Debi's entry The Rowberg Family Reunion

The Rowberg reunion in Tanzania will officially begin TOMORROW!  Bob and Byrna and Carol will all arrive in Tanzania in the afternoon.  Kathy and Chuck and Krista and Sonja ( Krista's husband Steve left last Sunday to start his three year residency in Family Medicine in Anchorage) will fly back from Zanzibar where they have recuperated after reaching the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro.  Everyone will be together at our place for dinner!  The food is prepared, the chairs have been rounded up and the plans are made.  It will be lots of fun even though the three new comers will be dog tired!

On Friday morning we all head to Ngorongoro Crater. We will stay just outside the crater for two nights. Evenings will be spent sharing highlights of our year around a campfire like we do each year st the Rowberg Campout. On Saturday we will enter the crater and be on our first safari. Don and I have done this three times before and consider it magical!

On Sunday we will visit the Hadzabe village. These are hunter-gatherers whose life is relatively unchanged from centuries ago. They speak a click language. We visited them in 2005 and thought it was a highlight of our trip. 

On Monday, June 20, Erik has planned a BIG party at a restaurant to introduce his American family to his Tanzanian family.  There will be great food, music (live band), speeches, a receiving line, name tags and lots of frivolity! Already there are 70 confirmed attendees and it is likely to grow to 90! This is sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity!

On Tuesday we pack up again and head to Bumbuli. This is where Don was born. I have always wanted to go there but it is up in the Usambara Mountains and we have never taken the time to go. We recently learned that a picture of Don's dad still hangs in the library there. Back in February when we had our interview by phone to be accepted as missionary volunteers, the Tanzanian pastor asked Don a funny question. He said  "I see you were born in Bumbuli. Do you by chance still have your umbilical cord?  Is it preserved in a jar maybe?"  Don was speechless and confused. He said, "Noooo". The pastor said, "well, if you don't have it, it was probably buried in Bumbuli. That is the African tradition. So you see, a part of you has become a part of Africa!"  Don has always felt that!  It will be great to finally see this place! We will return on Thursday and I think people start to leave. Not sure of plans after that!  

So, it is with great anticipation that we look forward to the next week!  We sure wish Alan and Bonnie could join us!  It is incredible to think that 5 out of 6 Rowberg siblings will be together in Tanzania! Ray and Lu Rowberg created a legacy that continues..