I am finally writing about the trip we took the 6-18 of this month. The trip was divided into sections. The first part of our trip (6-9) we spent in Moshi at the Tanzania Field Missions Meeting. All of the A/G Missionaries in Tanzania made it out and the first two days were spent fellowshiping, playing CTF with the MK's and some of the missionaries, and most importantly, playing HALO!!! Walker and I were happy to get our fix since his Xbox broke. Friday I also renewed my passport. Tim (a missionary in Mwanza) took me through the Kenyan border and we went what turned out to be a game drive. It was definitely not a bad waste of an hour. Saturday and Sunday we had our meetings and I was able to sit in. At the meeting they discuss business, upcoming projects, and give family updates. Sunday we also had a church service and the missionary I will be living with gave the Word. He spoke about seizing opportunities. Saturday and Sunday Mt. Kilimanjaro uncovered herself for us and we were blessed to be able to look upon her beauty for two days! Monday we headed out to a Maasai area and camped out at Lake Natron. The land was hideous and desolate and many of the cattle are dying due to drought and famine. Monday we saw one of the famous volcanoes of the area and went to the lake to see the flamingos. There were literally thousands and thousands of them within a very close distance to us. On the way in Roger got his vehicle stuck but fortunately was able to get it unstuck. However, on the way out we got both of our vehicles stuck in the mud and spent several hours digging on our hands and knees. We jacked the vehicles up and put rocks under the tires and their path to make sure we could escape. Several hours, a sunset, and clothes and face covered in mud later we returned to camp where Laurie and Kandle were sending people to go find us. That night I "slept" in the one man mini tent that had no screens or zippers and was not able to fall asleep until about 5 am. I spent the night hitting bugs that were biting me and watching snakes look in my tent. When we awoke we went on a hike to a waterfall. When we finally made it to the waterfall we spent hours playing in this freshwater river. We were awed that such a spring could exist in such a dry, dusty place. Wednesday we packed up and left and so did my health. I began feeling very sick and stayed awake just long enough to enjoy a special treat provided for us by the Sonjo pastor that hosted us, goat liver. I have never been a big fan of liver, especially goat liver, especially when I am sick. After I ate I went to sleep and slept from noon to about 6 am, waking up only to take medicine. Wednesday night the pastors prayed for me and I woke up feeling better Thursday morning and only continued to feel better as the day went on. Thursday We spent the day in Maasai territory where we were fed goat jerky type food and some goat with a greenish sauce to go with it. The latter of the two was pretty good but I was glad to leave lunch and head to a boma. A boma is the area where a family lives. It usually contains a few houses built around a pen where they keep their goats and cows at night. We were able to enter a house (built with sticks plastered with mud and straw for the roofs). As I entered I had to duck and was surprised (not sure why since they don't have windows) to find that it was pitch black in the house. The 10' X 10' house was divided by "walls" and had a storage room, kitchen (which kept the house extremely hot) and a bedroom that had enough room for a cot type thing. Once we left the boma we headed for our gesti and i bought a bow and arrow (the arrows have poison on the end) set off of one of the Maasai warriors I met. The next day was spent driving through the Serengeti where we saw thousands and thousands of Wildebeest, tons of Zebras, and several kinds of Antelope (pictures will be on Myspace or Facebook soon). Saturday we headed to a town called Tarime where Laurie saw a doctor for her foot. She had burned her foot Monday by stepping on a hidden fire pit. The burn became infected and began to spread up her leg. She was not able to walk or sleep for a few nights but has received medical treatment and is on the way to recovery. She has spent the past week and a half laying down, not fun for an independent person. Anyhoo, Sunday and Monday we stayed in Mwanza with the missionaries there (Timandjoycejarvis.com) We weren't the healthiest bunch by the end of the trip (my stomach and back hurt, rogers back hurt, and lauries foot was hurt badly) but we enjoyed being in civilization again. Tuesday I headed out at 4 am and spent 17 hours on a bus (enjoying an Arnold Movie Marathon along the way! gotta love African buses). I arrived in Dar at 11 pm and started language school the next morning. I have the joy of going through language frustrations =) it has not been easy but I intend on working on it.