Monday, August 17, 2009
Final Post
All three of us made it safely to the top of Kilimanjaro. It was fairly difficult but an incredible hike. I am boarding my plane back to the States in a few hours. Hard to believe the time has passed so quickly but I'm looking forward to getting back home. Thanks for reading! Baadaye.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Day 46 - Matatizo ya Barua (Mail Problems)
After completing my oral proficiency evaluation relatively unscathed, I only have a short presentation to prepare for tomorrow before finishing the program! This week has been relatively uneventful, except for yesterday.
The day did not start off well. It was cold and rainy in the morning, and so I awoke feeling slightly under the weather (I am currently terrified of contracting a cold, as it would make the Kilimanjaro climb significantly harder). We left for a primary school in the morning. I was genuinely looking forward to visiting the school and interacting with the kids but unfortunately I didn't fully recover by our trip. Nonetheless, I had a great hour-long conversation with a sixth grader named Joseph. He told me anything and everything I ever needed to know about all of the plants and trees on the school's property. The school was very interesting. It has over one thousand students and anywhere from 40-60 kids in each class.
After returning from the school in the afternoon, Hugh told me that I had a package notification at reception but I needed to pay some money. I had been anticipating this package for about a week - my parents sent me some hiking pants and other necessary items for the Kilimanjaro climb, so with only two or three days remaining before the trek, I was starting to get nervous about its arrival. I went to reception to claim the package. Instead, I was given a receipt of the mailing slip from the USPS, and two pieces of paper from the Tanzanian Postal Service. The receptionist turned one of the pieces of paper over, and 97,000/= (Tanzanian shillings) was handwritten on the back. "You need to go to the post office and pay this amount." The charge was about $80 US dollars. Needless to say, I was in disbelief, especially since my parents had already paid full postage. I was planning on sleeping that afternoon. Instead, I boarded a dalladalla by myself and ventured into Arusha.
Like most people, I become fairly agitated if I think someone is trying to take advantage of me. Especially since no matter what you do, how you dress, or what you say, people will think you are overflowing with money because of your skin color. The 45 minute dalladalla ride and 30 minute walk to find the post office did nothing to calm my temper. If anything it made me more upset. I found the post office, walked to the window, and gave the postal worker the receipt I had received. I intentionally did not give her the torn-off piece of paper with the 97,000/= charge. After exchanging a few pleasantries in Swahili, she calculated the "import tax" which I needed to pay. It turned about to be the same as the first figure.
She then pointed to a numerical figure at the corner of the USPS receipt, which had an acronymn next to it. She asked if I knew what this figure meant. I said no. She then told me she also didn't know what it meant. But even still, she took this figure, converted it into Tanzanian shillings, and that's how she figured out my tax. But wait a minute, I said in Swahili, you just said you didn't know what the number was for! She then said it was the cost of the package. She pointed to a different section of the receipt, where my parents had written the costs of the items within the package for insurance purposes. She started naming the items in my package and their costs. "But those figures are only for insurance - you're not supposed to be looking at that," I said. She then said to ignore the costs of the items, but returned to the first value (whose meaning we both didn't know). She then redid her calculations. I then said she's basing this tax (which, I may add, wound up to be about 50%) off an unknown number. We went back and forth for awhile, mostly in Swahili but bits also in English.
After awhile, I laughed and said "Samahani, mimi si chizi." Or, I'm sorry, but I'm not crazy. Some people in the lobby began to notice our conversation and looked over. She then repeated the ridiculous charge which I was surely not paying. After a continued back-and-forth, I was starting to get more agitated. At this point, I laughed again, took a small step back, looked at some of the other people in line, and said (relatively loudly), "Wao ni wizi hapa!" Or, they are theives here! The people waiting loved this one, and some of them started laughing. The woman I was speaking with immediately backpeddled - I'm not a theif! This is a government policy! It's not me! She then pointed to a letter with government leatterhead, as if that was enough to convince me. She then proceeded to bring my package and open it up on the front counter. I wasn't pleased with this turn of events, but she began to go through the contents and ask me how much I paid for them (even though the values were written on the receipt). Seeking to save myself from highway robbery, I decided to bend the truth a bit.
She started with a math book which I will be giving to my host brother as a gift. To give you a sense of the ridiculous thought process, she said "There is no tax on books or computers, since they are technology." I didn't argue this point. For the pair of hiking pants, I said that I had actually bought them as used; the initial value is what was written down, but that's not what they are currently worth (even though the tags were still on them). She said she didn't believe me, since they looked new. I said that I paid a significantly lower rate than what was written.
She moved on to a dufflebag my parents also sent. It, too, was in its package, but she again asked me what I had paid (because clearly, I had purchased the American items while in Tanzanian, and sent them to myself). I decided to be cheeky and asked "Katika soko la Tengeru, mfuko huu ni shilingi ngapi?" Or, how much could I get this at the Tengeru market? She laughed and said that these are not sold in Tengeru. Even still, I drastically lowered the price of the bag. Yet again, she balked. "But this is really nice material! This is not cheap." At this point, I was entirely confused as to why she was in a position to determine the costs of items. Wanting to question her judgement of pricing, I asked her "Unafanya kazi hapa posta, au unafanya kazi soko la Tengeru?" "Do you work here in the Post Office, or do you work in the Tengeru market?" She said she worked here, but "had a lot of experience with pricing items."
She then put everything back into the box and asked me the total amount I had paid for everything. It was like a market conversation, but in reverse. I said $25 USD. She then did her bogus calculation, and she came up with a new tax of 15,000/=, or roughly $10 USD. I decided I wasn't going to get anything lower, so I paid the tax. After I paid, we talked about my studies and met her youngest daughter. "Nashukuru kukufahamu" - I'm happy to know you - I said somewhat sarcastically. She laughed and said the same to me. Before I left I said I would enjoy talking with her tomorrow. She said I was always welcome to come back. For some reason, I didn't find myself returning to the Post Office today.
She was a decently nice woman, so I felt badly that I gave her a bit of a hard time, but I know taking advantage of the mzungu when I see it. Unfortunately, on that afternoon, when I should have been recovering, I was not in a mood to cater to their gauging tendencies. I always anticipate having to barter at a market or at other informal (non-governmental) places. Thus it took me by surprise when I learned I needed to also 'barter' at the post office. Either way, I successfully retrieved my package and managed to avoid emptying my bank account in the process.
I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in town with some friends. Today is relatively calm, since the oral proficiency exam is over. Just a quick presentation about the Tragedy of the Commons tomorrow, and I am finished!
The day did not start off well. It was cold and rainy in the morning, and so I awoke feeling slightly under the weather (I am currently terrified of contracting a cold, as it would make the Kilimanjaro climb significantly harder). We left for a primary school in the morning. I was genuinely looking forward to visiting the school and interacting with the kids but unfortunately I didn't fully recover by our trip. Nonetheless, I had a great hour-long conversation with a sixth grader named Joseph. He told me anything and everything I ever needed to know about all of the plants and trees on the school's property. The school was very interesting. It has over one thousand students and anywhere from 40-60 kids in each class.
After returning from the school in the afternoon, Hugh told me that I had a package notification at reception but I needed to pay some money. I had been anticipating this package for about a week - my parents sent me some hiking pants and other necessary items for the Kilimanjaro climb, so with only two or three days remaining before the trek, I was starting to get nervous about its arrival. I went to reception to claim the package. Instead, I was given a receipt of the mailing slip from the USPS, and two pieces of paper from the Tanzanian Postal Service. The receptionist turned one of the pieces of paper over, and 97,000/= (Tanzanian shillings) was handwritten on the back. "You need to go to the post office and pay this amount." The charge was about $80 US dollars. Needless to say, I was in disbelief, especially since my parents had already paid full postage. I was planning on sleeping that afternoon. Instead, I boarded a dalladalla by myself and ventured into Arusha.
Like most people, I become fairly agitated if I think someone is trying to take advantage of me. Especially since no matter what you do, how you dress, or what you say, people will think you are overflowing with money because of your skin color. The 45 minute dalladalla ride and 30 minute walk to find the post office did nothing to calm my temper. If anything it made me more upset. I found the post office, walked to the window, and gave the postal worker the receipt I had received. I intentionally did not give her the torn-off piece of paper with the 97,000/= charge. After exchanging a few pleasantries in Swahili, she calculated the "import tax" which I needed to pay. It turned about to be the same as the first figure.
She then pointed to a numerical figure at the corner of the USPS receipt, which had an acronymn next to it. She asked if I knew what this figure meant. I said no. She then told me she also didn't know what it meant. But even still, she took this figure, converted it into Tanzanian shillings, and that's how she figured out my tax. But wait a minute, I said in Swahili, you just said you didn't know what the number was for! She then said it was the cost of the package. She pointed to a different section of the receipt, where my parents had written the costs of the items within the package for insurance purposes. She started naming the items in my package and their costs. "But those figures are only for insurance - you're not supposed to be looking at that," I said. She then said to ignore the costs of the items, but returned to the first value (whose meaning we both didn't know). She then redid her calculations. I then said she's basing this tax (which, I may add, wound up to be about 50%) off an unknown number. We went back and forth for awhile, mostly in Swahili but bits also in English.
After awhile, I laughed and said "Samahani, mimi si chizi." Or, I'm sorry, but I'm not crazy. Some people in the lobby began to notice our conversation and looked over. She then repeated the ridiculous charge which I was surely not paying. After a continued back-and-forth, I was starting to get more agitated. At this point, I laughed again, took a small step back, looked at some of the other people in line, and said (relatively loudly), "Wao ni wizi hapa!" Or, they are theives here! The people waiting loved this one, and some of them started laughing. The woman I was speaking with immediately backpeddled - I'm not a theif! This is a government policy! It's not me! She then pointed to a letter with government leatterhead, as if that was enough to convince me. She then proceeded to bring my package and open it up on the front counter. I wasn't pleased with this turn of events, but she began to go through the contents and ask me how much I paid for them (even though the values were written on the receipt). Seeking to save myself from highway robbery, I decided to bend the truth a bit.
She started with a math book which I will be giving to my host brother as a gift. To give you a sense of the ridiculous thought process, she said "There is no tax on books or computers, since they are technology." I didn't argue this point. For the pair of hiking pants, I said that I had actually bought them as used; the initial value is what was written down, but that's not what they are currently worth (even though the tags were still on them). She said she didn't believe me, since they looked new. I said that I paid a significantly lower rate than what was written.
She moved on to a dufflebag my parents also sent. It, too, was in its package, but she again asked me what I had paid (because clearly, I had purchased the American items while in Tanzanian, and sent them to myself). I decided to be cheeky and asked "Katika soko la Tengeru, mfuko huu ni shilingi ngapi?" Or, how much could I get this at the Tengeru market? She laughed and said that these are not sold in Tengeru. Even still, I drastically lowered the price of the bag. Yet again, she balked. "But this is really nice material! This is not cheap." At this point, I was entirely confused as to why she was in a position to determine the costs of items. Wanting to question her judgement of pricing, I asked her "Unafanya kazi hapa posta, au unafanya kazi soko la Tengeru?" "Do you work here in the Post Office, or do you work in the Tengeru market?" She said she worked here, but "had a lot of experience with pricing items."
She then put everything back into the box and asked me the total amount I had paid for everything. It was like a market conversation, but in reverse. I said $25 USD. She then did her bogus calculation, and she came up with a new tax of 15,000/=, or roughly $10 USD. I decided I wasn't going to get anything lower, so I paid the tax. After I paid, we talked about my studies and met her youngest daughter. "Nashukuru kukufahamu" - I'm happy to know you - I said somewhat sarcastically. She laughed and said the same to me. Before I left I said I would enjoy talking with her tomorrow. She said I was always welcome to come back. For some reason, I didn't find myself returning to the Post Office today.
She was a decently nice woman, so I felt badly that I gave her a bit of a hard time, but I know taking advantage of the mzungu when I see it. Unfortunately, on that afternoon, when I should have been recovering, I was not in a mood to cater to their gauging tendencies. I always anticipate having to barter at a market or at other informal (non-governmental) places. Thus it took me by surprise when I learned I needed to also 'barter' at the post office. Either way, I successfully retrieved my package and managed to avoid emptying my bank account in the process.
I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in town with some friends. Today is relatively calm, since the oral proficiency exam is over. Just a quick presentation about the Tragedy of the Commons tomorrow, and I am finished!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Day 43 - The White African
This is the last week of the intensive Swahili program. We are staying at the TCDC campus for the remaining time, but this past weekend was our last weekend with our host family. I'm definitely looking forward to completing the program (final exam, oral proficiency exam, and final project presentation still to go), but not looking forward to leaving the country. This weekend, per usual, had its own series of (mis)fortunate events.
It is a small world after all [even in Kambia chupa Madukani, Tanzania].
Friday afternoon, we left the campus and returned to our host family. Friday evening, we went to "Slope Hill Bar" with our host father. The bar and restaurant is a small establishment about 5 minute walking distance from our house. It's located in a group of small shops that overlook the main road into Arusha. This particular evening, Hugh and I met Sarah, a 21-year-old from Ohio who has been volunteering in Tanzania several times. She is renting a house from our host dad with her boyfriend, Emanuel. When I was talking to Emanuel (who was born in Arusha), he told me that he spent about 5 years living in Silver Spring, Maryland! His dad worked for the World Bank in D.C. for a number of years. He also told me he enjoyed going to Hagerstown, MD because apparently there is a place to buy butchered goats. He was also talking to me about his trips into northern Virginia, and "Amish Country" in Pennsylvania (watu ambao hawapendi umeme - people which don't like electricity). He also said he had neighbors who worked in the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, which is the same hospital where I was born. It was definitely a chance encounter in such a removed bar in northern Tanzania.
It would be one thing if my conversation with Emanuel was the first of its kind, but several weeks ago, I met a friend of my host father who studied one year at Indiana University! It was back in the 70's, but he remembered he stayed in Eigenmann and got a degree through the School of Education. It's funny to think both chance encounters happened at this small little restaurant 10 minutes outside of Arusha.
Saturday was the goat slaughtering day. We went to the main Tengeru market with our host mom (always funny to see the look on peoples' faces when they saw two white guys helping the Tanzanian woman!). After we returned from the market, all of my host father's brothers came to the house. We cleared a section of the backyard and placed chairs to watch the process. It was a little graphic, but not as bad as I was expecting. Our host father was telling us about the Chagga beliefs about the goat - evaluating the health of the family by looking at its intestines, throwing away a small piece of the heart for good luck, seeing if finances will improve, etc. We then grilled the meat immediately upon butchering and had dinner! In addition to the meat, I ate liver (not recommended), a foot (also not recommended), stomach lining (also not recommended) and large intestines (actually not that bad!). After that we tried some of the local Chagga brew - mbege - which was actually made from bananas and not too bad. We were drinking from a gourd, which was interesting as well.
Sunday was supposed to be a day devoted to studying. I say "supposed to" with good cause. I started the day studying in bed. Around lunchtime, Hugh and I asked Beda to take us to the top of the small mountain (really, it's a hill) by our house. We quickly lost the main path and were at times nearly crawling on the ground to avoid trees and branches. We nearly turned back, but managed to find the summit. It was a terrific view! Unfortunately Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro were covered by clouds, but it was a great site of the landscape. We then found the main path back down the mountain - which entailed a lot of running and "skiing" down the slopes on the loose dirt. We then exited through the back of an unknown (to Hugh and myself) village. We were all pretty dirty, and people were really surprised to see us. I told Hugh it was as if we had dropped out of the sky - it was pretty funny. When we were walking back, we both needed to get work done. We were walking up to the house, when our host parents were driving away. They said there was a celebration which we should attend...so much for working!
I wasn't pleased about the forced attendance of this random celebration. It was in Kwa Mrefu, which is the next village over (about a 15 minute walk) and getting late. The electricity was also out for the day, so we needed the natural light to do our work. Regardless, we went. But only for a little bit, and then we would go (Beda assured us this was okay). We were walking up to the house with Beda, when we quickly realized this wasn't in informal get-together. Everyone was nicely dressed, there was an outdoor tent set up, with balloons and about 50 chairs - filled with people. There were also speakers and an emcee, with food and beverages. Things just became a bit worse.
We sit down after getting food in the crowd. We are sitting down, listening to the emcee, when Beda says we should go give money to the boy and shake his hand (it was celebrating his first communion - he was standing up front-and-center in a suit with about 4 of his friends, also in suits). I thought this would be fun, so after pressuring Hugh for a moment to join me, we got up and walked toward the front. It was hysterical to see the kid's face when he realized the only two wazungu in the crowd were coming up to him. His eyes tripled in size and his jaw dropped a bit. After returning to my seat, I noticed most of the people in the crowd were laughing. I didn't need anyone to tell me to whom they were directing their laughter.
It couldn't get any worse, right?
Later in the ceremony (way longer than we were anticipating staying) they brought a cake out for the boy and set it on a table right in front of him (again, front and center of the 50-75 person crowd). The emcee started calling up every single member of the family - parents, aunts, grandma, grandpa, paternal uncles, maternal uncles, etc etc etc. After each person was called, they walked up to the table, when the boy took a piece of cake on a toothpick and fed it to them. There was a photographer documenting the entire procedure. Hugh and I began wondering how long this was going to last, but at least we could sit back and not be noticed, right? After a few minutes, I noticed several people sitting around us had left for another area of the house. After that moment, it was similar to watching a car crash in slow motion. Hugh and I exchanged looks of "What if they call us up?" and we both looked at the ground hoping to suddenly become invisible. It didn't work. I looked up briefly, when the emcee was walking towards us with her microphone. She started to walk through the crowd, which she didn't do for anyone else (after this moment, I could only hear faint sounds and couldn't distinguish any words from the speakers). I looked at Hugh, who was burying his face in his hat. She paused right in front of us, put her hand up to the cake, and in a rush of regaining consciousness, I heard "Karibuni." Welcome.
We walk up to the center of the ceremony, stand and wait while they cut more pieces of cake, and line up in front of the boy. Of course the photographer is telling us to wait until he finds the best angle, and after a bit of maneuvering, we bend over to be fed cake with a toothpick by a 10 year old whose name I still don't know. Needless to say, the laughter returned.
After this experience, Hugh and I were ready to leave. We were told by Beda that we should take a drink with the elder members of the crowd in a separate room in the house. We entered to a cramped, dark room and finished our drink as quickly as possible in silence. On the way leaving the house, Beda said someone in the ceremony said Hugh and I were 'white Africans,' since we were not shy like Americans or other Europeans. Even after being publicly humiliated repeatedly, I left the ceremony pleased.
The electricity still had not returned when we got back to the house. We tried working for a couple hours by candlelight, when our host dad returned and said that Gladstone (the gentleman who went to IU) wanted to see us again before we left. So, we left the house and talked with him once more. After getting back, the electricity returned and after more studying we went to bed. This morning we left the house for the final time. It was definitely sad to leave Moivaro and Kambia Chupa. Hopefully it won't be too long before I return again.
It is a small world after all [even in Kambia chupa Madukani, Tanzania].
Friday afternoon, we left the campus and returned to our host family. Friday evening, we went to "Slope Hill Bar" with our host father. The bar and restaurant is a small establishment about 5 minute walking distance from our house. It's located in a group of small shops that overlook the main road into Arusha. This particular evening, Hugh and I met Sarah, a 21-year-old from Ohio who has been volunteering in Tanzania several times. She is renting a house from our host dad with her boyfriend, Emanuel. When I was talking to Emanuel (who was born in Arusha), he told me that he spent about 5 years living in Silver Spring, Maryland! His dad worked for the World Bank in D.C. for a number of years. He also told me he enjoyed going to Hagerstown, MD because apparently there is a place to buy butchered goats. He was also talking to me about his trips into northern Virginia, and "Amish Country" in Pennsylvania (watu ambao hawapendi umeme - people which don't like electricity). He also said he had neighbors who worked in the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, which is the same hospital where I was born. It was definitely a chance encounter in such a removed bar in northern Tanzania.
It would be one thing if my conversation with Emanuel was the first of its kind, but several weeks ago, I met a friend of my host father who studied one year at Indiana University! It was back in the 70's, but he remembered he stayed in Eigenmann and got a degree through the School of Education. It's funny to think both chance encounters happened at this small little restaurant 10 minutes outside of Arusha.
Saturday was the goat slaughtering day. We went to the main Tengeru market with our host mom (always funny to see the look on peoples' faces when they saw two white guys helping the Tanzanian woman!). After we returned from the market, all of my host father's brothers came to the house. We cleared a section of the backyard and placed chairs to watch the process. It was a little graphic, but not as bad as I was expecting. Our host father was telling us about the Chagga beliefs about the goat - evaluating the health of the family by looking at its intestines, throwing away a small piece of the heart for good luck, seeing if finances will improve, etc. We then grilled the meat immediately upon butchering and had dinner! In addition to the meat, I ate liver (not recommended), a foot (also not recommended), stomach lining (also not recommended) and large intestines (actually not that bad!). After that we tried some of the local Chagga brew - mbege - which was actually made from bananas and not too bad. We were drinking from a gourd, which was interesting as well.
Sunday was supposed to be a day devoted to studying. I say "supposed to" with good cause. I started the day studying in bed. Around lunchtime, Hugh and I asked Beda to take us to the top of the small mountain (really, it's a hill) by our house. We quickly lost the main path and were at times nearly crawling on the ground to avoid trees and branches. We nearly turned back, but managed to find the summit. It was a terrific view! Unfortunately Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro were covered by clouds, but it was a great site of the landscape. We then found the main path back down the mountain - which entailed a lot of running and "skiing" down the slopes on the loose dirt. We then exited through the back of an unknown (to Hugh and myself) village. We were all pretty dirty, and people were really surprised to see us. I told Hugh it was as if we had dropped out of the sky - it was pretty funny. When we were walking back, we both needed to get work done. We were walking up to the house, when our host parents were driving away. They said there was a celebration which we should attend...so much for working!
I wasn't pleased about the forced attendance of this random celebration. It was in Kwa Mrefu, which is the next village over (about a 15 minute walk) and getting late. The electricity was also out for the day, so we needed the natural light to do our work. Regardless, we went. But only for a little bit, and then we would go (Beda assured us this was okay). We were walking up to the house with Beda, when we quickly realized this wasn't in informal get-together. Everyone was nicely dressed, there was an outdoor tent set up, with balloons and about 50 chairs - filled with people. There were also speakers and an emcee, with food and beverages. Things just became a bit worse.
We sit down after getting food in the crowd. We are sitting down, listening to the emcee, when Beda says we should go give money to the boy and shake his hand (it was celebrating his first communion - he was standing up front-and-center in a suit with about 4 of his friends, also in suits). I thought this would be fun, so after pressuring Hugh for a moment to join me, we got up and walked toward the front. It was hysterical to see the kid's face when he realized the only two wazungu in the crowd were coming up to him. His eyes tripled in size and his jaw dropped a bit. After returning to my seat, I noticed most of the people in the crowd were laughing. I didn't need anyone to tell me to whom they were directing their laughter.
It couldn't get any worse, right?
Later in the ceremony (way longer than we were anticipating staying) they brought a cake out for the boy and set it on a table right in front of him (again, front and center of the 50-75 person crowd). The emcee started calling up every single member of the family - parents, aunts, grandma, grandpa, paternal uncles, maternal uncles, etc etc etc. After each person was called, they walked up to the table, when the boy took a piece of cake on a toothpick and fed it to them. There was a photographer documenting the entire procedure. Hugh and I began wondering how long this was going to last, but at least we could sit back and not be noticed, right? After a few minutes, I noticed several people sitting around us had left for another area of the house. After that moment, it was similar to watching a car crash in slow motion. Hugh and I exchanged looks of "What if they call us up?" and we both looked at the ground hoping to suddenly become invisible. It didn't work. I looked up briefly, when the emcee was walking towards us with her microphone. She started to walk through the crowd, which she didn't do for anyone else (after this moment, I could only hear faint sounds and couldn't distinguish any words from the speakers). I looked at Hugh, who was burying his face in his hat. She paused right in front of us, put her hand up to the cake, and in a rush of regaining consciousness, I heard "Karibuni." Welcome.
We walk up to the center of the ceremony, stand and wait while they cut more pieces of cake, and line up in front of the boy. Of course the photographer is telling us to wait until he finds the best angle, and after a bit of maneuvering, we bend over to be fed cake with a toothpick by a 10 year old whose name I still don't know. Needless to say, the laughter returned.
After this experience, Hugh and I were ready to leave. We were told by Beda that we should take a drink with the elder members of the crowd in a separate room in the house. We entered to a cramped, dark room and finished our drink as quickly as possible in silence. On the way leaving the house, Beda said someone in the ceremony said Hugh and I were 'white Africans,' since we were not shy like Americans or other Europeans. Even after being publicly humiliated repeatedly, I left the ceremony pleased.
The electricity still had not returned when we got back to the house. We tried working for a couple hours by candlelight, when our host dad returned and said that Gladstone (the gentleman who went to IU) wanted to see us again before we left. So, we left the house and talked with him once more. After getting back, the electricity returned and after more studying we went to bed. This morning we left the house for the final time. It was definitely sad to leave Moivaro and Kambia Chupa. Hopefully it won't be too long before I return again.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Day 38 - Back to Work!
It has not been an easy transition since returning from Zanzibar. We were all aware of the schedule before leaving, but it has been hard to refocus on constant studying after returning from, quite literally, paradise.
Apologies for the lack of updates in the past week and a half, although there hasn't been too much to report. We have returned to living on campus at TCDC during the week but continue to stay with our host families during the weekend. We are also getting ready for next week - reminiscent of Finals Week in college - as we have two papers, two presentations, an oral proficiency examination and a final written examination. Working on those projects has required much of my time but I did manage to have some interesting experiences during the past week and a half.
Last Thursday, we went to Usa Market, which is a smaller non-tourist market by our campus. I wasn't too thrilled about going, since we have had a lot of practice speaking in markets already. I also didn't see many things I wanted to buy - used t-shirts, watches, backpacks, fruits, vegetables, etc. didn't interest me. After an hour a group of us were about to leave when I walked by a particular vendor on the fringe of the market. I noticed he was selling belts with a rectangular buckle of the American flag. As I came closer to the buckle, the picture changed to President Obama. It was most definitely a hologram of the flag and Obama. Naturally, I bought it. Tomorrow we are going to go to the ICTR - International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which should be extremely interesting. We are encouraged to wear formal clothes - I will be wearing brown shoes, khaki pants, blue shirt and tie, and the Obama belt.
This past weekend with our host family was also enjoyable. Saturday, Hugh and I went into Arusha to run some errands and visit the Maasai Market. We successfully made it to the market (which is geared for tourists) and went around shopping. It was very reminiscent of Zanzibar - constantly getting hounded for business. After we returned we went for a short hike with Beda, our 14 year old host brother, down to the nearby river. It was evident that it was the hang-out for the village kids, as about 10 kids were by the river swimming and playing on the rocks. We ran with the kids for a bit, which entailed them laughing as Hugh and I struggled to keep up. Either way, it was a lot of fun. We returned in the evening and spent the evening at home.
On Sunday Hugh and I explored more of Moivaro (the village where our host family lives). We walked about 15 minutes down the road to find "Moivaro Lodge and Coffee Plantation." We had heard many stories about this place, mostly pertaining to its cost ("A beer is five U.S. dollars!!") so we decided to check it out. We walked through the gate and came to find it encompassed a large area of land. We then walked back into the 'plantation' and found the central building and restaurant. Needless to say, it was wazungu central, but it was indeed nice. We stopped into the gift shop (it's always nice to speak in Swahili with Tanzanians in overtly tourist locations, since they are so used to speaking English only) to find that the prices were in U.S. dollars (always a bad sign for overpriced goods) and they were at least 5 times the amount a tourist can get away with at a local market. We left after a short conversation.
After we returned home, I helped Beda with some of his math homework. It was a fairly basic lesson but it had been too long since my last math class! I think I helped a small degree, but it was a little frustrating. We then learned the process of coffee production. Eastern Africa (northern Tanzania in particular) is famous for its coffee, so this was a treat. Our host dad has a coffee business in addition to his regular job at TCDC, so he owns several areas of land in the area for coffee production, but he also has some coffee plants by the house. We didn't experience the process of picking the seeds, peeling them and drying the beans, but we did basically everything else. It was a process of crushing the seeds to find the beans (the picture below is from this step), separating the seeds 'husks' from the beans, cleaning the beans to ensure no husk is remaining, and then roasting! It was a lot of fun - not to mention the treat of having the coffee for breakfast the next day!
After coffee, our host parents took us to Lake Duluti, which is another conservation area near Arusha. It was a beautiful lake and reminded me of some of the lakes in Montana (minus the Rocky Mountains in the background). We spent several hours there, watching the sunset and having dinner. After we returned, we spoke with our host dad about a possible gift to the family. Hugh previously knew that slaughtering a goat was a celebratory event for the Chagga (the ethnic group my host family is apart of) so we offered to pay for the process as a gift when we leave. Little did we know that, since it is still fairly soon after the funeral for our host dad's brother, the slaughtering of a goat would culturally also be included with the funeral celebration (after so many days, usually a goat is slaughtered to celebrate the end of the mourning period). In other words, what was initially a small gesture of appreciation, to be experienced by our immediate host family, myself, and Hugh, has now become an extended family (and perhaps friends, village, etc.) affair. Our host dad made sure we understood that "this would not be a small gathering." In my mind, that makes it much more enjoyable and worthwhile. He was saying how much his family would appreciate us doing this and how it much it would mean to them. It is being planned for Saturday afternoon - I will be sure to let you know how it goes!
Apologies for the lack of updates in the past week and a half, although there hasn't been too much to report. We have returned to living on campus at TCDC during the week but continue to stay with our host families during the weekend. We are also getting ready for next week - reminiscent of Finals Week in college - as we have two papers, two presentations, an oral proficiency examination and a final written examination. Working on those projects has required much of my time but I did manage to have some interesting experiences during the past week and a half.
Last Thursday, we went to Usa Market, which is a smaller non-tourist market by our campus. I wasn't too thrilled about going, since we have had a lot of practice speaking in markets already. I also didn't see many things I wanted to buy - used t-shirts, watches, backpacks, fruits, vegetables, etc. didn't interest me. After an hour a group of us were about to leave when I walked by a particular vendor on the fringe of the market. I noticed he was selling belts with a rectangular buckle of the American flag. As I came closer to the buckle, the picture changed to President Obama. It was most definitely a hologram of the flag and Obama. Naturally, I bought it. Tomorrow we are going to go to the ICTR - International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which should be extremely interesting. We are encouraged to wear formal clothes - I will be wearing brown shoes, khaki pants, blue shirt and tie, and the Obama belt.
This past weekend with our host family was also enjoyable. Saturday, Hugh and I went into Arusha to run some errands and visit the Maasai Market. We successfully made it to the market (which is geared for tourists) and went around shopping. It was very reminiscent of Zanzibar - constantly getting hounded for business. After we returned we went for a short hike with Beda, our 14 year old host brother, down to the nearby river. It was evident that it was the hang-out for the village kids, as about 10 kids were by the river swimming and playing on the rocks. We ran with the kids for a bit, which entailed them laughing as Hugh and I struggled to keep up. Either way, it was a lot of fun. We returned in the evening and spent the evening at home.
On Sunday Hugh and I explored more of Moivaro (the village where our host family lives). We walked about 15 minutes down the road to find "Moivaro Lodge and Coffee Plantation." We had heard many stories about this place, mostly pertaining to its cost ("A beer is five U.S. dollars!!") so we decided to check it out. We walked through the gate and came to find it encompassed a large area of land. We then walked back into the 'plantation' and found the central building and restaurant. Needless to say, it was wazungu central, but it was indeed nice. We stopped into the gift shop (it's always nice to speak in Swahili with Tanzanians in overtly tourist locations, since they are so used to speaking English only) to find that the prices were in U.S. dollars (always a bad sign for overpriced goods) and they were at least 5 times the amount a tourist can get away with at a local market. We left after a short conversation.
After we returned home, I helped Beda with some of his math homework. It was a fairly basic lesson but it had been too long since my last math class! I think I helped a small degree, but it was a little frustrating. We then learned the process of coffee production. Eastern Africa (northern Tanzania in particular) is famous for its coffee, so this was a treat. Our host dad has a coffee business in addition to his regular job at TCDC, so he owns several areas of land in the area for coffee production, but he also has some coffee plants by the house. We didn't experience the process of picking the seeds, peeling them and drying the beans, but we did basically everything else. It was a process of crushing the seeds to find the beans (the picture below is from this step), separating the seeds 'husks' from the beans, cleaning the beans to ensure no husk is remaining, and then roasting! It was a lot of fun - not to mention the treat of having the coffee for breakfast the next day!
After coffee, our host parents took us to Lake Duluti, which is another conservation area near Arusha. It was a beautiful lake and reminded me of some of the lakes in Montana (minus the Rocky Mountains in the background). We spent several hours there, watching the sunset and having dinner. After we returned, we spoke with our host dad about a possible gift to the family. Hugh previously knew that slaughtering a goat was a celebratory event for the Chagga (the ethnic group my host family is apart of) so we offered to pay for the process as a gift when we leave. Little did we know that, since it is still fairly soon after the funeral for our host dad's brother, the slaughtering of a goat would culturally also be included with the funeral celebration (after so many days, usually a goat is slaughtered to celebrate the end of the mourning period). In other words, what was initially a small gesture of appreciation, to be experienced by our immediate host family, myself, and Hugh, has now become an extended family (and perhaps friends, village, etc.) affair. Our host dad made sure we understood that "this would not be a small gathering." In my mind, that makes it much more enjoyable and worthwhile. He was saying how much his family would appreciate us doing this and how it much it would mean to them. It is being planned for Saturday afternoon - I will be sure to let you know how it goes!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Day 27 - Zanzibar
It has certainly been an eventful past few days! I apologize in advance for the length of the post, but I haven't had a chance to update my blog. I'll try to list the highlights of each day, beginning with the day we arrived in Zanzibar.
On Tuesday, we took a 2.5 hour boat ride to the island from Dar. The ride wasn't too eventful until we came closer to the island. I was standing outside when there were two huge whales fairly close to our ship! It was an amazing sight. Several times they jumped completely out of the water and created a huge splash. Then as we passed them they repeatedly flapped their fins and tails against the water. Definitely a great welcome to the island. It was also an amazing sight seeing the dhows in the port as we were approaching the island. After we arrived on the island, we checked into our hotel in Stone Town, which is the largest historic city on the island. The city (as well as the island) has been occupied for over 300 years. The architecture is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on my phone (so I can't upload them to the blog), but I was sure to take a lot of pictures on my camera. We had a tour of Stone Town later in the afternoon, which featured palaces and other buildings constructed by the Omanis when they ruled Zanzibar. After the tour we were all exhausted, but for dinner we found a great seaside street market with a lot of vendors selling different types of food. It was a tourist mecca, but once the vendors knew you spoke Swahili, they enjoyed talking with you. The first night I had Zanzibar pizza - a famous meal on the island (pizza is a misnomer - it's completely unlike the American variety). After dinner a few friends and I walked around Stone Town some more - and with its narrow, winding streets, that can sometimes be an adventure in itself!
On the second day, we toured the Jozani Forest, which is on the southern end of the island. Zanzibar is actually much bigger than I had initially assumed. It took roughly 30-45 minutes to drive to the forest (granted the speeds were a little slower). It was very interesting to tour this section of the island. Once you leave Stone Town, you leave nearly all tourists and get to experience the "real" part of the island. The forest is known for its population of collubus monkies - and did we see them! We were walking along the path, when suddenly there were proabably about 10 monkies in the trees surrounding us. They were quite the sight. I have a few pictures and videos of them jumping from tree to tree (about 5 feet above my head). They were very active when we were around. We then left the forest and went to the nearby beach - which was stunning. There were ngalawa (massive canoes carved completely from a tree trunk) in the water (which was bright blue) and coconut trees lining the beach. We didn't go swimming there, since we left the beach and went to speak with a woman who owns a seaweed farm on the island. It was fairly awkward, since 15 American students piled into her modest home to stand in her living room. We then talked about seaweed farming and the demands of the job. It is incredibly hard work and incredibly low paying. She was telling us that since the work is so hard, and since seaweed doesn't sell for that much in the markets, men don't partake in its collection or sale. I definitely felt uneasy standing in her house while we were talking about her poor work conditions. After about 30 minutes we left, and went to lunch at a hotel on the beach. The water was incredibly warm and very shallow. I ran out into the Indian Ocean with a group of friends for probably 15 minutes, and the deepest part was probably up to our waist. Even then, it didn't show any sign of getting deeper. We returned to Stone Town in the evening and returned to the market for dinner. This time I had shark for the first time and lobster. The lobster was okay (I'm sticking to the northeast's variety) but the shark was really good.
The third - and final - day on the island was also long. In the morning, we went to a government-owned spice farm on the island. Zanzibar is known for its abundant spices so it was great to get a tour. Little did we know what was waiting for us! When we started walking around the farm (more like a forest at some parts), roughly ten workers all joined our group and made random objects for us. Everyone got a cup made out of leaves to keep our spices, and most of the girls received rings, frog necklaces, bracelets, etc. - all made on the spot out of tree leaves! I was given a crown and tie (perhaps to be worn at the next Board meeting?) which were pretty funny. After the tour - complete with sampling the original varieities of vanilla, tumeric, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, just to name a few - we sat around and tasted an amazing array of different fruits also native to the island. They were amazing! Finally, we walked some more through the farm and a man working climbed a massive coconut tree (with only a piece of rope tied to his ankles for leverage) and knocked several down. We then tried coconut milk (after they sliced the tops open) as well as the fruit(?) liner inside the coconut.
Once we left the farm, we had the remaining afternoon and evening to ourselves - which was much needed. I decided to walk around Stone Town alone at first and try to buy some things to take back home. It was probably the best and worst decision I made on the trip. After 5 minutes of leaving the hotel (located in the tourist-dominated section of Stone Town), a random person came up to me and started speaking in English (this is not out of the ordinary). I responded back in Swahili, and he asked where I had learned Swahili. I mentioned I'm studying in Arusha, and he said he knew the program coordinator, Deo, who teaches at Michigan State. He said they were good friends and he was asking me about how he was doing. I was fairly skeptical, but he was harmless. Then he asked me why I was shopping in the tourist part of town, and took me to some of the cheaper (ie, non-tourist) sections of Stone Town. We ended up in the local spice and fish market, where he had a shop. I purchased a few spices from him and left. He offered to show me the way to the other stores I had seen (which I really wanted to return to), but I declined. Big mistake! Navigating the streets of Stone Town - without a map - is impossible. I walked around the non-tourist section of town for a couple hours trying to find some good stores. It became a little tiring, but this was probably my most favorite part of the trip. I asked so many people for directions (the responses consisted of - "Go straight, then right, then left, then right at the roundabout, etc etc), but never really found any sense of direction. My favorite phrase became "Samahani, maduka ya kawaida, si maduka ya wazungu, yako wapi?" Or, "Excuse me, where are the stores of the locals, not the stores of the white people?" Needless to say, people started laughing hysterically every time I asked the question. I bought a few things at a greatly discounted price, but didn't find too much otherwise. I finally had enough of walking around and returned to the more tourist-dominated section of town. Zanzibar has a much greater Arabian and Muslim presence than the rest of Tanzania. It was incredible to walk around the island and see the cultural diversity - from the young, adventrouous American tourist to the older woman in a full-length burqa.
One of the favorite things to experience while going into shops was seeing people's reaction when they realized you spoke Swahili. Without a doubt, tourists get ripped off while shopping. And since I was a white, young, male, the odds were stacked against me. Nearly everyone in Zanzibar (unlike everywhere else I've been in Tanzania) greeted you with "Jambo!" Technically this is a greeting in Swahili, but not very many native speakers use it. So whenever someone said "Jambo," it was clear they were assuming you were a non-Swahili speaker. So it was fun seeing reactions when people realized you spoke the language (to some degree, that is). I had some great conversations with people. One vendor said that they normally tell tourists something is ebony (when it's not). I also kept accusing people of giving me the "white person" price, which they promptly denied. When I was walking back to the hotel in the evening, I was stopped by yet another person wanting to sell me a CD or a t-shirt. By this point, they were pretty annoying, since they say the same lines time after time. Even when I would respond to his english questions in swahili, he would still speak to me in english. I kept walking, and when he was calling after me, I said "Pole, sijui kiingereza, ninasema kiswahili tu!" (I'm sorry, I don't know English. I only speak Swahili!). He stopped in his tracks, responded in Swahili with "Really? You don't know English?" and I said, "Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't understand you." He subsequently gave up. It was a lot of fun, and all in all, I was glad to have gotten lost. In the evening, we went to dinner at an Indian Restaurant for our last night in Zanzibar.
The next morning we had breakfast at 5:45am, left for Dar es Salaam by 6:45am, and drove back to Arusha. The trip took much longer than I was hoping. We returned last night around 8:30pm.
That concludes the trip to the coast! Thanks for reading.
On Tuesday, we took a 2.5 hour boat ride to the island from Dar. The ride wasn't too eventful until we came closer to the island. I was standing outside when there were two huge whales fairly close to our ship! It was an amazing sight. Several times they jumped completely out of the water and created a huge splash. Then as we passed them they repeatedly flapped their fins and tails against the water. Definitely a great welcome to the island. It was also an amazing sight seeing the dhows in the port as we were approaching the island. After we arrived on the island, we checked into our hotel in Stone Town, which is the largest historic city on the island. The city (as well as the island) has been occupied for over 300 years. The architecture is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on my phone (so I can't upload them to the blog), but I was sure to take a lot of pictures on my camera. We had a tour of Stone Town later in the afternoon, which featured palaces and other buildings constructed by the Omanis when they ruled Zanzibar. After the tour we were all exhausted, but for dinner we found a great seaside street market with a lot of vendors selling different types of food. It was a tourist mecca, but once the vendors knew you spoke Swahili, they enjoyed talking with you. The first night I had Zanzibar pizza - a famous meal on the island (pizza is a misnomer - it's completely unlike the American variety). After dinner a few friends and I walked around Stone Town some more - and with its narrow, winding streets, that can sometimes be an adventure in itself!
On the second day, we toured the Jozani Forest, which is on the southern end of the island. Zanzibar is actually much bigger than I had initially assumed. It took roughly 30-45 minutes to drive to the forest (granted the speeds were a little slower). It was very interesting to tour this section of the island. Once you leave Stone Town, you leave nearly all tourists and get to experience the "real" part of the island. The forest is known for its population of collubus monkies - and did we see them! We were walking along the path, when suddenly there were proabably about 10 monkies in the trees surrounding us. They were quite the sight. I have a few pictures and videos of them jumping from tree to tree (about 5 feet above my head). They were very active when we were around. We then left the forest and went to the nearby beach - which was stunning. There were ngalawa (massive canoes carved completely from a tree trunk) in the water (which was bright blue) and coconut trees lining the beach. We didn't go swimming there, since we left the beach and went to speak with a woman who owns a seaweed farm on the island. It was fairly awkward, since 15 American students piled into her modest home to stand in her living room. We then talked about seaweed farming and the demands of the job. It is incredibly hard work and incredibly low paying. She was telling us that since the work is so hard, and since seaweed doesn't sell for that much in the markets, men don't partake in its collection or sale. I definitely felt uneasy standing in her house while we were talking about her poor work conditions. After about 30 minutes we left, and went to lunch at a hotel on the beach. The water was incredibly warm and very shallow. I ran out into the Indian Ocean with a group of friends for probably 15 minutes, and the deepest part was probably up to our waist. Even then, it didn't show any sign of getting deeper. We returned to Stone Town in the evening and returned to the market for dinner. This time I had shark for the first time and lobster. The lobster was okay (I'm sticking to the northeast's variety) but the shark was really good.
The third - and final - day on the island was also long. In the morning, we went to a government-owned spice farm on the island. Zanzibar is known for its abundant spices so it was great to get a tour. Little did we know what was waiting for us! When we started walking around the farm (more like a forest at some parts), roughly ten workers all joined our group and made random objects for us. Everyone got a cup made out of leaves to keep our spices, and most of the girls received rings, frog necklaces, bracelets, etc. - all made on the spot out of tree leaves! I was given a crown and tie (perhaps to be worn at the next Board meeting?) which were pretty funny. After the tour - complete with sampling the original varieities of vanilla, tumeric, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, just to name a few - we sat around and tasted an amazing array of different fruits also native to the island. They were amazing! Finally, we walked some more through the farm and a man working climbed a massive coconut tree (with only a piece of rope tied to his ankles for leverage) and knocked several down. We then tried coconut milk (after they sliced the tops open) as well as the fruit(?) liner inside the coconut.
Once we left the farm, we had the remaining afternoon and evening to ourselves - which was much needed. I decided to walk around Stone Town alone at first and try to buy some things to take back home. It was probably the best and worst decision I made on the trip. After 5 minutes of leaving the hotel (located in the tourist-dominated section of Stone Town), a random person came up to me and started speaking in English (this is not out of the ordinary). I responded back in Swahili, and he asked where I had learned Swahili. I mentioned I'm studying in Arusha, and he said he knew the program coordinator, Deo, who teaches at Michigan State. He said they were good friends and he was asking me about how he was doing. I was fairly skeptical, but he was harmless. Then he asked me why I was shopping in the tourist part of town, and took me to some of the cheaper (ie, non-tourist) sections of Stone Town. We ended up in the local spice and fish market, where he had a shop. I purchased a few spices from him and left. He offered to show me the way to the other stores I had seen (which I really wanted to return to), but I declined. Big mistake! Navigating the streets of Stone Town - without a map - is impossible. I walked around the non-tourist section of town for a couple hours trying to find some good stores. It became a little tiring, but this was probably my most favorite part of the trip. I asked so many people for directions (the responses consisted of - "Go straight, then right, then left, then right at the roundabout, etc etc), but never really found any sense of direction. My favorite phrase became "Samahani, maduka ya kawaida, si maduka ya wazungu, yako wapi?" Or, "Excuse me, where are the stores of the locals, not the stores of the white people?" Needless to say, people started laughing hysterically every time I asked the question. I bought a few things at a greatly discounted price, but didn't find too much otherwise. I finally had enough of walking around and returned to the more tourist-dominated section of town. Zanzibar has a much greater Arabian and Muslim presence than the rest of Tanzania. It was incredible to walk around the island and see the cultural diversity - from the young, adventrouous American tourist to the older woman in a full-length burqa.
One of the favorite things to experience while going into shops was seeing people's reaction when they realized you spoke Swahili. Without a doubt, tourists get ripped off while shopping. And since I was a white, young, male, the odds were stacked against me. Nearly everyone in Zanzibar (unlike everywhere else I've been in Tanzania) greeted you with "Jambo!" Technically this is a greeting in Swahili, but not very many native speakers use it. So whenever someone said "Jambo," it was clear they were assuming you were a non-Swahili speaker. So it was fun seeing reactions when people realized you spoke the language (to some degree, that is). I had some great conversations with people. One vendor said that they normally tell tourists something is ebony (when it's not). I also kept accusing people of giving me the "white person" price, which they promptly denied. When I was walking back to the hotel in the evening, I was stopped by yet another person wanting to sell me a CD or a t-shirt. By this point, they were pretty annoying, since they say the same lines time after time. Even when I would respond to his english questions in swahili, he would still speak to me in english. I kept walking, and when he was calling after me, I said "Pole, sijui kiingereza, ninasema kiswahili tu!" (I'm sorry, I don't know English. I only speak Swahili!). He stopped in his tracks, responded in Swahili with "Really? You don't know English?" and I said, "Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't understand you." He subsequently gave up. It was a lot of fun, and all in all, I was glad to have gotten lost. In the evening, we went to dinner at an Indian Restaurant for our last night in Zanzibar.
The next morning we had breakfast at 5:45am, left for Dar es Salaam by 6:45am, and drove back to Arusha. The trip took much longer than I was hoping. We returned last night around 8:30pm.
That concludes the trip to the coast! Thanks for reading.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Day 22 - Dar es Salaam
As I suspected, my internet access while in Dar es Salaam (the largest city in Tanzania, but not its capital) is limited. I'll have to keep my posts short!
On Saturday, we had a fairly long drive from Arusha (in northern TZ) to Dar (in southeast TZ). It was about 8 or 9 hours. The scenery was spectacular, though. We drove through the mountains of the Rift Valley and then open plains. The other significant highlight of the trip was being stopped since Tanzania's President Kikwete's motorcade was pulling into his private estate. Once we were able to turn around to see it in the distance, it was enormous. Otherwise, it was great to drive through towns along the way and see more of the beautiful Tanzanian countryside. At night we went to a very nice Lebanese restaurant near our hotel.
Sunday, we toured Bagamoyo, which is one of the oldest towns in Africa. It has an incredible amount of history - almost too much to describe in one post. It was the central port (and later slave trading hub) of eastern Africa until Dar grew in size and surpassed it. Evidence shows humans occupying the area for the past 2000 years! After we returned, we took a teksi (taxi) to an Italian restaurant near the American Embassy.
Today we first went to the Museum of Villages (roughly translated). It was fairly interesting - they had numerous houses built which are typical of many of Tanzania's 200 ethnic groups. Following the museum we went to the Carvers Market, where there were an incredible array of small stores with hand-carved items and jewelry. We then went to the National Museum. It was informative, but it was also interesting to note that the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. has more African-related artifacts than the entire museum. Then tonight for dinner, we went to "Addis in Dar," an Ethiopian restaurant. It was my first Ethiopian restaurant and was incredible. Needless to say I ate to much, but it was definitely worth it.
Tomorrow (in a matter of hours), we are boarding a boat for the famous island of Zanzibar! We will spend about four days on the island. I will be sure to post updates when I can!
On Saturday, we had a fairly long drive from Arusha (in northern TZ) to Dar (in southeast TZ). It was about 8 or 9 hours. The scenery was spectacular, though. We drove through the mountains of the Rift Valley and then open plains. The other significant highlight of the trip was being stopped since Tanzania's President Kikwete's motorcade was pulling into his private estate. Once we were able to turn around to see it in the distance, it was enormous. Otherwise, it was great to drive through towns along the way and see more of the beautiful Tanzanian countryside. At night we went to a very nice Lebanese restaurant near our hotel.
Sunday, we toured Bagamoyo, which is one of the oldest towns in Africa. It has an incredible amount of history - almost too much to describe in one post. It was the central port (and later slave trading hub) of eastern Africa until Dar grew in size and surpassed it. Evidence shows humans occupying the area for the past 2000 years! After we returned, we took a teksi (taxi) to an Italian restaurant near the American Embassy.
Today we first went to the Museum of Villages (roughly translated). It was fairly interesting - they had numerous houses built which are typical of many of Tanzania's 200 ethnic groups. Following the museum we went to the Carvers Market, where there were an incredible array of small stores with hand-carved items and jewelry. We then went to the National Museum. It was informative, but it was also interesting to note that the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. has more African-related artifacts than the entire museum. Then tonight for dinner, we went to "Addis in Dar," an Ethiopian restaurant. It was my first Ethiopian restaurant and was incredible. Needless to say I ate to much, but it was definitely worth it.
Tomorrow (in a matter of hours), we are boarding a boat for the famous island of Zanzibar! We will spend about four days on the island. I will be sure to post updates when I can!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Day 19
Unfortunately I have not had time to update my blog this week (the Arusha National Park picture notwithstanding), so I'll try to recount the week:
This was the last full week we spent with our host family. After class on Monday, we went to a great nyama choma (barbeque) place near our house. Unfortunately it took quite some time to order our food, so we returned to the house fairly late in the evening. I needed to get a little bit of studying done since that day we also learned that we had a midterm on Thursday (yesterday).
On Tuesday, our host dad took Hugh, myself and my two host brothers to Arusha National Park. It is actually very close to Arusha and TCDC but loses some name recognition with Ngorongoro, Oldupai and the Serengeti also close. I actually enjoyed the park quite a bit - perhaps not as much as Ngorongoro, but it was still great to visit. He picked us up right after lunch (we were allowed to leave early from TCDC) and we traveled about 20 minutes to the park. Luckily there weren't that many people visiting. We managed to see a LOT of giraffes (probably 8-10), including several that were extremely close to our car. We drove for a while, saw some more zebras, wildebeest, etc. and then parked next to a small lake to have lunch. We sat there for quite some time, which was very enjoyable. Mt. Kilimanjaro suddenly appeared in the distance above the lake (see the picture), which was an incredible sight! Of course the pictures don't do it justice. When we left the lake we saw a hippo get out of the water, which was a great sight since we didn't have a good hippo sighting while in Ngorongoro. We returned around dusk.
Wednesday's class sessions were interesting (as they always are). During the afternoon session - which is about 2 hours long - our instructors informed us we were going to have a 1-on-1 conversation with a TCDC employee about the conservation policies in Tanzanian. It was extremely daunting, especially since we weren't given any guiding questions and we were entirely alone with native speakers, but I actually managed to fill the 2 hours with fairly substantive conversation. Wednesday night was spent studying for another (ridiculously impossible) test.
Thursday was a little rough, as it was test day. Naturally everyone left the test feeling dejected. I went straight into Arusha with Hugh after lunch and spent a lot of time trying to exchange my travellers cheques. I managed to exchange my money and we returned for our last evening (at least for a while) with our host family.
I went into Arusha again today. It's nice being able to know my way (more or less) around the city now. A small group of us had to run some errands before leaving tomorrow morning for Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. I am very excited about the trip. We will be gone for one week, spending about 3 days in Dar es Salaam and 3 days in Zanzibar. One day will be spent in Bagamoyo, which is north of Dar, but is rich in history. It's most widely known for its importance as a slave trading port (Arabian slave trade, not American) and also where the first European settlers in the region became established. We're visiting several museums in Dar (population 2.5 million) and touring the island of Zanzibar (Stone Town and other regions). I'm unsure of how much computer access I will have during the trip. Our hotel in Dar is extremely nice so hopefully I can find something.
If not, until next week!
This was the last full week we spent with our host family. After class on Monday, we went to a great nyama choma (barbeque) place near our house. Unfortunately it took quite some time to order our food, so we returned to the house fairly late in the evening. I needed to get a little bit of studying done since that day we also learned that we had a midterm on Thursday (yesterday).
On Tuesday, our host dad took Hugh, myself and my two host brothers to Arusha National Park. It is actually very close to Arusha and TCDC but loses some name recognition with Ngorongoro, Oldupai and the Serengeti also close. I actually enjoyed the park quite a bit - perhaps not as much as Ngorongoro, but it was still great to visit. He picked us up right after lunch (we were allowed to leave early from TCDC) and we traveled about 20 minutes to the park. Luckily there weren't that many people visiting. We managed to see a LOT of giraffes (probably 8-10), including several that were extremely close to our car. We drove for a while, saw some more zebras, wildebeest, etc. and then parked next to a small lake to have lunch. We sat there for quite some time, which was very enjoyable. Mt. Kilimanjaro suddenly appeared in the distance above the lake (see the picture), which was an incredible sight! Of course the pictures don't do it justice. When we left the lake we saw a hippo get out of the water, which was a great sight since we didn't have a good hippo sighting while in Ngorongoro. We returned around dusk.
Wednesday's class sessions were interesting (as they always are). During the afternoon session - which is about 2 hours long - our instructors informed us we were going to have a 1-on-1 conversation with a TCDC employee about the conservation policies in Tanzanian. It was extremely daunting, especially since we weren't given any guiding questions and we were entirely alone with native speakers, but I actually managed to fill the 2 hours with fairly substantive conversation. Wednesday night was spent studying for another (ridiculously impossible) test.
Thursday was a little rough, as it was test day. Naturally everyone left the test feeling dejected. I went straight into Arusha with Hugh after lunch and spent a lot of time trying to exchange my travellers cheques. I managed to exchange my money and we returned for our last evening (at least for a while) with our host family.
I went into Arusha again today. It's nice being able to know my way (more or less) around the city now. A small group of us had to run some errands before leaving tomorrow morning for Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. I am very excited about the trip. We will be gone for one week, spending about 3 days in Dar es Salaam and 3 days in Zanzibar. One day will be spent in Bagamoyo, which is north of Dar, but is rich in history. It's most widely known for its importance as a slave trading port (Arabian slave trade, not American) and also where the first European settlers in the region became established. We're visiting several museums in Dar (population 2.5 million) and touring the island of Zanzibar (Stone Town and other regions). I'm unsure of how much computer access I will have during the trip. Our hotel in Dar is extremely nice so hopefully I can find something.
If not, until next week!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Momella Lake in Arusha National Park
Monday, July 6, 2009
Day 15
We had a very busy weekend with the funeral and church service. Before I discuss that, I realized I forgot to write about my trip to the main market close to TCDC, called Tengeru.
We learned about types of food and bargaining methods in the morning last Wednesday. Then, they gave us each TSH (Tanzanian Shillings) 1,000 to spend at the market. This is only about 80 cents, but it seemed like a lot of money. Our job was to buy vegetables and fruit for the kitchen. I ended up buying 4 tomatoes (TSH 200), three bell peppers (TSH 100), two groups of string beans (TSH 100), three lemons (TSH 200), four limes (TSH 100), and two avocados (TSH 200). Kids running around the market also sell bags for TSH 100, so I spent all of my allotment. It was really fun bargaining for the items. They would always start with about double the actual price, but they would definitely inform you if your suggestion was too low. It became somewhat competitive, even though we were literally bargaining over 10 cents or less. Still, it was amazing all the items I could buy for less than 1 U.S. dollar.
On Saturday, we had the funeral. Before the funeral, Hugh and I went into Arusha on our own. It was nice being in town alone for the first time. We met up with friends at a restaurant, and then ran errands around town. We also stopped by a coffee shop, where we had REAL African coffee for the first time. Eastern Africa is famous for its coffee beans, but since it's all shipped abroad, you only find instant coffee. Luckily (for a fee) we were able to find real coffee. After we returned home, our host brother took us to the funeral. The funeral (and subsequent burial) were held at the house where the family lived, which is typical. When we arrived there were at least 200 people sitting waiting for the ceremony to start. The family is Roman Catholic, so there was white and purple everywhere and a priest. Hugh and I decided to stay close to the back, but our host brother took us to the very front of the seating area where we had reserved seats. The 200-300 attendees were seated facing the priest, the altar, and a much smaller section of chairs. This smaller section of chairs was where the immediate family (brothers, sisters, mom, etc.) of the deceased sat. Our reserved seats were also in this area. So, not only were we sitting with the most immediate family members, but everyone in the crowd stared at the wazungu for the entire funeral. Since we couldn't understand what was happening, we managed to pray when everyone seemed to pray, stand when everyone stand, and be silent when people sang in Swahili. It was fairly typical of most funerals.
After about an hour and a half, the priest said something in Swahili, and several men picked up the casket and took it away. This was probably the most uncomfortable part - because instantly all the women sitting around us started screaming and shrieking. Then all the men in the crowd followed the casket out, and the women followed. We walked to the back part of the property, where there were a lot of banana trees. We stood there for quite some time while they dug a grave and buried the casket. After the casket was buried, all the different family members (there were a lot) were called to plant roses in the dirt. After that, we left the area and had lunch at the house.
On Sunday, we attended the church service with our host brother. The rest of the family didn't attend since they were still in the mourning period. The church was really nice, but there were so many people sitting inside, the church also had outdoor seating with TVs set-up to view the proceedings. I would guess there were between 2,000-3,000 people there. The proceeding (also completely in Swahili) was interesting, but it took about 4 hours! It was an ordination celebration, so there were a lot of priests in attendance. They also had a small band which performed at the beginning and end of the service. It definitely helped the celebratory atmosphere. After mass we returned to the family's house (where the funeral/burial were held) and ate lunch. We had some free time so Hugh and I explored the village. It was very interesting walking around - we came across some unbelievably large houses (even large by American standards). We asked some locals who lived there, but they didn't really know. That was about the extent of our time in Kwa Mrefu (the village name). We returned to the house and talked with our host siblings.
We learned about types of food and bargaining methods in the morning last Wednesday. Then, they gave us each TSH (Tanzanian Shillings) 1,000 to spend at the market. This is only about 80 cents, but it seemed like a lot of money. Our job was to buy vegetables and fruit for the kitchen. I ended up buying 4 tomatoes (TSH 200), three bell peppers (TSH 100), two groups of string beans (TSH 100), three lemons (TSH 200), four limes (TSH 100), and two avocados (TSH 200). Kids running around the market also sell bags for TSH 100, so I spent all of my allotment. It was really fun bargaining for the items. They would always start with about double the actual price, but they would definitely inform you if your suggestion was too low. It became somewhat competitive, even though we were literally bargaining over 10 cents or less. Still, it was amazing all the items I could buy for less than 1 U.S. dollar.
On Saturday, we had the funeral. Before the funeral, Hugh and I went into Arusha on our own. It was nice being in town alone for the first time. We met up with friends at a restaurant, and then ran errands around town. We also stopped by a coffee shop, where we had REAL African coffee for the first time. Eastern Africa is famous for its coffee beans, but since it's all shipped abroad, you only find instant coffee. Luckily (for a fee) we were able to find real coffee. After we returned home, our host brother took us to the funeral. The funeral (and subsequent burial) were held at the house where the family lived, which is typical. When we arrived there were at least 200 people sitting waiting for the ceremony to start. The family is Roman Catholic, so there was white and purple everywhere and a priest. Hugh and I decided to stay close to the back, but our host brother took us to the very front of the seating area where we had reserved seats. The 200-300 attendees were seated facing the priest, the altar, and a much smaller section of chairs. This smaller section of chairs was where the immediate family (brothers, sisters, mom, etc.) of the deceased sat. Our reserved seats were also in this area. So, not only were we sitting with the most immediate family members, but everyone in the crowd stared at the wazungu for the entire funeral. Since we couldn't understand what was happening, we managed to pray when everyone seemed to pray, stand when everyone stand, and be silent when people sang in Swahili. It was fairly typical of most funerals.
After about an hour and a half, the priest said something in Swahili, and several men picked up the casket and took it away. This was probably the most uncomfortable part - because instantly all the women sitting around us started screaming and shrieking. Then all the men in the crowd followed the casket out, and the women followed. We walked to the back part of the property, where there were a lot of banana trees. We stood there for quite some time while they dug a grave and buried the casket. After the casket was buried, all the different family members (there were a lot) were called to plant roses in the dirt. After that, we left the area and had lunch at the house.
On Sunday, we attended the church service with our host brother. The rest of the family didn't attend since they were still in the mourning period. The church was really nice, but there were so many people sitting inside, the church also had outdoor seating with TVs set-up to view the proceedings. I would guess there were between 2,000-3,000 people there. The proceeding (also completely in Swahili) was interesting, but it took about 4 hours! It was an ordination celebration, so there were a lot of priests in attendance. They also had a small band which performed at the beginning and end of the service. It definitely helped the celebratory atmosphere. After mass we returned to the family's house (where the funeral/burial were held) and ate lunch. We had some free time so Hugh and I explored the village. It was very interesting walking around - we came across some unbelievably large houses (even large by American standards). We asked some locals who lived there, but they didn't really know. That was about the extent of our time in Kwa Mrefu (the village name). We returned to the house and talked with our host siblings.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Day 12
It has certainly been a busy week! The class assignments have definitely increased during this past week. On Monday or Tuesday, we learned that we have a project, book to read, book report, coastal report, and various tests due during the next 5 weeks. The project is an oral presentation and 5-7 page paper, the book has to be at least 40 pages, and the book report and coastal report need to be 3-4 pages each. All in Swahili, of course.
The homestay is going very well. Luckily the kids (particularly the 6 year old) are starting to be more comfortable talking to us, so that has made things more fun. We chased Ulrick around the house yesterday when the parents were gone. I think he enjoys us being around. Although I will never miss taking a bucket shower. Luckily the water is piping hot (the outside "helper" brings it in directly from the open fire), but learning to use buckets has been an experience.
Sadly, yesterday our host dad's youngest brother passed away. I think the family knew the brother was having health problems, so I don't think they were completely surprised. Our host dad has 8 other brothers and 1 sister, and he is the oldest child. He talked to myself and Hugh last night about it. Obviously they have a lot of things to do now, but I think they appreciate us being there. We have been staying home with the kids when the parents are gone. Tomorrow we are going to the funeral and Sunday we will go to church with Beda, the 14 year old son. Apparently if there is a death in the family, the family will not attend church for a while during the grieving period. It will definitely be interesting seeing both the funeral and church ceremonies - all in one weekend! Tanzanian families are extremely large, so I'm anticipating getting introduced to a lot of people.
All for now. Only one week until we go to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar!
The homestay is going very well. Luckily the kids (particularly the 6 year old) are starting to be more comfortable talking to us, so that has made things more fun. We chased Ulrick around the house yesterday when the parents were gone. I think he enjoys us being around. Although I will never miss taking a bucket shower. Luckily the water is piping hot (the outside "helper" brings it in directly from the open fire), but learning to use buckets has been an experience.
Sadly, yesterday our host dad's youngest brother passed away. I think the family knew the brother was having health problems, so I don't think they were completely surprised. Our host dad has 8 other brothers and 1 sister, and he is the oldest child. He talked to myself and Hugh last night about it. Obviously they have a lot of things to do now, but I think they appreciate us being there. We have been staying home with the kids when the parents are gone. Tomorrow we are going to the funeral and Sunday we will go to church with Beda, the 14 year old son. Apparently if there is a death in the family, the family will not attend church for a while during the grieving period. It will definitely be interesting seeing both the funeral and church ceremonies - all in one weekend! Tanzanian families are extremely large, so I'm anticipating getting introduced to a lot of people.
All for now. Only one week until we go to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Day 9 - Nyumba npya
Yesterday afternoon, we met our new host families, with whom we will stay for about 2 weeks. We were all fairly nervous about being split up and leaving TCDC. Hugh (the only other male on in the program, and therefore my roommate) and I are staying with an extremely nice family near Arusha. Last night was our first night with them. The father works at TCDC and also owns a massive (from what I can gather) coffee plantation. I believe the mother works at home and they have three kids (Jane is 18, Beda is 13, and Ullrich is 6). They also have two "helpers," who stay with the family and help both inside and outside the house. This concept was new to both myself and Hugh, but it's fairly common for middle class families to have at least one (although I believe we're the only family with two).
Josephat (the father) was telling us how Ullrich, who is the six year old son, was so excited to have guests staying in the house. Even though he was excited, Ullrich was very timid our first night. Hopefully he'll get used to us as time progresses. The house has a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains - including Kilimanjaro, which I saw last night for the first time. It's only ten minutes away from TCDC (so not extremely proximite to Arusha), but it is nice to get outside of the campus. The environment here is exceptionally nice - but it was starting to feel a little too sterile, if that makes sense. I could very well have been staying in Atlanta, Georgia, instead of Arusha, Tanzania, in other words. I'm sure in two weeks time, I will have changed my mind.
Josephat (the father) was telling us how Ullrich, who is the six year old son, was so excited to have guests staying in the house. Even though he was excited, Ullrich was very timid our first night. Hopefully he'll get used to us as time progresses. The house has a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains - including Kilimanjaro, which I saw last night for the first time. It's only ten minutes away from TCDC (so not extremely proximite to Arusha), but it is nice to get outside of the campus. The environment here is exceptionally nice - but it was starting to feel a little too sterile, if that makes sense. I could very well have been staying in Atlanta, Georgia, instead of Arusha, Tanzania, in other words. I'm sure in two weeks time, I will have changed my mind.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Day 7
This weekend, we visited Ngorongoro Crater and Oldupai Gorge. It was certainly an eventful weekend, so I'll break it down by days.
On Friday, we had class in the morning and left TCDC (the compound where we stay) after lunch. We piled into two safari jeeps (Toyota Land Cruisers) and headed out past Arusha. I sat with three others in the back jump seats - the seats were great for a good view, but not the best for dodging motion sickness. We drove west for roughly an hour after reaching the Maasai Cultural Museum and the National Snake Park. The trip through the Maasai Cultural Museum was interesting. It had several exhibits about common Maasai life and practices. Afterward we went into the Snake Museum, which in addition to many snakes, also had crocodiles and turtles. It was a nice stop, but we left after an hour or so. We then continued to travel for about two hours to Karata, Tanzania, a small town close to Ngorongoro. The countryside was extremely beautiful but also dynamic. We started in rolling hills with trees and grass, then transitioned to dry plains and sparse vegetation. It was reminiscent of the southwest or eastern Montana. I was a little unsure of our living conditions when we arrived, but it turned out to be an amazing lodge. The view was spectacular, the beds were extremely comfortable, and the food was delicious. We were definitely spoiled. Unfortunately we arrived later in the evening, and had to leave in the early morning, so we couldn't stay at the lodge for too long.
Saturday morning, we got up early (though not as early as the drivers wanted), had breakfast, and left the lodge. We drove about 30 minutes to the entrance to Ngorongoro. Thus begins the single-most bumpy road I have ever traveled on. Words cannot effectively describe the bumpiness of this road. We drove for roughly two and a half hours (it felt more like two and a half days) through the reserve and finally reached the Oldupai Gorge lookout. Most people (including myself before the weekend) call it "Olduvai Gorge," but this is actually a misnomer. The gorge was named by the Maasai, for the plant that is found in the area - Oldupai. The German explorers, in their infinite wisdom, recorded the name as "Olduvai." Regardless, it was a fascinating site. We had a brief lecture, walked through the museum, recovered from our motion sickness, and returned to the jeep. We then descended into the gorge (another unbelievably bumpy and steep venture), and saw the site were the first Australopithecus Boisei fossil was found! There was a nice little monument on the site, although it was actually a few feet removed from the precise location (due to stream flow). It was incredibly dusty, as you can imagine, but unbelievable to be in the region where the human race began nearly 3 million years ago. After taking pictures we returned to the jeeps (a common theme throughout the weekend) and left the gorge.
We then retraced our path for about 45 minutes and came to the Ngorongoro Crater overlook. The crater is ENORMOUS. It was the site of a volcano (not unlike Crater Lake), which collapsed and only the perimeter remains - thus forming the crater. It is now home to tons of wildlife. So, we went down to the crater floor (enter yet another bumpy road) and drove across the crater. The view was absolutely incredible. We saw zebras, giraffes, water buffalo, hyenas, flamingos, lions, elephants, wildebeests, hippos... and I'm sure I am forgetting many others. We drove for a bit and had lunch at the bottom next to a small lake. After eating lunch, we drove out of the crater and went back to the entrance to the reserve. My car stopped at the entrance to wait for the other car, which was delayed for a bit. While we were standing outside waiting, we saw a baboon walking directly toward us. We were a little nervous, but didn't think much of it. It turned away from us, but then walked to the side of our car - where we had a side door open. Suddenly, it jumped into the car and stole a box of crackers! It then managed to rip the box and bag open and eat all the crackers. Another safari bus later parked next to us, and they too left their doors open. This time, however, the baboon wanted a little more. It jumped completely into the side of the bus (where people were still sitting) - causing everyone on board to scream and jump out. It was a little chaotic for a few seconds, until the baboon became scared and ran away. It was definitely funny.
We returned Saturday night extremely exhausted and incredibly dusty. I slept for at least 10 hours, and luckily we had today (Sunday) as a free day. I tried to upload pictures (nearly impossible with a slow internet connection), and later went into Arusha with a few other people on the trip. It was nice to get into town, although it's still hard to navigate on your own. Tomorrow we meet our host families, and move in with them for a few weeks.
Until next time!
On Friday, we had class in the morning and left TCDC (the compound where we stay) after lunch. We piled into two safari jeeps (Toyota Land Cruisers) and headed out past Arusha. I sat with three others in the back jump seats - the seats were great for a good view, but not the best for dodging motion sickness. We drove west for roughly an hour after reaching the Maasai Cultural Museum and the National Snake Park. The trip through the Maasai Cultural Museum was interesting. It had several exhibits about common Maasai life and practices. Afterward we went into the Snake Museum, which in addition to many snakes, also had crocodiles and turtles. It was a nice stop, but we left after an hour or so. We then continued to travel for about two hours to Karata, Tanzania, a small town close to Ngorongoro. The countryside was extremely beautiful but also dynamic. We started in rolling hills with trees and grass, then transitioned to dry plains and sparse vegetation. It was reminiscent of the southwest or eastern Montana. I was a little unsure of our living conditions when we arrived, but it turned out to be an amazing lodge. The view was spectacular, the beds were extremely comfortable, and the food was delicious. We were definitely spoiled. Unfortunately we arrived later in the evening, and had to leave in the early morning, so we couldn't stay at the lodge for too long.
Saturday morning, we got up early (though not as early as the drivers wanted), had breakfast, and left the lodge. We drove about 30 minutes to the entrance to Ngorongoro. Thus begins the single-most bumpy road I have ever traveled on. Words cannot effectively describe the bumpiness of this road. We drove for roughly two and a half hours (it felt more like two and a half days) through the reserve and finally reached the Oldupai Gorge lookout. Most people (including myself before the weekend) call it "Olduvai Gorge," but this is actually a misnomer. The gorge was named by the Maasai, for the plant that is found in the area - Oldupai. The German explorers, in their infinite wisdom, recorded the name as "Olduvai." Regardless, it was a fascinating site. We had a brief lecture, walked through the museum, recovered from our motion sickness, and returned to the jeep. We then descended into the gorge (another unbelievably bumpy and steep venture), and saw the site were the first Australopithecus Boisei fossil was found! There was a nice little monument on the site, although it was actually a few feet removed from the precise location (due to stream flow). It was incredibly dusty, as you can imagine, but unbelievable to be in the region where the human race began nearly 3 million years ago. After taking pictures we returned to the jeeps (a common theme throughout the weekend) and left the gorge.
We then retraced our path for about 45 minutes and came to the Ngorongoro Crater overlook. The crater is ENORMOUS. It was the site of a volcano (not unlike Crater Lake), which collapsed and only the perimeter remains - thus forming the crater. It is now home to tons of wildlife. So, we went down to the crater floor (enter yet another bumpy road) and drove across the crater. The view was absolutely incredible. We saw zebras, giraffes, water buffalo, hyenas, flamingos, lions, elephants, wildebeests, hippos... and I'm sure I am forgetting many others. We drove for a bit and had lunch at the bottom next to a small lake. After eating lunch, we drove out of the crater and went back to the entrance to the reserve. My car stopped at the entrance to wait for the other car, which was delayed for a bit. While we were standing outside waiting, we saw a baboon walking directly toward us. We were a little nervous, but didn't think much of it. It turned away from us, but then walked to the side of our car - where we had a side door open. Suddenly, it jumped into the car and stole a box of crackers! It then managed to rip the box and bag open and eat all the crackers. Another safari bus later parked next to us, and they too left their doors open. This time, however, the baboon wanted a little more. It jumped completely into the side of the bus (where people were still sitting) - causing everyone on board to scream and jump out. It was a little chaotic for a few seconds, until the baboon became scared and ran away. It was definitely funny.
We returned Saturday night extremely exhausted and incredibly dusty. I slept for at least 10 hours, and luckily we had today (Sunday) as a free day. I tried to upload pictures (nearly impossible with a slow internet connection), and later went into Arusha with a few other people on the trip. It was nice to get into town, although it's still hard to navigate on your own. Tomorrow we meet our host families, and move in with them for a few weeks.
Until next time!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Baboon Thief
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day 4
Nothing too exciting to report today. More class in the morning. Afterwards I was going to nap, but a few of the kids asked if I was playing soccer again. I decided to join them even though I could hardly move today. Tomorrow, though, we leave for Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge! We are staying through the weekend. I will be sure to update you upon my return (if not before).
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Day 3 - I'm out of shape!
I'll begin with a quick summary of yesterday's activities before discussing today. Yesterday wasn't incredibly exciting. Luckily our group of 14 split into two different groups, advanced and "less advanced." Needless to say, me and the "less advanced" students were glad to have our own class. Don't get me wrong - the classes are still intense, but at least I can understand the material. We had about three, hour and a half sessions and then free time after 4:00pm. After dinner a group of us went to study in the library.
Today we had class as usual. Instead of the afternoon session, we watched a play about a Tanzanian family. They weren't slowing down their speech for us, so I didn't understand much. We also began talking about our host families, where we will live starting next week for about three weeks. We ended the day a little earlier than usual, so me and three others decided to go for a run (finally!). We ran outside of the compound and around the nearby area for about 20 minutes. It wasn't a long run, but it was nice to leave the campus. We had a great view of Mt. Meru but didn't get a chance to see Kilimanjaro. After we returned, I took a turn on the treadmill for a bit. Then, I made a poor decision (which I will probably continue to make).
Every night, a group of local boys (aged 5-20) plays pick-up soccer at the basketball court on the campus. I've passed them a few times, but decided to join the game today. It took me a second to figure out "Ninaweza kucheza?" (Can I play?), but they were okay with it - although admittedly some had looks of disbelief on their faces. Most of them play without shoes (which is common), but some had sandles. Needless to say, I was keeping my shoes on. I was harassed at the beginning ("Mzungu? Hatutaki mzungu!" - White guy? We don't want the white guy!), but my knowledge of Swahili (and ability to make contact with the ball) won most of them over. Still, if I made a bad pass, it was because I was mzungu. If I fell, it was because I was mzungu. I was trying hard not to conform to the stereotype. They were good though. I became exhausted pretty quickly.
Even though they all knew English, they exclusively spoke in Swahili during the game. I had to translate soccer terms into Swahili, which was interesting ("Pass back" = "Kurudi," which means "to return"). By the end I met a few of them and will try to return tomorrow (if I can move). It was definitely fun, despite constantly being the center of attention.
After the game I took a shower, went to dinner, and am now going to the library! Have a good night!
Today we had class as usual. Instead of the afternoon session, we watched a play about a Tanzanian family. They weren't slowing down their speech for us, so I didn't understand much. We also began talking about our host families, where we will live starting next week for about three weeks. We ended the day a little earlier than usual, so me and three others decided to go for a run (finally!). We ran outside of the compound and around the nearby area for about 20 minutes. It wasn't a long run, but it was nice to leave the campus. We had a great view of Mt. Meru but didn't get a chance to see Kilimanjaro. After we returned, I took a turn on the treadmill for a bit. Then, I made a poor decision (which I will probably continue to make).
Every night, a group of local boys (aged 5-20) plays pick-up soccer at the basketball court on the campus. I've passed them a few times, but decided to join the game today. It took me a second to figure out "Ninaweza kucheza?" (Can I play?), but they were okay with it - although admittedly some had looks of disbelief on their faces. Most of them play without shoes (which is common), but some had sandles. Needless to say, I was keeping my shoes on. I was harassed at the beginning ("Mzungu? Hatutaki mzungu!" - White guy? We don't want the white guy!), but my knowledge of Swahili (and ability to make contact with the ball) won most of them over. Still, if I made a bad pass, it was because I was mzungu. If I fell, it was because I was mzungu. I was trying hard not to conform to the stereotype. They were good though. I became exhausted pretty quickly.
Even though they all knew English, they exclusively spoke in Swahili during the game. I had to translate soccer terms into Swahili, which was interesting ("Pass back" = "Kurudi," which means "to return"). By the end I met a few of them and will try to return tomorrow (if I can move). It was definitely fun, despite constantly being the center of attention.
After the game I took a shower, went to dinner, and am now going to the library! Have a good night!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Day 1 - Visit to Arusha
Today was the first full day in Arusha. I say Arusha, but we are actually about 15km outside of the town fairly close to Mt. Meru. The bathroom in my room has amazing water pressure and a great hot water tank, so I was pleasantly surprised this morning. We had breakfast early in the day (considering it was about 2am with jetlag). It seems every time I turn around they are feeding us - I definitely need to find an exercise regimen prior to hiking Kili. We then had an orientation of the compound. There are a lot of buildings in the proximity, including housing (for both visitors and the staff), a computer lab, library, diner, and many classrooms. There's also a basketball court and other workout facilities.
After orientation, we had a brief conversation in swahili and had oral proficiency examinations. It was rough! I definitely have some ground to cover in the next seven weeks. After lunch we traveled to Arusha and visited a bank, grocery store and phone store. It was funny getting hassled in the bus. Some people would wave, but if we were parked some would walk up to the window to try to sell different items. When we were in line at the phone store, a passerby just looked at us and said "Obama! Obama!" It was pretty funny.
After Arusha we had some down time, which I spent sleeping, eating, and studying. I also saw a group of monkeys running around the compound! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but they were quite the sight.
That's about all for now!
After orientation, we had a brief conversation in swahili and had oral proficiency examinations. It was rough! I definitely have some ground to cover in the next seven weeks. After lunch we traveled to Arusha and visited a bank, grocery store and phone store. It was funny getting hassled in the bus. Some people would wave, but if we were parked some would walk up to the window to try to sell different items. When we were in line at the phone store, a passerby just looked at us and said "Obama! Obama!" It was pretty funny.
After Arusha we had some down time, which I spent sleeping, eating, and studying. I also saw a group of monkeys running around the compound! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but they were quite the sight.
That's about all for now!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
First Night in Africa
I have successfully (and safely) arrived in Tanzania. We had a brief layover in Amsterdam and then another long flight to Arusha. Unfortunately it was dark when we landed, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning. We have Orientation tomorrow in the center. Its a very nice facility! Goodnight!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Welcome!
Thanks for reading my first post. Hopefully, I will be regularly writing on this blog with updates of my travels in Tanzania this summer. After a brief layover in Amsterdam, I will be in Arusha, Tanzania by early next week. I will also be providing pictures (the test picture below is not Africa, but rather the Student Building at Indiana University) - and have decently consistent e-mail access - both thanks to the wonderful world of Blackberry. Feel free to e-mail me or post onto this site. Unfortunately I will be unable to receive or return any phone calls or text messages.
For the first seven weeks, I will be studying Swahili and traveling throughout the country. The final week will entail climbing (and hopefully summiting!) Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa! Of course, stay tuned for more specific updates.
That's all for now. Let me know if you have any questions - thanks for reading!
Andrew
For the first seven weeks, I will be studying Swahili and traveling throughout the country. The final week will entail climbing (and hopefully summiting!) Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa! Of course, stay tuned for more specific updates.
That's all for now. Let me know if you have any questions - thanks for reading!
Andrew
Friday, June 19, 2009
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