Topsy Turvy

Of course, this morning I awoke to clear skies, bright sunshine, and what appears to be low wind. Wouldn't you know it?! Oh well, I'm sure that experiences like yesterday's build character...or something.

Our living room is a bit chaotic at the moment. Mike has next week off of school - the February 'Break' being standard in many international schools, and is taking a group of 20 students to Tanzania for a service learning trip. As a result, he's packing and organizing his things and so the living room bears the brunt of all this. He will be accompanied by three other adults and they leave tomorrow morning, missing the final two days of school this week. Mike did this same trip last year and since the teacher-coordinator who had been in charge is retiring, she asked Mike if he'd be interested in taking over.

It's a tremendous experience for all involved, they fly into the town of Moshe (pronounced "Moe-shee"), located near Mt. Kiliminjaro. There is an international school there and that becomes their home base for the trip. While in Africa, they will be working several days at a local Tanzanian school, preparing the foundations for a new classroom to be built. That is the morning activity. In the afternoons, Mike's group will be visiting an orphanage and helping out in any way they are able, whether reading to the children or heavier work. The children at the orphanage are aged 0-5.

The last couple of days they have in the country will include camping on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and then going down in on a photo safari. Mike's impressions of this from last year are still vivid and he said he'd never seen anything like it in his life. The variety of wildlife, the immensity of the Crater, and, in spite of many safari vehicles, the wildness of it all were amazing. His pictures showed everything from cheetah cubs with their mother, to hyenas resting after gorging on a buffalo carcass, to a sea of pink on a lake where flamingoes were resting. Truly a different world, and one which, thanks to his job here at ASH, he has the opportunity to visit.

I have a couple of last-minute purchases to make for him today, so I'll be outside in this lovely sunshine, but I'll be wishing for the warmth Mike'll be getting while in Africa! While he's off on his working adventure, I'm staying put, keeping warm with the cats and taking care of Maroz. I would love to visit Africa and do some of these things with him, but I prefer to wait until we can go for longer and set our itinerary with a bit more freedom. In the meantime, I will hope for his safe travels and that he brings back many new stories and photos for me to share!