Salama.

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I was born to do this. I basically cannot believe that I am here and living out this dream!! Today was a great day. The new volunteers came to placement today!! I had Katyann and Hannah with me and the kids sang them some songs and we worked on math today. After Math we had Kiswahili and then we played a lot of fun games for breaky time. (I thought saying breaky was appropriate since I'm becoming a Tanzanian). Games were fun, as always and I was so happy to hear that both Hannah and Katyann had an amazing time at placement. They are great girls and since Katyann is here for 8 weeks I'm positive we'll become tigga tight :).

Octavio and I made a weekly schedule today as well. This was exciting for him...he really wanted to make it so I was glad to help him out with it. He is such a great volunteer and a great friend - he is great with the kids, passionate about learning and excited about helping the volunteers from CCS! I also got a really cute dress from Unique!! Woohoo!

I decided to create individual profiles for each of my kids. This will consist of a standardized test that I give to the whole class and also tests that will assess each of the kids' individual skills in Math and English. I plan to create three separate tests that will challenge each level of understanding that exists in my classroom and then add a picture and a chart that is used to keep track of progress as well. These profiles will be really useful for the school and for the future volunteers at Faraja.

Last  but not least we went out for Corinne's last night tonight. :( She is such a loving and wonderufl person and friend, and I just can't believe she's leaving! Though I don't want to say goodbye to Corinne hanging out at Kool Bar was really fun! We brought a ton of the new volunteers with us and we all crammed into Mussa's car on the way there! The new volunteers all had a lot of fun and we were home by curfew - so no worries there. I loved having them there and even though we waited for our Africa theme song for a million years I got to jam to it 5 times when I got home...so it's okay.

Now I am about to lala salama so I can get up for placement tomorrow!! I will write more intelligent and in-depth things tomorrow. As always, I love Africa.

Juma tatu.

Today was my first (and probably only) day without a fellow volunteer. This was interesting and somewhat difficult. First, it was a Monday. Mondays seem to be the hardest days at our school. Perhaps it is because the kids have had a weekend without school or that they are more tired on Mondays, but I feel like we get at least four criers each and every Monday.  Today my favorite munchkin cried a few times – but some of it was about things she didn’t need to cry about, such as her book not coming soon enough and the boy next to her touching her haha. Oh well, she got over both of them very quickly.

            I forgot to talk about two parts of my weekend that were really great! One was that we went to a football (soccer, for you US friends) game on Friday. It was at Moshi Secondary School and it was between two teams that agreed to play a game. This agreement was really cool because they played for a man named Jumane who hasn’t been able to see a game in a long time. Jumane was a shut-in who had been in his house for a long time due to his illnesses and his fear of being stigmatized. He had become ostracized once he had become diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and he also developed other problems due to his lack of nourishment and his lifestyle. When he was first visited he could only sit up by himself. When we attended the game with him he could walk a little bit! He is a wonderful man, and it was great to give him joy and letting him watch his favorite sport. The game went well, and a couple of our friends – Leo and Amani – played in it as well!! We also attended the nearby Catholic Church on Sunday. It was really beautiful and very big! There were many pews and the windows were beautiful pastel colors! The kneelers were wooden, so kneeling during the service was painful, but still worth it. The singing was led by a choir of children that sat at the front of the church. There was a little voice that rose above the rest and it was so adorable! We sat near the back and only Becca and TaChyla went up for offering. I hope that next time I can participate in offering, if not communion as well. There were a lot of people at the church, and before we went in we waited outside for the other service to end and a lot of cute kids sat and stared at us. I feel like if I ever get stared at again it will feel normal after being a mzungu for 3 months. It was also wonderful so see everyone dressed up for church! With the bright colors it was really amazing J.

            After placement today mwalimu Jane and Octavio came back to CCS with me. On our way we picked up TaChyla from Majengo Clinic and I got to hear about her day working in the lab! Once I got back we hung out for a while and then lunchtime came!! We had a yummy lunch and because the teachers from each placement were with us we got to have soda! (haha even though I do not drink soda at home…since carbonated things are safe I drink it here. They are also crazy about Coke here, so it’s an easy and inexpensive choice on a hot day). We sometimes have Fanta as well, but it makes me sick because it’s so sweet. I think I will document my journey to and from placement tomorrow so that I can create a clearer picture of my morning drive for everyone.

            Today as Sam and I drove to placement he helped me practice some Swahili, which was a lot of fun. I really hope to be very proficient by the time I come home in August. I also have no doubt in my mind that I will be coming back here for a while – if not to build a new place for kids than to work here again and see all of my friends.

            We also decided to go the Women’s Education and Economic Center for Empowerment (WEECE) today. We had Paul drive us and once we passed the Secondary School and KCMC Hospital we decided to get out and just walk down the path that WEECE is off of. Amanda (my lovely Canadian) had been there before, so we figured we would just follow her. Unfortunately, she had only been there twice and all of the streets look the same. This led to us walking up and down the main road for thirty or so minutes and looking down every hedge or bush lined path. Finally we stopped once we got close to the end of the road and to KCMC and called Paul again. He had called Athmani and had found out the location of WEECE and had called us back to make sure we were okay. Once we called back and told him we were officially lost, he picked us up and drove us there. This was quite a funny experience because as we were sitting waiting for him a lot of taxi cars stopped and asked us if we wanted rides. We thought this was strange until we found out that we were standing at a unidentified bus stop. We also were laughing while looking around because the side of the road had a ditch and a tiny place to walk on the side closest to the shops and hedges. This little path was ridiculously rocky and uneven and TaChyla and I kept joking about how one of us would break an ankle. Luckily, we didn’t break an ankle and I found a cute fabric and I am getting a one-shoulder dress made! Amanda felt really bad about our wandering around adventure, but I had a lot of fun and it didn’t bother me at all.

            We then had a nice 30-minute walk back to the Home Base and it was quite beautiful. After we got back we ate dinner, I watched the rest of limitless and now I’m preparing for school tomorrow. I can’t wait to see my kids and have our new volunteers come and meet them! Woohoo! I hope tonight I sleep well and don’t need my earplugs because basically I Kira had to wake me up this morning because I slept through my alarm! Everyday I love Africa more and more…and I didn’t even think was possible. J I want to move here! Ninakupenda Africa. Tutaonana rafikis. 

Week Three. Safi Sana, Ninakupenda Afrika!!!

Okay, since I took a million years to finish my Safari experience I am going to try to put my past week (Monday through last night) into this one post. The end of this week officially marks the end of the daily scheduled program/routine. This also means that a few of my beloved volunteers are leaving, which really sucks. I will start off by saying that Monday was pretty ordinary. I went to placement and it was lovely, it was so fun to see my kids and this day my most favorite child Glory pulled me to her and said, “mwalimu, I love you” and kissed me on the cheek! The rush of love I felt at this moment was ridiculous! I seriously can’t think of anything better than just loving on kids who need it. Haha, so basically I just love my life. This was also the first day that we got to meet the new Tanzania Program Manager, Katie. She is so cute! It was really fun to get to know her and to be able to tell someone in person how we felt about our experience prior to arriving here and to really help her understand the reality of our situation. She is also very personable and fun to hang out with so I really enjoyed getting to know her.

In the evening we received a batiking lesson from Sam, the best Batik-maker I’ve ever met. He is ridiculously good at making Batik and he is also an incredibly generous and kind guy! I decided to make a really cute batik for my mom, but I will probably make another one because a splotch got on it L! The Batik process is interesting. It begins with a blank cloth. You sketch your design on the cloth in pencil and re-trace it a few times so that it is dark. Once you are finished with your drawing you take it to make the background. This is done by taking a sponge and a small amount of color and sweeping it over the back of the cloth. They use whatever colors you want (oranges, yellows, red and blues). They also use a paintbrush to create definition in the sky and they often leave a white circle to make the sunset. It is really incredible to watch them do this because it seems effortless. After they apply the background you go sit by burning coals and dry your batik. This takes awhile, but it was exciting because I had never done Batik before! After drying you go to the wax station. Here you have to brush hot wax over the pieces of the painting that you don’t want to become black. Basically you are outlining your forms and waxing your entire background. After this step you head back to the dye and apply the black ink with a paintbrush to everything that remains unwaxed. This is really fun because you finally are seeing your painting and the forms you created! It is important to have drawn your design dark and very carefully because the ink from the background is bright and you need to be able to see the penciled in areas in order to wax around them. After the black ink stage you return to the fire and dry again. After this stage you go back to the wax and brush the entire thing with wax so the batik is completely covered. Once the wax dries (in a few seconds) you go to a tarp and begin to scrub your painting. You crumple it up and scrub it together to get the wax off. This also causes you to get wax all over yourself, if you’re not careful J. After the wax removal stage you take your batik to be ironed. This was my favorite part of the process because as the iron sweeps over your painting the colors transform. They become bright and vibrant on your painting and it really comes to life! After this stage you finish your batik by applying the black ink to fix small spots or add small details. This part is fun because you can use your artistic skills to finish your painting. Then the finished product has to dry and then you have your batik! Woohoo!

Tuesday I went to placement and it was fun, as usual.  Joan and I taught them more words and they worked on arithmetic a lot this day. We also sang a bunch of songs and danced around the room, which was very fun for the kids. I have noticed that my kids tend to be very behaved in the classroom and it seems as though they feel that the classroom is a place of somber learning. I am hoping to break this mold by introducing excitement and fun into their learning environment. I hope I can show Mr. Masawe that learning can be really fun and rewarding for the kids, not just an environment where things are tied to a strict regime. Tuesday evening Richard taught us about traditional healing. I found some of this talk really wild because some of the customs and beliefs attached to traditional healing practices are quite strange. The mother peeing on the child before they are treated, or the pot surrounded by animal intestines and the concept of flying –all very intriguing stuff. I was exhausted during this talk, so I didn’t take a lot of notes. After this we went back to our room and Kira and I passed out and we missed Swahili because we were sleeping. Then we got up and we prepared for our Marangu hike the next day.

On Wednesday we got to sleep in a little bit, which as really nice. We left for our Marangu day around 8:30 (which in TZ time was closer to 9). We did the hike last, so our first stop was a blacksmith’s shop. This was cool because it was an authentic blacksmith shop where men were actually melting and shaping souvenirs and tools. We got to sit and try fanning the flame and I got a souvenir for Harry J. We also saw a really cute chameleon while we were there; we managed to snap a few pictures before the man wanted to charge us to take them. After the blacksmith’s shop we went into the village nearby and got to walk around a market. Here there were a lot of vegetables, the croc-like shoes that all of the kids wear and a stand selling cloth. The beans and fruits were arranged really beautifully. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures because the people in the market do not like to be photographed. I managed to sneak one picture through a crack in the fabric stall…I will post it soon. It is mostly full of ndizis.

After wandering around the market we left and went to the site of a Chagga cave. At the cave we sat under a white gazebo and we were told the story of the Chagga and the caves. The Chagga people are known for their intelligence and creativity. Chagga own most of the businesses and shops here. Though they may be run or worked by people of other tribes, the Chagga tend to be the owners and main businessmen and women. The caves were used back before colonization against enemy tribes (mostly Massai) and if they needed to hide. Inside the cave you have to crawl after dropping down through the entryway. After crawling a little way you reach a spot where Chagga soldiers would be hiding in case you were an enemy. This was a large space off of the path in which two people could stand. In the past the men would be there with their weapons ready. After this spot you continue to crawl until you reach a large open space. This part of the cave was used as a kitchen, a living/sleeping area and a place to house cows. There is one more crawl space and then a small room attached to a chute-like path that was used as a garbage disposal area. The smaller room was a meeting area and a place for planning and hiding. One more path led us to the cave exit. Once out of the cave we were free to walk around and we saw a really cute turtle! We then left the caves and drove to a hotel called Kilimanjaro. This hotel was really posh – it resembled a nice hotel in the US and had beautiful gardens. We ate our box lunches here and it was fun to sit together and eat. After this we walked to the Chagga Live Museum where a man named Edwardi guided us. He was so happy to teach about Chagga culture and their customs. We got to go into a hut in where a cow was and it was surprisingly big! Edwardi explained the history of the homes and how they were used for housing animals as well as humans. Similar to the Massai, the Chagga had multiple wives and many children. The huts have grass and leaf roofs, which allow them to be breathable if there is a fire lit inside and to allow for air to move through during the day and night. During the tour we also got to see traditional beer making pots, corn sifters, cups, drums and other utensils used by the Chagga tribes.

After the Chagga tour we went on our hike to Marangu Falls. On our way to the hiking area we passed through a neighborhood. There was a service of some kidn going on and the people were singing a beautiful song. It contained amazing harmonies and amazing rhythm. I was captured by the music and wished I knew the song so I could have sung along with them! We also passed some colorful graves hidden in-between the large banana plants. This was an interesting sight to see, but it was also very cool to see the care they had given their deceased.

The hike to Marangu Falls began at a small thatched hut that covered some benches. The beginning of the trail opened up here and it consisted of many slippery “steps” leading to the waterfall site. There were fences made out of branches lining the stairs, but even so it we had to travel polepole in order to not slip. Near the end of the path one of our volunteers did slip and ended up in a V-shape halfway under the fence’s edge. Luckily, we had mom Becca with us to mend her back and make sure she was okay. At the end of the trail there was a ladder and then we were at the waterfall sight! When Rachel and I first arrived at the waterfall we couldn’t believe it. The sun was filtering through the trees right at the opening of the waterfall’s edge. It started to cloud up again within a few minutes and it became very picturesque. A few of us climbed onto a rock that was in the river and Kira, Becca and I got a really cute roomie picture in front of the waterfall. After the waterfall we came back home and had the best dinner I have ever eaten in TZ. Primo made amazing baked potatoes, grilled veggie skewers, pork, chicken, pasta salad and the best garlic bread in the world. I was in heaven. I could seriously eat that meal every night.

The next day placement was really fun! I took my guitar and taught them “this little light of mine” and they loved it! I gave each of them a chance to strum the guitar while I held the chords down and they loved it. We then sang the song and walked in a circle and they would come and strum my string while they passed. It was fun to share this with them because they all had huge smiles and bright faces! After placement we went to Mawenzi clinic. It was an interesting but difficult experience because the conditions in the clinic were very poor and it was hard to see the sick people lying in rooms that were set up like old WWI clinics. They also had mental instability wards and when we entered into one the left side was all barred shut and it contained the “unstable” patients, while the right side had patients that were stable and close to being released. This place was difficult to see and I was glad to leave the clinic soon after that. Thursday night we decided to go out to dinner at Union Café instead of going to the Shaky Shaky again. Ari, Becca, Kira, Laura, Hayley, Susan, Mark and I all ate here. Two things made this awesome: it was Hayley and Laura’s second to last night with us so it was fun to go out with them and the food was so good. I got a cheese pizza and shared some fries – yum yum yum!! After dinner we went back to the Home Base and I prepared myself for Joan’s last day at Faraja L!

Friday was a bittersweet but fun day. At school we sung and I played “This Little Light of Mine” again, and Joan had made play-dough the night before in a lot of colors and we took that for the kids to sculpt things during art time. I saw a lot of people and a lot of cars, which I found very interesting. I also saw plus signs and English letters, which was really cute. The kids loved mixing the colors and a lot of them wanted our help in making their creations. I made a cute giraffe – I took a picture of it J. It was really fun to sing again because the kids had remembered the song well and it was encouraging. Firday was also Casey's birthday!! Woohoo!! I am so grateful to have him in my life, and I was able to give him a few birthday surprises thanks to my amazing mom's help!! Friday evening we went out for Mark, Ari and Corrine’s last Friday night with us. We went to Glacier for a long time and then to La Liga. It was a blast! TaChyla came with us and I loved it – we all had fun talking and we danced the night away! I had so much fun I didn’t even realize how late it was before we left! Luckily we got to sleep in on Saturday. This was also the day we had to say goodbye to Joan, Manuela, Hayley and Laura. I really hated having to say goodbye to them…I didn’t realize how attached to them I had gotten until they were driving away! I don’t know if I can do very many more goodbyes from here.

Saturday was also the day that the new volunteers arrived. There are 26 of them, so our houses are totally full now! We got a new roommate – Erinn, and she is a 3-weeker and really nice! I really like all of them and I think we’ll all have a good time together. I also got 3 new girls at my placement! I hope we have a great time together. Having them will allow us to give the kids more individual attention. Katyann is here and I totally love her. I am so excited to work with her at my placement. She is also so excited to be here and to meet the kids; it is fun to be around someone so excited and passionate!! Though it is harder with more people in the house, I think it will be a good time. Plus a lot of them leave after 2 weeks – so we’ll have a little more breathing room. I hope I can adjust well to new volunteers coming and going….I just will be so sad when Kira leaves and I am pretty sure I won’t know how to live without Becca when we part ways! I love the people here, and as you all know by now I really don’t even want to leave! I plan to come back more than once and I hope to really make an influence in the lives of children here. I have already planned my future service-related trips – Thailand, Costa Rica, India and Morocco. Haha, nerdy I know. I can’t wait to just be in different places and loving tons of different kids. It just feels so right to be here and to be with the people here. I know there is a need everywhere, but fulfilling this dream continues to be the best thing I have ever done. Everyday I continue to grow and learn so many things about my place in the world around me and I am so grateful for my support system at home that allows me to do this without fear or trepidation. I am so blessed! I hope everyone at home is doing well, and I am so so proud of and happy for Casey for buying a house!! I know he has been looking forward to it for a long time so congratulations to him and I can’t wait to see it! J Well everyone, tutaonana! Salama! Ninakupenda Africa. 

Glory and I - she is the love of my life and I want to bring her home!!! 

My roomies and I at the Marangu waterfall!! love them. 

Safari Wikendi!

Okay friends, I have to apologize for how long it took me to post this. This is basically a week late, but the experience was so incredible I had to do it justice by writing a lot! :) ....here it is!....

So I haven’t been able to post until now because for the last three days I was on safari! I will start off by saying that it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had, and it was nice to have a truly African adventure over the weekend. First thing that happened was getting in the cars. Pristine came to pick us up after lunch on Friday and we all hopped in and got ready for long ride. We drove out of Moshi and through Arusha. We stopped at the Shoprite in Arusha (again) and we all grabbed some snacks for the weekend. We then drove a long way out of the city. We went toward Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater and our campsite, which was located 15 minutes away from Lake Manyara.
            Before we got to the campsite, however, we stopped at a traditional Massai village and we visited with the people and learned about their way of life. This was a very interesting cultural experience. Caitlin commented on the way it felt to be there and she said that it really felt like we were in Africa. I felt this way too – this was my first personal glimpse into tribal life. I understand that this tribe caters to safari companies and that they were prepared for us to come, but when I got the tour of the homes and heard their songs I still felt as though I understood more about Massai culture. The people wear very bright colors and have large gauged ears. The women hang heavy beaded earrings through their gauges and on the top of their ears. The men have staffs and they are the leaders of the tribes. The Massai are polygamists, so the men can have many wives. Usually the men have around ten wives and each wife is paid for in cows, which are given to the man. Another interesting thing about the cow dowry is that the most recent wife is the one who pays for the next wife. For instance if the man seeks to have a second wife, the first wife (or her family) gives the amount of cows that the second wife costs to the husband. I also found out that the running rate for wives is 300 cows. When we were getting ready to leave my friend TaChyla was stopped by the chief’s son Joseph and told that she could have 1,500 cows if she would be his wife! So hilarious! She kindly declined J Amanda was also asked if she would marry one of the men’s brothers and she told him that she already had cows because she grew up on a farm. I think the men like to ask the tourists these questions every time a group comes in, but it was funny anyway. The children in the village were very cute! They were extremely dusty, but very beautiful – as were the women. Some of the women were in their late seventies! It was amazing to see all of the women gather together and sing and dance in a line.
            When we got into the village the women began to sing a tribal song. The men sang a undertone for the song that was deep and guttural. The song had beautiful harmonies and tones. All of the women participated and they even had us participate! We each wore these beautiful beaded collars that we bounced up and down with our shoulders. Then, throughout the song we each got to come and jump with one of the women as a part of the tribal dance. The children jumped around and the men would jump very high during the dance. After the dance we were split into two groups and each group was led into one of the huts. The huts create the perimeter of the village and are surrounded by a fence made of sticks. Each of the circular huts is made of mud with a stick roof and it takes two weeks for each hut to be completed. The wives of the chief live in each of the huts and they build each of them as well. You enter into the hut through a small door and walk around the curve into the circular room. Within the room is a flame, a tiny hole that is used as a window, a seat and sticks with cloth on top that comprise the bed area. This is where each wife sleeps with her children.

Near the entrance is an area where they keep the small cows at night so that they don’t get trampled or hurt overnight. In the center of the village is another enclosed space in which the people keep the animals. Around the edge of this enclosure they have stands upon which the women sell their handmade jewelry and trinkets. After being taught about the Massai way of life while within the huts we were given an opportunity to buy some things from the women before we left. We then played with some of the kids and then got in the cars and headed to the campsite. It was very dusty there, and it was amazing to see the kids covered in dust. They also had flies all over them, and it didn’t seem to faze them. My kids at school will often have flies on their heads or faces and not mind, but these kids had them on their eyes and didn’t care at all! It was really interesting. I could tell that this tribe sees tourists often, but I was very interested in actually seeing their way of life. I hope I can visit another village before I come home…I am sure I will. I know the Massai are the only tribe that still practice FGM, and the men have a lot of liberty in how they treat their wives and other people’s wives. It is a completely different wa of life from mine and also from other Tanzanians, but it is a very prevalent tribe and a very interesting one.

            After visiting the Massai tribe we went to our camp ground. It is called Haven Campsite and is close to Lake Manyara. While driving our guide Mussa pointed out the direction of Lake Manyara and said it was over on our right. Immediately our friend Caroline began to take pictures of the side of the road where a small pond was in the distance. After a minute Becca pointed out that the lake was on the horizon (it is huge) and we all began to laugh J. This was such a good moment for Caroline. Now when I say that we were camping you might be imagining a bunch of tents in the woods with sleeping bags, a campfire and some camping equipment. While we did have tents and a great campfire, I won’t fool you by pretending that we were roughing it. In the campsite there are mzungu toilets, showers and each tent is placed on a concrete platform that has a rug, two chairs and a light outside the tent. Inside the tent are two comfortable beds with wooden frames and a very nice, large tent. Our eating area had a banana tree rooftop (the branches) and we ate at a large table surrounded by comfortable seating. There was a television nearby in which the staff watched a lot of football and a open area for relaxing and a place to wash your hands next to the dinner table.

Once we got to the campsite we picked our tents and Becca and I put our stuff in our tent and got organized. We then all went to the dinner table where there was sweet popcorn (it tasted like Kettle Corn – so yumzoars) and mix for hot chocolate and the always fun instant coffee. After we ate a lot of popcorn and talked a lot the food was brought out. This was a deceptive moment because it was brought out in waves. First we had zucchini soup, which, of course, was amazing. All of the soup here is unbelievable and it always has such good flavor! We then were given yummy vegetables and the usual African dinner of meat with sauce and rice. It was all very good. Afterward we all sat around and talked excitedly about the Safari the next morning, then we went down to the campfire. The campfire was located on the edge of a small cliff that overlooked the land and allowed you to see all the way to the hills/mountains on the horizon. When we had been driving toward the campsite it suddenly felt like we were really in Africa. It felt like we had been entering into the Lion King! The view from the cliff really encapsulated this idea by overlooking the land and feeling so close to the sky. The stars here are unbelievable. Due to the location beneath the equator, the big dipper is upside down here! Also, when you are looking at the stars you feel very close to them, and this just enhances the feeling of really being in Africa. During our campfire time we also saw the most amazing moonrise I have ever experienced. It will be impossible to recapture the beauty of it, but I will definitely try. So we were chatting and then suddenly Rachel pointed past us and said, “Is that the moon?” and we all turned to see the biggest, and most bright moon I have ever seen. It was a bright orange color and it illuminated the hills far on the distant horizon as well as the entire sky. It was so beautiful I went back to my tent and wrote some Africa/moon inspired poems! We all couldn’t believe how incredible it was and we just watched it rise for a few minutes. Once it had found its place in the sky was still very big and bright. I enjoyed looking at it and really seeing its craters and its shape. After this experience we all went to bed. I slept well except that I woke up freezing (I kicked off the covers, which I’ve found is something I do everywhere! Who knew it would become an inconvenience?) and there were a lot of foreign and loud noises outside the tent so I had a hard time falling back to sleep. Otherwise it was fantastic!

The next morning we set out for Ngorongoro Crater. It took around twenty minutes to reach the crater’s entrance gate, during which we talked and got really excited about the animals we wanted to see. Naturally I just told everyone I would freak out once we saw an elephant (believe me, I did). We spent a few minutes in the visitor’s center while the guide’s paid for us to get into the area and then we were off! Ngorongoro Crater is a Conservation area, as opposed to being a national park. This means that people can live within the area as long as they do not disrupt the wildlife or their habitat within the crater. The area contains mostly Massai people who take their cows down into the higher regions of the crater to feed and they live very near the top, which is far away from most of the wildlife. We drove for quite some time before we were actually inside the crater and we only passed a few wildebeest and zebra on the way down. Naturally we all took a lot of pictures of these animals as they were the first ones we saw, so going back through my photos and seeing a lot of unnecessary photos of wildebeest has been amusing. We drove along a path that led into the crater and got out for a minute. We all took pictures in front of the wildebeest nearby and then we hopped back in and set off on our safari! We popped the top of the car and we all stood on our seats in order to get a good view of the animals. The land looked empty when we were driving in, but once we got into the crater we saw a lot of animals! The crater was filled with a lot of flat grassland and it had a few areas that were wooded. We started out by driving on a path and we saw a lot of wildebeest, zebra and impala. It wasn’t until we got near the wooded area that we saw a new animal. We saw a bird with orange-red eyes! It was really big and walked toward our car and we got a lot of pictures of it. Once we entered into the wooded area we saw a lot of monkeys and then as we were driving up a hill Caitlin spotted an elephant! It was the most amazing thing of my life. I truly almost had a heart attack. Even though I have seen all of these animals in the zoo, the feeling of seeing them in their natural habitat and being able to be close to them and really see them was incredible. I just loved the feeling of being with my friends and sharing the experience of seeing these animals! It was almost surreal, I felt like I was really in Africa out in the wild. I know I actually was doing this, but the feeling of it was novel and wonderful.

Anyway, after we passed the first elephant we went out of the wooded area and back into the open. Not long after the elephant we saw some hyena resting beneath a small ridge. We didn’t notice it until it poked its head above the ridge’s edge and then they came out of the spot where they were resting. I had previously thought that hyenas were ugly (thanks to the Lion King) but I saw this one and he was adorable! J Not long after this we spotted two lions sleeping on the road. This was an amazing moment for Becca because she is a huge lion lover (similar to how I am with elephants). We got so close to them we could nearly touch them! They were both pretty passed out, but we got them to wake up and stretch a little bit. They were honestly stunning. They had beautiful manes and gigantic paws. One of them began to lick and gnaw at his paw and it totally reminded me of Fishy! I couldn’t believe how big and beautiful they were.

            Right after we passed the first two lions Becca mentioned that if she saw a lion cub she could die in peace. Those must have been magic words because immediately after that we saw a few lionesses, a teenage male and a little cub that was suckling! It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen! We took around a thousand photographs here and the lions came and laid in the shade of our trucks! It was so fun to see them up close and be able to be a mere arm reach away! While we were stopped here we also got to see some black rhinos! They were in the distance, but they ended up coming close enough for us to get some good pictures of them. The black rhino can only be found in Tanzania, and it is very rare to see them even when on a safari. So, we got really lucky to be able to see them. We then saw another elephant! I was blown away. It was walking quite calmly toward an area that had a lot of foliage to munch on. It was so close to the truck I almost passed out. It was incredible. J After we saw the elephant we drove and then parked by a small lake that had a lot of hippos in it! This area was stunningly beautiful. There were wild zebra and wildebeest roaming aimlessly behind us, a beautiful tree next to the water with the hippos in it, There was also a copious amount of beautiful birds flying around and while we were eating lunch in the car Rachel and I decided to share some of our bread with them. While I was holding a piece in my hand one of the small yellow birds came and got it right out of my fingers!!

            After lunch we continued to drive and we looked for cheetah and other new animals. Caroline was in the other car and told us she spotted a serval cat, but we didn’t see it. The rest of our drive was mostly admiring the beauty of the crater as the sun began to mosey its way down toward the skyline. We all talked about how beautiful it was and how lucky we were to see so many animals! As we left the crater we took a few more pictures and we stopped near the top to take some of each other. The drive back up was insane – the paths cut across the crater’s edge and it was so steep! Mussa had us look back after we were at the top and our paths were ridiculous! We were joking that we were glad to have each other just in case we died haha. All in all, Ngorongoro Crater was unbelievable. It left us all wanting to go back and it really got us excited for Lake Manyara the next day.

            After the crater we stopped at a Massai market and it was gigantic. It had rows upon rows of tables, a back table and many things hanging on the walls. Everything was smashed onto the tables so it was almost an optical illusion. I found some cool necklaces, and Becca found a really beautiful elephant! I’m excited to get some sweet elephants. After we got back to the campsite we washed up, ate a fantastic meal with yummy chips and tilapia and then we went back to the campfire. This night I sang some songs because the Pristine guys asked me too and Becca found some crazy animal shapes in the fire haha. J

            The next morning we woke up at 5:45 so that we could go by 6:30. While we were at breakfast we witnessed a stunning sunrise! I got a few pictures of it, but it is really hard to describe how beautiful it was! We then ate and hurried to get our stuff in the car. I packed all of my stuff to go home so I was mega prepared haha. We then set off for Lake Manyara. It is only a fifteen-minute drive to the National Park so we arrived really early. The guides wanted us to see the hippos out of the water, hence our early departure.  Once we got there it was very chilly and we had to be very quiet. Everytime we entered into the safari areas it seriously felt like we were going to Jurassic Park. I honestly felt like I was getting ready to snap some pictures of a raptor or something. Anyway, we went into the park and this experience was very different from the crater experience. Here everything was wooded and very quiet. Not long after we drove in we encountered some baboons. As we continued to drive we saw some small black monkeys and then before we knew it there were baboons all over the road! It was funny to watch them fighting and playing with each other. Throughout the entire park there were copious amounts of monkeys. This made sense because most of it was very forest-like. We drove for a long time before we saw anything other than a monkey and, lucky me, it was a family of elephants! They were very hidden by the trees but way awesome nonetheless. We also saw some giraffes just standing quietly in the trees. We all kept our eyes peeled looking for a tree-climbing lion, but we never saw one. This was disappointing, but we saw a lot of other cool things! At Lake Manyara we saw gazelle, warthogs, birds, monkeys (baboons, the “blue balls” monkeys and vervets), cape buffalo, flamingo (from very far away!), hippos (thank goodness!) and a TON of giraffe! After we freaked out about the first giraffe it wasn’t long until we saw them standing around everywhere! It was so cool to be so close to them! They are very serene and they have incredibly cute eyes and faces! They just stand there, so if you are quiet you can just get very close to them. A lot of the animals in this park were skittish and could only be seen if we were all silent. When we first went to the hippo pool we were sad because they were all in the water. However, later that afternoon they were all out of the water and lying near the pool! They are huge creatures and they are really goofy looking! Just fatty little dudes haha. After seeing the hippos we drove around in search of a lion for a little while, and then we left. We took some pictures by a huge baobao tree near the entrance and headed back to camp! After eating lunch we started our long drive home. This drive was interesting because of two things – 1. Giraffe crossing 2. Camel riding. Now I don’t care how touristy it might be – I was freaking stoked to ride some camels. Before the camel riding, though, I have to talk about the giraffes! We were driving home and suddenly we had to stop because two giraffes were crossing the main road! We all got out and took pictures in front of the giraffe that were grazing on the trees by our car! It was so crazy, we got so close to them!

After the giraffe experience we went and paid 1,000 Tsh to ride some camels. This was really fun! Becca and I shared a camel and before she could get on it straightened its back legs! I was sitting on the front and I thought I was going to fall forward; it was way hilarious and awkward! Riding the camel was fun, and Becca and I wanted to go into the snake museum next door, but we were the only ones who did so we didn’t go. The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful. I got some pictures while driving through Arusha so I could show the contrast between Moshi and Arusha and once we got home we all ate dinner, took really enjoyable showers (after two days it was heaven!) and tried to start our blog posts about it. Clearly it took me eons to do mine, but here it is! So … overall it was an unbelievable weekend. We all got home and said we wanted to go again! J I definitely lala salama that night, and woke up bright and early for placement on Monday!

            Thus ends my safari experience, tutaonana!

[Mount Kilimanjaro. Home Visits. Kikwete]

So….this post is from Thursday. I’m sorry guys. I keep falling behind on my blog posts! Once I am not as busy (after this week) I will be sure to keep up on my posts.

This morning I woke up late, but I was ready for the drive. We left for placement and while we were dropping Manuela off at Step Up what did we see? Oh Mount Kilimanjaro, of course! I seriously could not believe how beautiful it was! It was so exciting to finally see the mountain completely unobscured. My kids really enjoyed it to. Once we got outside they all pointed and said, “Kilimanjaro! Mwalimu, Kilimanjaro!”

            Instead of having class today mwalimu Joan, Mr. Masawe, Octavio and I took about half of the class and did home visits. During home visits you go to the homes of the children you teach and get to meet their caretakers and see their living conditions. This experience really added to my understanding of the reality of the way people live here. We walked through the community and went to a lot of homes. Most of the children live with their babu and bibi or their single mama. The majority of their living spaces consist of a mud and stick room that contains a bed, a line that they hang some things on, and a lot of random things in the corner. Usually the mom and the children sleep on the same bed, and Octavio told us that they pay money for these homes as well. We saw two really nice homes that had concrete floors and nice things inside of them (couches, wooden chairs, different rooms and one even had a television!). Even with the “nicer” homes, the women will pay a lot of money to live there and a lot of them were gone because they work to try to feed their kids. Joan and I had a great experience during these home visits – the people here feel that a visitor brings them luck or are a good omen. When you go to their homes you say “Hodi” before entering, so that they can invite you into their homes by saying “Karibu!” Once inside all of the people hurried to get us chairs and were incredibly welcoming. They spoke to us about their lives and about where we were from. They all expressed happiness that we were teaching the children and were incredibly loving and warm. One of the places we visited was not the girl’s home, but it was her grandmother’s place of business. Here they use the words “restaurant” and “hotel” interchangeably, so when Octavio told us that the grandmother owns a hotel I was confused, but I soon understood. The restaurant is a small room with two small tables and two benches. The grandmother sat in the corner and made chapattis and we learned that she sells them along with tea to the people in the mornings before they work. She sat us down and served us hot chai chai (African) tea and chapattis. They were unbelievably good. While we sat we talked to them and had a wonderful time. I plan to go back to her restaurant and take her flour as a gift.

Another boy’s grandmother cried when she saw us and talked to us about how wonderful she thought it was that we came to teach the children. She decided after a few minutes to give us the “gift of Africa” and emerged from the back room with two large patterned cloths that have the face of president Kikwete on them. She and her daughter then tied them on us Massai style. It was really fun to spend time with her and I felt very honored in every home I went into. It was quite an eye-opening experience to see the people’s homes and even the levels of poverty between the students. Some homes were bigger, had more rooms and even had concrete. Others were a mere mud and stick room with a bed and other living essentials crammed into it. I became much more aware of the background of my kids and I was able to assess them based off of their families. I hope this helps me to gain a better view of how to work with the children and be a better volunteer. I really hope to gain a very full experience while I’m here. I never want to just have “visited” Africa or be too tourist-y. I want to see and to learn everything I can while I am here and to really love everyone I can! I am so so in love with my kids…I can’t imagine leaving them in 10 weeks. Time is flying by! I hope to come back here, though. J I know I will. It already has a huge part of my heart.

At the end of the day we went back to the school and I played with Glory, my favorite munchkin. After placement we strolled into town and Moses went over our internship goals with us. He instructed me to create a questionnaire pertaining to the orphanage/orphan life here and the different communities in Moshi, and to also examine adoption laws and other regulations regarding orphanages. We also went out to Glacier with Mussa - which was a blast, as usual :). Anywho…I am going to quickly skip to Friday so I can get to my next post!

Friday I missed placement (super sad face). I woke up with a horrible headache and sinus pain, so I slept in and got up around 9. I got ready for safari and after everyone got back we set off with the Pristine guys to our safari!

The beautiful mountain! I will be climbing this! :) 

[Arusha]

Today we had our first trip to Arusha! After waking up later than I should have I hurried to get ready and we set off at 7:30! (By now I’d like to say I’m used to this early car ride, but I don’t know if early morning and I will ever truly mesh).  So, Kira, Becca and I were lucky enough to be squished into the back of the van again. This made for a lovely hour and a half ride haha. I leaned forward with my head resting on the seat in front of me and slept a little bit. Luckily we took the road that runs from Johannesburg to Cairo – so it was a relatively smooth ride. The only time it got rocky was when we went over the lovely speed bumps J.

            The first thing we did was go to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Here we sat in on the trial of a man named Ildephonse Nizeyimana that had been accused of genocide, extermination, and numerous counts of murder and rape. It was very interesting to actually be there to hear the witness’s story. When you go into the courtroom you put on a headset and sit facing the courtroom. The witness is covered from view and you can see the side judges, and the defense and prosecuting sides of the courtroom. The defense attorney was quite presumptuous and aggressive in his questions and how he talked in the courtroom. He even objected to something the judge had asked the witness! We stayed there for around two hours and left when the court decided to take a break before the prosecution cross-examined the witness. I would have liked to stay for that, but I will go again in a few weeks with the new group! The link to the indictment is: http://www.unictr.org/Portals/0/Case/English/Nizeyimana/indictment/100929.pdf. I will warn you, however. It is really intense and sad to read this because he did a lot of awful things. On another note it is very interesting to read about it and to understand what I was hearing in the courtroom today. We listened to a witness talk about the taking of the Ruhutinyanya family to Burundi. The witness had been a soldier, and the questioning mainly centered around the places that they were stopped on the way to taking the family to the border.

            Next we went to the Massai market. I had previously heard that the men and women running the stalls would drag you into their tents and keep you in there. I was skeptical, but they definitely do this! Becca and I only had one woman do this to us, she kept trying to get Becca to buy something and said, “I need you to buy this from me.” I felt really bad, but I didn’t bring any money – so it was easier for me to say hapana, asante everytime I walked into a tent. I enjoyed the market, but they all had the same thing in each of the tents. I think I am going to go to the art market here in Moshi first and then when we go back to Arusha if there is something unique I will get it. Highlight of Arusha visit? A man saying “Konnichiwa?” and “Aren’t you Japanese?” to Becca while she and I were walking back to the van. After the Massai market we went out to lunch at a restaurant called Via Via.

            This restaurant had beautiful thatched huts around all of the tables and the food was delicious! Corrine and I split some garlic bread, and then I had the Spaghetti Primavera. To eat yummy pasta was simply divine after eating the same thing for the majority of my time here. (Don’t get me wrong, Primo’s cooking is fantastic, just repetitive!) After Via Via we went to the Tanzanite Foundation.

The Tanzanite Adventure was great! We entered into this really nice building (it reminded me of a Department Store…just smack dab in the middle of Africa). First, we were shown the nice leather seats and offered coffee or tea. Second we took a tour around a room that had displays of rough stones and the biggest Tanzanite block ever mined! We then watched a slideshow and then we went to the show room and looked at stunning Tanzanite stones. Tanzanite is a very beautiful indigo/violet stone that is only found at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Due to the fact that it can only be found here and that there is only enough of it to last one generation the stone is said to be 1000 times rarer than diamonds. An ancient Massai myth claims that Tanzanite was created after a giant lightning bolt struck the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and turned the rocks into stunning gems. In reality, the stone may have been developed long ago when the plates shifted and Kilimanjaro was formed. Henry B. Platt of Tiffany and Co. brought the stone to America and was the first to coin the name “Tanzanite”. Tanzanite is a trichroic gem, meaning that the stone has three colors within it. There are violet, burgundy and blue hues within the stone and some are even green or very clear. (These are “defective”). While we were there one of the women showed us with a flashlight the different hues of a large block of tanzanite. It was incredible to see the colors! Needless to say I was totally in love with the stone because I love purple and indigo colors. There is a Trilliant cut stone that I was obsessed with, but it is $1004. Ummm…yeah, I didn’t save that much for Tanzanite. I hope that my future wedding ring will be set with a diamond and Tanzanite though, I definitely want some before it all goes away! The stones are supposed to be able to be mined for the next 13-20 years, so I’ve got some time. I also found out that the Tanzanite foundation (the non-profit associated with the jewelers) also uses its resources to support and create schools and to provide safe environments and education for miners! Pretty sweet! So, even though I will be dreaming about Tanzanite for a while, I plan to get some when I can. I really wanted to get a stone for my mom…but we’ll see what happens. After our Tanzanite adventure we went to a really big supermarket! I believe it was called Shoprite and it totally seemed like a mini Fresh Market. It was great to finally be able to get some chocolate (in the form of Rolos)! I also bought some colored pencils so I could color my continually growing collection of children from around the world that I am drawing. After the store we headed back home and I was able to have a really great talk with Rachel. She’s so awesome, and I’m glad we got to connect and talk a lot! TaChyla and I also decided we are definitely going to Greece next summer. So, for those of you that want to come, just let me know!

            The last story of the night is that I visited Tuleeni with Corinne and Hayley tonight. It was late, so it was also dark dark dark. I could barely see the kids’ faces! They were so adorable and fun though. We sang some songs, played spin (where I spin them around and around and around), and just sat with them on my lap. I don’t know if I talked about my previous Tuleeni experience – but it was amazing. I finally met both Jonas and Mama Faraji!! I had been waiting to meet them since before I came to Tanzania, and I instantly fell in love with them. First, Jonas was so cute and so much bigger than he had been in Casey’s pictures. Second, playing with Queenie, Upendo and Jonathan at Tuleeni was so fun! We jumped rope and hugged and danced around. Mama Faraji talked to me about Casey a lot and how much she loved and missed him. Then she sat with me and held my hand while we talked about my past as an orphan and my desire to house, teach and love on orphans in the future (hopefully in India, Africa or both!). She kept kissing me and telling me how wonderful it was to hear that and to meet me. She also told me about her father, her husband and her own life as orphans and what made her want to have Tuleeni. Currently she has Tuleeni and houses older orphans and babies at her home in Rau. She has a lot of volunteers who help her, but it is wonderful that she does what she does. She held my hand and walked me back to the car and said she  couldn’t wait for me to come visit regularly.

            Tonight we sang a lot of counting songs and we sang “You Are My Sunshine”. Mama Faraji had told me that because Casey had come and played that song for the kids when he was here whenever the song was song the kids would mimic playing a guitar. It was awesome to sing it tonight because I finally saw that in action! Queenie played her air guitar the whole time we sang “You Are My Sunshine” and just kept singing it! I also held Jonathan and danced with him and make my lips vibrate so it made a noise and he would just mimic every sound I made! It was adorable J. He’s just a little 1-2 year old munchkin and I love him so much! While I was sitting with both a little girl and boy on my lap and the stars shining brightly above the orphanage I couldn’t help but think about what beautiful kids they are and how I really never want to leave them! They are just so joyful and so content with the love and relationships they have it is impossible not to have them affect your heart in a very important way. Tonight I just began to really feel both sad and incredibly happy simultaneously. I see how little these kids have, but how rich they are in love and I can’t help but compare it to my life where I have so many things just because my life happened to be the way it is. Everyday I see how the people here are much more wealthy than any of us at home. Their love and joy for living is infectious, and I am so blessed to be welcomed into their lives and to understand them. When I went to visit Angella’s home her grandparents gave up their own seats so we could sit. It is truly incredible to think of the depth of love and respect people here share.

            Anywho, I will get off of my cheesy soap box, but I have a feeling that this feeling and understanding of life here will only get stronger. I also think I will see and experience the not so pleasant parts of life here – but I think that it’s important to see it all. I miss my momma, sister, gram and my friends and of course Mr. Casey. However, I am so SO happy I am here and to be having this unbelievable experience. Thank you everyone that I love – you helped to make this happen!

Fun fact: Arusha is the very center of Africa!

             

Iced Coffee and Neema Orphanage.

I have finally caught up on my blog posts! Hooray! This is a pretty exciting day for me. I haven’t taken a nap today (Mama Becca was proud J) AND I caught up on my posts! So the weekend really wasn’t eventful. My roommates and I used it to rest and prepare for this week. We did, however, run to Unique Batik and to the Coffee Shop. We got our pants and then got coffee at the Coffee Shop next door. Kira and I got choccochinos and Becca got an iced latte. Initially we were a little worried about the ice, but it ended up being totally fine. Becca asked the man at the counter if the ice was okay and it was made out of Kilimanjaro bottled water so it was sawa sawa. We went to the garden section of the coffee shop, which was just a lush area with beautiful plants and quaint tables. Sunday we relaxed, ate and spent time napping and preparing to go to our placements again on Monday. I drew a lot of children from all around the world so we could teach countries and nationalities J The pictures ended up really cute and it was fun to teach the kids on Monday. Despite the fact that I had six criers this day, it was a pretty good day overall and I felt like the children learned some good things. We also had a lawyer come and talk to us about women and children’s rights in Tanzania on Monday evening. Her talk mainly focused on gender as a facet of relationships and the rights women and children have in society. It was interesting to hear that women have a lot of legal rights, but aren’t actually being given these rights in society.

            Today (Tuesday) was an interesting day because we went to placement and then we visited Neema Orphanage. Placement went really well today! We were able to teach a lot of new things and to keep the kids engaged the entire day. We also got to visit Angella’s house today. She is one of my favorite students – she is very cute, bright and spunky. She reminds me of the way I was when I was little! She lives very close to the school with her grandmother and her grandfather. They both were very welcoming and nice when we went to see her home. She has a a very small house with a couple of rooms. We sat outside near the entrance to her house and met her grandma and grandpa. She was very shy and quiet while we were there, which was both cute and amusing to see because she is very outgoing in the classroom. Afterward she held my hand as we walked back to school and we finished the day with songs and mathematics. Joan taught mathematics as I sat in the back and monitored the back few rows of children. We also went and saw a lot of pigs that were living in stilted wooden crates. The stilts were there because of the water level. If it flooded (which it often does) the pigs would not get wet or swept away and the pigs’ excrement would be swept away with the water. The pigs were very dirty and it smelled awful, (or offal awful as Joan said), so we were eager to leave the pig area.

            After lunch today we went to visit Neema Orphanage. This orphanage is quite far away – about a half hour drive from the Home Base. On the way there we stopped at the grocery store and we each got something for the children and the nuns at the orphanage. When we finally got there we had to go through giant gates that were being guarded. Once inside we saw that there were very large and nice buildings in this area, and that it was well groomed. When we first got there we signed the visitor book and the main nun came and spoke to John in Swahili and told him that she was too tired to give us an introduction. We smiled and continued on our way. Here there are three sets of orphans that are divided by age group.  The first group consists of 7 one to two year olds and they live in the lower building. There were only three of them in the building today due to illness and sleeping. There was also a young girl that was both physically and mentally handicapped. Becca, Kira and I came to this part of the orphanage last – the babies were being fed and they had already seen most of the people from our volunteer group already. The babies were very complacent, similar to the other kids in the orphanage. They all seemed very quiet and content.

The second group consisted of 1-2 year olds. There were about 9 kids in this age group. We spent time with this group first. We played outside on the yellow swing set and merry-go-round where the kids were sitting.  The eldest group (the 2-3 year olds) was inside their house and we sat on the floor and played with them for a little bit. There was one boy reading the books with Swahili words that I am still obsessed with. He had beautiful eyes and curly hair. He loved to make funny faces for the camera too! Before we left we went back to the Home Base we went back and played with the 1-2 year olds. They were having baths and Manuela and Joan were drying them and clothing them. They rub Vaseline on their skin when they first get out, I’m guessing to protect and prevent dry baby skin J. After getting clothed the babies sit on the potty. This is great because the pink and blue plastic potties are placed in a line against the wall. They all just sat on the little potties looking perfectly content.                                   
            Once we got back to the Home Base (after quite a drive) we all ate dinner and then prepared for our day in Arusha!!

Siku nane and La Liga!

Thursday I resumed teaching at Faraja and we had a great day. I had read “The Giving Tree” previously and the kids loved it. So, we re-read the book and had the kids learn the words from the tree. They learned tree, trunk, branches, apple, leaf, leaves, stump and boy. We had our local volunteer, Octavio, draw a tree with leaves, branches and apples hanging off of the branches. This was fun because I got to see Octavio’s fantastic talent as an artist!! He is a wonderful local volunteer as well. He interprets our stories beautifully and is an enormous help in the classroom. While we teach he is very good at keeping the kids’ attention and helping them to understand what we are saying. This evening we had Swahili lessons – we worked on words that we use in the classroom – and then we had a guest speaker talk about HIV/AIDS in Tanzania. This was an interesting learning experience. We talked a lot about the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in the community and the situation that people who have it are faced with. In addition to the stigma surrounding it, the people in the community deal with their own guilt and chastisement. Many people will confess that they tried to commit suicide or shut themselves away. However, there are groups and clinics that are taking steps toward alleviating the life situation for these people. The clinics require women to take blood tests when they are pregnant and coming to the clinic for check-ups. The women’s groups (Jipe Moyo, Weiss, Sibo’s group at Kalaleeni) they help women who have HIV/AIDS by providing opportunities for them to have businesses and make money. They also help women and men afflicted by HIV/AIDS by going to visit them within their homes and encouraging them. Their focuses are to provide empowerment and opportunities to make money and raise healthy families.

            Friday was the last day for both Nate and Susan to go to their placements. This was a bittersweet experience, but Susan was preparing to climb Kili the next day so she had a lot to look forward to! After lunch we decided to go into town and get some pants from Unique Batik. Here they allow you to pick out any fabric and they make pants for you that cinch at the bottoms and have a band at the top so you can wear them high-waisted. J They are so cute! I love all of the clothes here…so I am pretty sure I am just going to come home decked out in African clothes and jewelry. I’ll be totally African with my tan, my clothes and my Swahili! Get ready for it haha. So after we got back from town we went out to dinner at Panda Chinese and then went to Glacier and La Liga for Nate’s last Friday night. Panda Chinese was really delicious. I got a hot and spicy noodle dish and it was actually hot and spicy! It was really delicious. We also got yummy spring rolls that were divine. The restaurant was a five-minute drive from our Home Base, but I have no idea where it is. The streets get so dark at night nearly everything becomes indistinguishable. At least to me. Maybe in three months I’ll be able to map out Moshi in the dark J.

            Glacier is an outdoor bar that has “huts” and a large open area. There is a bar, a stage, a dancefloor with a strobe light, a covered open area and a place to order food/kitchen. We got there and got our drinks then hung out on the grass. It was Bob Marley night in honor of his life and death, so there was a lot of Reggae music. There is also a structure that has hanging lanterns on it and the lanterns were arranged in Rastafarian colors. It was fun to hang out here, but I had the best time at La Liga. We ended up going in Musah’s truck to get there. This meant a lot of wind, plenty of speed bumps and occasional screams. I was glad we got Corinne to come with us in the truck because it was fun with her there. I seriously ended up sitting in a tiny ball with my dress tucked around my legs because it was freezing! Once we got there we found a place to hang out near the pool tables outside. Becca and I went into the main dancing area and did some people watching. It was really funny to see the people sitting above just watching everyone dance and have fun, to pass the bar with all of the people crowding to order drinks and it was even funnier to watch the mzungu people dancing! Not to say that I’m not a mzungu…but I am glad I don’t do some very mzungu-ish things. For example, we saw a couple making out hardcore on the dance floor, we got to see a girl looking a little bit uncomfortable with dancing – but this was more sad - , aaaannnnddd we got the pleasure of seeing a very drunk girl dancing pretty sloppily on the stage next to an African man who had ridiculously good moves. It was a funny experience. After that we went back and all of us hung out near the pool tables and then we went and danced! We danced all night long! Needless to say I was so glad to sleep in the next day! J

Siku sita & saba... the Shaky Shaky night.

Tuesday was relatively ordinary. Joan was able to come to school this day so it was fun to have her with us, and I actually got to teach the students a lot this day! I found out that a former volunteer had donated “The Giving Tree” to the school, and I read it to the students during part of English time. I have always loved this book – I love trees and I love the story of how the tree gives of herself to the boy and is so happy to give. I was hoping that the kids would be able to enjoy both the story and the illustrations and I was happy to find that they remained rapt with attention throughout it. I was also able to go over a lot of words and numbers with them, which helped me to gauge the level of the students and to connect with them more. When I wasn’t teaching I observed Jane and helped the kids. The kids really love Joan as well and it is so cute to see them say shikamoo to her. Shikamoo is a greeting used for elders from younger people. It is a sign of respect and the older person responds to shikamoo with marahaba to acknowledge and greet the younger person. It is really fun to work on Swahili with the students, Octavio and Jane.

This day was very muddy near the school because it had rained the previous evening through the night. There is a very steep hill near my school that the car is unable to handle when it is muddy, so Sam, Joan and I walked down the muddy hill and down a couple of roads to the school. We also walked back to the car this way, and many of the kids walked with us and held our hands as we went back to the car. They all began to disperse as they walked home, but it was fun to walk with them. My kids are all very loving and it is incredible to experience their light and joy for others. They all took care of a mtoto (baby) that had wandered into their play area on Monday, and they support each other in games and activities. It is wonderful to work with kids who are passionate about learning and love to be with each other and serve as a strong support group for each other.

Wednesday we had to say goodbye to Erin, which was very sad. A couple nights earlier we went out to dinner for Susan’s (another volunteer with CCS) birthday. We went to Indoitaliano, a restaurant located in Moshi town. They serve really yummy Indian and Italian food here (hence the name) and it was our first restaurant experience of our Moshi trip, excluding Union Café on our first day…but I am going to say that doesn’t count. So we all got ready for her birthday and went to Indoitaliano. I got a garden pizza. While that sounds pretty basic, in reality it was a very flat pizza with a salad of cooked vegetables on top. I liked it a lot, but definitely had trouble eating it. The poor European waiter must have had a hell of a time with all 14 of us talking to and over each other the entire time he was trying to serve us. Oh well, bring a bunch of volunteers out for someone’s birthday, add in a few of their local friends and serve us alcohol and you’ll get a lot of talking, laughing and confusion. I was able to try Tusker while out to dinner and I immediately thought that Casey would be proud! I plan to drink more Tusker within the next three months, it is easily my favorite beer served here J.

Anyway, sorry for getting off track – back to Tuesday and Wednesday. After school/placement on Tuesday we went back to CCS and then left for a town tour. Mama Sarah joined us for the tour and explained things to us as we went. We went around the main roundabout in Moshi and then into town. We ended up stopping at two places this afternoon – one was the art market outside of town and the other was the market in town near Chagga Street. The Chagga are a tribe that are known for their business skills, and so many Moshi business are run or owned by Chagga tribe members. The market near Chagga Street was quite an experience. It consisted of many stalls outside as well as a large area within a warehouse-type of space in which many vendors sold their goods. You could get anything from dried fish and freshly cut meat to rice and grains or avocadoes. The smells here were overwhelming – the combination of fish, meat and spices was definitely enough for my little nose to be ready to leave. Outside we found a lot of other stalls and Kira, Becca and I spent some time just walking around and seeing what other places there were in town. During our tour we also encountered a lot of churches – Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim were all located on our drive around the town. The art market was very cool – I saw a lot of awesome potential souvenirs for my family and friends here.

Wednesday was eventful for a few reasons. We had our guest lecturer on Education come to CCS, Erin left, and we went out to both the Shaky shaky and Kool Bar with our friends later that night. The guest lecture was very interesting and informative. The speaker was the Tanzanian representative for the UN and he was very well spoken and interesting. It was unfortunate that his lecture was from 6:15 until 8:15 at night; because I was so tired I was like a waif sitting there trying to listen.

The education situation in Tanzania is very interesting because it takes into account not only the history of schools themselves, but also the history of the tribal societies and their customs. Prior to 1885, Tanzania was governed and populated by African tribal societies. These societies were identified by the vernacular they used and the economic activity they participated in (e.g. maize growers, grain producers etc.). Although colonization seems to have a negative connotation, prior to colonization Africa was in great danger as a continent due to the lack of unity and growth it was experiencing. Tanganyika (Tanzania prior to its communion with Zanzibar) has 120 tribes within it alone, so to imagine Africa prior to colonization would be intense! During this time two systems of education existed. One was an informal system in which education was obtained by being exposed to the customs and ways of the community and copying their behavior. In these communities people learned from practicing and following their own family. In the other system children would learn the secrets of the village annually – or seasonally. This is similar to the more stereotypical idea of tribal education. Here boys would go into the wood or something similar and become men at a certain age. Women would also go through a ritual into womanhood, one that often resulted in female mutilation. Once the children emerged from their manhood/womanhood rituals they would return and become a part of the community.

 From 1885 to the 1960s Tanzania was under colonial rule. During a five-month conference the European powers took a solid 48 minutes to decide the fate of Africa and divide between themselves. Pretty crazy that it only took 48 minutes to divide an entire continent! Initially, the colonists came as missionaries. This was due to the understanding that everyone shared faith or the idea of a higher power. Prior to colonialism, Africans had been believing in unjust and scary gods, so the idea of a loving God was appealing to them. The sharing of religion built a philanthropic relationship with the African people and brought Christianity to the country (Tanzania). Another way in which colonization affected Africa was through the introduction of hospitals. Prior to formal hospitals a lot of people had been dying due to trial and error, so gaining medicine was a huge advancement. Lastly, the colonists brought formal schools to Africa. The purpose of educating the native people of Africa was to provide employees of the government. The students would learn a skill and at the end of the curriculum they would become servants of the colonial government. This education had the effect of making the people begin to think for themselves, thus leading to the desire for independence.

Though Tanzania gained its independence in the 1960s, the people were still being educated to be employed. In 1992 there were 3 levels for students to participate in. The first was a European based school system in which students trained so the could become investors. The second was children of liberals and government people. These schools had good facilities and became entrepreneurs. The third system was made for the African children and was not as formal or nice as the other two. In 1972 Tanzania became the first African country to sign a UN Protocol law mandating that all children are sent to school. Currently, there are a few levels of schooling for the children. There is nursery school/kindergarten (this is the level of my kids), Primary school, Secondary school and University. The nursery schools do not have curriculum, so working in them or being a teacher for them is difficult and very free form. The other levels do, however, have formal structure, but sometimes money issues come into the picture at these levels. Many families cannot pay the optional/additional fees associated with primary schooling such as porridge. Secondary school and University education both cost money. I believe secondary school costs around 20,000 Tsh each year. Due to the cost and the life circumstances facing many children here, a lot of children drop out of school by secondary school, some even by primary. It is very hard to find someone who has mastered the system of education as well because of the way the language barrier is addressed. Children often speak their tribal language before they attend nursery school, and thus begin to learn both Swahili and English in nursery school. However, even though these students are being taught English, their classes are taught in Swahili until they reach secondary school. Once in secondary school all classes from this point through University education are taught in English. This system makes language comprehension and acquisition difficult and arduous.

Toward the end of his lecture our teacher emphasized our role in teaching young children in Tanzania. He encouraged us to do two things – 1. Help the children to hear. It is important that they hear words, sounds and distinctions. Without breaking down the phonological systems of words for them, it is good to make sure the sounds are distinct and clear for them to repeat and comprehend. 2. Help them and encourage them to speak. Don’t turn them away if they make mistakes, but encourage them to continue to keep trying. Without putting the words into use and practice they will just revert to the more comfortable way of communicating. Challenge them while also being compassionate. It is good to show them the importance of knowing English and allow them to speak broken English.

The other experiences of this day/night were quite different from each other. Saying goodbye to Erin was quite sad. It was hard to see the other (veteran) volunteers crying as she left, and I was definitely sad to see her go. Even though I only met her and talked to her for a few days, I really loved being around her. Her energy is very bright and warm and she really made me feel welcome and at home my first couple of days. I am glad I got to spend a few days connecting with her and becoming her friend. I will miss her and I hope she is having an amazing time in Amsterdam as I write this!

The last event, going to the Shaky shaky and Kool bar, were…very interesting. First, when we went to shaky shaky I thought that we would be going to a popular bar or dance club or something. However, to my surprise we went to a location that was reserved for our group. We were served yummy African dinner (very similar to our dinners here at the Home Base – which I will be sure to explain further in a different post), and we watched two groups of performers. The first was just dancers dressed in African clothing. They came out a few times and sang and danced more traditional African dances. The musicians in the back included djembe players, wood drums and a toaster – yes a toaster. The second performing group came and did amazing stunts and acrobatic moves. They looked like performers from cirque de soleil – it was amazing and to be honest, kind of freaky. They were doing incredible stunts on a very unforgiving concrete floor. During the performance I became a little nervous about some of the stunts and had the urge to cover my eyes, but luckily nothing happened. Later in the evening there was a contortionist. This was kind of unnerving because she was very close to us. It is one thing to see a contortionist up on the stage, but right in front of your table? It’s an entirely different experience. Although I was a little creeped out, the performance was very well done and I enjoyed it a lot. Naturally, after the performance we were invited to get up and dance. It was a both a little bit nerve wracking and very fun. I found that the hand/arm thing is very true about Western dancing. We put a lot of emphasis on using our arms while Tanzanians are all about their trunk and lower body. I have never seen any human – man or woman – shake their hips as well as the male dancers at the shaky shaky. I was basically in awe of their skills while we were there. The night ended by going to Kool bar. This was hilarious because we decided to smash ourselves into a taxi to get there and rode in a truck bed through the rain to get home. Kool bar provided my first squatty potty experience and I got to witness the bar life (on a Wednesday that is) in Tanzania. It was a lot of fun and it prepared me for our night out at La Liga on Friday! Anyway, I am getting nimechoka sana and need to get to bed. I will write more later! Ninakupendo/nakupenda. Salama!