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.