Wanafunzi wa Kiswahili

For Swahili students(wanafunzi wa kiswahili), the day begins at 8 when the teachers arrive from town in a daladala. 

After the teachers(walimu) arrive we head to the classroom(darasa) and begin our Swahili lesson for the day. Most days we study grammer all day, but sometimes we have a day to learn about a specific activity. Today we were studying market(soko) terms. You can see on the table in front of us the pineapple, coconut, papaya, etc. 

At 10 we have a tea break(chai). There is tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and some sort of pastry and/or fruit. This is  nice break in the morning to stretch and most of the time we change teachers.

It is also a good time to get warm in the sun with a cup of hot chai. You may not believe it, but it does not warm up in Iringa until about noon. 

At 12 we take another short break(pumzika). Holly and Alicia enjoyed the break today by sunning themselves on the big rock next to our banda. A few minutes later we were joined by Calvin, Brett and Christie.

We finish up with class at one just in time to head to the mess hall for lunch(chakula cha mchana).

Ruaha National Park

Last weekend we tagged along on a trip(safari in swahili) to Ruaha National Park. It was an awesome day! We were in an open sided land rover with the Groen family and a few friends we met at language school. 

The big male Lion(simba in swahili) above was only about 30 feet away. At one point he stopped and stared straight at us... Holly was video taping the whole thing. When he looks at us you can hear the camera shutters go silent. He was a big boy. It might have been a little less scary if there were windows and doors on the car.

This family of Elephants(tembo) was foraging next to the runway in the park. They didn't seem to mind us gawking at their size.

Even though the Impala(swala pala) are accustomed to cars, they still get spooked pretty easy. It is unbelievable how fast they run.

The Giraffe(twiga) were stoic. Even when they ran it looked like they were in slow motion.

The Zebra(punda milia) were beautiful, especially with the gigantic Baobab trees in the background. If I could only get my hands on the lumber from one of those! 

We enjoyed the day but were completely tired by the end. It was nice to get back to camp where dinner was prepared and we could have a hot shower!

Riverside Camp Language School

We have arrived at language school! It was a long trip...whew. But now we are surrounded by woods and mountains, a peaceful place to learn a new language.

Above is the view looking out over camp. You can see the open air dining hall. It is also pictured below.

Below is one of the classrooms. There are many scattered throughout the camp along the Little Ruaha river.

To prove that this is not an extended vacation I'll share some of what we've been learning.

Habari? (How's the news?) answer- Nzuri (Good)

Asante Sana (Thank you very much)

Rafiki (friend- like the baboon in the Lion King)

kulala fofofo (to sleep like a log)

Katie

One more quick post before we head out to language school tomorrow. While we were in Jinja, Uganda we had the chance to meet a girl whose blog I've been following for a while now. I didn't actually know her until meeting her in Jinja. Katie is a young woman living in Uganda who is raising 14 girls! She also started a ministry called Amazima that feeds and sends kids to school. We had a great afternoon getting to know her and playing with her children.

Katie with one of her girls

Druming, Dancing, Singing

Carson with the two youngest girls.

Katie's blog is really inspiring. You can check it out at kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Not sure what the internet connection is going to be like in language school. We'll post again when we can.