Biking from Songea...Roasting Karanga

A lot to write about, but i dont want to take up too much of your time so i will be brief :)

The first picture above is from St. Laurent's this past Monday. It is me and some of my form VI students. i came to school in the afternoon to take some pictures of the classroom and school grounds to give myself some ideas of what future improvements i can do to help the school (like new paint for the walls, replacing door handles and broken windows...et. c. ) and of course when the kids see a camera, they all want their picture taken. So i decided i would hop in one of the pictures, too.

On Thursday, since i had the day off from classes, i went to a "feast" with Castor. a relative of one of his former teachers in the area is getting married soon so this was a "sendoff" party. I was of course the only mzungu present, and the best way i can describe it would be to call it another cultural experience. I am glad i was able to experience it. if you want to know more i have more to say just not here...

On saturday i went in to Songea on the early bus (7:30 from Hanga) went to the Songea bakery, did some clothes shopping, got lunch and some ice cream at SuperCafe and then set off for Hanga at about 1pm on my bike. It was a hot day! i drank about 2 liters of water on the ride back. the ride took me just over three hours, but that included some rest stops, like the one stop here with some kids from the surrounding village that were excited to see me with my bike riding through their home :) they were pretty happy to wear my sunglasses and helmet, too.

Here is a shot of Hanga monastery in the distance on the road coming back home...

I wanted to be somehow involved in the current MLB playoffs, even though the Twins are done, so i figured i would cheer for the next biggest long shot, the Cubbies. as you can see, the shirt is a bit too small...it was the best i could find! i guess my support from afar had no effect on the teams success, either. another disappointing post season...

I am pictured here with the new German volunteers Anne and Lennart. they will be staying in Hanga for the next 9 months...new friends!

At the end of last week I decided that I wanted to learn to roast my own peanuts :) Castor had a bunch of raw ground nuts in his office at St. Laurent's and some of the women who cook there said they would help me. Charlie and I went over in the afternoon on Friday...and the end product...delicious! very simple process, too. a little water, salt, oil. i think next time we will try honey roasted.

who looks more natural stirring the roasting nuts? please comment...

Since the peanut roasting went so well, today i was back at the school in the afternoon for some help with roasting the raw dried coffee beans i got from PCV James! It was a long process...i will write more about it and have plenty of pictures next post.

all for now. thanks for reading!