My Big Sis is Coming to See Me!

I'm very excited - my sister Paula is coming to visit me here this weekend for a week. A music teacher in Dublin, she only has a week's holiday for mid-term break. But I'm so happy to know that I will see her after nine months. She probably won't have any room for her own luggage after she brings my order of a hot water bottle, some clothes, some stuff for the school and a variety of other things. But as long as she brings herself, I'll be happy.

I don;t know if she'll get much of a rest as I want to show her as much of Arusha and it's outskirts as I possibly can. Flying into Nairobi on Saturday night, where I will meet her, we'll take the bus back to Arusha the following morning and arrive there five horus later, on Sunday afternoon.

I'll probably drag her out for lunch and to a local craft market in the afternoon adn then let her rest that evening after we feed her again.
Monday is St Judes Day so she will see the school at it's busiest and most lively because we are having a huge celebration here. It will start with a church type service in the morning, where the children and staff bring gifts in an offertory procession as a gesture of thanksgiving to St Jude. Those gifts (mostly food) will be given to local poor families. Then in the afternoon, every class (23 of them) will perform - a dance, a song, a poem, a play etc.
On Tuesday, we will go to school as normal and she will help in my class and in the Music class. After school on Tuesday, we will take my family's sponsor child swimming and then back home so we can meet her family. Then we will come back to school for a hallowe'en party.
On Wednesday, we are going to a local National Park - maybe Tarangire or perhaps Ngoro Ngoro crater so she can have a quick safari and see the local wildlife.
On Thursday, we will be in school again, and we'll duck into town so she can see the Rwanda Tribunal being held by the UN at the Arusha International Conference Centre. Then after school, we will go to her sponsor child's family for a meal and to meet them.
Then on Friday, it's time for the School Assembly in the morning where she will hopefully be able to get the children to perform a song she has taught them. Then she will help us with testing the children for next year.
and finally on Saturday, she will come shopping with me in the local markets to buy food for our kitty. That's a real experience before she gets on the bus back to Nairobi to fly home, probably exhausted, but hopefully a little more inspired about Africa and the school.

It will be so nice to show the school to someone from my family, so they can see what an amazing place this is. I want her to meet the beautiful children that I teach and some of their families; our teachers; my friends and everyone else I know here. I want her to see a little of the real Tanzania. She hasn't been to a third world country before so I think it will be a real culture shock but I think (hope) she loves it as much as I do, so that she can go home to my family and let them know that this a worthwhile way for me to spend a couple of years. And hopefully the rest of my family will follow her out next year to visit me.

If you haven't been here and are thinking of it, just come! It's incredible to experience this country and the school. It's worth saving for or taking the time off work. With National Parks teeming with wildlife, amazing mountains like Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru, beautiful beaches in Zanzibar, amazing local villages, the UN Tribunal for the Rwanda Genocides and so much more, it's worth seeing. It has changed my life and that of many people who come here!