Gaudete In Domino

On our last day in Matamba we visited the classrooms and recorded each class signing a song for the St. Mary's students.  I am having trouble uploading video but I think that after this weekend there should be some available on the St. Mary's School, Owatonna, website. This is the mountain road to the village.  Not even the steepest part. We headed back toward Dar es Salaam with an overnight in Morogoro.  Along the way we finally had a chance to meet Bishop Alfred who was on his way back to Njombe.  We had a nice visit and dinner with him.  Here he is with Denny and I.  We stayed at a very nice religious conference center.  We arrived really late at night (around 11 p.m.) but were able to rouse someone to let us in to our rooms.  The next morning we slept in a little and then tried to find an internet cafe.  No internet service available.  That seemed like a pretty common occurance.  Either electricity or internet (or both) seem...

Finally - after many days of travel we arrived in the village of Matamba.  It was mid-afternoon when we finally arrived.  Matamba is in the high lands and it took us about 40 minutes to get up the mountain via a series of very sharp switchbacks.  The road was not paved (as was true of most of the roads we travelled) and I can't imagine what it would be like in the wintertime when the rainy season starts. After we went up the mountain there was a short drive across the plateau to the village. When we arrived at the gate the children, the priests, the sisters, the teachers were waiting for us and led us the final short distance to the parish grounds. It was a time of great excitement and welcome.  I have to say I was very moved by the welcome we received.  The children clung to us and almost dragged us along.  It was great to see their enthusiasm. When we arrived at the parish grounds we were seated at a specially decorated table and the parish prie...

On the second day of our stay we headed from Dar es Salaam to the Mikumi National Park.  We spent the late morning and afternoon driving through the park looking for animals.  The area of the park is huge and so the animals range freely.  As you can see the park is very dry at the moment because they are moving from winter into summer (south of the equator so opposite seasons from here).  The summer is the rainy season and Fr. Mbiche recommended that we not come much later since the weather would be more changeable and with the dirt roads would make travel much more difficult.  We were very fortunate in the number of animals we saw.  There were many impalas which we saw throughout the park.  After registering we made our way with our guide to our cabins.  These were much more comfortable than the ones that Denny and Tammy stayed in six years ago. They had attached bathrooms and showers - the lap of luxury.  We settled our belongings, made...

We spent the entire first day in the vicinity of Dar es Salaam.  Part of this was to allow Fr. Mbiche to do some business in town.  Part was to get a taste for "Dar" and to see Bogamoyo where Christianity first came to Tanzania in the mid nineteenth century.  I commented to Fr. Mbiche during our time together that I didn't think I could live in Dar es Salaam.  It is very congested.  A large city with several million people.  There are areas of more comfort but I felt that it was very tight and also (at this time of the year) very dusty.  Since so few streets are paved the dust hangs in the air.  I did notice, however, that the inside of houses and buildings were quite clean and dust free.  I am not sure what their secret is but it seems to work.  It is really when one is outside that one feels the heat, the humidity and the dust.  We drove through the Oyster Bay area which contains many of the embassies and the houses of the wealt...

Our flight for Tanzania left on Monday, October 22 in the mid-afternoon.  Fr. Michael Cronin drove us to the airport in Minneapolis for our departure.  We were grateful for that. We packed a lot of things to take with us to Tanzania.  I filled a suitcase with t-shirts, rosaries, ditty bags, candy and school supplies (pens and pencils).  Denny filled a bag with frisbees, toys, candy and other items.  We also took our regular bags with our clothes and personal items. We were able to check in online on Monday morning which made the airport arrival run more smoothly.  Making sure we had tickets, passports and visas we made our way to the gate.  I was trying to arrange for my phone to work in Tanzania but never was able to do that.  I was without personal phone or internet for 10 days - and I survived! Our transatlantic flight was uneventful.  I did some reading, played some games on the plane entertainment system and watched a movie....

Unfortunately, all of the pictures I took on the ipad while in Tanzania have disappeared!  The videos are still able to be accessed so that is good since they are films of the students singing for our students here in Owatonna.  Fortunately, my partner in this adventure, Denny Werner, took a lot of pictures and we have his, along with some video he shot.  I will start to upload pictures and videos over the next few days to try to get a good record of our trip.

On Saturday, October 28, Denny Werner and I arrived at Matamba in the mid-afternoon.  We spent Friday night at Njombe which is the seat of the bishop.  We stayed at the Cathedral rectory.  Unfortunately the Bishop was away but the priests in residence treated us very well.  We were especially appreciative because Friday was the day we had car trouble and our arrival was quite late.  A meal was ready for us and we had an interesting discussion learning about the diocese and then it was time for bed. We left around mid day and made our way to Matamba.  The last 40 minutes or so was up the mountain.  There were over 50 steep and sharp switchbacks which made for a rather harrowing ride.  Fortunately, Fr. Mbiche has done this many times and was an expert at navigating the road.  It was a very ride and I am glad we were not doing it in the rainy season when I am sure it is even more treacherous. When we arrived at Matamba the pastor (Fr....

I will be posting some entries over the next couple of days as I get pictures and videos available.  They will not be in a particular order for the moment but should give a sense of our adventures.  I have had wonderful conversations with some of the parishioners since I returned and it is great to see the interest shared by so many people.