Day 5 - Team Building, a Market Excursion, and Fun Night!

Hi everyone! It's Lily and Liliana. We had a very relaxing day to regroup before breaking for our homestays tomorrow! 



We started off with a late breakfast, followed by some team building games. We talked about the three levels of comfort (our comfort zone, stretch zone, and panic zones), as well as how to handle situations that we may encounter during our homestays. We also played some games to practice different levels of challenging ourselves to practice getting out of our comfort zones. After, we had some time to chill out in our rooms, before heading across the street for lunch. We were all very excited to have some food that reminded us of home: fried chicken, french fries, and pizza! 





Then we walked down the street to a store to buy postcards, and after to the post office to send them home. We have no idea if they'll make it back before we do, but keep an eye on your mailboxes anyway! Next we split into two groups--where Roya quickly became the 4th victim of the Tanzanian Jersey Club™️--and headed to downtown Karatu to explore the market. We talked about the most popular types of food sold (lots of sardines!) and learned that the best way to tell if meat if fresh, is by the number of flies that are around it. After we regrouped to go buy some rain boots in anticipation of the wet weather to come this week. We were approached by some curious locals, but were kept very safe by our trusty translator, Tim. There were some interesting choices of footwear (unicorns and zootopia were popular themes) but the most important thing is that everyone has boots that fit and will keep their feet dry! 





Next we walked back towards the main road to stop in a grocery store, and buy some ice cream. There were a few people who still didn't have a watch with them, so after stopping at a few stores, we found enough digital watches with alarms, and headed back to the hotel. 

Upon our arrival, we negotiated with Randall to move out group meeting to after dinner, to allow more time to hang out, specifically in the pool! Almost everyone jumped in and braved the cold water, while some others just read or journaled nearby. We were all flabbergasted by Hunter's impressive water polo skills, which he so kindly attempted to teach us. After a few rounds of 'colors' and sharks and minnows, everyone got out of the water and hung out while listening to some music. 

    
                                          

Eventually we cleaned up and headed to dinner, where we got to try some cucumber soup! After we headed down to the campfire and enjoyed a sing along backed by Ari's guitar skills, featuring duets with Mr. Mitchell, and solos by Gio, Aidan, and Joshua! 

                                           


Luckily we get to sleep in a bit tomorrow after a late night, but we are all eager to head to the Banjika school and meet our homestay families! 

Peace out ✌,
Lily and Liliana





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