The past week

This past week has gone by so quickly! I had Monday and Tuesday with my kids, then on Wednesday I went with the new group back to Arusha. We went to the morning session of a trial at the war tribunal. It was really interesting. They had a former high-ranking official for the Rwandan Army as a witness testifying for the man who was being tried. He was accused of several things and was charged with various acts of genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide. The witness had already been convicted and had been sentenced to 35 years for his crimes. It was very interesting, I was so happy I got to go back to the Tribunal 3 times on this trip. After, we went to lunch, where I had an amazing organic steak burger. Then a couple of the girls went back to the Tribunal to watch the afternoon session, and the rest of us went to the "Tanzanite Experience". It was amazing! This company mines 80% of the world's Tanzanite, and the mine is really close to where I'm staying in Moshi, it's right behind the Kilimanjaro airport. They have a museum which shows the history of the stone and talks about who discovered it and how it came to be so popular (Tanzanite is over 1,000 times rarer than diamonds, and the chances of it being formed in any other part of the world other than Tanzania is less than 1 in 100 million!). They also have the largest crystal ever found, and I don't remember the exact size but it was thousands of carats, so big! Then they showed us a video describing how the stone is classified. Then, we looked at some of the stones they had there. I fel in love with a pear-shaped stone (most of the stones they sell are loose and you have to get them set) that was 1.51 carats, but it was $870, so maybe I'll get it next time :( It was incredible to see. I already made Kevin promise me we would come back here to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and he said we can get a stone then, so I guess I'll just have to wait. After the Tanzanite tour we went to the Maasai market and I helped a couple of the guys bargain since it's so overwhelming when you first go. It ended up being a super long day so we were all tired by the time we got home for dinner. On Thursday, after school Living and I were waiting for Ibra to pick us up and an old man at the bar wanted to buy me a beer. Since it's rude to refuse food or drink in Tanzania, I accepted. When I got back home Melissa decided to come across the street with me to Mzungu bar for a couple more drinks. It was a fun, relaxing morning! After lunch we napped in the sun. Nothing like a couple of cold beers on such a hot day! :) Last night (Friday night) Melissa and I got all dressed up in some cute dresses and went out with the boys. We went to Kool Bar for some pool and then headed to our favorite spot, Glacier. Hans, a local who has become a good friend, was there after being on safari for 12 days. It was sooo good to see him! We all had a great time dancing and chatting with the friends we've made here. I just love the people here, they are so amazing, I know I have some lifelong friends in Tanzania. Melissa and I ate popcorn when we got home then we decided to have a sleepover, so she slept in my tiny twin bed with me, so funny! Surprisingly we were very comfortable, although it was of course hot. I also had two new roommates...there are 19 students here from Northwestern Universtiy in Qatar. They are only here for 8 days and have a totally packed schedule, so we won't see much of them. They left this morning for a day safari, and should be back sometime tonight. Kat, one of Melissa's roommates, leaves for home tonight, so I think I'm going to move into Melissa's room, even though I've been in my little room and bed for 8 weeks. Melissa and I have become such good friends we decided we should just be roomies, plus there is a private bathroom in that room. So, I'll be making the big move tonight. This afternoon Riley, Andy, Melissa, Jay and I went out for cheeseburgers, which we were all craving after last night, and they were so good! Then we were going to go to the pool but it's well into the high 90 degree range so we decided that since we all weren't feeling fantastic to begin with we should just maybe go home and nap. Now we're just hanging out until dinner. Tonight we are going to lay low because the Kilimanjaro Marathon is tomorrow, and we're running the 5K. I'm hoping it's not as hot tomorrow as it is today, or it will be brutal, even though it's in the morning. I only have 8 more school days with my kids...makes me so sad! Melissa, Riley and I leave on Friday for Zanzibar, and we are so excited! I'm thinking my last two weeks here are going to go by way too fast. I'm getting so sad about leaving, I can't believe my trip is almost over. I'm going to miss it here so much!