Blog from Paiton and Brent.
Mambo! Hello from Morogoro, Tanzania! We started this week in Rwanda, and a lot has happened since. At the beginning of our week we journeyed to Huey for a coffee tasting. After sampling some of the pride of Rwanda, we embarked on an educational trek about the life of the coffee bean from cultivation to cup. We learned that Huey Mountain Coffee Company supplies beans to Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon (home of Jada and Brent). At the end of our tour, we received the opportunity to roast fresh coffee beans over an open fire. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll receive a sample of this hand roasted coffee in December.
Upon returning to Kigali, we spent our last night in Rwanda at the Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel. There, we shared a delicious “family dinner” and reflected on our journey thus far. In the morning we departed for Dar Es Salem, Tanzania. We visited a total of four countries that day; we flew from Kigali, Rwanda to Bujumbra, Burundi to Niarobi, Kenya and finally to Dar Es Salem, Tanzania. On our flight from Kenya to Tanzania, we were able to glimpse a beautiful view of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Upon arriving in Dar, our real adventures began. A nice family dinner at an authentic Indian Restaurant ended in a little scare. Reed had an allergic reaction to his buttered chicken, which we suspect contained sesame oil. At the discretion of Adam and Mary, Reed was taken to a hospital in Dar. He enjoyed a night in an air conditioned, beach front hospital as he recovered. The rest of group got to spend an extra day in Dar. Unfortunately, most of the city was closed on account of the Tanzania equivalent of President’s Day., Nyerere Day. Upon Reed’s discharge from the hospital, the group went to the local fish market and ended the day in the theater watching “Inferno”. (Side note from HQ: published with Reed’s enthusiastic permission – he’s fully recovered!)
The following morning, the group embarked on a short bus ride to Morogoro. Upon our arrival at Lutheran Junior Seminary, we received a brief introduction to Kiswahili before meeting our homestay families. This morning, being Sunday, class was not in session. For our day off, we hiked up to a small local waterfall for lunch and briefly explored the town of Morogoro. In the coming week, we look forward to learning more Kiswahili and experiencing Tanzanian life first hand.
