Iringa

Iringa is such a cute city!  It is located on top of a mountain which gives it lovely weather at this time of the year, it’s not too hot. Surrounding the city, you can see hillsides dotted with large rocks and boulders larger than houses.  The steady climb to the top of this summit city by bus displays amazing scenery, valleys, rivers, and beautiful hills.  There is a lot of shopping here from food to beautiful handcrafted items and jewelry.  I hope to get some Christmas shopping done!  
So far, the most unique thing about Iringa is a mosque that was built by Germans during colonialism.  First of all, it doesn’t look at all like a mosque that I am used to seeing.  It’s completely white with a clock tower over it.  It looks like a piece of architecture that could be found in New Orleans.  It has intricate designs.  I am very low in the knowledge of Islam, but to me, it represents nothing Muslim.  Yet, it was fascinating to see and very “awe-some” in the right way to use that term. 
The other sightseeing suggestion made by handy Lonely Planet was to go see a monument that honors those who died in an uprising from 1905-1907.  Although, I suppose it is historical, it was quite uninteresting.  The monument was simply some rocks put together with a little plaque that could not be read from the road. 
Iringa has a more touristy feel than where we live because it is a gateway city into a huge national park where people go on safari.  As a result, there are delicious restaurants that cater to the tourists allowing us to get some good (but a little pricey) meals while we’re here!   There’s also a park here.  It was nice to see a green space in the middle of a city.  Also, unlike where we live, we hear the call to prayer again which I find to be beautiful.  I used to enjoy hearing it during training, but since moving to our location, we do not hear it.
So far, I really enjoy this city and hope that my camera comes with my friend tomorrow.