Thursday, 12/02/09 - from sara

today was an extraordinary day - joyfulness, giving, communicating, and growing up. we did everything today including what we were supposed to do yesterday while we were sick. two days work all in one! visited two schools today. performed for them and gave them all a smile once again. there is so much discipline in the schools. so much respect. maybe we should take in all they do here and take it to practice in the u.s. maybe our schools and generations would not be so in trouble with our lack of acceptance of one another and see eachother as a threat, but as a friend. we did four home visits today!! all of them amazing people. one house was a maasai's house. he had a beautiful family. to be honest, i fear that if i smile they would think i'm making fun of them, which i'm not. i've just come to a point of not worrying about it anymore and will continue to smile for the kids. mr. billy told me to smile and now i understand why!

today i held a baby named sara! she was so precious. she was the fourth born of the family. i tried to make her smile cuz i opened my arms and my heart to her. we had a moment and that moment was remarkable!

we went to the orphanage and taught there. man, did i have fun!! we got there and set up and we had time to mingle...so cheyenne and i did. the girls there are so funny. i really didn't know what to expect, but hey, they are fun gals! soon after, it was time to teach. julian and i got the big girls. we taught the punda (zebra) dance from our "lion king" number. they learned it faster than expected. once the teaching was over, everyone did it. it was really unbelievable to see kids who haven't had any dance training to learn so quickly and to do all the steps so well...me and mr. billy both taught a dance. i could actually say with confidence i did a pretty darn good job!!! at times i couldn't breathe but he you gotta do what you gotta do :-) it was so funny cuz i couldn't hear them say "yes" in swahilli, so i would say "yes" in swahilli and we ended up yelling back and forth to eachother. we all screamed! we came back to the lodge and went swimming for a while and associated with the doctors and nurses. i found out tanzania has a gorgeous gem. one of the doctors bought one. it's a blue stone called tanzanite!!

today we had a team cpsoa tanzania meeting. it was pretty intense. yes, i do have a lot of growing up to do. yes, i have a lot to take responsbility for. i was waiting for this trip to show me what i need to take responsibility in and what i need to do in life. mr. billy told us we have to grow up and be mature. this is the time and day i need to open my eyes and be an adult! i'm bringing back responsibility and maturity back to america!!!

love, sara

p.s. i miss every single one of you! x0x0x0