Mwaka Mpya

Mwaka Pya.  A New Year. New Beginnings.  We have now been in Tanzania for 6 months.  We have survived the holidays away from our families.  For Christmas we visited our friend Beth in Tukuyu once more.  We only had Christmas Day and Boxing Day off, so it was a short visit.  We made chili, Jason bought a little Christmas Tree in a stationary store in Mbeya, we watched Beth open her Christmas box, and we read the story of Jesus' birth.  It was a merry little Christmas.

When I asked my fellow Tanzanians how they celebrated Christmas they responded that they travel home to visit their family and eat pilau (spiced rice-the traditional Tanzanian celebration food).  Turns out here in the opposite hemisphere people spend Christmas with their loved ones too!

A belated Merry Christmas from the Lavalleurs

For New Years we invited Beth to visit us in Mbeya.  We made pizza, played games, and watched a movie.  One of the benefits of working at a Tanzanian university is that our departments have projectors.  Jason asked his department if he could bring a projector home and they said yes!  So we watched movies in style (instead of on our little netbook screen).  Who needs a movie theater when you have a projector?

When the clock struck midnight, ushering in the new year, we learned that Tanzanians like to honk horns.  They just hold down the horn and let the trumpet sound for a good long while.

Beth and Jason enjoying their pizza-maybe I should go into business

Jason and Beth marveling at the size of our movie screen!

See you in 2015 America!
Peace,
Heather