November 3, Fleecy, Fuzzy, Fantastically Froggy PJs

I am currently sitting in the nicely, but not overly, air-conditioned living room at Leah's house. I hate strong AC, so the lightly cool air is perfect. I'm listening to Leah's roommate, Steven, play some pretty guitar tunes and vegetating a little bit. I have been amazingly thirsty all day, so I'm sipping at some water and feeling the joys of fast internet. Not a bad way to spend Saturday afternoon, especially after traveling.

The car ride up here was good. I learned a lot about Joel, our AWESOME security guy, while he and the driver had some breakfast in Mombo. We left Lushoto at 7:00 am (amazingly on time), but stopped for chapati and some kind of beef soup once we hit the bottom of the mountain. I had a little fruit and ordered tea, but they had already put 10,000 tablespoons of sugar in the whole thermos, so I didn't end up drinking it.

FYI: Mombo is about 45 minutes to 1 hour away from Lushoto, and is basically a big stopping point for a lot of bus traffic. If you go up the mountain, you will reach Lushoto, but other directions will take you to Moshi, Arusha, Tanga, Dar etc. 

We stopped several times along the way so that Joel and the driver could buy produce. It's cheaper to get it road-side a lot of the time, though usually you need to buy such items in bulk. Joel got mangoes, pineapples, tomatoes, carrots, and some other vegetables like onions--all in huge plastic bags. The mangoes and pineapples seemed pretty delicious, but I didnt want to buy 20 of them. We arrived in Dar around 2:00 pm, but with traffic it took us a full hour to get to Leah's house. I took some of my luggage out to keep here at the house. The rest of my stuff will be stored at the PC office until I leave Dar....when that will happen and where I'll be going is still a question!

I finally opened up the packages my mom sent me. I was super excited by a couple early birthday gifts from my grandmother: fleece pj pants, two nice quick-dry towels, and food! I got some bouillon cubes and canned chicken, so I might try making some chicken soup this week. I was also really happy to see the nice tins my mom sent me. (Angel tin from my childhood and the frog pjs pretty much made my day.)

I may or may not see Ezra later on today. He was out touristing, and Leah is out at the beach. I'm curious to see how the week goes! But feeling generally pretty happy and positive today. Life is going to work out for the best--one way or another! Or, I sure hope so anyway!