Midterms

The rainy season is supposed to have started, but it has only rained a few times in the past month. Granted, when it rains, it rains. Right now the sky is getting dark, the wind is picking up, and the rain is starting to fall. Seeing as there is a predominantly agrarian economy in Arusha, it isn't seen as a bad thing. Rain brings life. I love the rain, so I'm really excited for the rainy season to really pick up :)

This week all of my midterms are happening, so by writing this blog I'm procrastinating. I have a lot of work, but it's nothing compared to Goucher. I have actually gotten to read for pleasure this semester, and it has helped a lot when I really need to escape for a little while. I started by reading "The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory" by David Loy. It's really great and cool to read while I am making sense of a new culture. I'm not done, but I started Thoreau's "Walden" because Sara brought it and I'm catching up with her so that we can discuss it. Favorite Thoreau quote so far: As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Despite my being mildly stressed out about midterms, I'm really excited because so many adventures are on the horizon! After this week I will only have three classes for the rest of the semester. Next week we are going to Zanzibar (and Tanga, Dar Es Salaam, and Bagamoyo) for our spring break. I have been doing a lot of research about surf spots because I really, really want to go surfing. I emailed a bunch of people and it sounds like it will be hit or miss, but that's exciting because searching for surf spots is one of the best parts of surfing. Even if we don't find anything, I am really looking forward to seeing the ocean and (as much as I don't want to admit it) doing touristy things.

Two weekends from this one I am going with some of my classmates to stay in a Maasai village for the weekend. One of my classmates at my Makumira College music class is from the village and my music professor set us up with this trip. He also is planning a trip to go stay near Mt. Kilimanjaro with the Chagga people, a different tribe from East of Arusha. Dad is coming to visit (hopefully) in a few weeks, which is also really exciting!

Yesterday a music group from the Wahaya tradition performed for my music class and it was (no surprise) pretty incredible. They drummed and danced and I have the whole thing on video. I even got up and danced with them for part of it! I'm determined to get really good at dancing while I am here.

I found out that next semester I am going to be able to take Intermediate Swahili at Johns Hopkins, which means that I will get to fulfill my language requirements with Swahili and not forget everything I learn this semester.

Letters to many of you are long overdue, but I will have plenty of time on my 9 hour drive to Tanga on Sunday. If I don't have your address and you want a postcard or a letter, send me your address! I will hopefully write more before I leave for Zanzibar, but until then, I hope all is well at home.
Sarah

"In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line." - Thoreau