This weekend was definitely the busiest so far. To write about all of it in any detail would take ages, so I'll just give a run down and include some pictures.

Thursday afternoon, my roommates, Libby, Colleen, and I went to Peace House for a visit. The campus is SO beautiful. It was really quiet without the students there, but I cannot wait to return when it is full of life. I finally got to meet Tait, who, it seems, knows everyone I've run into in Tanzania, and Macon, who will be the volunteer coordinator while I am there. I am still not exactly sure what I will be doing, but flexibility is a virtue around here, and I am sure I will be put to good use.

Thursday night we went out to dinner at Via Via, a really good restaurant right next to our classroom. They have live music on Thursdays and it was a lot of fun, but because we had to get up early on Friday, we left long before the fun there actually started, so we decided to go again this week.

Friday, we woke up nice and early and headed on a class field trip to Moshi. Moshi is right at the foot of Kilimanjaro, but unfortunately, as I have mentioned, the mountains around here like to hid behind a thick coat of clouds, so I still haven't seen Kili.

In Moshi, we visited the Women's Education and Economic Center that works to empower women through grassroots projects and classes. It was a lot of fun to visit some of the women in business in Moshi and Mama Valaria, who is one passionate woman.

Saturday night, our program director took us out to dinner with the grad students that just arrived for the start of their program. We went to Maasai Camp (a restaurant/bar/club kind of thing) for good pizza, a little dancing, and a really fun evening.

Yesterday we went on one of our self-araged outings that have become a weekly occurrence. We went to Tengeru, a little area right outside of Arusha, where we explored a coffee plantation and, get this: made our own coffee. More or less from start to finish, except that once the "berries" are harvested, the beans have to be taken out and dried, so we started with dried beans, but we crushed the hulls off, sorted out the beans, roasted the beans, crushed the coffee and then brewed it. We may not be the most practiced coffee roasters, but I think it's impossible for coffee that fresh to be bad.

Afterwards, we went over to Lake Duluti for a hike. There are caves in the rock face around the lake where local Christians go to pray, and I can understand their attraction to the location. With Meru towering over the green hills and equally green lake, it's hard not to marvel after God's creative and loving heart.

Then, of course, we watched the world cup. I was pulling for the Netherlands and so was disappointed, however, there were fireworks visible outside our window after Spain won, and that made me pretty happy.

This is my last week of classes, it should be a little more laid back then the past few. I've turned in my research paper already and we don't have any speakers or field trips planned until Thursday. It will be nice to relax, read, and rebuild my energy for the month I have left in Arusha.

I miss all of you from home and pray for you guys a lot.

Picture time!

My camera battery was suffering this weekend, so all of these pictures are Rachel's (she goes to the U of M, too!) except that last one, which is Jenny's.

Our whole class at WEECE in Moshi

Me with my lovely roommates Libby and Colleen before going to Maasai Camp for Pizza.

Libby stirring our roasting coffee beans at Tengeru.

Jenny and I at Lake Duluti.