Iringa at last!

Habari! Where to begin? Let's see... When we woke up in Dar Es Salaam we where greeted by Ally and Victoria (a former student of Stan's). We had a nice breakfast, so Shaina and I thought we'd walk it off. The streets were alive and bustling. Unfortunately, Shaina was pickpocketed from her backpack. What did they take? Money. No. Passport? Nope. Worse... her top of the line, filled to the brim, IPod. I felt so bad for her! We have only the clothes on our backs and now this. Hakuna matata though! We only had a few hours of sleep in our hotel, The Blue Pearl. I mentioned before it was nice, and it was. However, I hadn't noticed yet that I had no running water in my room and my AC was broken. Luckily, Shaina let me use her shower, and I spent the night with the window wide open, praying that mosquitoes skipped my room that night. It was still nice to get a few hours in a real bed. Okay, so we were off to the bus.
The bus ride was interesting but looooooong, very long! Ten hours in another box. (Paula, you were right! The street salesmen had the best cashews ever!) On the ride, we saw a dozen baboons running right next to the bus, various Tanzanian tribes right out of the textbooks, and landscaping that my words could never do justice for. Still a little tired (by a little, I mean exhausted) both Shaina and I were asleep when we passed giraffes and impalas. Hakuna matata though... we'll have plenty to see in Ruwaha.
When we arrived in Iringa, it was late but the town was still busy. We're high in the mountains. It's cold, in the 40's, and my jacket is in my suitcase (still lost). Our journey to our final destination was over. In all, we had had been in transit for over 60 hours. Stan, Ally, Shaina, and I were greeted in Iringa by Lucas, Angelina, Allen and Sunita. The team was all together now. I was very taken back by Lucas, the head of school who visited Saint Stephen's last year. He gave me hug after hug, grabbed by hand and didn't let go until we walked to a nearby restaurant. (In Africa, men commonly hold hands. It's a sign of respect and friendship.) I was very honored.
Our meal was fantastic! Curry chicken, garlic steak, lots of cawaha (coffee)... I'm actually going to gain weight on this journey! We arrived at our accommodation. It is a small room with two beds with mosquito nets and a bath. Simple, perfect, home for now. We even had a chance to meet our neighbors, three mid-twenty students from Germany. Katherine is working in Africa with an architect. She kindly made some fresh cookies for us. Neals is working on his doctorate, studying the relationship between farmers in Tanzania and what effects cell phones have had on them. Anika is working with the Lutheran church in a local orphanage. Meeting everyone like this has given me the feel of staying in a hostel. I love it!
I read myself to sleep and awoke promptly at 5:30. That's when the symphony of roosters filled the air. Of course, no hot water for a shower today. Who needs it with clothes that smell like these? Shaina and I were walking the city by 7am. We had more cawaha at a small cafe. The coffee here is all instant but surprisingly good. This time the water we were give was yellow-brownish and had floating "stuff" swirling in it. It was piping hot though. Besides, after adding our instant coffee you could hardly tell anything was out of the ordinary. (Don't worry Mom... I'm sure we'll be fine... We need our coffee!)
We then walked around the markets for a couple of hours. It's a shopaholics paradise. Art, clothes, trinkets, all handmade and inexpensive. We happen to run into Ally and he helped get us to an ATM so that Shaina could get a dress. She's felt out of place because no women wear pants here. She was sized and fitted. The outfit should be ready this afternoon. It was amazing to see the women dying, weaving, and sewing right in front of us. Their products are intricate, colorful, and well made. It's like nothing you can find in the US.
After shopping, we piled in a "bus", a mini-mini-van that took us to Kitchingani School. Listening to hard gangster rap (Lil' Jeezy I think) blasting on the radio, I counted 16 people in all in that "bus". Kitchingani is the school that our team will be presenting at. We had a look around the internet lab and just received word on our luggage. We are being told that two of the six bags "may" have made it to Dar Es Salaam. I guess it's a start. Well, that's all for now rafikis!