Baller day!

Thursday (sassyday as it sounds when the locals pronounce Thursday here) Kris and I decided it was a good idea to buy the kids and teachers at school ice cream as a surprise and to make up for being a little late. We overslept and brought a couple of the new volunteers with us. We went one stop up from our school and visited a little ice cream stand where we took a while to get the man who owned it to understand what we needed. We eventually got him to understand and were able to buy 70 ice cream bars for the kids for only $53,000 which is about $25 USD. The kids had amazing smiles on their faces that made it all worth while. Most of them had never had ice cream from the looks of it. They didn't really know how to eat it and our room's floor was covered with ice cream spots all over the desks, floor, and chairs. Not that it mattered, our teacher Andrew was soo happy and excited about the ice cream. It was a day filled with happiness and joy for the kids and I wish I could give them moments like that more often. 

Picture below: One of my favorite pictures from the day of a little girl eating her ice cream! 

After school, Kris and I decided to venture into town and walk around. She ended up taking home one of the new volunteers because they were sick. I got to town with another new volunteer and showed her around for a bit. We ended up running into Megan and had some gelato together. We then headed in the direction of Wraps for burgers and to meet up with the others. After a few glitches and getting one of the sick volunteers home, I finally found everyone. There had been some phone issues but it didn't stop us from figuring it out. After lunch, everyone decided to go home except for Kris and I. We ventured to the Massai market where we purchased some gifts for our family and friends. There is only so much of the market I can handle as they all hassle and say "Come into my shop sister!" "It's free to look" which gets a bit tiring. I like to go in and get what I want and leave. I always pay an older man a visit I originally found with Antonia. I bought two sets of salad spoons from him and he ended up giving Kris and I bracelets for free! We got paintings and I got a bowl for my mom which is really cool! 

picture below: massai market shops

Once we were done there, we walked up the street and saw the Arusha Hotel. After getting heckled on the street to buy paintings, we decided we needed a drink to treat ourselves. Little did we know the adventure it would turn into. We sat down and ordered two Devils in the Deep Blue which sounded delicious on the menu but in reality was straight booze. We ordered a lemonade to chase it with as that was what was supposed to be in it. What we got was a Sprite which is considered lemonade here. Couldn't help but laugh! After encouragement and taking turns chasing our drink, we finally got them down and realized it was social night here at the house. We had no interest in coming home so we ordered chicken goujons (chicken fingers) and chips (fries) to split. We also had two more drinks which were MUCH better. They were similar to a Tequila Sunrise. We then payed a little visit to the casino to try and win a little money. Little did we know we spent all of the 5000 tsh we put on the card in one game, which we lost miserably. After four hours of sitting at the hotel and pretending we were staying there, we decided to head home. It was a long day filled with lots of activities but it has been one of my favorite days here. 

Picture above: Kris drinking her Devil in the Deep Blue! Living like queens even if for only 4 hours!

It was a wonderful day and one filled with so many laughs and interesting events. Kris has become one of my closest friends here and my partner in crime. We're both blonde and love to have a good time so it's a good combo to have! 

With love from Africa,

Lauren