Serengeti

Special thanks to Mark Berryman for planning out our trip to the Serengeti. Mark works in the Bible department at Harding and led our group through HUT (Harding at Tahkota). He has become a good friend to us so we were all happy that he was able to join us in Tanzania. Thanks to Mark, we were able to explore the central and western regions of the Serengeti and stay in the nicest lodge I have ever seen.

This entire trip I have simply been going with the flow of things. I take it one day at a time and try not to ask questions. I did not know what to expect from the Serengeti, especially since we had such a wonderful Safari in Botswana. Our time in the Serengeti turned out to be another life-changing experience where I was able to experience God's creation bringing glory to him. I have read many books during my stay in Africa, looking for answers; however, words are not enough to explain God. Although C.S. Lewis is an incredible theist known for his logical explanations of Christainity, his books could never clear as many doubts as the Serengeti. God's creation first hand answers more questions than any book and gave me a break from trying to reason my way through Christianity. 

We spent two nights in the middle of the Serengeti. The lodge was incredibly nice. When Quintyn and I entered our room we agreed it was the nicest place we had ever stayed. There was a front deck overlooking the Serengeti and we could see Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Antelope, and more. The guys spent a lot of our time by the pool in our robes. The whole experience made us feel guilty from living in the bush for three months. I am sure I will experience this again in the states. The lodge has Masai warriors as the security. The Masai who escorted us, Moses, claimed to have killed a cheetah, lion, and buffalo all with a spear. We were very skeptical at first, but after learning more of the Masai people I no longer doubt Moses, who stands at 6'4. To this day, the Masai fear nothing and they often drink cows blood mixed with milk. 

The safari was more than I could have ever asked for. During our drives we saw everything possible. Many people have been to the Serengeti many times without seeing lions, leopards, or cheetahs, yet we saw all three. I cam within five feet of a female lions and was able to see 4 cheetahs.

Goat and Rice

The four of us, along with Kevin, made a 120-kilometer journey to visit a couple of village churches. I cannot explain how far out in the bush we ended up. Just imagine driving out into the middle of nowhere as far as possible and then driving another hour. On the way to the village, we stopped by a small church, led the service, then left. A few more kilometers down the trail we came across a woman with a terrible second degree burn on her hand. In Zambia, a woman would gladly allow us to scrub her hand to clean it; however, the threshold of pain here in Tanzania must be much less. The woman did not want us to even touch her hand, she just wanted some medicine to put in it. If she would not let us clean her hand, Tanner's first-aid ointment would be no better than soapy water; so we left her there with some ibuprofen. I will never forget the unbelievable tolerance the Zambians had for pain. Sometimes I would clean a wound that had to be excruciatingly painful, but they would simply take the pain without squinting. On our way back, we found out the woman visited the nearest clinic so Kevin gave her some shillings to help cover the costs.

When we eventually arrived at the small congregation known as Mwanaluku, I gave my second lesson of the day. I spoke about persevering and not letting people, alcohol, or witchcraft stand in the way. I tried to use illustrations that would make since to them, like hills and bikes. My name was recorded in the church's small notebook. Kevin jokingly informed me that praise songs will be sung using my words and several children may be named Kelsey in the future.

The Sukuma people are extremely hospitable and treated us like honored guests. Our presence gave them and excuse for a 48-hour celebration. Two goats were slaughtered for us and we were given more than enough to eat. Each time we sat to eat there would be a huge pile of rice and goat before us. Our second meal of goat was quite a shock. As we sat in the pitch black room, I knew I smelt something funny in the rice. I decided it would be best to not know and just kept eating (if one does not eat all of their food, it is not wasted because the children will eat it. However, Africans will sometimes be offended if you do not finish). My appetite completely vanished as I bit into something with hair in it. I made the mistake of smelling my fingers, which were stained with the scent of dirty intestines. At this point, we were all suspicious since we could only identify a few pieces in the dark. Q pulled out his flashlight, which was a big mistake. Trey and I found a few things in the bowl that we still are not able to identify. All I know is that one piece was just skin with hair that resembled a black wig. I just told myself it was part of the tail and did work. I never thought I would be relieved to get to the goat testicles. Aside from the organs, the meat was wonderful. Mom, please no rice for a while!

Anytime we were standing, the village people would immediately bring us their wooden chairs to sit on. At one point they were nervous that Tanner was sitting on a rock and made him sit in the chair. The chairs were quite uncomfortable, but they made sure we were never standing. They also insisted that we each bathe.

I will never forget the Sukuma people and their way of life. Hopefully this will not be my last visit to Tanzania, and I will one day sing and dance with the Sukuma people again. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Mwanza

After three plane rides we have arrived safely in Mwanza, Tanzania. I will be updating this blog using my iPhone, so the entries will be considerably shorter. I continually notice how wonderful airplane food is, no matter how bad it tastes. Although I would never eat a birdseed granola bar type thing on the ground, it tastes magnificent at 30,000 feet. Something about having packaged food brought to you on a fold out tray on a plane enhances the tastes of a bologna sandwich. 

After only three months overseas, the barrier of language has already become very frustrating. I spent my entire time in Zambia struggling to understand Tonga, only to get on a plane full of people speaking French. I took two years of French in Highschool and do not remember a thing. Once we arrived, I was informed that my luggage did not make it, along with three others.

Tanner, Trey, Quintyn and I are staying with Kevin and Charity Linderman and their three young boys. The Linderman's are very hospitable and have allowed us to eat all of their food. In return we will try to entertain their children enough to exhaust them and put them to sleep early. 

Today we visited a museum and watched traditional dances pertaining to the Sukuma people. I will not bore you with the specifics of the museum. After the dances we met at Jason Miller's house. Jason and his family make up another fourth of the missionary team. Before dinner they explained the different roles each family plays on the mission team. Tanzania is a beautiful place. Mwanza is much more developed than most of Zambia.