Today was a lovely day. I spent it by going to me new "church" aka THE BEACH!
I almost didn't go. We have a lot of homework right now but we made the decision that we should seize the day and make something of it. I know that sounds rather reckless, but it's actually quite wonderful for the soul. Obviously school is important, but somehow here it is just even harder to deal with. I don't regret my decision at all. If I had stayed behind, I probably would've just pathetically attempted to study all day and would just fall asleep instead.

Me and a few friends took a boat out to an island called Bongoyo which is a few miles off of the coast. It was a busy day since it's the weekend, but there still weren't a ton of people. We set up camp under a banda and stayed the whole day. It was so glorious. An older Swedish woman let me borrow her snorkeling goggles and I was able to go and see an awesome reef on my own. I saw lots of beautiful fish, a couple eels, and even a smallish shark...possibly a tiger shark. I loved it! It was nice because I was able just to swim out on my own and see what I could see.

When the tide came in we could jump off of some rocks into the water. The water was so blue and wonderful. It was also very salty which meant we could float easier. I found some more cool shells and it was just a wonderfully relaxing day. We also treated ourselves to a nice dinner along the ocean.

A few days ago, my friend Sarah and I visited a Baha'i temple downtown for the New Year celebration. We were invited by her boss at her internship who is Persian and she invited me along because my friend knew of my nerdiness for religions. It was a wonderful experience. I did not know that the Baha'i New Year coincides with the spring equinox. I feel like I have a lot more to learn about the religion, but that it is a very interesting one. There a re very few in Tanzania, and those that are are mostly ex-pats. I met several Americans, one of whom gave me the contact number of a Baha'i woman who lives in Davis! the world is just so small sometimes. I enjoyed getting to know some new people and information.