Bricks, Singing, and Dancing

We are happy to report that we have a full brick wall enclosing what will eventually be the cooking area of the new kitchen building at the school. We didn't get quite enough sun today for the mortar to dry fully, so we had to walk away before completing the part of the building they call the "lenta."  It's a frame of concrete and rebar that goes around the top of the brick wall to form a header of sorts to support more concrete block and, eventually, the roof.  We will commence with the lenta tomorrow.

Along with the success of our wall completion, we had a great day teaching English today.  We rejoined the same class from yesterday and put Olivia and Anthony in charge.  They reviewed the prepositions from yesterday and added in "above." They put rocks on each of the shared student desks and used them to get the students to answer the question "Where is the rock?"  Several of us fanned out into the room and put rocks on our heads, on their heads, in front of us, and behind us to help them get the prepositions down.  The Tanzanian students did really well, as did the SMC ones.  We even started to pick up some of their songs, including one that says "When I hear, I forget; when I see, I remember.  When I do, I understand; when I do, I understand."  They also have one that we can't catch the verses of but the chorus of which says "We like peace; we love peace."  It's sweet.

We came home for lunch and once again met a sudden downpour.  Lots of us capitalized on the clouds and rainfall to squeeze in an afternoon nap.  It rained through the time that we expected to leave, so we got an extra thirty minutes or so of rest as we waited for the rain to end.  It finally did.

We returned to the worksite to find that we couldn't make any new progress, so we asked our friend Jackson to take us for a walk in a different direction than we've been walking up to now.  He decided to take us along the road to a Wildlife Conservation College, which, sadly, does not contain any actual wildlife.  We still enjoyed walking to see new sights, including a different primary school from which 100 or more students swarmed us like we were visiting celebrities.  They walked along with us and we all sang and danced together to the best of our abilities.

We squeezed in some laundry at the end of the evening but we are not optimistic that things are going to dry properly before tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully the clouds and rain will cooperate.  DIRTies from trips gone by know very well how sour things can turn when laundry doesn't go our way.  We hope to avoid the mildew and grossness that other teams have faced.

We were all back home in the daylight hours, so we sat around together and did little brainteaser puzzles from some "lateral thinking" books that we have with us; it turns out we are pretty good at them when we all put our heads together.  We can create pretty complex scenarios far outside of the parameters set up by the books.  And so far, eventually we figure out the answer that the book was leading to in the first place.

It's kind of cold tonight.  Actually, it's kind of cold every night.  But tonight there is a chilly wind that is making things feel even colder.  We are testing out the new firepit that some of our guys helped build a couple of days ago. We pulled a speaker out there and played some songs from the Lion King and even "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in honor of our African home.  We have a pretty sparse existence here, but we find that being surrounded by immense natural beauty -- and each other -- makes it feel pretty luxurious.

We have a new Purple Biker tonight: Scott.  Scott is probably the most conscientious worker of all of us: always aware of all of the needs of the worksite, always anticipating the next move of our professional contractors, always watching out for the rest of us, and always doing a little more than his share.  He somehow got cast as a martial arts ninja type person by the kids at the school, so they are constantly approaching him making little karate chop moves.  He plays along in the most friendly possible spirit and they adore him.  So do we.  Yay, Scott!

 Today’s sunset was absolutely beautiful. We got to watch this while laughing and telling riddles at the dining table.

 After lunch we walked past our worksite and walked a few miles downhill into Moshi. The hike back up to camp we believe was about three miles.

During our hike through Mweka we walked past a primary school that was being let out. The kids swarmed us and followed us for our whole walk.

 While walking with the kids they picked these flowers and handed them to us. So sweet!

During our walk we passed the College for African Wildlife Management. Sorry for the bad quality. 

 Another day of mixing sand, mortar, and cement!

 Ferdinand, one of the master craftsmen, finishes the final layer of brick for the kitchen wall.

 Maddie and Sharoni chilling on a hot summer day.

 While walking with the kids, they picked flowers and gave them to the DIRTies.

Lindsay and the kids showing their best superhero walk. 

 A sunset with an upside down perspective.

 Picture of Abraham and his sister hanging out with the DIRT team while we are taking a rest break from laying bricks

 A picture of Jackson and Barnabas laying the last layer of bricks for the kitchen.

 Olivia smiling after her first teaching lesson at the school.

Working on an English exercise about prepositions.