Traveling Around Arusha

Day two! Today Cassie and Scott took me for a walk around the 3,200-acre compound where the house they rent is located. They used to live in the village that I will travel to see later this week. The compound grows flowers as a crop and exports the seeds, so the land is colorful and beautiful. It is covered with various varieties of vegetation. It is very cool to walk and see the land because it is so different from Minot! You see people walking or biking with huge piles of crops on the top of their heads. It is very dusty and dry currently, but Scott showed me how high the water comes during the rainy season when they have nasty floods.

Driving, you have to have a good off-roading vehicle, and it is a very bumpy ride! I believe that the traffic here would cure any American road rage. Drivers are aggressive, and the unspoken rule is to yield to the bigger vehicle, bikes being at the bottom of the totem pole. Other than that, it feels like there are no rules when it comes to driving because many people don’t follow the rules or even know them all, I’m told. Between that and driving on the opposite side of the road than what I’m used to, I’m glad Scott is the one driving and not me!

While we were driving and walking around, I started to get a taste of the culture. Scott shared a lot about Tanzania, but I’m not ready to write about it all as I am still processing it. But there are definitely some heavy things and a lot of need for prayers. In addition, please continue to praise God for our safety and ask for healing from my cold and daily nosebleeds that I’ve had since I got accepted for the mission trip months ago. The devil is trying to thwart us, but we all know that he won’t prevail since the Lord has already overcome the world! Bwana Yesu asifiwe! (Praise the Lord!) In the meantime, enjoy some of these photos of the gorgeous scenery here!