Today I went into a suburb of Moshi to meet Thadei's family. His wife Christine, and kids Irene, Aiden, and Joshua. What a lovely family!! I also met many of the neighbors, mostly children, who came out to see me. The kids are so fun, innocent, and full of laughter and love. I taught them how to play thumb wars and do the hokey pokey! I remember I was so exhausted I wasn't sure if I could last the evening but once I got there and met the kids I fell in love. There was one little girl about 3 years old who wanted me to hold her and walk with her. Any time I would put her down she just wanted me to pick her up again! She had the brightest smile! She followed me everywhere (I carried her everywhere!) even back to Thadei's for dinner. It was dark by this time so I asked where her mother was and wouldn't she be worried and Thadei said that her mom had recently passed away from "depression," and the little girl was being raised by her sisters (all orphans, who knows where the dad went) and the rest of the community.
We walked down to the river where women were collecting water in big buckets and carrying the buckets on their heads back to their houses for cooking and washing. The walk to the river was about a quarter of a mile, not easy to do with a large heavy bucket on your head!
The meal Christine cooked was amazing! Curried bananas and lentils (Thadei remembered I don't eat much meat), fresh grilled Amazon perch (looks like pihrana!), watermelon, and vegetables from a nearby garden. All the food in Tanzania was excellent! I never had a bad meal.
Christine gave me a gift of two skirts (called a kanga) in beautiful blue and white, that are so soft and comfortable! After the meal she and the kids all pile into the car to drive me back to my hostel. Another amazing day in Kilimanjaro!