so this will be my last post from the continent i adore so much. it is really depressing to think that tomorrow, then again on saturday my plane will take off not to land on african soil again for a long time. ugh. My last days have been fabulous. Monday was sports day at school so i spent the day playing with kids, cheering for the class by class running races- those little ones run oh so cute! and having my hair styled... i have pictures... by my students. it was a great day to just hang out with the kids at upendo and to piggyback the wee ones who i adore. tuesday was my last day at school, and also closing day for the school. we hung out for a good long while, then they set the kids up in a box shape with the teachers table one one side. then they let them sit. and sit. and sit. finally each class came up and did a song. then they sat and fought. and cried. and sat. 150 kids trying to entertain themselves while sitting in rows is never a good idea. so i decided to be proactive and taught them songs... including the hokie pokie which they loved. we did it twice. i was standing surrounded by the whole school- that is what it is all about. truely. it was amazing. then we did the singing in the rain song where you dance like and idiot and that was even more fun. The teachers were amazed and how i entertained them and i used the 'if you can hear me clap once, if you can hear me touch your nose...' and got them quiet... apparently not threatening them with the stick can work....
After our dances, they each gave one more song. the most entertaining part of it was watching my favorite pre schooler roll his stomach to the beat. You have to understand this kid is like 4, mayyyyybe 5. i was dying. and so so awfully my camera battery was dead. would have been priceless. Then we had cookies and coke and then lunch, a special lunch of pilau and veggies. it was amazing. then we started the teacher speaches and then the photographer arrived. I assumed he was there to document the closing day, but he didnt take pictures until i was asked to stand and my little goodbye began. kind of embarrassing that they had a photgrapher come, but also amazing because my camera was dead. all the teachers said nice words, the school and the headmistress each gave me gifts.... kitange which they made me put on and model... the kids loved that.. haha. they sang the saddest song about not seeing eachother anymore and one day we will meet again- i bit my tounge so i wouldnt cry. then i had to give a little speech and all was said and done. it was amazing. what a wonderful school.
yesterday i went to the orphanage for hte last time with the girls. it was good, as always. very said to leave and actually i did cry. i held baby lawerence until we had to go. man that baby is too much. i just hope they are all okay. one day i will be back, i told my self as we left. its a promise.
now we are doing last minute things, i am in foul form truely. its cloudy, we had to wait over an hour for the internet bc we got skipped even though i told the lady we were still here, and people are just bothering me. but. that is ok. we are going to get last minute gifts, then to the rwanda trials one last time. tonight we will have our last dinner and then we will spend tomorrow walking around usa, washing all the clothes i am leaving behind for the family, and packing.
i cant really say how i feel, i am pushing it down into the pit of my stomach and trying not to think about it. i hate it. i really do. i will be back. soon. i cant stand it.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
20km. blisters. awesome!
hello again from arusha.
I am in town for the second day in a row, yesterday we needed something to do in the afternoon. Today, we decided it would be a good day to walk from our house to Arusha. I have wanted to do this since we first got here, and so we did. We got up this morning, had a big breakfast- peanut butter bread- and lots of tea- a mistake...- and headed out the door to walk the 20km to arusha. we didnt really plan or think about how far actually 20km is. yes, it takes us 45minutes in a dala dala, but that was okay, we could still walk it. two pees on the side of the road, lots of blisters (stupid chacos!), lots of pictures plus a dead camera, and 4 1/2 hours later, we arrived in arusha, desperate to sit down. What a walk!
We saw lots of cool villages and got to mix with the people in a different way than we have. as we got closer to arusha we got to the shanty towns that lie just outside, a part of tanzania we havent seen too closely, though minimally in usa river. We took pictures of a huge river where people were doing laundry, not in the own spickets like our family does. it was just good.
I am exhausted and am sure i will sleep tonight, after i put some neosporin on my blisters that cover my feet.... 13 miles is too far in some shoes i suppose, even if they are great day in and day out. Tomorrow, we are headed to Moshi for the day. We will meet up with emma, who crazily enough is done done done with her peace corp service... and after two years and 3 months will leave tanzania soon and has spent her last night in her house in katesh. it has been interesting talking to her this week as she spent her last week in site. made me think about my last bit of time in belfast, and how crazy it really is to leave somewhere that has been your home. makes me oh that more excited to get to go back in one week!
Also, when i see emma, i will get my sweet pants that her fundi made for me.... WOO. I wore a kanga, a big piece of fabric as a wrap skirt to school this morning before we left to take back my students report cards, the teachers were like ohhhhhh look how smart you look in your kanga! haha it was too funny. i cant wait to wear them at home and get crazy looks : )
there is my update, more upbeat and more to share than yesterday.
take care of you
nakupenda sana mama na baba na bibi na babu
I am in town for the second day in a row, yesterday we needed something to do in the afternoon. Today, we decided it would be a good day to walk from our house to Arusha. I have wanted to do this since we first got here, and so we did. We got up this morning, had a big breakfast- peanut butter bread- and lots of tea- a mistake...- and headed out the door to walk the 20km to arusha. we didnt really plan or think about how far actually 20km is. yes, it takes us 45minutes in a dala dala, but that was okay, we could still walk it. two pees on the side of the road, lots of blisters (stupid chacos!), lots of pictures plus a dead camera, and 4 1/2 hours later, we arrived in arusha, desperate to sit down. What a walk!
We saw lots of cool villages and got to mix with the people in a different way than we have. as we got closer to arusha we got to the shanty towns that lie just outside, a part of tanzania we havent seen too closely, though minimally in usa river. We took pictures of a huge river where people were doing laundry, not in the own spickets like our family does. it was just good.
I am exhausted and am sure i will sleep tonight, after i put some neosporin on my blisters that cover my feet.... 13 miles is too far in some shoes i suppose, even if they are great day in and day out. Tomorrow, we are headed to Moshi for the day. We will meet up with emma, who crazily enough is done done done with her peace corp service... and after two years and 3 months will leave tanzania soon and has spent her last night in her house in katesh. it has been interesting talking to her this week as she spent her last week in site. made me think about my last bit of time in belfast, and how crazy it really is to leave somewhere that has been your home. makes me oh that more excited to get to go back in one week!
Also, when i see emma, i will get my sweet pants that her fundi made for me.... WOO. I wore a kanga, a big piece of fabric as a wrap skirt to school this morning before we left to take back my students report cards, the teachers were like ohhhhhh look how smart you look in your kanga! haha it was too funny. i cant wait to wear them at home and get crazy looks : )
there is my update, more upbeat and more to share than yesterday.
take care of you
nakupenda sana mama na baba na bibi na babu
Thursday, July 24, 2008
one week. what the crap?
I’m here trying to get my head around having one more week in
with the desire to stay forever tugging oh so hard on my heart. I
really like it here, the slow pace, the friendliness, the ease at
which each day i learn something whether it is a new swahili word- my
vocab is steadily growing- or the desperation with which women ask for
money for a picture, or the simple way of life. I have mastered
washing clothes by hand and really enjoy doing it. I have thought that
i might continue the process in my bathtub when i move home, though i
will use proper detergent rather than the dove bar soap that i use
here for lack of anything proper. I will miss the children who run
after me, and not miss the struggle of being asked to pay school fees
and lunch fees just because i am white. I will miss the timid hand of
a student in my school that sneakily reaches out to touch my hair,
different from theirs and unlike anything they have ever touched. (I
have pretty soft hair if i say so myself.... at least when it is
clean) I will miss the thrill of hot water when i take the time to
boil a kettle to use only to rinse the soap off my body and nothing
more... and the feel of hanging my freezing head under freezing water
of a tiny spicket to wash it. I will miss Fanta passion sodas.... with
great passion. I am learning that while I enjoy teaching, I may not be
the best at it... or I just take it very personally when i teach
something 5 times and still the majority of my students get it
incorrect on the exam. I am motivated by those who want to learn. I
cherish the throws of kids who run at me in the school yard when i
take my camera out and the crazy songs i have learned. I have been
reminded yet again about how fortunate I am, and again disgusted at my
way of life and those around me. Our family got a new dvd player last
night. not because they ever use the one they already have or that the
one they already have is broken, but just because this one just came
in straight from the
often this happens in the states, and in my own life. my stomach
turns.
I know I will be back to
an extended period of time. and though i have always said that, now
that i have lived here for 2 months, the desire is even stronger, the
fears are somewhat quelled (is that even the right word.. or use of
the word? ), and i just want to do it. So. there we go. i dont want to
leave.
and this computer is hating me, so there you go
nakupenda sana.
nitakuona soon.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
what to say? PICTURES
an upendo student
feeding stacey cake!
my birthday cake, yes written in kiswahili!
the food market in zanzibar... meat fest anyone?
a typical day in zanzibar
jambo, habari za mchana?
i guess i owe you the birthday update, though it feels like so long ago and truthfully i feel like i cant be bothered to recount it. but here you go. first they sing and present the cake, even though i bought it. then you cut a piece into bite size pieces and the whole group holds one fork and feeds the birthday girl a bite of cake. then the birthday person feeds each person there a bite, starting from the youngest to the oldest. our mama's niece was there with her little boy,who was too freaking adorable, and so i started with james. A picture is taken of each person recieving their cake. the cake was good and well worth the $20.
The rest of the week went by fast, spending it at school writing and typing exams. on thursday and friday i spent all the day typing all the other teacher's exams on the school computer. by friday, yesterday, i wanted to throw the computer out the window. but, it will be nice for the students to all have typed exams. I also had a sit down with the head mistress and she asked me to pay for a girls school fees. It is really hard to be put on the spot like that. she told me about the girl and how her parents are both really sick with AIDS and cant pay her school fees. They school fees for the year are $250. If they were $100 i would most likely do it. but i dont have $250 to spend like that. Then she asked me to see if i can help her pay the kids lunch fees. There are 42 kids that havent paid them yet and she said it is giving her a headache. The lunch fees are $100 a kid. It is hard to deal with her thinking that im made of money, that $4,000 is pocket change. There really is no understanding of middle class, or young and unemployed traveler. I explained to one of the teachers that it took alllll my money to get here, that my flight alone was a huge huge chunk of all the money i had. but he didnt believe me and told me my pockets are full of money. So, i told madam regina that i would see what i could do after i get home about raising some money. So i dont know whats going to happen with that, but it was an interesting experience.
Last night we came into town to go out and have dinner and some kili beers, or tusker is my fav. We had a good time jsut sitting around hanging out. today we are back in arusha and today is shopping day. i have bought very little, tryiing to see everything and decide what i wanted to get me and other people. so, today i am shopping and im excited about it, im getting my bartering skills ready. haha.
so. i dont have mucht o say. truthfully. so there you go. two weeks and then i go to BELFAST! and get to see a special pregnant someone! yep, Pamela McCormick is having another wonderful little one and im sure he or she will be just as wonderful as all her others. So woo, maybe ill have to make another trip to belfast in February so that baby mccormick knows his american sister.
until then, tutaonana
nakupenda
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
birthday. bus. home!
Hello all
I am finally back from my trip to Zanzibar and recovering. Our journey back was horrible, basically, but it is so so nice to get home. Our last few days at Kendwa on the beach were great, it was so nice to do nothing but lie on the beach and relax. Last Thursday we headed to Stonetown, the biggest town in Zanzibar to see the sights…. Aka to walk the streets and wander. We arrived and had a wee walk around late in the afternoon on Thursday, then grabbed some dinner from the little restaurant across from our hotel. The owner, randomly, is married to a man from Greenville north Carolina. So, he gave us all free dessert and told me to tell Dean Smith hello haha. The next morning, after a horrible nights sleep, we left for a spice tour just outside of stonetown. We went to a spice plantation, where we saw all kinds of fruits growing and then the plants that spices come from. It is amazing how disconnected we are from that in the US. The coolest two we saw were a cinnamon tree, he peeled off the bark and it was like holding a handful of cinnamon. And then the chocolate tree…. Cocoa really- he cracked open the fruit and we got to smell the cocoa beans… pretty awesome to see where they came from. We also go our mouth numbed by cloves and used lemon grass for bug spray. There was one random tree whose leaves are used to kill fungus… and needless to say the girls rubbed it on my arm. Don’t know if it was those leaves, or the sun, or my cream finally working, but it looks amazingly better haha. Pretty sweet. My goal is to not bring any fungus home with me....
From the spice plantation we went to have lunch and then to a beach and slave caves along the east shore of Zanzibar. The cave was massive and had been used to hold slaves taken off ships on their way to the slave market in stonetown. Once slave markets and slave trading was made illegal, the cave was used to hide slaves. The tunnel from the cave to the beach made it easy to bring slaves in and out to ships to sell them. Pretty crazy. Then we went to the beach for a bit, which was okay but I was pretty done with the beach by that point. We got back to stonetown and spent the afternoon wandering around and bargaining in the shops. It was ridiculous how big the rip offs were, and frustrating to know how much they were trying to rip us off. I guess most tourists don’t know what things should cost… so they just pay it. But for them to try to sell me a kanga (piece of fabric) for 12,000tsh when I got one last week in Arusha for 4,000tsh is pretty funny and frustrating at the same time. But we did some shopping and got a few things, nothing major though. Gifts for people, I have realized how dang stingy I am with my money haha. Plus, I just refused to get ripped off. I did however get a new bag, which I am obsessed with. It is a patchwork type deal from all different kitange. (yes, emma, I copied yours….) It was more than it should be, but the only one I saw and I have never seen one in Arusha, so im glad I got it.
We ate dinner that night at a huge food market. Normally the stalls are set up in a garden area right on the shore, but it is under construction. So it was just a street with stands down both sides. The tables were amazing… full of meats and breads and veggies. There was lobster, crab, shark, barracuda, all kinds of fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, chicken, beef, liver, tounge! It was amazing. I had barracuda, which was amazing actually. For dessert, I had a chocolate banana crepe which was amazzzzzing. And oddly enough we ended up sharing our table with two UNC grads, both of whom still ive in chapel hill, man what a small world huh? They knew people I knew from high school too, so that was crazy. One is in med school at UNC, so I am going to have to set bryce up…We were all pretty sure we would get sick, but we didn’t really care. We figured we had to do it…. Which we did. You cant go to stonetown and not… luckily none of us got sick, though I popped some pepto just in case. The next day we spent the day exploring and shopping some more, there really is not much to do in stonetown. Stacey and I went out early and stumbled upon the morning market. There was fish everywhere, like 6 feet long sharks, and crabs still crawling around. We went through the beef isles, and almost lost our breakfast when we saw a cow head in the process of getting its brains, literally, cut out. We wandered through the veggie and fruit markets and got hassled to buy all kinds of spices. It was pretty impressive. I found a few specific gifts I was looking for for people, so that was good, and found the painting that I would have killed for. My friend Teresa in Belfast, whom I worked in the nursing home with, has this painting from Zanzibar of a man walking down a flooded rainy street. This painting is what made me decide to start buying art in every country I went to. And while in Zanzibar, what did I see? This same painting. Only in one single shop. And though I bargained the guy down from 180k shillings to 100k, I still just couldn’t make myself do it. I wish I had. Next time. And, in truth, I would have had to go to the benki and get some pesa, then try to find my way back to his shop- which in stonetown can be so hard. So. Oh well. Whats done is done eh?
We spent the rest of my birthday piddling around, had a cute little lunch and the girls surprised me with cake, then later had the BEST freaking ice cream- truth, it prob wasn’t that great I just hadn’t had ice cream since leaving the states…., but it was mango… and very creamy which ice cream doesn’t tend to be here…. And we ate it at an expensive place on the ocean. Then Stacey and I found a little conspicuous seat on some steps and took some pictures of people walking past. It is hard to get pictures of people here, you have to ask and most of them say no. but, the people make the culture, I think, and its hard to see a town through pictures without some people… so we were rude… and did it, though no one seemed to notice or mind if they did. We got lost wandering and ended up with some kids, playing soccer and watching some little girls play cards. They let us take pictures, so I have some cool ones.
We spent the afternoon trying to book a hotel for Saturday night in Dar, only to find that everywhere was booked. I was stressed and pissed that the girls had left me alone to call every single hotel and deal with it. They came back and we just decided we would do the whole trip in one day, take the early ferry, then the bus. For my birthday dinner, we headed back to the food market, and this time I went real exotic- ok not really- and had shark, which I had never had. It wasn’t as good as I though. And I drank so much water that I was too full to have the chocolate banana crepe that I had the night before which was AMAZING. We headed back home, since we had to catch the ferry at 6am the next morning. I really wish we had had more time in stonetown, and had stayed less days at the beach, but that’s ok, you live and learn no?
Saturday morning we got the ferry bright and early…. And I got sick. I was sitting outside, alone because inside made me seasick. And I thought I was going to be sick… I was really hungry actually, not really seasick. I tried to eat the crackers I had with me, but couldn’t make myself choke them down. Katie had been outside with me but had gone in to change her pants because she had gotten soaked by a wave. I had spent the last 30 minutes feeling like death having some random man teaching me Swahili words. I had told him twice I was tired and didn’t feel good- even in Swahili, but he failed to get the message to shut up. When he finally asked me for my phone number in the states I told him no and he got made and shut up. But thank god he was there, because after my peaceful 10 minutes, I started gagging over the edge and asked him to take me to the choo. As soon as I turned and started to walk, everything went black. I didn’t faint, but I couldn’t see anything. This is a fairly familiar feeling for me, but not on a rocking ferry, holding the hand of a random zanzibarian that I don’t know… somehow he got me inside, down the stairs and to the bathroom door. I knew I was just outside the bathroom but I couldn’t see enough to get inside, so I just sat down on the floor. Finally I could see and I went in, dripping with sweat and in my broken Swahili asked him to go find Katie, whom he had been talking to, for me. Basically I said, where is my friend from Scotland… haha, and hoped that he understood I was asking him to go get her for me. He kept coming back to check on me, but Katie never came. I finally pulled it together enough to go to where Stacey and Sharon were sitting… and I managed not to get sick again. Turns out he did find Katie and tell her I was sick, but she thought he was just trying to talk to her again because he had talked her ear off too. Opps.
So. Im sick on the ferry, then we have to go straight to the bus park to try to catch a bus. Our desk friend at our hotel in stonetown had given us the number of a friend of his who would take us and help us find a hotel if we couldn’t get a bus, so we called him and he rushed us, me still feeling a bit out of it, to the bus park. Only to find out that there were no more buses. So, its 9am, we are in dar and cant get a bus til the next morning. And we are all sick. Awesome. We got our tickets for the next morning, and decided to stay at the terminal hotel in the bus park, we thought it would make our 5.45am departure on Sunday easier. The bus park in dark is terrifying, with tons of people and everyone asking you if you are going here or there and trying to sell you tickets and put you on a bus, not to mention selling you all kinds of food. So, basically, we spent the day in the hotel room, which was actually a little known gem, we had a clean room with ac and a tv- we even watched some mtv for awhile. But the day dragged and it took a lot for me to feel better- esp with a 9 hour bus ride the next day to look forward to.
But, we made it home and oh what a good feeling that is!! To be back in my bed, with a good pillow and my own sleeping bag. Priceless. We have a new roomie now, from the Netherlands, her name is janneka… or something like that. She is pretty cool, but I had a good (silent) laugh this morning as she spent 10 minutes putting on her make up and doing her hair. Oh TIA. She will be working with Stacey at cradle of love for the next month, so one week after we leave. She is nice and its cool to have another person to talk to and get to know. Plus, she lives in Amsterdam and I love that city…. So that is fun. Sharon left this morning at 6am, and it is weird that she is gone before us. It also is pretty awful that we only have 3 more weeks… school weeks, not even 3 full weeks. Where the hell did it go?? Don’t get me wrong, I am so so excited to go to Belfast, but really…. It has flown. And I really like it here.
I had classes this morning, my kids have exams starting again next Monday, which is crazy… they just had exams. The math exam was already made by another teacher, which is kinda silly since I have taught them and nothing we did since exams is on there, but okay. And I have to make the English exam. We will spend this week reviewing and catching up on what they did last week while I was away, I don’t know why I even left lesson plans, they weren’t even close to followed… but, pretty crazy, now I have something specific to teach to at least because I know what they will be tested on. The students asked me today if I will go with them to Arusha National Park on the 30th, which I have heard nothing about, but I hope that I do get to go. We have exams next week then the final week of class, so im not too sure what to, or if I even teach them the few days after the exam- it will be fun to just hang out with them. They laugh at me a lot. Today I had chalk on my bum because it just gets everywhere and every time I turned to write on the chalk board they died laughing. Luckily im a good sport, it was funny.
So. Im really looking forward to being here, teaching, the next three weeks. I have to go get a birthday cake because everyone in my fam has asked me when we will have cake, plus I am pretty anxious to take part in the Tanzania birthday tradition of feeding each person a bite. I am also headed to the tailor this week to get my clothes made, which is super exciting!! I am also going to be spending some more time at cradle of love in my down time from school, so that will be good. So all in all things are good. Still a wee bit sick, but you know, im just getting used to it.
Today i went back to the orphanage... always a good time. And Stacey and Yanneka came to my classes this morning, pretty funny to have someone watch you teach. now we are in town, getting my late birthday cake! woo hoo! so tonight i will get to do the tanzania birthday celebration. Will tell you more about it after the fact...
okay, Eat some cold stone for me, im craving it.
Xoxo
Nakupenda sana
I am finally back from my trip to Zanzibar and recovering. Our journey back was horrible, basically, but it is so so nice to get home. Our last few days at Kendwa on the beach were great, it was so nice to do nothing but lie on the beach and relax. Last Thursday we headed to Stonetown, the biggest town in Zanzibar to see the sights…. Aka to walk the streets and wander. We arrived and had a wee walk around late in the afternoon on Thursday, then grabbed some dinner from the little restaurant across from our hotel. The owner, randomly, is married to a man from Greenville north Carolina. So, he gave us all free dessert and told me to tell Dean Smith hello haha. The next morning, after a horrible nights sleep, we left for a spice tour just outside of stonetown. We went to a spice plantation, where we saw all kinds of fruits growing and then the plants that spices come from. It is amazing how disconnected we are from that in the US. The coolest two we saw were a cinnamon tree, he peeled off the bark and it was like holding a handful of cinnamon. And then the chocolate tree…. Cocoa really- he cracked open the fruit and we got to smell the cocoa beans… pretty awesome to see where they came from. We also go our mouth numbed by cloves and used lemon grass for bug spray. There was one random tree whose leaves are used to kill fungus… and needless to say the girls rubbed it on my arm. Don’t know if it was those leaves, or the sun, or my cream finally working, but it looks amazingly better haha. Pretty sweet. My goal is to not bring any fungus home with me....
From the spice plantation we went to have lunch and then to a beach and slave caves along the east shore of Zanzibar. The cave was massive and had been used to hold slaves taken off ships on their way to the slave market in stonetown. Once slave markets and slave trading was made illegal, the cave was used to hide slaves. The tunnel from the cave to the beach made it easy to bring slaves in and out to ships to sell them. Pretty crazy. Then we went to the beach for a bit, which was okay but I was pretty done with the beach by that point. We got back to stonetown and spent the afternoon wandering around and bargaining in the shops. It was ridiculous how big the rip offs were, and frustrating to know how much they were trying to rip us off. I guess most tourists don’t know what things should cost… so they just pay it. But for them to try to sell me a kanga (piece of fabric) for 12,000tsh when I got one last week in Arusha for 4,000tsh is pretty funny and frustrating at the same time. But we did some shopping and got a few things, nothing major though. Gifts for people, I have realized how dang stingy I am with my money haha. Plus, I just refused to get ripped off. I did however get a new bag, which I am obsessed with. It is a patchwork type deal from all different kitange. (yes, emma, I copied yours….) It was more than it should be, but the only one I saw and I have never seen one in Arusha, so im glad I got it.
We ate dinner that night at a huge food market. Normally the stalls are set up in a garden area right on the shore, but it is under construction. So it was just a street with stands down both sides. The tables were amazing… full of meats and breads and veggies. There was lobster, crab, shark, barracuda, all kinds of fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, chicken, beef, liver, tounge! It was amazing. I had barracuda, which was amazing actually. For dessert, I had a chocolate banana crepe which was amazzzzzing. And oddly enough we ended up sharing our table with two UNC grads, both of whom still ive in chapel hill, man what a small world huh? They knew people I knew from high school too, so that was crazy. One is in med school at UNC, so I am going to have to set bryce up…We were all pretty sure we would get sick, but we didn’t really care. We figured we had to do it…. Which we did. You cant go to stonetown and not… luckily none of us got sick, though I popped some pepto just in case. The next day we spent the day exploring and shopping some more, there really is not much to do in stonetown. Stacey and I went out early and stumbled upon the morning market. There was fish everywhere, like 6 feet long sharks, and crabs still crawling around. We went through the beef isles, and almost lost our breakfast when we saw a cow head in the process of getting its brains, literally, cut out. We wandered through the veggie and fruit markets and got hassled to buy all kinds of spices. It was pretty impressive. I found a few specific gifts I was looking for for people, so that was good, and found the painting that I would have killed for. My friend Teresa in Belfast, whom I worked in the nursing home with, has this painting from Zanzibar of a man walking down a flooded rainy street. This painting is what made me decide to start buying art in every country I went to. And while in Zanzibar, what did I see? This same painting. Only in one single shop. And though I bargained the guy down from 180k shillings to 100k, I still just couldn’t make myself do it. I wish I had. Next time. And, in truth, I would have had to go to the benki and get some pesa, then try to find my way back to his shop- which in stonetown can be so hard. So. Oh well. Whats done is done eh?
We spent the rest of my birthday piddling around, had a cute little lunch and the girls surprised me with cake, then later had the BEST freaking ice cream- truth, it prob wasn’t that great I just hadn’t had ice cream since leaving the states…., but it was mango… and very creamy which ice cream doesn’t tend to be here…. And we ate it at an expensive place on the ocean. Then Stacey and I found a little conspicuous seat on some steps and took some pictures of people walking past. It is hard to get pictures of people here, you have to ask and most of them say no. but, the people make the culture, I think, and its hard to see a town through pictures without some people… so we were rude… and did it, though no one seemed to notice or mind if they did. We got lost wandering and ended up with some kids, playing soccer and watching some little girls play cards. They let us take pictures, so I have some cool ones.
We spent the afternoon trying to book a hotel for Saturday night in Dar, only to find that everywhere was booked. I was stressed and pissed that the girls had left me alone to call every single hotel and deal with it. They came back and we just decided we would do the whole trip in one day, take the early ferry, then the bus. For my birthday dinner, we headed back to the food market, and this time I went real exotic- ok not really- and had shark, which I had never had. It wasn’t as good as I though. And I drank so much water that I was too full to have the chocolate banana crepe that I had the night before which was AMAZING. We headed back home, since we had to catch the ferry at 6am the next morning. I really wish we had had more time in stonetown, and had stayed less days at the beach, but that’s ok, you live and learn no?
Saturday morning we got the ferry bright and early…. And I got sick. I was sitting outside, alone because inside made me seasick. And I thought I was going to be sick… I was really hungry actually, not really seasick. I tried to eat the crackers I had with me, but couldn’t make myself choke them down. Katie had been outside with me but had gone in to change her pants because she had gotten soaked by a wave. I had spent the last 30 minutes feeling like death having some random man teaching me Swahili words. I had told him twice I was tired and didn’t feel good- even in Swahili, but he failed to get the message to shut up. When he finally asked me for my phone number in the states I told him no and he got made and shut up. But thank god he was there, because after my peaceful 10 minutes, I started gagging over the edge and asked him to take me to the choo. As soon as I turned and started to walk, everything went black. I didn’t faint, but I couldn’t see anything. This is a fairly familiar feeling for me, but not on a rocking ferry, holding the hand of a random zanzibarian that I don’t know… somehow he got me inside, down the stairs and to the bathroom door. I knew I was just outside the bathroom but I couldn’t see enough to get inside, so I just sat down on the floor. Finally I could see and I went in, dripping with sweat and in my broken Swahili asked him to go find Katie, whom he had been talking to, for me. Basically I said, where is my friend from Scotland… haha, and hoped that he understood I was asking him to go get her for me. He kept coming back to check on me, but Katie never came. I finally pulled it together enough to go to where Stacey and Sharon were sitting… and I managed not to get sick again. Turns out he did find Katie and tell her I was sick, but she thought he was just trying to talk to her again because he had talked her ear off too. Opps.
So. Im sick on the ferry, then we have to go straight to the bus park to try to catch a bus. Our desk friend at our hotel in stonetown had given us the number of a friend of his who would take us and help us find a hotel if we couldn’t get a bus, so we called him and he rushed us, me still feeling a bit out of it, to the bus park. Only to find out that there were no more buses. So, its 9am, we are in dar and cant get a bus til the next morning. And we are all sick. Awesome. We got our tickets for the next morning, and decided to stay at the terminal hotel in the bus park, we thought it would make our 5.45am departure on Sunday easier. The bus park in dark is terrifying, with tons of people and everyone asking you if you are going here or there and trying to sell you tickets and put you on a bus, not to mention selling you all kinds of food. So, basically, we spent the day in the hotel room, which was actually a little known gem, we had a clean room with ac and a tv- we even watched some mtv for awhile. But the day dragged and it took a lot for me to feel better- esp with a 9 hour bus ride the next day to look forward to.
But, we made it home and oh what a good feeling that is!! To be back in my bed, with a good pillow and my own sleeping bag. Priceless. We have a new roomie now, from the Netherlands, her name is janneka… or something like that. She is pretty cool, but I had a good (silent) laugh this morning as she spent 10 minutes putting on her make up and doing her hair. Oh TIA. She will be working with Stacey at cradle of love for the next month, so one week after we leave. She is nice and its cool to have another person to talk to and get to know. Plus, she lives in Amsterdam and I love that city…. So that is fun. Sharon left this morning at 6am, and it is weird that she is gone before us. It also is pretty awful that we only have 3 more weeks… school weeks, not even 3 full weeks. Where the hell did it go?? Don’t get me wrong, I am so so excited to go to Belfast, but really…. It has flown. And I really like it here.
I had classes this morning, my kids have exams starting again next Monday, which is crazy… they just had exams. The math exam was already made by another teacher, which is kinda silly since I have taught them and nothing we did since exams is on there, but okay. And I have to make the English exam. We will spend this week reviewing and catching up on what they did last week while I was away, I don’t know why I even left lesson plans, they weren’t even close to followed… but, pretty crazy, now I have something specific to teach to at least because I know what they will be tested on. The students asked me today if I will go with them to Arusha National Park on the 30th, which I have heard nothing about, but I hope that I do get to go. We have exams next week then the final week of class, so im not too sure what to, or if I even teach them the few days after the exam- it will be fun to just hang out with them. They laugh at me a lot. Today I had chalk on my bum because it just gets everywhere and every time I turned to write on the chalk board they died laughing. Luckily im a good sport, it was funny.
So. Im really looking forward to being here, teaching, the next three weeks. I have to go get a birthday cake because everyone in my fam has asked me when we will have cake, plus I am pretty anxious to take part in the Tanzania birthday tradition of feeding each person a bite. I am also headed to the tailor this week to get my clothes made, which is super exciting!! I am also going to be spending some more time at cradle of love in my down time from school, so that will be good. So all in all things are good. Still a wee bit sick, but you know, im just getting used to it.
Today i went back to the orphanage... always a good time. And Stacey and Yanneka came to my classes this morning, pretty funny to have someone watch you teach. now we are in town, getting my late birthday cake! woo hoo! so tonight i will get to do the tanzania birthday celebration. Will tell you more about it after the fact...
okay, Eat some cold stone for me, im craving it.
Xoxo
Nakupenda sana
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
sand. chillax. palllllllllllllllllm trees!
Jambo from a sweet beach in zanzibar!
Habari yako?
I am writing on a friends laptop on my bed in a sweet thatch hut. The walls are straw and then have a canvas striped inside lining. The roof is all thatch and it is amazing. The beach is the whitest sand and the water is even clearer than the florida keys… the best water I have ever seen! Our hotel is basic, but nice… the restaurant is over priced like woah, but the food is good and best of all, western! No more rice and stew for this week, thank god. We also have hot water- I really had forgotten how amazing a hot water shower, actual shower head and all can be! We have done a whole lot of nothing, just sitting on the beach for the last 3 days and it has been fabulous.
Getting here was quite a trip, we left Usa at 6am on the bus to Dar, 9 hours away. We got to Dar and were lucky to have made friends with the woman sitting in front of us. We shared a taxi with her to the ferry, where we had a time of it trying to get tickets for the ferry. After a 9 hour bus ride, dealing with frustrating people was the last thing I wanted. Every book and every person we had talked to told us our tickets should be $40, so we were livid when they tried to make us pay more. I argued til I was blue in the face, even busted out some Swahili so they would know I wasn’t some stupid tourist they could just cheat. I gave them the right amount, telling them finally it was all the cash I had. They yelled at me and told me they were losing mony because of me, and I said whatever, and we left with our tickets. Worst. Really. But truthfully, that was one of the first times ive stuck up for myself travelling. So that was cool. Usually im just a pushover and pay and don’t argue.
We got on the ferry and after only a few minutes, I knew it was going to be a long hour and a half or so. We ended up eating and snack and talking a lot, trying to distract me from the rocking that was turning my stomach. But soon after we left the port, I had to head outside. I didn’t get sick, thankfully, but I knew just being in the wind and somewhere I could see the horizon would make a huge difference. It did, and I felt a lot better, but still not to best. The fact that I had been awake since 5 and sat on a bus for 8 and a half hours, and it was now late afternoon didn’t help. BUT, we made it, and Stacey and I celebrated our forth of july…. Sadly yet again without fireworks, second year in a row, boo…. Watching the sunset on the Indian Ocean. Pretty sweet really, I cant complain. We got into port on Zanzibar island at about 6.30 or so, went through immigration (another stamp in the passport! Woooooooo) and then argued again about a taxi price up to the north coast. Finally we settled, though it was still more than we wanted to pay. But by this time it was getting dark and just wasn’t worth it anymore. We did exactly what Baba had told us not to do, got in a taxi with two drivers. But, we made it up to the north coast, to Kendwa beach and since then things have been great.
We have had a lot of fun, met cool people, and enjoyed the heat and sunshine. I did really well with using sunscreen and rationing my time in the sun…. until today. So im a little red now, but have some colour now at least for the first time since college really… Ireland was oh so dreary! Yesterday was a national holiday, saba saba or seven seven, though I still maintain that 7/11 is still the best day in july… We had a great time at the huge party our resort threw, dancing and watching others dance. The locals came out like crazy for it. Watching a bunch of Tanzanian… or are they Zanzibarian?... boys dance is pretty ridiculously entertaining. We were amazed at how close they dance together, like up on each other. Guys in the states would never even dare. Also, we were intrigued, and pretty disgusted at the number of mzungu (foreign) girls who were grinding up on locals and even kissing them on the dance floor. Now we know why they offer marriage proposals and other inappropriate offers…. Some mzungu must take them up on it. Worst. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with the locals… but I don’t think I need to offer a huge explanation opinion on this one. If I offend for whatever reason, pole sana…. (im sorry for you…. Meaning, im sorry you fail to see what im intending, not im sorry I offended…)
**since we are on the note of pole, I have to tell you I think it is my favourite Swahili word. I love that there is a word that does actually mean im sorry for you…. Like when someone is sick…. In english, im sorry implies a fault of the person saying it, like im sorry I bumped into you. And when someone is sick and we say, im sorry, the often response is ‘its not your fault’ but in Swahili, you only use pole in those cases… when its not anything you have done… when it is not an apology. So good. So good. pole you had to read such a long description.. haha**
Tomorrow we leave here and head down to stonetown, where we will wander the windy, tiny streets and eat some street food… along with major doses of pepto. I am excited to see the markets and just how different it is from Arusha. Stonetown is 90% muslim, so the environment will be a little different. We have loved seeing the little girls here in their beautifully coloured dresses and scarves wade into the water. What a contrast to us in our itty bikinis. Speaking of bikinis, my bikini bottoms got stolen one night from our porch. Pretty livid. Katie said she heard American voices really close and so I interrogated the groups of American boys, telling them the prank was over, I wanted them back. After breakfast I came back to find them on the roof of our cabana. Haha. Still don’t know who took them, or why, but glad I got them back. Katie, wasn’t as lucky- hers are still missing. She has been wearing her knickers on the beach the past 2 days haha.
Overall, it has been a good break. I am slightly worried about what my students have been learning while I was away, last time I missed school and went to Emma’s they were given crazy homework that was nothing like the lesson I had left. Oh well. On Friday we will leave stonetown and head back to Dar, celebrate my birthday, then take the bus back to Usa Saturday. Will be good to be back.
OHHHHHHHHHHH. And I realized as soon as I posted the last post that I put teeth in the title but didn’t put the teeth story… haha. Opps. So for those avid readers who are a bit confused, here you go:
On Thursday of last week one of my students lost a tooth in the middle of school. He left the room and didn’t tell me where he was going and came back and just showed me the place where his tooth had been. At this point we had finised the lesson and were just kind of hanging out. I asked him where the tooth was and he told me he had thrown it on to the roof of our classroom! Why? I asked. The class collectively proceeded to explain to me the tooth tradition of Tanzania, or atleast of usa. Apparently every lost tooth must be thrown up into the air and into a high place so that a bird can come a take it away. Then the bird will bring you back your new tooth that grows in. I then explained to them about the tooth fairy and how we get money left under our pillow in exchange for our teeth. They were amazed and excited! They asked if the tooth fairy came to Tanzania and I said I didn’t know but I didn’t think so, that the birds had the tooth fairys job. It was a great conversation haha. And had I been a reallz awesome teacher, I would have told them this before he threw his tooth and then I could have told him to put it in his desk and maybe the tooth fairy would come to school. And then I could have played tooth fairy… but at the same time, I didn’t want kids pulling their teeth out intentionally so the tooth fairy could come, nor the disappointment when I left and the tooth fairy stopped coming. And I really just didn’t have the heart to tell them to truth about mamas and babas in America being the tooth fairy…. Its not like I could equate it to santa clause and they would understand…. So… maybe they think America has a fairy that flies around and takes teeth- it wont kill them to think that…. Haha.
Alright, too long. Sorry to keep you.
Life is good. where the hell has it gone though?
24 on Friday. Im old. : )
Xoxo. Nakupenda.
Habari yako?
I am writing on a friends laptop on my bed in a sweet thatch hut. The walls are straw and then have a canvas striped inside lining. The roof is all thatch and it is amazing. The beach is the whitest sand and the water is even clearer than the florida keys… the best water I have ever seen! Our hotel is basic, but nice… the restaurant is over priced like woah, but the food is good and best of all, western! No more rice and stew for this week, thank god. We also have hot water- I really had forgotten how amazing a hot water shower, actual shower head and all can be! We have done a whole lot of nothing, just sitting on the beach for the last 3 days and it has been fabulous.
Getting here was quite a trip, we left Usa at 6am on the bus to Dar, 9 hours away. We got to Dar and were lucky to have made friends with the woman sitting in front of us. We shared a taxi with her to the ferry, where we had a time of it trying to get tickets for the ferry. After a 9 hour bus ride, dealing with frustrating people was the last thing I wanted. Every book and every person we had talked to told us our tickets should be $40, so we were livid when they tried to make us pay more. I argued til I was blue in the face, even busted out some Swahili so they would know I wasn’t some stupid tourist they could just cheat. I gave them the right amount, telling them finally it was all the cash I had. They yelled at me and told me they were losing mony because of me, and I said whatever, and we left with our tickets. Worst. Really. But truthfully, that was one of the first times ive stuck up for myself travelling. So that was cool. Usually im just a pushover and pay and don’t argue.
We got on the ferry and after only a few minutes, I knew it was going to be a long hour and a half or so. We ended up eating and snack and talking a lot, trying to distract me from the rocking that was turning my stomach. But soon after we left the port, I had to head outside. I didn’t get sick, thankfully, but I knew just being in the wind and somewhere I could see the horizon would make a huge difference. It did, and I felt a lot better, but still not to best. The fact that I had been awake since 5 and sat on a bus for 8 and a half hours, and it was now late afternoon didn’t help. BUT, we made it, and Stacey and I celebrated our forth of july…. Sadly yet again without fireworks, second year in a row, boo…. Watching the sunset on the Indian Ocean. Pretty sweet really, I cant complain. We got into port on Zanzibar island at about 6.30 or so, went through immigration (another stamp in the passport! Woooooooo) and then argued again about a taxi price up to the north coast. Finally we settled, though it was still more than we wanted to pay. But by this time it was getting dark and just wasn’t worth it anymore. We did exactly what Baba had told us not to do, got in a taxi with two drivers. But, we made it up to the north coast, to Kendwa beach and since then things have been great.
We have had a lot of fun, met cool people, and enjoyed the heat and sunshine. I did really well with using sunscreen and rationing my time in the sun…. until today. So im a little red now, but have some colour now at least for the first time since college really… Ireland was oh so dreary! Yesterday was a national holiday, saba saba or seven seven, though I still maintain that 7/11 is still the best day in july… We had a great time at the huge party our resort threw, dancing and watching others dance. The locals came out like crazy for it. Watching a bunch of Tanzanian… or are they Zanzibarian?... boys dance is pretty ridiculously entertaining. We were amazed at how close they dance together, like up on each other. Guys in the states would never even dare. Also, we were intrigued, and pretty disgusted at the number of mzungu (foreign) girls who were grinding up on locals and even kissing them on the dance floor. Now we know why they offer marriage proposals and other inappropriate offers…. Some mzungu must take them up on it. Worst. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with the locals… but I don’t think I need to offer a huge explanation opinion on this one. If I offend for whatever reason, pole sana…. (im sorry for you…. Meaning, im sorry you fail to see what im intending, not im sorry I offended…)
**since we are on the note of pole, I have to tell you I think it is my favourite Swahili word. I love that there is a word that does actually mean im sorry for you…. Like when someone is sick…. In english, im sorry implies a fault of the person saying it, like im sorry I bumped into you. And when someone is sick and we say, im sorry, the often response is ‘its not your fault’ but in Swahili, you only use pole in those cases… when its not anything you have done… when it is not an apology. So good. So good. pole you had to read such a long description.. haha**
Tomorrow we leave here and head down to stonetown, where we will wander the windy, tiny streets and eat some street food… along with major doses of pepto. I am excited to see the markets and just how different it is from Arusha. Stonetown is 90% muslim, so the environment will be a little different. We have loved seeing the little girls here in their beautifully coloured dresses and scarves wade into the water. What a contrast to us in our itty bikinis. Speaking of bikinis, my bikini bottoms got stolen one night from our porch. Pretty livid. Katie said she heard American voices really close and so I interrogated the groups of American boys, telling them the prank was over, I wanted them back. After breakfast I came back to find them on the roof of our cabana. Haha. Still don’t know who took them, or why, but glad I got them back. Katie, wasn’t as lucky- hers are still missing. She has been wearing her knickers on the beach the past 2 days haha.
Overall, it has been a good break. I am slightly worried about what my students have been learning while I was away, last time I missed school and went to Emma’s they were given crazy homework that was nothing like the lesson I had left. Oh well. On Friday we will leave stonetown and head back to Dar, celebrate my birthday, then take the bus back to Usa Saturday. Will be good to be back.
OHHHHHHHHHHH. And I realized as soon as I posted the last post that I put teeth in the title but didn’t put the teeth story… haha. Opps. So for those avid readers who are a bit confused, here you go:
On Thursday of last week one of my students lost a tooth in the middle of school. He left the room and didn’t tell me where he was going and came back and just showed me the place where his tooth had been. At this point we had finised the lesson and were just kind of hanging out. I asked him where the tooth was and he told me he had thrown it on to the roof of our classroom! Why? I asked. The class collectively proceeded to explain to me the tooth tradition of Tanzania, or atleast of usa. Apparently every lost tooth must be thrown up into the air and into a high place so that a bird can come a take it away. Then the bird will bring you back your new tooth that grows in. I then explained to them about the tooth fairy and how we get money left under our pillow in exchange for our teeth. They were amazed and excited! They asked if the tooth fairy came to Tanzania and I said I didn’t know but I didn’t think so, that the birds had the tooth fairys job. It was a great conversation haha. And had I been a reallz awesome teacher, I would have told them this before he threw his tooth and then I could have told him to put it in his desk and maybe the tooth fairy would come to school. And then I could have played tooth fairy… but at the same time, I didn’t want kids pulling their teeth out intentionally so the tooth fairy could come, nor the disappointment when I left and the tooth fairy stopped coming. And I really just didn’t have the heart to tell them to truth about mamas and babas in America being the tooth fairy…. Its not like I could equate it to santa clause and they would understand…. So… maybe they think America has a fairy that flies around and takes teeth- it wont kill them to think that…. Haha.
Alright, too long. Sorry to keep you.
Life is good. where the hell has it gone though?
24 on Friday. Im old. : )
Xoxo. Nakupenda.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
baby. cake. teeth
jambo! things have been crazy since i got home from katesh and the week has flown by. teaching has been good, though my kids have really struggled. i am taking my time with them though because i really want them to learn this, as it is the basic for the rest of their math careers... algebra and finding perimeter and area when you dont know everything but one side. tuesday after teaching in the morning i went out to the orphanage, which was awesome. it has been way to long since ive been there!! i helped feed the babies lunch then got to feed jackson his bottle. I didnt even recognize him! he is the baby that had two ivs in his arm, the one we werent sure was going ot make it while we were on safari.... now he his big cheeks, no more discoloured spots on his head and he smiles and laughs and interacts. He is amazing! it was so great to see him now and how far he has come in 3 weeks.... stacey and sharon failed to give me a report on his amazing recovery. it is hopeful for the rest of the babies, knowing that they can recover from the point which jackson was at. After feeding Jackson, i went to find my baby who had been put to bed. so, i got him up so i could hold him. obsessed. really. he is the cutest thing ever. dont worry, i got the best picture of him.... you will all fall in love i promise! also our host sister, esther, has come home from univeristy, she is all graduated and looking for a job with her new degree. she is 23 and im really looking forward to havin gher home and getting to know her!
Tuesday night we cooked dinner, pasta, tomato sauce, and garlic bread for our family. it was cool to be able to cook for them. half way through the power went out, cooking in a tiny kitchen on a kerosene can stove top in the dark is pretty funny. we desperately overcooked the pasta, but it was still good. salome was so excited to have a night off of cooking... stacey and i are talking about making them hamburgers in a few weeks, which should be fun...
Wednesday was good, full of lots of teaching and hanging out with my kids. they are too fun. i love that they are serious and behave in class, but then will joke around with me between classes and at lunch. Wednesday night was agape's birthday. our youngest host sibling turned 11. we got agape a cake as our present. We had three neighbors come over for dinner, three little girls. after dinner we got out the cake and we learned the tanzania tradition. first they start with a prayer he birthday girl, all about another year for their life. then the birthday girl or boy feeds a bit of the cake to each person in the family, starting with baba then mama then the oldest down. what a cool tradition. Then we enjoyed more cake and taking crazy silly pictures with the family. what a great night, really it was one of my favorite.
Today i had a great great day at school with my students. we are still working hard on perimeter before we move on to area. During break i got to take pictures of them jumping rope -lyn they are no where near as good as you! but they make me look pretty sweet! I got some great pictures. also during lunch two of my girls refused to go sit with their friends because they didnt want to leave me sitting alone. i tried to convince them it was okay but they were having none of it. so cute. we talked about american food and they were shocked that we ate mushrooms... i had told them on pizza. pretty fun. then we spent the rest of lunch with them reading me the little red hen story from our textbooks. yes we do actually have text books- with stories. After lunch we had an extra long english period because the art teacher wasnt there, i wasnt prepared for the extra time so we read more stories and then i taught them to hokie pokie and im a little tea pot. they are older, but they love it. haha. we even did hokie pokie with put your eyes in... watching them shake their eyes all about was pretty funny.
now, im in town getting some things done for zanzibar. our bus leaves at 6am tomrorow morning and we will be there until the 12th, when we take the bus home. awesome. i am still debating about the diving course, will keep you in suspense til i get back... but am excited about seein gsome where else and getting out and traveling again. and i bought a sweet kanga... a piece of fabric you wear as a wrap skirt that has a message across the bottom, like a t-shirt. mine says dont worry about me, worry about yourself. or something along those lines. sweet.
alright, time is getting low.
know that i really couldnt be happier, that i hate that i only have four more weeks and every day ask where the hell the past 5 have gone. next time... make me take longer trips!! (and come with me! DUH!)
nakupenda sana
Tuesday night we cooked dinner, pasta, tomato sauce, and garlic bread for our family. it was cool to be able to cook for them. half way through the power went out, cooking in a tiny kitchen on a kerosene can stove top in the dark is pretty funny. we desperately overcooked the pasta, but it was still good. salome was so excited to have a night off of cooking... stacey and i are talking about making them hamburgers in a few weeks, which should be fun...
Wednesday was good, full of lots of teaching and hanging out with my kids. they are too fun. i love that they are serious and behave in class, but then will joke around with me between classes and at lunch. Wednesday night was agape's birthday. our youngest host sibling turned 11. we got agape a cake as our present. We had three neighbors come over for dinner, three little girls. after dinner we got out the cake and we learned the tanzania tradition. first they start with a prayer he birthday girl, all about another year for their life. then the birthday girl or boy feeds a bit of the cake to each person in the family, starting with baba then mama then the oldest down. what a cool tradition. Then we enjoyed more cake and taking crazy silly pictures with the family. what a great night, really it was one of my favorite.
Today i had a great great day at school with my students. we are still working hard on perimeter before we move on to area. During break i got to take pictures of them jumping rope -lyn they are no where near as good as you! but they make me look pretty sweet! I got some great pictures. also during lunch two of my girls refused to go sit with their friends because they didnt want to leave me sitting alone. i tried to convince them it was okay but they were having none of it. so cute. we talked about american food and they were shocked that we ate mushrooms... i had told them on pizza. pretty fun. then we spent the rest of lunch with them reading me the little red hen story from our textbooks. yes we do actually have text books- with stories. After lunch we had an extra long english period because the art teacher wasnt there, i wasnt prepared for the extra time so we read more stories and then i taught them to hokie pokie and im a little tea pot. they are older, but they love it. haha. we even did hokie pokie with put your eyes in... watching them shake their eyes all about was pretty funny.
now, im in town getting some things done for zanzibar. our bus leaves at 6am tomrorow morning and we will be there until the 12th, when we take the bus home. awesome. i am still debating about the diving course, will keep you in suspense til i get back... but am excited about seein gsome where else and getting out and traveling again. and i bought a sweet kanga... a piece of fabric you wear as a wrap skirt that has a message across the bottom, like a t-shirt. mine says dont worry about me, worry about yourself. or something along those lines. sweet.
alright, time is getting low.
know that i really couldnt be happier, that i hate that i only have four more weeks and every day ask where the hell the past 5 have gone. next time... make me take longer trips!! (and come with me! DUH!)
nakupenda sana
Monday, June 30, 2008
home. but not for long : )
Karibu numbani, to myself. (welcome home)
I am back from a sweet weekend away. I was down in Katesh (in case you havent been reading avidly...) visiting emma for the weekend. It was so so nice to be away for the weekend and to see a different place and way of life. Emma met me here in town on Thursday and we spent the night here in Arusha with another peace corp volunteer. It was cool to see another part of Arusha that i would never venture on my own. We went to a sweet little road side place and had grilled chicken and chips for dinner- it was amazing to have chicken that consists of more than feet, legs, and wings. Its good to know chicken here actually have breast meat too! Friday morning Emma and i got up early, took a dala dala to the bus stand and got on our bus to Katesh. The ride was great- only the first hour and a half or so were on paved roads. The scenery was great and just knowing i was going away for a bit was great.
We got off the bus about 6 hours later in hot, sunny Katesh- a big contrast to the way Usa has been. We walked to Emma's supercute house, where another volunteer was hanging out. We went for rice and beans and to get a few things at the pick and pay. Then we headed down to the huge market that takes place 3 times a month. It was massiveeeeeeeeeee. And vey overwhelming. I let emma and jimmy do all my bargaining and got some sweet fabrics so i can finally get my clothes made! awesome! We got back home after some pictures and started cooking dinner- pasta and tomato sauce. I watched emma light the jiko- a charcoal stove thing, and start to cook. I was amazed at how long it takes to cook... and it was awesome to have the experience to cook for myself, and on a jiko at that. After dinner I boiled some water and got to take a HOT!!! bucket shower! it was freaking amazing! I had forgotten how good hot water can feel. I brushed my hair with a fork (emma has no brush- nor hair really)
Then we hung out a bit and went to bed.
The next morning we got up and were lazy in our pj's. But not really lazy, I washed the dishes from the night before, another cool experience my host fam wont let me do..., and then did some laundry- my jeans were, kinda still are, nasty. Then another volunteer came in and we ran some errands to get some things printed for him and then just hung out. Two of Emma's friends came by and i realize just how little swahili i do know. haha. i knew maybe every 10th word. But i did learn some sweet ones: shagalabagala means messy, chaos, etc. And kwa sababu means because. both have a sweet ring to them. i also learned how to say cheers- which is one of my fav words to learn in other languages! its kilala heri in kiswahili. ANYWAY. After phil left we hiked up to the top of this ridge to see the sunset, it was so pretty.
I fell hiking down, so im gonna have some sweet tanzania scars maybe.... we hung out then made dinner... pizzas!
they were amazing. who knew you could make all that on the charcoal jiko? I wouldnt even make it at home! (maybe now i will)
Sunday we woke up and did more dishes and laundry. Then we were lazy and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Two hours later we had them- and they were good. two hours to make cinammon rolls... and we made the dough the night before! so insane. but so worth it. Emma has mastered cooking on a jiko thats for sure. Sunday we piddled around town, i got some more fabric for some sweet pants emma is gonna have made for me- they are like nothing you have ever seen before- they go on kinda like a diaper! haha. you just wait.... then we met her boss for a soda and what turned into lunch. Beef and ugali. I only ate the beef and some of that i had to slyly spit into my hand and drop under the table because i literally couldnt chew it. Sunday night I cooked dinner by myself, complete with lighting to jiko- oh ya, i am tanzanian now... (NOT). we made mash, tomato slices, and cheese and crackers- so really all i made was mash. But thats ok. I also took another hot shower. lovely.
I got up early this morning and got the 6am bus from Katesh. I arrived back in Arusha at 2.15 or so, got a bit confused around the bus park, but made it back here to post this for all you to read. I will head back to Usa in a bit, teach for three days, and then head to Zanzibar on Friday for the week! woooooooooo! i am so ready for some sun and another cool place. So i might not post again until then.... maybe take a break from the sunny beaches and my diving course to give you an update. you all should know my birthday is soon soon soon! And im going to visit the orphanage tomorrow, finally! gotta check on my baby!
HOPE all is well, things here are brilliant as always!
why am i only staying 2 months? really...............
xoxo
nakupenda
Thursday, June 26, 2008
exams. guests. OUT OF TOWN! WOOO
Back in town again, meeting emma to head to her town, Katesh, tomorrow morning. Wednesday afternoon, we went and had lunch at a pretty touristy place called Via Via, but it has a cool ambience because it does pinpoint tourists. Its series of straw huts, linked by fabric. pretty sweet. We went back to court and this time were in a trial for a minister of the government who was on trial for encouraging and rallying groups to attack. The witness we saw get cross examined was testifying that the defendant had been instrumental in holding meetings, but the defense was showing basically that the witness was never at a meeting that the defendant held. We had to leave for a while, because the questions might have identified the witness and his identity was to be witheld from the public. In the morning we had seen the witness, a fat american man. so that was kinda neat. It was crazy to sit and hear someone flat out say that a group of them surrounded a certain hill where the tutsi lived and moved in giving them no where to go, and killed them all. WOAH. And this time we figured out which one was the defendant, so that was interesting to be able to see him. So, overall, really cool. I hope to go back again. Im kinda bummed i didnt get to see more of the prime minister killer's trial. If you have no idea what im talking about and why this is so cool to be here for, please go pop hotel rwanda in the dvd player and clue yourself in...
Yesterday our students had exams all day. I had to sit and watch them, four exams back to back. we spread their desks all across the school yard so they couldnt cheat, since our classroom is pretty freaking tiny. They took the english exam i had written, and did pretty well. I think the lowest grade was a 77% and the highest a 98%. I was pretty excited. I caught two of my students trying to cheat by throwing stones. pretty humourous actually! Yesterday right around lunch time, we were told visitors would be coming to the school. I thought that maybe one or two would come, but instead a group of like 30 people from california showed up! I was in the classroom with the students, and the other teachers were being introduced to the group of visitors. eventually, i walked out of my classroom and the shock on their faces to see me there was pretty funny. I dont think they expected another white teacher. haha. it was great. So they asked me all kinds of crazy questions, about my class and my teaching- about what to do when there is no toilet paper... i held out my left hand... and one of the 17 year olds frantically told me she was so so glad to see me and had to ask what you do with tampons here since you dont flush them. pretty funny. I got my class to sing for them, and even got them to do the two songs I have taught them- both illahee songs! Oh camp would be so proud... kids in tanzania are singing the beaver song and magdalena hagdalena.... haha. The group invited me to come back to have lunch with their group, and lindsay and i did, which was nice. It was interesting to walk with a huge group of wzungu (foreigners) and have people stop and stare. I would speak to people and they would look shocked at my swahili, assuming i was just one of the tourists. It was a cool feeling, really, to be the one who knew where i was going and knew how to answer people's questions when they addressed us in swahili. After we came back to the school the group played football with the students who were still around with 3 new balls they brought. Another half of the group painted one of the classrooms, so that was cool.
Today my students took their math exam, which was no where near as pretty as teh english one. The scores were in the 40% range then a huge jump to 77% and up to 94%. I was kinda bummed but there are two good things i can say... 1. the grades on the arts and crafts exams were ALL in the 40%. 2. more of my students were in the 77-94 group than the 40's group.... 8 pass, 4 fail.... could have been worse....
now I am here, hanging out, til i meet up with emma. Apparently we are going to dinner and to hear live music tonight, so that will be good, then headed out in the morning down to katesh. pretty sweet. im just excited for a break- not from the work but from the volunteer base here in Arusha/Usa. plus, i come back and have 3 days til i leave for zanzibar... wooooooooo.
hope all is well. check out new pictures on facebook (complete with my ring worm pictures!):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143646&l=03da9&id=29701857
xoxo
Yesterday our students had exams all day. I had to sit and watch them, four exams back to back. we spread their desks all across the school yard so they couldnt cheat, since our classroom is pretty freaking tiny. They took the english exam i had written, and did pretty well. I think the lowest grade was a 77% and the highest a 98%. I was pretty excited. I caught two of my students trying to cheat by throwing stones. pretty humourous actually! Yesterday right around lunch time, we were told visitors would be coming to the school. I thought that maybe one or two would come, but instead a group of like 30 people from california showed up! I was in the classroom with the students, and the other teachers were being introduced to the group of visitors. eventually, i walked out of my classroom and the shock on their faces to see me there was pretty funny. I dont think they expected another white teacher. haha. it was great. So they asked me all kinds of crazy questions, about my class and my teaching- about what to do when there is no toilet paper... i held out my left hand... and one of the 17 year olds frantically told me she was so so glad to see me and had to ask what you do with tampons here since you dont flush them. pretty funny. I got my class to sing for them, and even got them to do the two songs I have taught them- both illahee songs! Oh camp would be so proud... kids in tanzania are singing the beaver song and magdalena hagdalena.... haha. The group invited me to come back to have lunch with their group, and lindsay and i did, which was nice. It was interesting to walk with a huge group of wzungu (foreigners) and have people stop and stare. I would speak to people and they would look shocked at my swahili, assuming i was just one of the tourists. It was a cool feeling, really, to be the one who knew where i was going and knew how to answer people's questions when they addressed us in swahili. After we came back to the school the group played football with the students who were still around with 3 new balls they brought. Another half of the group painted one of the classrooms, so that was cool.
Today my students took their math exam, which was no where near as pretty as teh english one. The scores were in the 40% range then a huge jump to 77% and up to 94%. I was kinda bummed but there are two good things i can say... 1. the grades on the arts and crafts exams were ALL in the 40%. 2. more of my students were in the 77-94 group than the 40's group.... 8 pass, 4 fail.... could have been worse....
now I am here, hanging out, til i meet up with emma. Apparently we are going to dinner and to hear live music tonight, so that will be good, then headed out in the morning down to katesh. pretty sweet. im just excited for a break- not from the work but from the volunteer base here in Arusha/Usa. plus, i come back and have 3 days til i leave for zanzibar... wooooooooo.
hope all is well. check out new pictures on facebook (complete with my ring worm pictures!):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143646&l=03da9&id=29701857
xoxo
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Judges. Mud. motormouth!
hello! i hope everyone saw the pictures, i will try to do more on Thursday maybe. it just takes so long.... and my patience is limited!
I am back in Arusha town today, after teaching 3 periods, to watch the Rwanda trials. We stopped in when we got to town and watched for about a half hour, when of course, they called lunch break. bummer. but we are here, will get lunch, then head back. The guy on trial today is being charged with killing the prime minister of Rwanda, back in 1994. AMAZING! we get to see the big wigs go down... or at least part of their trial! It took a while to figure out which side was defense and which was the prosecution but all my days of watching law and order (!!) are so paying off. haha. We watched the testimony of an American crime expert- we thought that was a pretty interesting expertise... but we came in to the cross examination of the witness by the defense. It is interesting how many Americans are involved, one of the judges and maybe 4 of the lawyers. It took a while to figure out what was going on.... but basically for what i gathered, the prime minister was killed by a hand grenade. The defense was trying to show that the expert crime guy witness was not 100% sure in ruling out a grenade launcher... meaning the defendent would be innocent because he was found in the room. OR something along those lines. I think once we go back and see more i will get a much better idea of what really is going on, details wise with the crime. BUT, regardless, even with limited understanding, it is cool! One of the first questions asked to the witness was 'where were you from june-august 1994' which is when the genocide took place. the second was 'have you ever testified in a genocide trial?' OH MAN, so cool.
So now that ive gotten my super exciting and most recent news out of the way, lets tell some stories from the last couple days.
My students have exams tomorrow, so we have been working hard to prepare for them. I am nervous for them. i really want them to do well, and i feel like i have prepared them, but i just dont know. granted ive only been teaching a week- but i did write the exam. we shall see. keep your fingers crossed. On thursday I will come in to arusha to meet Emma, and we will go on Friday to katesh the town she lives in with the missionaries! I am excited to have a ride and not have to jump right on a bus.... and just to get away for a weekend will be really nice... i cant wait. My students will still be taking exams on Friday, and just grading so i wont miss really anything as long as i get my English and maths exams graded before i go.
My dream came true. The fact that I am white made a baby cry! I have always heard and seen (like in invisible children) of small kids that have never seen white people and they are terrified, and they freak out. On a walk home one day, we passed a little girl with her mom, and she saw us and started screaming and kicking! as we got closer, her face froze and she starred at us as we passed. then promptly began screaming and looking after us! her mom laughed as we walked by and said she doesn't know white people. I was in heaven! what a cool experience to be some where that a little kid has never seen white people! i loved it. it seriously made my week. How i haven't told you before now is beyond me, since it happened last week some time.
it is rainy. it is MUDDY. and the mud here sticks to your shoes til you have an added inch and 3 pounds on each foot. you scrape it off on a rock, and repeat the process until you get where you are going. I need to do laundry too, my jean legs literally stay in place like they still have a leg in them when i take them off. It is colder than i thought and so my jeans have been my daily attire. thank god i did actually bring them, i wasn't going to!
I thought i had more stories. opps. we learned a sweet card game, called big bertha. think phase ten, but with wild cards. and i attempted to teach agape, our host sister age 10, to play spades... even though i knew it was too complicated.
AH remember a story. We have the most adorable little neighbor kid named ellie, but a boy. He is five and comes over randomly and just walks in the house. His mother died and his father is struggling to take care of him so our family does some times. The other morning the family was all at church, we stayed home to see a volunteer off to the airport. Ellie came into the living room where we were sitting and started playing cards... the funny part of the story is he is so young that he doesnt have the slightest clue that we dont speak swahili. at all. he will look you straight in the face and say a huge long sentence over and over and even though you respond in english, over and over, he still continues to talk to you- nonstop. I love it! i think it is sooo sooo funny. Luckily we got into the game of counting the cards. i do know how to count-- all the way to 1,000! in swahili, and i know the word card and game and play. so we managed to play the game (cheza) for a good while. Finally we had to leave and so i managed to somehow say time to go home. And he looked sad, but he left. Truly i didnt know if what i said was right. but it worked haha. They girls were so annoyed with him when he came back that afternoon. Again, deep breaths libby- we all have different ways to dealing with things... and different tolerance levels. breath out.
so there we go, my time i almost up and i have some other things to do.... like respond to facebook posts that make my day... because they do occasionally... and keep me from breaking slow computer screens out of frustration when it takes 20 minutes to open one page.
hope all is well. i am happy... healthy (minus the fungus- which i think is pretty cool)... and love it here.
nakupenda. (if you dont know, its not for you- cept maybe you M&D) (gram... you know!)
I am back in Arusha town today, after teaching 3 periods, to watch the Rwanda trials. We stopped in when we got to town and watched for about a half hour, when of course, they called lunch break. bummer. but we are here, will get lunch, then head back. The guy on trial today is being charged with killing the prime minister of Rwanda, back in 1994. AMAZING! we get to see the big wigs go down... or at least part of their trial! It took a while to figure out which side was defense and which was the prosecution but all my days of watching law and order (!!) are so paying off. haha. We watched the testimony of an American crime expert- we thought that was a pretty interesting expertise... but we came in to the cross examination of the witness by the defense. It is interesting how many Americans are involved, one of the judges and maybe 4 of the lawyers. It took a while to figure out what was going on.... but basically for what i gathered, the prime minister was killed by a hand grenade. The defense was trying to show that the expert crime guy witness was not 100% sure in ruling out a grenade launcher... meaning the defendent would be innocent because he was found in the room. OR something along those lines. I think once we go back and see more i will get a much better idea of what really is going on, details wise with the crime. BUT, regardless, even with limited understanding, it is cool! One of the first questions asked to the witness was 'where were you from june-august 1994' which is when the genocide took place. the second was 'have you ever testified in a genocide trial?' OH MAN, so cool.
So now that ive gotten my super exciting and most recent news out of the way, lets tell some stories from the last couple days.
My students have exams tomorrow, so we have been working hard to prepare for them. I am nervous for them. i really want them to do well, and i feel like i have prepared them, but i just dont know. granted ive only been teaching a week- but i did write the exam. we shall see. keep your fingers crossed. On thursday I will come in to arusha to meet Emma, and we will go on Friday to katesh the town she lives in with the missionaries! I am excited to have a ride and not have to jump right on a bus.... and just to get away for a weekend will be really nice... i cant wait. My students will still be taking exams on Friday, and just grading so i wont miss really anything as long as i get my English and maths exams graded before i go.
My dream came true. The fact that I am white made a baby cry! I have always heard and seen (like in invisible children) of small kids that have never seen white people and they are terrified, and they freak out. On a walk home one day, we passed a little girl with her mom, and she saw us and started screaming and kicking! as we got closer, her face froze and she starred at us as we passed. then promptly began screaming and looking after us! her mom laughed as we walked by and said she doesn't know white people. I was in heaven! what a cool experience to be some where that a little kid has never seen white people! i loved it. it seriously made my week. How i haven't told you before now is beyond me, since it happened last week some time.
it is rainy. it is MUDDY. and the mud here sticks to your shoes til you have an added inch and 3 pounds on each foot. you scrape it off on a rock, and repeat the process until you get where you are going. I need to do laundry too, my jean legs literally stay in place like they still have a leg in them when i take them off. It is colder than i thought and so my jeans have been my daily attire. thank god i did actually bring them, i wasn't going to!
I thought i had more stories. opps. we learned a sweet card game, called big bertha. think phase ten, but with wild cards. and i attempted to teach agape, our host sister age 10, to play spades... even though i knew it was too complicated.
AH remember a story. We have the most adorable little neighbor kid named ellie, but a boy. He is five and comes over randomly and just walks in the house. His mother died and his father is struggling to take care of him so our family does some times. The other morning the family was all at church, we stayed home to see a volunteer off to the airport. Ellie came into the living room where we were sitting and started playing cards... the funny part of the story is he is so young that he doesnt have the slightest clue that we dont speak swahili. at all. he will look you straight in the face and say a huge long sentence over and over and even though you respond in english, over and over, he still continues to talk to you- nonstop. I love it! i think it is sooo sooo funny. Luckily we got into the game of counting the cards. i do know how to count-- all the way to 1,000! in swahili, and i know the word card and game and play. so we managed to play the game (cheza) for a good while. Finally we had to leave and so i managed to somehow say time to go home. And he looked sad, but he left. Truly i didnt know if what i said was right. but it worked haha. They girls were so annoyed with him when he came back that afternoon. Again, deep breaths libby- we all have different ways to dealing with things... and different tolerance levels. breath out.
so there we go, my time i almost up and i have some other things to do.... like respond to facebook posts that make my day... because they do occasionally... and keep me from breaking slow computer screens out of frustration when it takes 20 minutes to open one page.
hope all is well. i am happy... healthy (minus the fungus- which i think is pretty cool)... and love it here.
nakupenda. (if you dont know, its not for you- cept maybe you M&D) (gram... you know!)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
pictures. i hope.
I am going to post some pictures, i dont know how long it will take, so i dont know how many i will get up. I am starting with the house though so you can at least see where i live.cross your fingers for speedy uploading... the people around me probably hate me. haha.
ok so it doesnt look like it is going to work, the internet is wayyyyyyyyyy to slow to upload. im going to try facebook to see if it will upload and will post the link if i can....
Anyway, School yesterday was really good, we taught 5 periods then tuition, which is after school help. I really really like teaching, which i didnt know that i would. I gave the class a quiz yesterday on the speed and distance formulas, mixing the questions so they had to actually figure out which formula to use. A lot of them got 100%! maybe the cheated... but i watched pretty closely, so that was awesome. Maybe they are actually learning it, i hope because their exam is next wednesday.
I am going to see Emma next weekend, which is exciting. Just to get away for a few days and see another part of TZ. And there is a chance that i will get a ride there with the missionaries that live in her town, so cross your fingers for that, bc that would be awesome and mean that i only have to miss one day of class, the monday, where i only teach 1 period anyway. cross, cross, cross. Things for zanzibar are coming together, and im thinking i am going to do my open water diving course here! how awesome would that be? its like $350 so im really going to have to look at the money, but i think what a cool place to do it, rather than the YMCA and do my dives in a pool and then have to pay for another trip to like florida to get my other dives in. so. maybe. sweetness.
Next week we are planning to go to see the Rwanda trials. I think i already mentioned that we might, i am so excited. word on the street is they are trying the big guys now... awesome.... what a cool thing to be able to see.... you will get a full report afterwards.
oh. we got a few pictures to go- ill pick my favorites, maybe not the ones you want to see... like my bed but at least i can show you the ones i like the best...
My house, and our family van for going to church on Sundays. Yes, that is the only day they drive it.
Remember I told you there was a baby I would bring home?? This is him, although sideways, Lawrence.... my favorite baby. He is so adorable and happy and always would smile when I would walk up to him or pick him up. This week I will go back to visit him. too cute!
These are some of my students at lunch. Most of the girls actually. We eat beans and HUGE mutant corn mix every day. The days we have rice and beans are my favorite.
Kangas, big rectangles of fabric that are worn as skirts, to hold babies, etc. hanging on a line.
I think among my favorite 'artisit' pictures I have taken...
sweetness in Lake Manyara National Park! check out the mountains in the background too... wooo
here are more on a facebook album, they uploaded faster...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143646&l=03da9&id=29701857
Thursday, June 19, 2008
my school website!
dont know how i forgot to put this in....
www.upendoschool.com is my schools website! i have not spent extensive time on it, but i know that it is my school. so you can see a bit of something. and there are photos, anne i know you will love that.
www.upendoschool.com is my schools website! i have not spent extensive time on it, but i know that it is my school. so you can see a bit of something. and there are photos, anne i know you will love that.
hiya friends.
My internet is excruciatingly slow, esp. for Arusha town, but that is ok. I came in to print my english and math exams which my students will be taking next wednesday. I wrote them today during my 4 hour break between classes and used another volunteers laptop to type them. it was pretty fun to write out exams. i am really enjoying teaching, even though i had to yell today because on of my students didnt do his homework for the second day in a row. grrrr.
The week has been really good, getting in the swing of teaching, which i have pretty much taken over by myself. lyndsay comes and so does the guy whose class i am taking over, but i have pretty much taught everything and they have checked the homework while i teach. i have a fair amount of classes but will end early on monday, tuesday, and have a huge break on wednesdays. I will get a lot of reading done, or just all my lesson plans done for the week. I have been taking little notes, not quite journaling during the days when i think to, and will share some with you from yesterday:
I am sitting in the school yard, watching the 3 oldest grades, 2, 3, and 4, have PE class. They are all dressed out in their pe clothes, a sweet yellow shirt that says Upendo pre and primary school PE. (i want one!). The are in neat lines, doing stretches and minor things like crunches and squats. The teacher teaches with a stick in her hand. I watch as the kids sit down, legs stretched, and struggle to touch their foreheads to their knees as they are told. The teacher walks around pushing their heads down until they touch, and popping them with her stick on the wrist if they can't do it. I have never seen a kid be hit at school like this. We have had lots of conversation about it, lyndsay has said she will leave the school if she sees it. I am pretty torn about it. I know that i will never ever hit my students, nor will i tell the headmaster who did not do their homework, knowing that he will only hit them. But as i sit here, i wonder if i will ever say anything to the other teachers about how i feel about it, or even bring it up in general at all. Sitting here watching it happen, i wonder, do i condone it? or am i merely being cultural respectful as i think i am. or am i hiding behind the excuse of being culturally sensitive because i just fear saying something. hmm. a kid gets sick and comes to the side. he is taken hold of by the head master and two teachers. he can barely stand on his own. he is not throwing up, but spitting thick gloppy spit every minute. The headmaster massages quite forcefully his stomach, tumbo in swahili- a word i know..., maybe making him be sick.... i wonder if he is dehydrated, but decide not to say anything. it is finally a dry and hot day in Usa River. They take him in the school jeep, maybe home, maybe to a doctor.
My journalnoting was interrupted by the head teacher asking me to write the exams for next week, which i did today. He talked me through what sound be on them and the format to put them in. I hope i didnt make them too hard. I dont want them to struggle but also dont want them to not be prepared for the national exam later this summer.
I have a pretty sweet bite on my arm, im thinking spider. it gets bigger every day and looks pretty nasty. its a perfect circle, and i am hoping it doesnt get to the point that i have to get it drained like my past spider bites..... a trip to the doctor for something so trivial (or maybe not) is not what I want. My skin has hated me, honestly, here. all the deet and sunscreen- not that its been sunny- and the lack of showering.... hey TIA (this is africa) we dont have to shower so regularly. plus the bug bites and new laundry soap. The girl at the computer next to me has a full ring, not a circle and said hers is a fungus. she said she just went to the pharmacy and got some cream and its gotten better. she looked at mine- said that is how hers started haha. awesome! so maybe i have fungus growing on my arm....
Alright i dont think i have more to say.... we are working still on zanzibar and i am talking with emma about a trip down, trying to work that out without missing too much teaching- i feel bad leaving them hanging, though they have managed before.... so we shall see. all in all, things are really good. i really like it here, my swahili- at least my greeting is getting better, and life is good.
take care of you
My internet is excruciatingly slow, esp. for Arusha town, but that is ok. I came in to print my english and math exams which my students will be taking next wednesday. I wrote them today during my 4 hour break between classes and used another volunteers laptop to type them. it was pretty fun to write out exams. i am really enjoying teaching, even though i had to yell today because on of my students didnt do his homework for the second day in a row. grrrr.
The week has been really good, getting in the swing of teaching, which i have pretty much taken over by myself. lyndsay comes and so does the guy whose class i am taking over, but i have pretty much taught everything and they have checked the homework while i teach. i have a fair amount of classes but will end early on monday, tuesday, and have a huge break on wednesdays. I will get a lot of reading done, or just all my lesson plans done for the week. I have been taking little notes, not quite journaling during the days when i think to, and will share some with you from yesterday:
I am sitting in the school yard, watching the 3 oldest grades, 2, 3, and 4, have PE class. They are all dressed out in their pe clothes, a sweet yellow shirt that says Upendo pre and primary school PE. (i want one!). The are in neat lines, doing stretches and minor things like crunches and squats. The teacher teaches with a stick in her hand. I watch as the kids sit down, legs stretched, and struggle to touch their foreheads to their knees as they are told. The teacher walks around pushing their heads down until they touch, and popping them with her stick on the wrist if they can't do it. I have never seen a kid be hit at school like this. We have had lots of conversation about it, lyndsay has said she will leave the school if she sees it. I am pretty torn about it. I know that i will never ever hit my students, nor will i tell the headmaster who did not do their homework, knowing that he will only hit them. But as i sit here, i wonder if i will ever say anything to the other teachers about how i feel about it, or even bring it up in general at all. Sitting here watching it happen, i wonder, do i condone it? or am i merely being cultural respectful as i think i am. or am i hiding behind the excuse of being culturally sensitive because i just fear saying something. hmm. a kid gets sick and comes to the side. he is taken hold of by the head master and two teachers. he can barely stand on his own. he is not throwing up, but spitting thick gloppy spit every minute. The headmaster massages quite forcefully his stomach, tumbo in swahili- a word i know..., maybe making him be sick.... i wonder if he is dehydrated, but decide not to say anything. it is finally a dry and hot day in Usa River. They take him in the school jeep, maybe home, maybe to a doctor.
My journalnoting was interrupted by the head teacher asking me to write the exams for next week, which i did today. He talked me through what sound be on them and the format to put them in. I hope i didnt make them too hard. I dont want them to struggle but also dont want them to not be prepared for the national exam later this summer.
I have a pretty sweet bite on my arm, im thinking spider. it gets bigger every day and looks pretty nasty. its a perfect circle, and i am hoping it doesnt get to the point that i have to get it drained like my past spider bites..... a trip to the doctor for something so trivial (or maybe not) is not what I want. My skin has hated me, honestly, here. all the deet and sunscreen- not that its been sunny- and the lack of showering.... hey TIA (this is africa) we dont have to shower so regularly. plus the bug bites and new laundry soap. The girl at the computer next to me has a full ring, not a circle and said hers is a fungus. she said she just went to the pharmacy and got some cream and its gotten better. she looked at mine- said that is how hers started haha. awesome! so maybe i have fungus growing on my arm....
Alright i dont think i have more to say.... we are working still on zanzibar and i am talking with emma about a trip down, trying to work that out without missing too much teaching- i feel bad leaving them hanging, though they have managed before.... so we shall see. all in all, things are really good. i really like it here, my swahili- at least my greeting is getting better, and life is good.
take care of you
Monday, June 16, 2008
comment. question. answer.
Just read my comments for a while ago. Anne wants more details on the family, which is good- ask what you want to know for i forget what I have told.
We live with the beste family, pronounced like meg and claire - for my family who knows them. We have a mama and a baba, both workin Arusha town. Mama is a librarian at a chuo (college) and baba is in tourism. Barnabus is the 19 year old brother who has finished form 6, or high school, and is looking for scholarships to go to school in tanzania or preferrably abroad, though i think he needs to resit his exams or something along those lines. There is another brother, age 14 or so whose name none of us have managed to catch. He is in school most days and is SUPER quiet, though I am working on getting him to talk. Agape is 10, in 5th grade, and is shy, but helpful. She actually just got named 1st in her class! which is still kinda crazy that they announce a head pupil in each grade. She got a special trip into town with mama on saturday for a meal and her hair done to celebrate. Salome is our house girl. We just learned her story on Friday, she is 13, though she looks 20 and can ring some clothes! The older sister, who is 26, of the beste family brought her home to them after their last house girl saved enough to start school. Salome has never been to school and after the death of her father, her mother sent her with our host sister to be a house girl and earn some money. She does all the cooking and cleaning and the families washing. She is amazing. She loves to laugh at our stories after dinner, espescially when we explained what a taco is at home.... taco here is butt cheek, mtaco being your whole bum. We live in a nice house, with a small room with a bed and bunkbeds. I am on the bottom bunk, which holds my mosquito net nicely. We have a squatting toilet, a porcelain hole, i think i have told you about. I have found that the bucket works best for showers- which excites me!
So that is my family, and my home. I guess I forget the day in day out small details.
more questions, post comments!
We live with the beste family, pronounced like meg and claire - for my family who knows them. We have a mama and a baba, both workin Arusha town. Mama is a librarian at a chuo (college) and baba is in tourism. Barnabus is the 19 year old brother who has finished form 6, or high school, and is looking for scholarships to go to school in tanzania or preferrably abroad, though i think he needs to resit his exams or something along those lines. There is another brother, age 14 or so whose name none of us have managed to catch. He is in school most days and is SUPER quiet, though I am working on getting him to talk. Agape is 10, in 5th grade, and is shy, but helpful. She actually just got named 1st in her class! which is still kinda crazy that they announce a head pupil in each grade. She got a special trip into town with mama on saturday for a meal and her hair done to celebrate. Salome is our house girl. We just learned her story on Friday, she is 13, though she looks 20 and can ring some clothes! The older sister, who is 26, of the beste family brought her home to them after their last house girl saved enough to start school. Salome has never been to school and after the death of her father, her mother sent her with our host sister to be a house girl and earn some money. She does all the cooking and cleaning and the families washing. She is amazing. She loves to laugh at our stories after dinner, espescially when we explained what a taco is at home.... taco here is butt cheek, mtaco being your whole bum. We live in a nice house, with a small room with a bed and bunkbeds. I am on the bottom bunk, which holds my mosquito net nicely. We have a squatting toilet, a porcelain hole, i think i have told you about. I have found that the bucket works best for showers- which excites me!
So that is my family, and my home. I guess I forget the day in day out small details.
more questions, post comments!
malimu (teacher). rains. plans
Habari za hapa (whats the news from here....)
Today was my first day of 'teaching'. i say 'teaching' because we didnt really do much. Lindsay and I will be taking over a volunteer friend of ours class at the end of the week, so we are watching him and helping him. It is all very unorganized but we will be teaching maths and english, all of the lessons are up to us. We have some books to help, though it will be interesting. The kids are pretty cool, we have 13 in our class. Lindsay is only here for two more weeks and afterwards I will be teaching alone, which is cool. I think I will be doing a lot of multipication and division and reading with vocab. I did however start on a high note, teaching them the 3 is the magic number song from school house rocks today! They liked it. I think if I can remember the words to other songs like that, it will be pretty helpful for teaching english- our books are pretty lame and have examples but no real explanation. So if you know how to tell the difference between because, as, for, and the word since--- when I would use because in all the examples, I don't really know how to teach the difference.
BUT it will be good. I am excited. We got introduced to each class and they all stand and say in unison 'good morning teacher' and then you say good morning and they say 'we are fine, thank you, how are you.' It was so cute. The 2nd grade teacher asked us to teach on the spot about water. The word colourless was on the board, so we took it and ran with it. I poured my water bottle on my hand and splashed them and they liked it. haha. Then the kindergarteners were learning letters so I asked if they knew their ABCs and they started singing. It was so cute! So, I will be teaching 4th grade, but will stop in I think on the younger grades too... and am hoping to sit in on 1st grade swahili! I figure even that might be above my level but I can learn something! haha.
We have been working on planning a trip to zanzibar. It has been a huge mess and frustration and I am thinking I might not go, at least with Stacey and Sharon. They both want to go straight to a beach town, and do nothing but sit on a beach and party at night. If you know me well, you know I dont sit well long in one place, esp on a beach- with sand- and that I didnt come to africa to party. I want to see Stone town and go on a spice tour and get lost in the cobble stone streets with cool coffee vendors and sidewalk markets. SO because we want different things and are not really on the same page about how to get there, I think they are making it much more complicated because they are trying to squeeze the most time out, even to the hour, I might just not go. I may go later with another volunteer, or not at all- though I feel that is a not so fun. We shall see.
I have been looking on all my walks for a certain picture I had in my head and this morning, I finally saw it and got to photograph it. You might think its pretty dull, but I am amazed by it... a clothes line covered in colourful kangas. The bright patterns of one african fabric after another is just awesome. And it is less invasive then photgraphing a group of women.
Last Friday we came into Arusha to do things, not sure what. I ended up running into a guy whom I'd met a week ago, named Noel- he was born on dec 26. He is in tourism school, taking spanish classes -Maybe I already talked about him? if so, apology. But it was fun to see him again and talk to him. None of the other people selling art prints or sunglasses bothered me. The girls were so frustrated with the selling and hassle but Noel told me that they are rude about it and that they should be nice like me and just try to talk to them. I dont think the girls appreciated this very much. We all have different ways of dealing with people trying to sell us things, I choose to talk to them, they just say no and get annoyed. It is frustrating at times how annoyed and bothered they get. But, I have to remember, we all handle it differently- I am just glad I do the way I do.
The weekend was pretty dull, with cold cold weather and rain. I am going to have to find something to do on weekends to keep me sane. Though I have read a lot. I did walk around a lot in Usa, and really enjoy walking alone. More people talk to you when you are alone and you have the freedom to stop and have a conversation if you wish. I stopped and talked with a lady dewing on her porch and watched her make a skirt. I stopped to talk with a group of kids and got to actually ask their names and where they were in school and which year they were in. Since then everytime I pass they yell 'hey lady- they missed the B part of my name...' and run to greet me, which is awesome.
Sunday we went to church with our host family. I was very excited. The music was good, but not as upbeat as I hoped it would be. And there were no drums. How do you have African church with no drums I ask? Barnabus took notes in english during the sermon, so we could kinda follow what was being said. Basically it was all about loving our neighbor and bringing them to christ and how we have to open our hearts to God and pray to him and share with him. I felt like she said the same thing over and over and I couldnt even understand the swahili. But it was interesting. We 3 had to get up and introduce ourselves to the church, and I said mine in swahili, which i thought was pretty cool. I knew how to say my name is libby, im from america, and Im here teaching, so why not. I am glad I did, they all laughed when I said jambo (hello) though- but I am very used to people laughing when I speak. I dont think it is a laughing at really, but more a oh woah she kinda speaks swahili! (maybe I am fooling myself though, haha, i know the students today full out laughed at me. but its ok i know im a funny person! haha. right. : ) )
alright. I think thats the update. I will be back in town in a few days i think and will let you know how school is going and i think put some pictures on here if i can 1. figure it out and 2. find the patience! We are hoping to come back on afternoon to watch the Rwanda trials that are going on here... yes, think hotel rwanda and the people who were responsible for that on trial. awesome. I mean, to get to watch at least is awesome.
until then, nakupenda (love you)
Today was my first day of 'teaching'. i say 'teaching' because we didnt really do much. Lindsay and I will be taking over a volunteer friend of ours class at the end of the week, so we are watching him and helping him. It is all very unorganized but we will be teaching maths and english, all of the lessons are up to us. We have some books to help, though it will be interesting. The kids are pretty cool, we have 13 in our class. Lindsay is only here for two more weeks and afterwards I will be teaching alone, which is cool. I think I will be doing a lot of multipication and division and reading with vocab. I did however start on a high note, teaching them the 3 is the magic number song from school house rocks today! They liked it. I think if I can remember the words to other songs like that, it will be pretty helpful for teaching english- our books are pretty lame and have examples but no real explanation. So if you know how to tell the difference between because, as, for, and the word since--- when I would use because in all the examples, I don't really know how to teach the difference.
BUT it will be good. I am excited. We got introduced to each class and they all stand and say in unison 'good morning teacher' and then you say good morning and they say 'we are fine, thank you, how are you.' It was so cute. The 2nd grade teacher asked us to teach on the spot about water. The word colourless was on the board, so we took it and ran with it. I poured my water bottle on my hand and splashed them and they liked it. haha. Then the kindergarteners were learning letters so I asked if they knew their ABCs and they started singing. It was so cute! So, I will be teaching 4th grade, but will stop in I think on the younger grades too... and am hoping to sit in on 1st grade swahili! I figure even that might be above my level but I can learn something! haha.
We have been working on planning a trip to zanzibar. It has been a huge mess and frustration and I am thinking I might not go, at least with Stacey and Sharon. They both want to go straight to a beach town, and do nothing but sit on a beach and party at night. If you know me well, you know I dont sit well long in one place, esp on a beach- with sand- and that I didnt come to africa to party. I want to see Stone town and go on a spice tour and get lost in the cobble stone streets with cool coffee vendors and sidewalk markets. SO because we want different things and are not really on the same page about how to get there, I think they are making it much more complicated because they are trying to squeeze the most time out, even to the hour, I might just not go. I may go later with another volunteer, or not at all- though I feel that is a not so fun. We shall see.
I have been looking on all my walks for a certain picture I had in my head and this morning, I finally saw it and got to photograph it. You might think its pretty dull, but I am amazed by it... a clothes line covered in colourful kangas. The bright patterns of one african fabric after another is just awesome. And it is less invasive then photgraphing a group of women.
Last Friday we came into Arusha to do things, not sure what. I ended up running into a guy whom I'd met a week ago, named Noel- he was born on dec 26. He is in tourism school, taking spanish classes -Maybe I already talked about him? if so, apology. But it was fun to see him again and talk to him. None of the other people selling art prints or sunglasses bothered me. The girls were so frustrated with the selling and hassle but Noel told me that they are rude about it and that they should be nice like me and just try to talk to them. I dont think the girls appreciated this very much. We all have different ways of dealing with people trying to sell us things, I choose to talk to them, they just say no and get annoyed. It is frustrating at times how annoyed and bothered they get. But, I have to remember, we all handle it differently- I am just glad I do the way I do.
The weekend was pretty dull, with cold cold weather and rain. I am going to have to find something to do on weekends to keep me sane. Though I have read a lot. I did walk around a lot in Usa, and really enjoy walking alone. More people talk to you when you are alone and you have the freedom to stop and have a conversation if you wish. I stopped and talked with a lady dewing on her porch and watched her make a skirt. I stopped to talk with a group of kids and got to actually ask their names and where they were in school and which year they were in. Since then everytime I pass they yell 'hey lady- they missed the B part of my name...' and run to greet me, which is awesome.
Sunday we went to church with our host family. I was very excited. The music was good, but not as upbeat as I hoped it would be. And there were no drums. How do you have African church with no drums I ask? Barnabus took notes in english during the sermon, so we could kinda follow what was being said. Basically it was all about loving our neighbor and bringing them to christ and how we have to open our hearts to God and pray to him and share with him. I felt like she said the same thing over and over and I couldnt even understand the swahili. But it was interesting. We 3 had to get up and introduce ourselves to the church, and I said mine in swahili, which i thought was pretty cool. I knew how to say my name is libby, im from america, and Im here teaching, so why not. I am glad I did, they all laughed when I said jambo (hello) though- but I am very used to people laughing when I speak. I dont think it is a laughing at really, but more a oh woah she kinda speaks swahili! (maybe I am fooling myself though, haha, i know the students today full out laughed at me. but its ok i know im a funny person! haha. right. : ) )
alright. I think thats the update. I will be back in town in a few days i think and will let you know how school is going and i think put some pictures on here if i can 1. figure it out and 2. find the patience! We are hoping to come back on afternoon to watch the Rwanda trials that are going on here... yes, think hotel rwanda and the people who were responsible for that on trial. awesome. I mean, to get to watch at least is awesome.
until then, nakupenda (love you)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
lions. poop. officer.
Jambo. first, i apologize if i repeat stories, i do not go back and read what i posted the time before. AND i want this to be as honest as i can be, if you havent noticed.... so forgive me if i offend or disgust. the title does say poop though....
we spent the past weekend on safari, hitting up lake manyara, the ngorongoro crater, and the sarangeti. unfortunately i took sick thursday night and had tummy troubs all night. I popped some immodium friday morning, praying i would be okay for the jeep ride, only to develop a fever in the car that wouldnt break with advil and tylenol combined. awesome. luckily my tummy troubs held off in the car and my fever broke for about an hour at the peak of our time in Manyara. To see the animals, even feeling like crap, was amazing. I took lots of pictures but i dont even think it does it justice. we saw baboons all over the road and climbing on cars, elephants, giraffe, lions - and cubs!- warthogs, tonnnns of zebra, impala, one rhino, hyena, wildabeast, and crazy birds. Think the lion king, we saw it. AND in the sarangeti we saw pride rock, which the lion king pride rock is based off of. so cool. we camped the first night outside of the park, where i felt like i was dying. I threw up in the middle of the night and made many a trip to the loo- was glad to see a western style toilet for that experience. the next night we camped in the middle of the sarangeti, with signs everywhere saying dont feed the animals that happen to come on to the site. so neat. the last night we camped on the edge of the ngorongoro crater, it was soooo dang cold but beautiful. you look down on a circle of grasslands that are in a ring of mountains. that night as we cuddled into our sleeping bags- i was wearing two skirts over my jeans, two tshirts, a long sleeve and a fleece, an airplane blanket and then my sleeping bag- the field next to our tents was fulllll of zebra. at least 50. saturday night our driver gave me some crazy tanzania medicine to take bc I still had the runs. Luckily, a brittish pharmacist had joined our safari, so i ran everything i took by him and he helped me manage my meds. Oh to see the places where I had to go poop- if you can even call it poop. many times it was just between two rocks. haha. what an experience. I began to feel better sunday night and actually got to enjoy the good food. over all, it was a freaking amazing experience to see the animals and just the environment. it really felt and still feels surreal when i look at my pictures. wow, i am blessed to have that opportunity!
We arrived back home Monday evening, and it was nice to be home- and warm- again. sadly, i got sick again Monday night... allllllll night. tuesday morning i took my cipro, hoping to finally kill whatever was causing it. I stayed home from the orphanage yesterday and just slept. I felt better, i think cipro is a wonder drug! we found out last night that the boy who got sick with the same thing i had was in hospital last night- bacterial infection. i suppose my body fought it off better, he was throwing up more than i was and his fever didn't break for two days. he is doing well now i think. I am feeling better now, still not 100%. but I am getting there. soon.
Now for the more interesting news. I am officially teaching only now. I will visit the orphanage a few times, for an hour here or there, but I am done there. Yesterday while i was home sick, an immigration officer came to the orphanage. because i wasnt there, i am still a little unclear as to what happened, but apparently they wanted us to show them our passports and since we didnt have them we were suppose to bring them back this morning. apparently they were checking that we had volunteer visas, which we didnt. after forever of heated voices, titus, our volunteer organization director, came to meet us and told us he had talked to the officers and worked out a deal to keep us from being fined 400 and had bribed them into giving us the new visas for $50 instead of $120. the girls were pissed and yelled at Titus about how we shouldnt have to pay. the whole thing was just bad. I had to keep telling them to stop interrupting him because he couldnt even tell us the soultion because they kept asking questions and just saying they wouldnt pay. it was incredibly frustrating. It worked out that we were to meet him today to get our new visas for $50.
one of the girls refused to work within Titus's bribe and wanted to do it herself and contact the embassy. Emma told me that all things in tanzania are bribes and you just go with the corruption. i was set to just pay the 50 and get the visa i need. instead, when we met titus, he told us to leave it for a few days and see what happens. as soon as we had settled that, two other girls working directly through the orphanage came out of the immigration offices with the new visas. because they went, we knew thy would be looking for the 3 americans that they had written down to come through. lindsay and i decided to opt out of the orphanage and teach, meaning we wont need another visa- yet atleast. Stacey and sharon gave titus their passports to get the new visa so they can stay at the orphanage, they dont want to teach. The orphanage has been targeted because they have volunteers directly through the place as well as through organizations. as well, the nannys told the officers we were there before we could tell them we are just passing through between safaris. in the future all should be well. although i was kinda looking forward to having to get another visa- and another stamp! haha. oh my passport, i adore it.
So things are good, kinda up in the air again, but good. I talked to anne briefly last week and she said i sounded kinda bummed. honestly, it was a big adjustement when i got here and i didnt expect it. I am still getting used to being around fairly negative volunteers. Often i want to just scream 'you are in Fing africa....' when the toilets arent good or there is only bread of breakfast, or we have to get another visa. i am really working on staying positive and trying to ignore all the negative comments, but its getting annoying. I am hoping to go see emma in a few weeks- alone, if i can swing a tactful way of saying i want to go alone- for some space and time to be with someone who loves tanzania and will not have negative things to say about not having toilet paper in the bathroom all the time and getting annoyed to have to ask for it when it runs out.
I am truly excited about teaching, the babys are adorable but holding babys all day could get old in two months. plus being with children i can interact with more, will be much more enjoyable. plus, i am thinking it will pump up my swahili. i have been kinda stagnant in my learning for a while. so that will be good.
there are minimal plans for zanzibar in two weeks, but i am not hopeful that they will come through. i have told the girls that i refuse to go if it is half ass planned and planned stressfully a few days before we go. so we shall see. there is still time. I will go alone if need be, there are plenty of travelers there.
all in all, i love it. im happy, and getting healthy.
xoxo
we spent the past weekend on safari, hitting up lake manyara, the ngorongoro crater, and the sarangeti. unfortunately i took sick thursday night and had tummy troubs all night. I popped some immodium friday morning, praying i would be okay for the jeep ride, only to develop a fever in the car that wouldnt break with advil and tylenol combined. awesome. luckily my tummy troubs held off in the car and my fever broke for about an hour at the peak of our time in Manyara. To see the animals, even feeling like crap, was amazing. I took lots of pictures but i dont even think it does it justice. we saw baboons all over the road and climbing on cars, elephants, giraffe, lions - and cubs!- warthogs, tonnnns of zebra, impala, one rhino, hyena, wildabeast, and crazy birds. Think the lion king, we saw it. AND in the sarangeti we saw pride rock, which the lion king pride rock is based off of. so cool. we camped the first night outside of the park, where i felt like i was dying. I threw up in the middle of the night and made many a trip to the loo- was glad to see a western style toilet for that experience. the next night we camped in the middle of the sarangeti, with signs everywhere saying dont feed the animals that happen to come on to the site. so neat. the last night we camped on the edge of the ngorongoro crater, it was soooo dang cold but beautiful. you look down on a circle of grasslands that are in a ring of mountains. that night as we cuddled into our sleeping bags- i was wearing two skirts over my jeans, two tshirts, a long sleeve and a fleece, an airplane blanket and then my sleeping bag- the field next to our tents was fulllll of zebra. at least 50. saturday night our driver gave me some crazy tanzania medicine to take bc I still had the runs. Luckily, a brittish pharmacist had joined our safari, so i ran everything i took by him and he helped me manage my meds. Oh to see the places where I had to go poop- if you can even call it poop. many times it was just between two rocks. haha. what an experience. I began to feel better sunday night and actually got to enjoy the good food. over all, it was a freaking amazing experience to see the animals and just the environment. it really felt and still feels surreal when i look at my pictures. wow, i am blessed to have that opportunity!
We arrived back home Monday evening, and it was nice to be home- and warm- again. sadly, i got sick again Monday night... allllllll night. tuesday morning i took my cipro, hoping to finally kill whatever was causing it. I stayed home from the orphanage yesterday and just slept. I felt better, i think cipro is a wonder drug! we found out last night that the boy who got sick with the same thing i had was in hospital last night- bacterial infection. i suppose my body fought it off better, he was throwing up more than i was and his fever didn't break for two days. he is doing well now i think. I am feeling better now, still not 100%. but I am getting there. soon.
Now for the more interesting news. I am officially teaching only now. I will visit the orphanage a few times, for an hour here or there, but I am done there. Yesterday while i was home sick, an immigration officer came to the orphanage. because i wasnt there, i am still a little unclear as to what happened, but apparently they wanted us to show them our passports and since we didnt have them we were suppose to bring them back this morning. apparently they were checking that we had volunteer visas, which we didnt. after forever of heated voices, titus, our volunteer organization director, came to meet us and told us he had talked to the officers and worked out a deal to keep us from being fined 400 and had bribed them into giving us the new visas for $50 instead of $120. the girls were pissed and yelled at Titus about how we shouldnt have to pay. the whole thing was just bad. I had to keep telling them to stop interrupting him because he couldnt even tell us the soultion because they kept asking questions and just saying they wouldnt pay. it was incredibly frustrating. It worked out that we were to meet him today to get our new visas for $50.
one of the girls refused to work within Titus's bribe and wanted to do it herself and contact the embassy. Emma told me that all things in tanzania are bribes and you just go with the corruption. i was set to just pay the 50 and get the visa i need. instead, when we met titus, he told us to leave it for a few days and see what happens. as soon as we had settled that, two other girls working directly through the orphanage came out of the immigration offices with the new visas. because they went, we knew thy would be looking for the 3 americans that they had written down to come through. lindsay and i decided to opt out of the orphanage and teach, meaning we wont need another visa- yet atleast. Stacey and sharon gave titus their passports to get the new visa so they can stay at the orphanage, they dont want to teach. The orphanage has been targeted because they have volunteers directly through the place as well as through organizations. as well, the nannys told the officers we were there before we could tell them we are just passing through between safaris. in the future all should be well. although i was kinda looking forward to having to get another visa- and another stamp! haha. oh my passport, i adore it.
So things are good, kinda up in the air again, but good. I talked to anne briefly last week and she said i sounded kinda bummed. honestly, it was a big adjustement when i got here and i didnt expect it. I am still getting used to being around fairly negative volunteers. Often i want to just scream 'you are in Fing africa....' when the toilets arent good or there is only bread of breakfast, or we have to get another visa. i am really working on staying positive and trying to ignore all the negative comments, but its getting annoying. I am hoping to go see emma in a few weeks- alone, if i can swing a tactful way of saying i want to go alone- for some space and time to be with someone who loves tanzania and will not have negative things to say about not having toilet paper in the bathroom all the time and getting annoyed to have to ask for it when it runs out.
I am truly excited about teaching, the babys are adorable but holding babys all day could get old in two months. plus being with children i can interact with more, will be much more enjoyable. plus, i am thinking it will pump up my swahili. i have been kinda stagnant in my learning for a while. so that will be good.
there are minimal plans for zanzibar in two weeks, but i am not hopeful that they will come through. i have told the girls that i refuse to go if it is half ass planned and planned stressfully a few days before we go. so we shall see. there is still time. I will go alone if need be, there are plenty of travelers there.
all in all, i love it. im happy, and getting healthy.
xoxo
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Go With the Flow
First, I must tell you what a test of patience it is to get on the internet in our village. 10 minutes just to bring up this site! awesome! and excuse my grammer and spelling, I will not take the time to reread or correct. I just cant be bothered! Now that that is out of the way, MAMBO!
The past few days have been good, ups and downs naturally, but overall good! It seems like so much happens in just a few days, so I have begun taking notes so that when i do get to the internet i can remember the big stories I want to share. Some are big, some are small little instances that just happened. First, a crazy experience we had was taking a dalla dalla back from Arusha Town after my last post. The ride is about 45 minutes or so. As we walked up to the dalla stand, our host brother and friend, jeffit, were surrounded by drivers who bagan fighting over who would take us. The pushing started, the pulling on jeffit and eachother, and then the fists came out, all over who would get our buisness! Thankfully, all the hasseling was done to Barnabus and Jeffit, and no one touched or even talked to us. Last night we took a dalla on the way home, all alone without our host bro, and luckily it went much smoother!
We have already begun learning to practice carrying bottles on our heads, our practice for the big buckets. It is much harder than I thought it would be! Our host sister, Agape, who is around 10 is helping us. Sunday we had our program orientation. We traveled to Arusha Town not sure how many other volunteers for expect. There were probably 20 of us, total- more than i thought there would be. Overall, I was not impressed with the group of people. AT ALL. I have never encountered people which such low cultural sensitivity, especially among people volunteering for at least a month stint. A group of the volunteers first impression was this: they told us a story, laughing hysterically the whole time, about how the first night there was a rooster outside their window, so the next day they offered to buy it from their neighbor who owned it and killed it, so they could get their sleep. I was speechless.... lucky... because had i not been I would have had many choice words for them about how completely horrible that is. THANK God, I am out in Usa River with some pretty decent people. Though, we all have our moments.
I have a pretty sweet rash. I kinda resemble a man with a ginger beard because of the location and colour of it. maybe I should be showering more often? once so far might not have been enough... haha.
We had some trouble telling our host brother, Barnabus, 19, that he cant come everywhere with us. We had been going everywhere together, to get used to the city and our village, but have gotten to the point where we need some independence and some time with the other volunteers. We were going back into Arusha Town yesterday for a dinner and had a bit of a struggle trying to tell him we didnt want him to go. I don't know how it will play out in the future... so it will be interesting. Our host fam is great though over all. Very religious, which I expected. And since Stacey and Sharon are atheists, I do the nightly prayer almost every other night. M&D- if only the thumbs up game worked here!
Since I will be doing everything, basically, with Stacey and Sharon, Ill tell you a bit about them. Stacey is from CA, will be a senior in social work. She has a boyfriend and misses him a lot and got mad for getting an A- in one of her classes. We have a lot in common I suppose. Sharon is 23 and will start teaching school in the fall in Toronto where she is from. We are all working on being flexible and going with the flow, but there are times where I just have to keep my mouth shut and let them be upset about things. There is some negative energy about somethings, coming from them, so that is a bit of a bummer. but, they are good girls and I do enjoy them.
We have started our job at Cradle of Love, an orphanage for babies, newborn to 3. It is intended to be a short term stay for children to get healthy and then returned to their relatives or neighbors who will take them. They are also up for adoption before that point or if they are released by their relatives. There are 37 children in the orphanage, yesterday there were 38. One died this morning, the second death in a week. The babies are adorable generally, but I already have a few favorites from each age group. No lie, there is one that I would bring home in a heart beat, but who does that surprise?? The orphanage was started and is run by an American woman. It is interesting though, how little involvment she has in the daily running of the place. Through talking with the other volunteers, there are many...., we have found out that lots of kids just miss a meal, because the Tanzanian nannies don't keep track well enough and there is no system set in place to keep track. It seems like a simple thing to have a spreadsheet and check it all off... a simple solution that the founder has failed to even consider. BUT the place is very nice, with good beds and an okay amount of supplies and lots of voluteeers to make sure everyone gets held. There is a baby that is very sick and came home from hospital just this morning because the owner has gone back to the States for 7 weeks and the volunteer who has been left in charge doesn't have authority to keep them or pay for them to be in hospital. I don't know that Jackson will make it through the week. It is really frustrating. But I won't go too much into that.
We are going on safari on Friday and I can't wait! Five of the six of us in Usa River are going, so that will be nice. Saif has been here for 3 weeks, so he has already gone. I just can't wait, thats about all there is to say about it.
We have started brushing our teeth with the water, our family has said it is safe, and so far no problems. I am sleeping a wee bit better, but still not great. And worrysome enough, I already feel mildly sick of Tanzania food. We had Ugali the other night for the first time, fufu for you Nora, and it is not the most appetizing thing. Imagine grits, ground finer, but cooked to be extra thick. You form a ball, then dip it into a stew like dish. exchange ugali for rice, white or brown, and you have every meal. We are not sure what the meat in the stew is, goat or beef, but we haven't asked. We also have had a huge ant infestation in our room- Stacey's beef jerky was a nice treat for them apparently. They are fire ants, so we are hoping that today we got everything food out of our room. I still have my nutragrain bars! I am saving them for when I really can't make myself eat Tanzanian food!
I think that is all for now. maybe I have caught up?
Things are good, still adjusting, but good. I still have to think about the fact that I really am here. It all just seems to surreal!
Hope all is well! Enjoy a salad for me! I'd kill for one!
xoxo
The past few days have been good, ups and downs naturally, but overall good! It seems like so much happens in just a few days, so I have begun taking notes so that when i do get to the internet i can remember the big stories I want to share. Some are big, some are small little instances that just happened. First, a crazy experience we had was taking a dalla dalla back from Arusha Town after my last post. The ride is about 45 minutes or so. As we walked up to the dalla stand, our host brother and friend, jeffit, were surrounded by drivers who bagan fighting over who would take us. The pushing started, the pulling on jeffit and eachother, and then the fists came out, all over who would get our buisness! Thankfully, all the hasseling was done to Barnabus and Jeffit, and no one touched or even talked to us. Last night we took a dalla on the way home, all alone without our host bro, and luckily it went much smoother!
We have already begun learning to practice carrying bottles on our heads, our practice for the big buckets. It is much harder than I thought it would be! Our host sister, Agape, who is around 10 is helping us. Sunday we had our program orientation. We traveled to Arusha Town not sure how many other volunteers for expect. There were probably 20 of us, total- more than i thought there would be. Overall, I was not impressed with the group of people. AT ALL. I have never encountered people which such low cultural sensitivity, especially among people volunteering for at least a month stint. A group of the volunteers first impression was this: they told us a story, laughing hysterically the whole time, about how the first night there was a rooster outside their window, so the next day they offered to buy it from their neighbor who owned it and killed it, so they could get their sleep. I was speechless.... lucky... because had i not been I would have had many choice words for them about how completely horrible that is. THANK God, I am out in Usa River with some pretty decent people. Though, we all have our moments.
I have a pretty sweet rash. I kinda resemble a man with a ginger beard because of the location and colour of it. maybe I should be showering more often? once so far might not have been enough... haha.
We had some trouble telling our host brother, Barnabus, 19, that he cant come everywhere with us. We had been going everywhere together, to get used to the city and our village, but have gotten to the point where we need some independence and some time with the other volunteers. We were going back into Arusha Town yesterday for a dinner and had a bit of a struggle trying to tell him we didnt want him to go. I don't know how it will play out in the future... so it will be interesting. Our host fam is great though over all. Very religious, which I expected. And since Stacey and Sharon are atheists, I do the nightly prayer almost every other night. M&D- if only the thumbs up game worked here!
Since I will be doing everything, basically, with Stacey and Sharon, Ill tell you a bit about them. Stacey is from CA, will be a senior in social work. She has a boyfriend and misses him a lot and got mad for getting an A- in one of her classes. We have a lot in common I suppose. Sharon is 23 and will start teaching school in the fall in Toronto where she is from. We are all working on being flexible and going with the flow, but there are times where I just have to keep my mouth shut and let them be upset about things. There is some negative energy about somethings, coming from them, so that is a bit of a bummer. but, they are good girls and I do enjoy them.
We have started our job at Cradle of Love, an orphanage for babies, newborn to 3. It is intended to be a short term stay for children to get healthy and then returned to their relatives or neighbors who will take them. They are also up for adoption before that point or if they are released by their relatives. There are 37 children in the orphanage, yesterday there were 38. One died this morning, the second death in a week. The babies are adorable generally, but I already have a few favorites from each age group. No lie, there is one that I would bring home in a heart beat, but who does that surprise?? The orphanage was started and is run by an American woman. It is interesting though, how little involvment she has in the daily running of the place. Through talking with the other volunteers, there are many...., we have found out that lots of kids just miss a meal, because the Tanzanian nannies don't keep track well enough and there is no system set in place to keep track. It seems like a simple thing to have a spreadsheet and check it all off... a simple solution that the founder has failed to even consider. BUT the place is very nice, with good beds and an okay amount of supplies and lots of voluteeers to make sure everyone gets held. There is a baby that is very sick and came home from hospital just this morning because the owner has gone back to the States for 7 weeks and the volunteer who has been left in charge doesn't have authority to keep them or pay for them to be in hospital. I don't know that Jackson will make it through the week. It is really frustrating. But I won't go too much into that.
We are going on safari on Friday and I can't wait! Five of the six of us in Usa River are going, so that will be nice. Saif has been here for 3 weeks, so he has already gone. I just can't wait, thats about all there is to say about it.
We have started brushing our teeth with the water, our family has said it is safe, and so far no problems. I am sleeping a wee bit better, but still not great. And worrysome enough, I already feel mildly sick of Tanzania food. We had Ugali the other night for the first time, fufu for you Nora, and it is not the most appetizing thing. Imagine grits, ground finer, but cooked to be extra thick. You form a ball, then dip it into a stew like dish. exchange ugali for rice, white or brown, and you have every meal. We are not sure what the meat in the stew is, goat or beef, but we haven't asked. We also have had a huge ant infestation in our room- Stacey's beef jerky was a nice treat for them apparently. They are fire ants, so we are hoping that today we got everything food out of our room. I still have my nutragrain bars! I am saving them for when I really can't make myself eat Tanzanian food!
I think that is all for now. maybe I have caught up?
Things are good, still adjusting, but good. I still have to think about the fact that I really am here. It all just seems to surreal!
Hope all is well! Enjoy a salad for me! I'd kill for one!
xoxo
Saturday, May 31, 2008
here. overwhelming. precious.
Jambo!
I am sitting, sweating, in an internet cafe in Arusha town visiting with my friend Emma and the two other girls who are sharing my home stay and placement. The trip here was an adventure, complete with no sleeping even though I was taking sleeping pills! awesome! My flight from London to Nairobi was canceled, but I was able to get on another flight through Kenya Airways and arrived in time to still make my flight from Kenya down to Arusha. I met two girls in my program while in the airport in Nairobi, Sharon and Stacey. On our flight from kenya down we flew right past Kilimanjaro! It was amazing, we were above the clouds but could see where the top reached above the clouds. We got our visas and Sharon was took the prize as the first one to get sick... even before going through customs! We were picked up from the airport and delivered to a house, that we were told would be our home stay for the summer. I had planned to stay in Arusha town with Emma the first few nights before the program started. We had no idea what was going on and I had no way to get in touch with Emma. Finally, late last night I got a chance to call her. (M&D sorry you got no call....) But we made it after a day of stomach aches from not knowing what the hell was going on.
We spent the day yesterday with our host brother, Barnabus, and his friend whose name I still do not know. They walked us all around the village we will now call home. We didnt know if we were in Arusha or where we were, but learned today that we are in a village about 20 minutes in a private car outside of Arusha Town. The village is called Usa River, pronounced oosa, not USA. I spent all day yesterday seeing people in Usa River t-shirts, but assumed they were from a rafting company or something in the states, not the name of our village. Pretty funny. The children in the town called out greetings to us all through our walk, and the cutest little boy even followed us for 15 minutes singing songs to us. It was adorable. If I could bring him home I would! We were pretty unsure about water, but managed to buy a bottle for $1 for a tiny shop in the village. From there, we didnt really know where our next shared bottle would come from. We took a nap yesterday afternoon and being able to lie down was amazing after two overnight flights! We have a cute room with three beds and mosquito nets. We had dinner, a dish of rice and meat and cooked bananas- though they tasted like potatoes. Our host parents came home from work and we got to meet them. We got a more in detail intro to the house, including a lesson on water and where they boil it and put it for us. The house girl is amazing and will become our best friend I think. She was still up last night doing work and was up this morning in the middle of the washing when we woke up. Our host dad is the tour operator that our program has partnered with, so needless to say we have the best hook up for safaris! woo hoo!
Early to bed last night and I slept well til about 2.30am. I got up to pee, which is unusual for me, and then couldnt go back to sleep. I got stuck in the choo (bathroom) for a while unable to get the key to turn back to unlock the door. Anne, I thought about your Nica story... haha. Our house is very nice, pretty affluent family. We have electricity off and on and running water- I think I am relieved truthfully. Our toilet is a porcelain hole in the ground, but does actually flush. We still have yet to ask about the shower... yep, its been 4 days since I showered! This morning, Barnabus and his friend brought us into Arusha Town to meet Emma. We went to the bank and changed money and then waited for a dalla-dalla to take us into town. I have never seen so many people crammed into a 15 passenger van, even in Egypt! It was an adventure to say the least and we finally got to see the one stop light in the whole Arusha region! We are still in Arusha Town now, we had lunch and I have caught up with Emma and given her the tuna and reeces pieces I brought her. I am also the proud owner of a new mobile phone which awesomely enough is exactly like my mobile in Belfast! it makes me miss my 077 number a wee bit...
We start orientation tomorrow and will get a lot of the unknown stuff straightened out. I suppose we will start our orphanage work on Monday, though I don't know for sure. There is a huge conference here in Arusha Town starting tomorrow, so it will be a little crazy and I am glad we are out in a village. Over all, it is a little overwhelming, truthfully. It is greener than I anticipated. The weather is warm but not super hot, and ranges a lot from morning to day to night. We have not seen rain yet, and it is pretty cloudy off and on, though I have already acquired a nice sunburn on my chest. Only one bug bite so far, and a few blisters on the toes as I break the feet into chaco's again!
Alright, my time is almost up.
More soon. Know that I am well.
xoxo
I am sitting, sweating, in an internet cafe in Arusha town visiting with my friend Emma and the two other girls who are sharing my home stay and placement. The trip here was an adventure, complete with no sleeping even though I was taking sleeping pills! awesome! My flight from London to Nairobi was canceled, but I was able to get on another flight through Kenya Airways and arrived in time to still make my flight from Kenya down to Arusha. I met two girls in my program while in the airport in Nairobi, Sharon and Stacey. On our flight from kenya down we flew right past Kilimanjaro! It was amazing, we were above the clouds but could see where the top reached above the clouds. We got our visas and Sharon was took the prize as the first one to get sick... even before going through customs! We were picked up from the airport and delivered to a house, that we were told would be our home stay for the summer. I had planned to stay in Arusha town with Emma the first few nights before the program started. We had no idea what was going on and I had no way to get in touch with Emma. Finally, late last night I got a chance to call her. (M&D sorry you got no call....) But we made it after a day of stomach aches from not knowing what the hell was going on.
We spent the day yesterday with our host brother, Barnabus, and his friend whose name I still do not know. They walked us all around the village we will now call home. We didnt know if we were in Arusha or where we were, but learned today that we are in a village about 20 minutes in a private car outside of Arusha Town. The village is called Usa River, pronounced oosa, not USA. I spent all day yesterday seeing people in Usa River t-shirts, but assumed they were from a rafting company or something in the states, not the name of our village. Pretty funny. The children in the town called out greetings to us all through our walk, and the cutest little boy even followed us for 15 minutes singing songs to us. It was adorable. If I could bring him home I would! We were pretty unsure about water, but managed to buy a bottle for $1 for a tiny shop in the village. From there, we didnt really know where our next shared bottle would come from. We took a nap yesterday afternoon and being able to lie down was amazing after two overnight flights! We have a cute room with three beds and mosquito nets. We had dinner, a dish of rice and meat and cooked bananas- though they tasted like potatoes. Our host parents came home from work and we got to meet them. We got a more in detail intro to the house, including a lesson on water and where they boil it and put it for us. The house girl is amazing and will become our best friend I think. She was still up last night doing work and was up this morning in the middle of the washing when we woke up. Our host dad is the tour operator that our program has partnered with, so needless to say we have the best hook up for safaris! woo hoo!
Early to bed last night and I slept well til about 2.30am. I got up to pee, which is unusual for me, and then couldnt go back to sleep. I got stuck in the choo (bathroom) for a while unable to get the key to turn back to unlock the door. Anne, I thought about your Nica story... haha. Our house is very nice, pretty affluent family. We have electricity off and on and running water- I think I am relieved truthfully. Our toilet is a porcelain hole in the ground, but does actually flush. We still have yet to ask about the shower... yep, its been 4 days since I showered! This morning, Barnabus and his friend brought us into Arusha Town to meet Emma. We went to the bank and changed money and then waited for a dalla-dalla to take us into town. I have never seen so many people crammed into a 15 passenger van, even in Egypt! It was an adventure to say the least and we finally got to see the one stop light in the whole Arusha region! We are still in Arusha Town now, we had lunch and I have caught up with Emma and given her the tuna and reeces pieces I brought her. I am also the proud owner of a new mobile phone which awesomely enough is exactly like my mobile in Belfast! it makes me miss my 077 number a wee bit...
We start orientation tomorrow and will get a lot of the unknown stuff straightened out. I suppose we will start our orphanage work on Monday, though I don't know for sure. There is a huge conference here in Arusha Town starting tomorrow, so it will be a little crazy and I am glad we are out in a village. Over all, it is a little overwhelming, truthfully. It is greener than I anticipated. The weather is warm but not super hot, and ranges a lot from morning to day to night. We have not seen rain yet, and it is pretty cloudy off and on, though I have already acquired a nice sunburn on my chest. Only one bug bite so far, and a few blisters on the toes as I break the feet into chaco's again!
Alright, my time is almost up.
More soon. Know that I am well.
xoxo
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