loving every bit!
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| #breathtaking |
I also got my Residence Visa the other day! Woohoo!
Favorites: Tanzanian coffee, worship nights, my first graders, Wednesday chapels, Mount Kili, building friendships, and Tanzanian foods
Struggles: bug bites and paying-too-much-for-bad-wi-fi-troubles
I have also been reading through Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It’s a simple daily devotional that packs a powerful punch! This leather-bound one was a gift from my parents at my send-off party. The most special part is that I have letters from home scattered throughout, that friends and family wrote me at the send-off! It has blessed me so much already, and every entry is exactly what I need to start my day!
If you want to see more from me day-to-day, click on the links below! Asante sana (thank you very much) for all the prayers! I might be halfway across the world (to some of you), but I can feel the love!
Much Love, Allie
