Letter No: 4 October 15,2002

Dear fam!

So I have a small break here at my internship right now, so I thought I'd write home. This first week is a little interesting because yesterday was a holiday, and they are doing testing everyday this week, except for today. Today happens to be the one day a week I am not scheduled to teach, nor are Crystal or Fred. So were getting an extra dose of observation and preparation time. It's fine though as with these big classes I feel like I could use the extra preparation time.

Stella's wedding was a bunch of excitement that begun in the early morning hours, and didn't end until midnight. First there was the ceremony which was held in a church and was much like any American ceremony. The family is Lutheran, so I guess that shouldn't have been a surprise.

The reception after the wedding had a good 400 guests [Click Here For Images]. More would have come as well, except that is was made by invitation only affair. This was actually quite a big cultural scandal though, as it is not considered good to pick and choose your friends. There were armed guards and a big rope to keep people out. If they had not done that though, it would have been like the last wedding I went to with room for 350 but 900 present. Most of whom were there for the free food and alcohol. The wedding committee had to make a decision beforehand, and it was one that certainly appealed to my American sense of order, but probably frustrated others. As for everything else. it was beautiful. Stella looked gorgeous and really happy. I took three rolls of film, which I will hopefully get around to getting developed soon and able to snag a few pictures from Stella to send home.

On Sunday (the wedding was Saturday), I met up with a bunch of other PCT's in search of a lake that was supposed to be nearby to go hiking around. We found the lake, and went for a nice walk, but it really wasn't a hike. Regardless, it was really nice to get out of the city and see some of the area around Arusha. We were on the top of a hill, and could see pretty far...it was just lots of greenery, combined with plains and trees for as far as I could see. I can't wait to get out of Arusha and see my sight. I find out November 6th!!

Lots of love,

Jessica