a typical friday in arusha

Selina, Eunice and I went into the Tribunal Friday morning, thinking it would be business as usual. We walked through the security checks, and Selina tried to throw some garbage away in a big bin and was chastised. "That's not for garbage." Upon asking what the bin was for, we learned it was for containing explosions. huh.

After making tea and settling into our offices, we began hearing sirens, and were called into the office of one of our colleagues. "Come see the presidents!" So we crawled out her window onto the ledge to watch the procession. Tanzania's president, Kikwete came first. He and his crew paused and smiled and seemed to enjoy the large group of traditional African dancers welcoming them. He was followed by the presidents of Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. We saw the first three from the balcony, but upon some angry glances and gestures from the security on the ground we realized we were making people nervous. So we saw the last two from only 10 feet away down on the ground. I was really surprised at how loose security seemed. Undoubtedly there would have been five times the amount of security used for these five men used for Obama.

Our classmates were having a different adventure on this morning. It had rained something like inches the night before, making the drive to see Heifer projects in Arusha quite interesting. I was getting texts about adventures of the car getting stuck in the mud. I was bummed I missed that.

I had lunch with a wonderful friend from Australia, though we were soaking wet and really cold from the downpour outside. We treated ourselves to steak and red wine, and I had the privilege of explaining what snow was like to someone who had never seen or touched it. I must have done an okay job because her face looked as excited as a little kid finding out its a snow day (of course, I had to explain snow days to her, too). I think my mind was equally blown when she told me that often times Christmas day after opening presents they have an outdoor pool party.

We went to the infamous Spices and Herbs Restaurant last night. It was the first time I had been back since the robbery, and they patched the bullet holes! We went for a ritzy Ethiopian dinner and fashion show.

There you have it. Typical Friday in Arusha. Always something going on :0)