Easter Production

 

A few weeks ago I posted briefly about the Easter production that the CAMS primary students put on.  As I said, it was a lot of work, but a lot of fun!  During the actual production, I spent my time organizing my students and dodging rain bullets so I didn’t have time to take my own pictures.  Luckily someone was willing to post some great ones on the CAMS Facebook page.  I suspect it was the great Jenny Beckwith, who is the usual culprit! 

Each class was responsible for one part of the Easter story.  Standard 1 was in charge of Palm Sunday, which meant that my class got to go first.  Jesus and his disciples paraded in and Jesus sent two of them to fetch a donkey.  When they returned with the donkey and his owner in tow, the rest of the crowd entered singing “Ho, ho, ho, ho-o-sanna” and waving their palm branches in the air.  Every time I watched them during rehearsals, they did a fantastic job! 

The rest of the story was taken by the other classes.  Standards 2 through 6 showed their versions of the Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ capture, the Trial, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.  The kids from Nursery and Reception came in and sang the most adorable song ever and some of the Standard 7’s even came and took part.  It was a hit!

 

Standard 1 singing "Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho-o-sanna"

 

 

Standard 6

Standard 2

Standard 5

Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 all joined in to sing "Hosanna in the Highest."

Standard 3

Standard 7

Nursery and Reception.  Possibly the cutest ever!!



Standard 2

Standard 6

Standard 2

 

Break!!

Well, Lent is almost over and Easter Eve has finally found its way to Tanzania.  I couldn’t be more excited about Easter this year not only because I get to celebrate it in such an amazing place, but because my Lenten discipline has been harder this year than ever before!  Sure, I’ve given up pop and chocolate for almost 15 years now, but at home there have been other options.  I’m really getting tired of tea, water, and juice and an actual candy bar will be amazing.  Chocolate for breakfast?  I think so!

Anyway, a lot has happened in the 2 weeks since I was last able to write.  I was once again blessed with the opportunity to travel a bit around Tanzania with the wonderful Maria!  We started our adventure in Arusha visiting her family.  Oh yeah, and I got to go to the Ngorongoro Crater again.  No big deal...

 

This is Lucy.  She found herself.

After a few days in Arusha, we took the bus to Moshi.  We spent the afternoon helping a friend and fellow teacher unload a shipping container into her new place there.  She is moving there to take over a primary school.  Exciting for her!  It was great to get to help her because she is a fellow American and had packed her container about 2 years ago.  It was kind of like taking a step back home for a few hours.  I got to ogle at her Red Lobster and Olive Garden bags, drool over her Heinz beans, and dig around for her jar of Miracle Whip.  Afterword she treated us to a late lunch and we got to go shopping.  One thing Moshi has that Dodoma doesn’t have is a supermarket… like one with carts… and a machine that prints your receipt…  It was amazing!

 

We spent only one night in Moshi this time before heading on to Dar es Salaam.  I had only spent about 8 hours in Dar in my whole time in Tanzania, and they were all in the dark, after a 2-day long flight experience.  I was excited to get to see more of it.  Boy was I amazed!!

 

Not only are there infinitely more restaurant options, but there are also shopping malls and supermarkets that stock imported goods.  I got to eat Reese’s Pieces for the first time in 9 months! (If you remember my brief rant above about not having non-chocolate options for lent, you will see the importance in this statement,)  I also got my first taste of Ethiopian cuisine.  We saw restaurants serving traditional Tanzanian food as well as Himalayan, Brazilian, Italian, and even spotted a few Subway and KFC restaurants.  It amazes me that such a different world can be found only an 8-ish hour bus ride away.

  

Even more of a blessing in Dar was a meeting with a friend of Maria’s.  She was excited to catch up with a friend she had known as a student at CAMS.  It just so happened that this friend is pregnant and due any day, so had been staying with her mother.  That has left her apartment empty.  She offered it to us, free of charge, so that we could stay and make it seem like someone lives there.  We couldn’t turn down such an amazing offer!  It became even more exciting as we learned that our return to Dodoma would have to be delayed due to some extreme rain and flooding on the route home.  A major bridge between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma had once again sustained some damage and busses weren’t running that route.

 

We chose to stay in Dar rather than spend the extra 2 or so hours the alternative route demands.  This allowed us 2 extra days to explore the city.  We took that time to do some more shopping and to pamper ourselves a bit.  We stumbled across a spa in one of the malls and Maria took the opportunity to get a massage and a haircut by someone who knows how to cut mzungu hair.  I treated myself to a manicure and arm massage that was pretty amazing.  The sacrifices that missionaries make…

 

One more note before I let you get back to your regularly scheduled day.  Be sure to check out the Lenten reflections my fellow YASCers and I have been writing.  There are some amazing minds out there serving the Anglican Communion!  Tomorrow is Easter, so keep an eye out for pictures of Easter celebrations from all around the world!  http://yasclenten.blogspot.com

Term 3 Comes To An End!

Well, we made it!  Term 3 has come to an end, and what an end it was!!  Because of the bishop’s funeral we had a short week this week.  Our last day was Wednesday, which for part of CAMS was full of the Easter production and assemblies. 

 

Standard One was only involved in the Easter production.  We were in charge of Palm Sunday, which was great because we got to be crafty as we made our palms to wave in the air.  I am SO proud of my kiddos.  They were loud enough to be heard at the back of a room full of people (even with a torrential downpour pounding the metal roof with huge drops of water) and no one forgot their parts.  I’m sure I was cute, but I spent a lot of the time that they were on stage running around the building trying to dodge the water balloons the sky had decided to let out of the clouds so I could be near the stage to help the kids off.  It seemed like weeks of practice, rehearsals, and singing was all over in about 5 minutes.  It was worth it, though.

 

We went back to the classroom and had a bit of an Easter party.  The Easter Bunny even came and hid a piece of candy for everyone.  We watched a movie and went home at the end of the day saying goodbye to everyone for about two and a half weeks.  I love my class, but would be lying if I told you I would rather spend these next two weeks teaching them than taking a break. 

 

I wish I had pictures of the Easter Production, but since I wasn’t able to watch it I wasn’t able to take any.  I am hoping to take some off of someone who was able to.  Since there was such a short amount of time between the end of school and when everyone headed off for breaks, I don’t have them yet. 

 

I’m off tomorrow morning (I hate to use the word “morning” when I’m talking about a time when the sun isn’t even up yet) to Arusha.  LOTS of fun things are planned, including another day in the Ngorongoro Crater, helping a friend set up her house in Moshi, and some time at the beach!  I’m leaving my computer at home as I travel around the country this time, but I will be bringing my camera.  Prepare yourselves for a picture extravaganza when I return! 

 

I also realized that it’s been a while since I’ve thanked the people who have helped me get here!  I was so excited about Term 3 and the YASC Lenten Devotions (Which you can check out at http://yasclenten.blogspot.com) that I missed a couple of months!!  So, TONS of thanks to the people who have brought me January, February, and March:

 

January:

Bill and Doris Lucas, The Kellers, Pat and Gary Strnad, The Stephens Family, Kate and Warren Murphy, Marshall Dominick, Russell Keegan, David Dominick, Ernie McFarlane, Mom and Dad, The Bargain Box and Christ Church Mission Committee

 

February:

The Kellers, Bill and Doris Lucas, Connie and Jay Moody, Betsy and Dan Sell, Kate and Warren Murphy, Sophia Nyquest, Jill Carow, Casey Horton, Bill Garlow, The Call Family, and The Bishop John Smylie

 

March:

Bill Garlow,  The Kellers, Marshall Dominick, Kate and Warren Murphy, Kenneth Patterson, Press Stephens and The Foundation for the Episcopal Church in Wyoming