I threw my caution to the wind..

Don't worry about the title. I was listening to the song Canned Heat by Jamiroquai when I wrote the title.

These past couple of days have gone pretty well. We are starting to hit a lot of vocab, so our brains are saturated with Kiswahili. It is getting tougher as we go on, so it is providing a nice challenge for all of us. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. It is still in the dry season so the humidity is down and it gets up to about 85 during the day. Since we are so close to the equator the hottest part of the day is indeed noon, unlike at home where it isn't until 2:30-3 that the hottest part of the day hits. Since it cools down in the afternoon, these past couple of days have been spent exploring the grounds around the seminary after afternoon tea.

I am finding these walks refreshing and I think that I may continue going on them everyday, not only to see the amazing sites around the campus but to also unwind for the day. It gives me time to think through things and a time to release inner tensions that build throughout the day. With the beautiful mountains that are just behind the seminary, it is hard to not want to go walking around and look at them. Hopefully we will get to take a weekend and scale those beauties. I really look forward to going out there, going outside of the seminary to see what Tanzania is like. It is odd, but since we really don't get to go anywhere during the week the seminary seems to get smaller and smaller all of the time. I am ready to start traveling to different places and seeing new things and begin my independent studies on interfaith dialogue.

I know that once we start doing our own things out of the seminary, that time will speed up and our experience will be over before we know it. Though I don't want us to leave anytime soon, I am comforted by what every person that has come here during semester abroad has said. It is the fastest three months of your life. I was thinking the other day, while looking at a calendar and we have hit the 1/6th point of our stay already. It honestly feel like we just arrived a couple of days ago. Funny how time is relative. Einstein...what a guy.

I know the four of us would like to hear from all of you, so if you want to shoot us an email and let us know what is up, whether it be the local gossip to keep on the DL, or it is just random news about your guys' day we would love to hear it. My email address is peter.watters@wartburg.edu so please feel free to drop me a line.

peace,
PHW