Christmas in Moshi

Merry Christmas! I'm finally in the area that will be my home for the next two years! We arrived two days ago and have been going pretty non-stop since then. Father Balige is wonderful, very intuitive about our needs and very hilarious. We went and saw our house (affectionately nicknamed "The Estate") but we can't move in quite yet because they are still preparing a few things for us. Sister Njao, who is our boss and arranging housing, wants us to have a night guard before we move in, so she is looking into that. She is a strong, strong woman. She runs Mary Goretti Secondary School, where I will be teaching, and she has a powerful personality. She is definitely used to things being run her way down to the last detail, so it has been interesting striking a balance between letting her make all of the decisions and gently letting her know that we are capable of making some ourselves. I'm very excited about moving into the Estate though. It is an enclosed area with a gate and we have a nice little yard that I'm hoping to do some gardening in. Best of all... we have running water!! And a view of Kili from our front porch! Pretty big deal, and I'm very excited about it. The school is also beautiful, and we found out that it is actually co-ed....kind of. It is 95% females and 5% males. That should be an interesting dynamic. Mary Beth and I are not sure yet what we will be teaching, but we should find out at our staff meeting on January 5th.

Christmas in Moshi was an experience. On Christmas Eve we were taken up in the foothills by Father Leo so that he could show us where he grew up and went to school. It was beautiful, it gets so lush and green when you start heading up the mountain. We went to mass at a local parish and we really enjoyed the Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree is more of a couple of branches smothered in Mardi Gras colored streamers and flashing lights. The spirit of the room was beautiful though, the two and a half hours were well worth the sore knees from the wooden kneelers. After mass we came back to the Jesuit residence for a toast with church wine and christmas caroling. Sister Njao gave us all more drinks and we had a wonderful evening of chatting and laughter. We taught Father Balige how to play a game called Fish Bowl (charades/catch phrase/general craziness that is very fun) and stayed up pretty late celebrating.

For Christmas we went to Father Shirima's childhood home in the foothills on the other side of the mountain. Father Shirima is the provincial of the East African Province. Some of his nephews showed us around the town and we prayed at his mother and sister's graves, how had passed away last spring. His mother lived to be 108 years old. After exploring the area for quite some time, we went and had a big meal at his younger brother's home. After eating more than our fill we headed over to an older brother's home for a drink. Little did we know that we would be expected to eat again. I ate more food that I have eaten in the past three weeks combined. The Tanzaniana are so generous and welcoming that it is impossible to say no to whatever they offer you. After more food and drinks we finally waddled back to our cars and made the trip back to Moshi. It is about an two hour drive, with an hour and 45 minutes on back mountain, very dusty, very bumpy roads. It was a rough trip and we were grateful to get back to shower and rest before our mini JVI Christmas party. The six of us decided to exchange Christmas Haikus with one another in lieu of gifts and we had a great time doing so. Nicholas has been in bed all day with a fever so we had a small gathering in his room to exhange. It was a nice Christmas moment, very different than any other Christmas, but good all the same. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with the Jesuits and trying homemade banana brews that we had brought back from the villages. I was also thankful to be able to talk briefly with my family that night.

So that was Christmas! I'm quickly falling in love with Moshi and Mt. Kili, but I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you again for the e-mails and letters, I get so excited every time I hear from one of you! Mary Beth and I will be getting a phone number in the next few days so I will keep you updated. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, miss and love!