Yesterday while wandering Iringa I bought a kanga. Although I don't exactly know what I will do with it, I thought it was only appropriate that I purchase one to bring home from my first trip to Tanzania. There is a Swahili proverb that says "a woman cannot be happy until she has got at least 1,000 kangas." I think I will be happy bringing home just one. Kangas come in a huge array of colors and patterns. A lot of the kangas in Tanzania are also printed with a proverb. I bought a bluish purple kanga with dark printing. The proverb printed on it is "mazoea yana taabu tabia zikilingana." The shop keeper couldn't translate this proverb for me, but assure me that it was "good". She also steered me away from the "very bad" kangas. So far my phrase books and dictionaries have not been of any further assistance. You can learn more about kangas here.
We have enjoyed some quiet days in Iringa. There are two other people here from the original Ilula group - the rest of returned to Dar to fly home. We take a short hike to Gangilonga Rock - I think this counts as a training hike since we started at the an elevation similar to Denver. I didn't wear my boots though. In fact I took this hike in sandals and a skirt (For those of you who like to argue the definition of a hike versus a walk, we were gone for about 2 hours and I did carry water). The view of Iringa was terrific from the top of the Rock. Yesterday we visited a batik shop run by some Italian nuns (they also have a cooking school) and had a tour of Tumaini University. I was also able to visit with the pediatric PT at Neema. It turns out that she received most of her training from Sue Murr when Sue was teaching up in Moshi. Tomorrow we are planning a short trip out to Isimilia.
In Iringa we have spent quite a bit of time with the MN folks from Bega Kwa Bega that regularly spend their winters in Tanzania. They have been so welcoming of our group. Last night we even had dinner at one of their homes -- it was my first rice free meal in Tanzania! It has also been interesting to learn more about the depth of the relationship be the St. Paul synod of the ELCA and the Iringa district of the ELCT.
On Monday I will travel from Iringa to Arusha. I hope to make one more entry on this blog before this trip, but just in case it doesn't work out, please pray that I have a safe journey. I'm looking forward to meeting Kim and Megan and continuing my adventures in the North!
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