Arusha, Usa and the Cradle

Hello out there!

So sorry it has taken us so long to post. We have limited and expensive internet access and by the time we all check our personal mail our time is through.
So The Outpost (hostel) has been our home now for a week. It's a nice place with a pool and lovely gardens...lizards on the walls and wild dogs that bark every night. It's quirky but I think we're all really happy and comfortable here. We're making friends with the staff...they're all great. I'm rooming with Katie, Kara and Val. Celine, Chris and Molly have their own room but Jessi and Christina might be returning there soon. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll get to keep their little bungalow for the duration of our stay. But Kathy, the owner, recently told them that their mosquito net should be fixed soon and they'll be expected to move back into their old room. As for our room we've moved, too. Our hot water stopped working so Val worked it out that we'd get a new room. I really like this new one better. We've got a bathroom door! Katie and I have taken over one end and Kara and Val are on the other. This works well since Katie and I tend to fill our spaces with our much loved belongings and Kara and Val prefer neat and put away.
Each morning we are picked up by a dalla-dalla...a mini bus. Tanzanian's are excellent drivers...so as we speed down the bumpy road in our rickety bus at 70 mph, passing other vehicles and people, I've learned to be more and more relaxed...they know what they're doing! At the Cradle we're greeted by the toddlers and nannies...but shortly there after we head to the bathroom where we put smocks over our clothes. Davona, the director, recommended this on the first day but we all ignored it. By the end of the day most of us were covered in spit up and goodness knows what else...so on our second day we took her advice!
There are 9 toddlers...Maria, Cory, Ben, Zawadi, Abby, Jackie, Phillipo, Simon and Neema...so it works well. Simon has really taken a liking to Christina but aside from that it seems we each spend a little time here and there with each of them. It became quickly clear that just a few minutes of loving quality time spent with each of them is invaluable. We take them for walks through the campus...they love to go up to the guava tree and eat right off it! It's rainy season so we're often limited for part of the day, so inside we read books, do puzzles, act silly...whatever. Last time I made the mistake of putting Abby into one of the baby swings...next I knew I had a line of 9 toddlers all wanting turns on one of three swings! In the end everyone got a turn and though I had to wade through some tears and tantrums in the end we were all happy.
The babies are another joy. There are 23 of them! We've got many of their names down but still every now and then it seems you discover one you've never held before! Some of us have our favourites and that's alright because there's lots of love to go around!
Tanzania, as a whole, has been pretty interesting. We went to the market yesterday and managed to make good through the streets for a while. Then suddenly we were surrounded by men trying to sell us things. I was standing with my back close to a wall as objects were thrust at me from every angle. I kindly refused repeatedly and was beginning to find it a bit overwhelming when Molly took my arm and lead me to open space! We'd been here for nearly a week and yesterday we walked all over town...but it wasn't until we stepped out of the marketplace that we realised we're sitting right under Mt. Meru. There it was before us, towering into the sky. Vermont's got mountains but not quite like this! It's been too cloudy to see but yesterday for a short time the clouds broke. It's amazing! I've been most curious about some of the ads I've seen. There are western ads everywhere...a black and white image of a white man's chiseled torso and beneath it read, "you too can look like me just hold a Sprite". Many of the ads are very similar to those I've seen back home but with black people in them...and I wonder why these companies don't put black people in their ads at home....Coca Cola has a huge campaign that says, "come to the coke side of life" I don't get it. There are cigarette ads everywhere...we might be driving through the most remote seeming area then there'll suddenly be an ad for something like Speedos or Bic...
Today we went on our first safari. We had lovely drivers: Zac and Jeremiah. I rode with Chris, Katie, Christina and Kara. Our destination today was Arusha National Park. It took us about 40 minutes to get there so we got to see many small villages and a lot of lush landscape. Zac and Jeremiah popped the tops to our safari trucks and there we were surrounded by the most beautiful green things, with screaming wild flowers and creatures. We saw giraffes, zebras, buffalo, mongoose. There were baboons right near us! We drove for some time, stopped briefly for lunch then drove some more. Next we left our truck and went by foot to a waterfall. It was so amazing...as though the Earth had just opened up and there we were at the bottom of paradise...and we're so small! We walked on after a while and found some giraffe. When all was said and done we invited Zac and Jeremiah out to dinner. They were great friends for the day and really made it a lot of fun. It's hard work though, holding yourself up as your vehicle bounces over rocky roads and through muddy ditches...so everyone is in bed right now and I think I'm off to join them!

Tomorrow we're back to The Cradle!

Hope you're well where ever you are.
Maria