Crashing Kilwa: Merry Christmas!

Before getting into the good things, I have some sad news from the past week. I could no longer stand the heat produced from the mop on my head. I succumbed to the pressure and shaved my head. Please do not morn my loss, however, for I will suffer less in the heat now that I have lost a significant layer of insulation. It's been 5 years since I last had short hair so I, at least, had a moment of reflection. You'll notice pictures below (some pre-cut, some post-cut).

I hope everyone back in the states is having a great holiday and Christmas time. I've been enjoying some cooler weather, some American food, and some kids play time with the Andersons in Uganda.

I was worried I had been looking forward to a break from the heat in Tanzania so much that it would be a let down but I haven't been disappointed. I've had more restful sleep and have felt more clean this past week than I have since arriving in Africa. The Andersons have a wonderful home with many of the ammenities you'd find back in The States (basically all the food products you could get back home, a projector movie set up with speakers, Christmas tree and Christmas tree lights, virtually no mosquitoes, hot showers, etc). It's been a restful haven and I'm very thankful for time off to relax and regenerate.

Our Christmas has been mostly what I'm used to from home (insert new family with 4 children though :) ). We did have a traditional Ugandan meal today with all the kids from the Rafiki village that Tyler and Kim work for (the Rafiki village is an orphanage and school that houses 100 family-less Ugandan children). But, otherwise it's been a lot of family hang out time, food, and relaxation.

I'm sad to leave tomorrow morning but excited to meet up with a number of other Global Health Corps fellows who've traveled to Zanzibar to celebrate New Years together. Zanzibar hasn't had power for over two weeks now so I'm sure I'll have more stories to tell from next week. But for now, happy holidays!