Palm Sunday, Meal in Town and Coffee Tour by… Kateri, Maddie Zack, JJ, and Cade

Palm Sunday, Meal in Town and Coffee Tour by… Kateri, Maddie Zack, JJ, and Cade

Sunday. God’s day. Today we slept in until 8am. Down time until 10am. Walked to church. We went to Palm Sunday mass a short 15 minute walk to the Cathedral. We saw some Albino people on the way there. The church was huge, and held what seemed like thousands of people. The heat started to set in an hour into the Passion. Perhaps Baba Dick forgot this mass would last two hours. The people of the church often left to take a break in the shade outside. Despite the unfortunate affects of the current climate, the choir and moral was invigorating. The Eucharistic procession was interesting, as people got up to flood the front of the cathedral when they pleased. A nun and the priest paced back and forth across the front of the church to serve us communion. We did enjoy the church despite it being completely incoherent to us as it was full Swahili.

After mass we met up in groups of five to six people and two Uru Secondary School students. We conversed with them and brought them out to lunch with us. Some restaurants were close but some were quite the hike. Kateri ate at a coffeehouse and had chicken and ham pizza with a chocolate milk shake. JJ had an array of Indian cuisine. Cade and Maddie went to Indo-Italiano. Cade got some pasta and shared a 5 piece with his friends. His vanilla shake tasted kind of like a protein shake but he still destroyed it. Maddie split Mozza sticks and a Margharita pizza with Katelyn. All was well. We racked up quite a tab so make sure to replenish your kid’s bank accounts. We had fly catchers surrounding us, but our skills against their persistent bargaining are improving, slowly. Talking with the students was incredibly interesting, learning about their different life styles and big aspirations. They explained the differences between Tanzanian and American education. Originally the plan was to meet at the post office to catch our bus at 2pm, African time of course. Which meant that we didn’t get our food until 2:45 and had to devour it accordingly. Devon and Noah struggled to finish their mountains of food they ordered, despite their contesting that it would be a conquerable feat. We finally hopped on the very crowded Dala Dala at around 3:20pm. Very, very crowded. 40 minute ride to the coffee tour. Two little, old men showed us the life cycle of a coffee bean and harvesting, processing, and roasting coffee right in front of us. The end product was strong with a capital strong. Black as the night, the majority of us enjoyed the time we spent there, but not the coffee. We then dropped off the Uru students. On the way back, Cade and Sara performed an enticing duet to Shape of You, by Ed Sheeren. Good night, we’re going to sleep.

Hi Mom and Dad, hope you’re enjoying the empty house, love you!- Kateri

Hi, Grandma hope you have a great Easter! Love you- JJ

Mom, Dad, Cate, be smart, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Love ya- Mads

Hey Mom and Dad, I love you! Hey Josie, James, Stan and Claire, I miss my siblings. I’m having a great time and I will bring you all some gifts. -Cade

Our tour guide was just like Morgan Freeman...