Should we go left or right?

Yesterday I went to church at Sanga Sanga. The village is only a few kilometers from my school. Unfortunately that is as the crow flies....there aren't really any direct roads to the village. Rob had only been to the village once, using a road that we thought was closed. In spite of this, we were the lead car for our caravan. The pictures show a crossroad of sorts that we came to. I think it is a good example of what the roads look like throughout much of this region. As you can see neither road seemed too promising. The trip ended up taking us 3.5 hours. Thankfully because we were taking 2 cars it was not necessary to cram as many people as possible into Rob and Linda's car. It has been raining so there were areas of road that were muddy. It was a fun trip but there were definetly times when I wondered if we would get stuck or get a flat tire, like we did last Sunday. There is a reason that Tanzanians wish each other a safe trip before traveling; driving for any distance can be dangerous.

When we neared Sanga Sanga I caught my first glimpse of the Barabaig. The Barabaig wear distinctive red or black clothes and are cattle herders. We were all excited when we saw 2 people waiting just outside of Sanga Sanga to greet us. A church is in the process of being built. So instead of meeting in a building, benches from the school were carried outside under some trees. While we waited for church to begin the Barabaig men of marrying age gathered together in a group. They began singing. Slowly a group on young women in ceremonial outfits began coming into the square. They gathered across from the men. The men will sing and jump to attract the attention of the women. It was amazing to see how high they were able to jump. After awhile some of the women began jumping too. I was told that the young women will return home to discuss their marriage prospects with their family. I am not really certain what happens after that. The ceremony was stopped early for the church service. Afterwards we were served dinner. This time there were some spoons, but unfortunately not enough for everyone. I am still trying to master eating rice with my hand. I tend to make a mess and leave a pile of rice around my feet! It is also nearly impossible to get the oil from the sauce off with water when I'm finished. I was one of 3 single women in the group. During dinner one of the village elders mentioned that he would be honored if one of us would stay in the village and marry his son. We were given the added incentive of having the entire village convert to Christianity if one of us stayed. As thrilling as that prospect was, we all quickly piled back into our cars for the trip home. We were able to use the approaching storm and darkness as a reason for our quick departure. We were a short distance from Sanga Sanga when we came to the first fork in the road. After driving in circles all day no one really remembered which was to go. Josh and Rob got out to try and look for tire tracks. Unfortantely the rain had already removed them all! Thankfully we were able to find our way back towards the sisal plantation near the school. Once we got there Rob was able to direct us towards the road crossing the river in the planation. It was the same road we had not taken that morning. As we approached the bridge I learned why. Just as we were about to cross Rob says, "I hope the bridge will hold us!" These were not the most encouraging words I'd ever heard. Praise the Lord the bridge held us for all of us to cross. The short cut allowed us to make it back to the school in just over an hour, which we were all very thankful for.