On campus again!

We got back from Moshi on Monday. The week away was a nice break and very relaxing. Mama Macha is an American woman who married a Tanzanian and has been living here ever since. Despite the fact that he died four years ago she has continued to reside here. Most of her time is spent in Dar, but her husband is from a village just north of Moshi where his families land is - which is where she took us.

I am really sad that her husband is already dead because I would love to meet the man that married this woman. She is absolutely crazy (I say that with lots of love!)! She has an amazingly loud personality with has an infinite number of stories to tell - and there's no stopping her. I have a really hard time distinguishing whether she is serious or joking, which can make for some interesting conversations... Half the time I think she is serious, but I can't help from laughing anyway! I'm not quite sure how Chris' family met her, but I'm so glad that they did!

From the beginning I knew that our trip was going to be good. On the bus ride to Moshi Liz and I had been talking about how we had to get a ride in the back of a truck at some point before we left the country. About half an hour later we get off at our stop and as we're stepping off the bus Mama Macha points out our ride - a pick up truck! I almost peed my pants!

We must have been a ridiculous sight - 10 white kids piled in the back of a pickup driving up the mountain. It's a pretty common mode of transport here, but not one frequently used by wazungu...

We got there just as the sun was setting which is prime time to sneak a peak at Kili. The peak of the mountain is almost always covered by clouds during the day, so you have to try and catch it at either sunrise or sunset when the clouds are briefly burned away.

(I present to you Mt. Kilimanjaro...)

The family that Mama Macha rents her condo from in Dar es Salaam is also from this area and owns a hotel which sits at the base of one of the hikes for Mt. Kilimanjaro. Friday we went to go visit their place and hike up the gate for the national park. Aaand as friends of the family we were all offered special rates for accommodations at the hotel and fees for the climb - good people to keep in contact with!

After spending time at the base the group dropped me off at the bus stop where I caught a bus heading to Arusha to visit my cousins Kris and Rebecca. It was a short visit but I'm really glad that I had the chance to see them both. Kris heads back to the states next month but I may try and get back to Arusha and visit Rebecca and their son Nate later on.

We spent two weeks in the Arusha area at the begining of the trip but didn't actually see much of the city so dinner Friday night was especially sweet. We went to a place that is Indian restaurant by night and an auto parts store by day... amazing!

Saturday Kris and Rebecca dropped me back off with the group and we spent two more days relaxing in the hills before returning to Dar.

Campus is slowly filling up with more and more students as we get closer to the start of classes.
The days have been pretty busy with journaling and other assignments due for my program, along with having to work out rooming. Because we want Tanzanian roommates all of us living together have had to spread out.

Unfortunately I got the short straw and had to switch rooms. I got bumped from 7th floor to 2nd which means I have less of a hike everyday, but I also loose the view from my balcony and the amazing breeze... Liz and I are the only ones that had to move down and we've decided that it means that we're going to end up with the coolest roommates. It's only fair right?

Two weeks

Sorry is has taken me so long to update! I just got back from two weeks of vacation during which I didn’t have computer access.

After we finished up our month of Kiswahili classes our group was given two weeks of independent travel time. I went west and south with four other girls: Liz (Olaf), Sara (Luther), Stacey (Concordia) and Wendy (Concordia).

We started in Iringa – which is probably my favorite city of all of the places that I have been to so far. The city itself is beautiful (and clean! although I’m not sure how because I could never find a trash can...), not too big, not too small and not too touristy.

(Me and Liz looking out over town)

I was amazed by the way that we were treated. Normally when shopping in Tanzania there is a wazungu (white person) tax added onto all purchases (some places more than others) but all of the prices that we were quoted in Iringa were fair! I did absolutely no bargaining which is just ridiculous.

So often you meet amazingly friendly people, but you aren’t sure how genuinely interested in you they actually are. It was such an amazing feeling to be welcomed in by shop keepers eager to meet and talk with you, but not looking to rip you off. Needless to say I spent LOTS of money...

The markets were not the only place I lost money in Iringa though - another awesome attraction was Neema’s Craft Workshop. Neema’s is a facility that provides people who have physical disabilities with education and training in a variety of art crafts which are then sold in an adjoining gallery. It is the only facility of its kind in the country which made it even more amazing!

We took a tour of the workshop itself and got to see people working on weavings, jewelry design, paper making (using either maize leaves and elephant dung) and bead making using recycled glass. All of which totally suckers you into spending lots and lots of money in the shop – I loved it!

After three days in Iringa we headed to Tukuyu. The town of Tukuyu was far less warm and friendly but just as beautiful. Stacey, Wendy and I spent one of our days climbing Mount Rungwe, which is a dormant volcano and the 3rd largest mountain in Tanzania. The majority of the hike was through the rain forest and amazingly beautiful but unfortunately when we got to the top we were in a cloud and didn’t get much of a view.

(Tukuyu)

After Tukuku we spent 5 days in a row traveling. Most often our schedules consisted of waking up at 5, spending all day on a bus, getting off and trying to find a hostel, trying to find somewhere to eat and then crashing in bed. We moved from Tukuyu to Mbeya, Mbeye to Songea, Songea to Tunduru, Tunduru to Masasi, and Masasi to Kiliwa Masoko.

(In Masasi we celebrated Liz' birthday with chocolate and Apple Fanta!
Left to Right: Stacey, Sara, Me, Liz and Wendy)

When we finally reached Kiliwa Masoko we stopped to spend one whole day there soaking in the sun and swimming in the ocean before returning to Dar.

(Baobab trees on the beach in Kiliwa Masoko!)

We have now experienced the full range of transportation in Tanzania! In town the public transport buses are daladalas. Daladalas only seat something like 15 people but I think the maximum number that we have counted in one at a given time is 29 (this number does not include live chickens which often accompany us also) - because the only law pertaining to them is that the door must be closed.

This rule however does not apply to coach or coaster buses... but only the most expensive lines actually adhere to restrictions on numbers of passengers. Our trip from Mbeye to Songea was on a full 45 seat coach bus – with 20 something extra passengers standing in the aisle! All of us sat through a nine hour ride with either someone in their lap or crouched over and around them. Personal space is not really a concept understood here...

After a long, hot and overcrowded ride to Songea we went to book our tickets to Tunduru and decided that we would take the back five seats of the next bus – thinking that that way we would all be together, we wouldn’t have to worry about people crowding us and Sarah (who is 6 feet tall) could have the middle seat and leg room.

What we didn’t think about was the fact that the back row usually has less leg room than the rest of the bus (which already isn’t enough leg room for anyone over 5’5’’...) or the fact that we had just chosen to sit in the back of the bus on the road that our guide book calls “easily the worst road in the country”. Kids in elementary school fight over the back seats on the school bus for a reason - it gets the best bumps. Ooops!

So we’re impossibly squished into the back row and riding on the worst bus that I have ridden on so far. The window in the back didn’t seal so tons of red dust kept pouring in – staining our bags and clothes. Three of our seat cushions weren’t secured to their frames and kept moving with every bump and one of them kept sinking further and further into the floor as we drove so that by the end of the trip Stacey was a full 3 inches below the rest of us!

Despite all of the problems with the bus I do think that it somehow magical because it was able to defy all laws of physics! We were flying down horrible unpaved roads and full of dips and turns! At one point I turned to the group and told them that I had had a really enjoyed meeting them and traveling around Tanzania but that I didn’t think we were going to make it... I was convinced that I was either going to smack my head on the ceiling of the bus or that we were going to tip over!

Thankfully we survived – although not without bruised bottoms and knees and sore backs. Never again will I complain about leg room on an airplane or pot holes! Coming back to campus has been luxurious in comparison to all of the places we have stayed and things that we have experienced in the past two weeks!

We have another two weeks before classes are supposed to start and a family friend of Chris’ has invited us to stay at her place in Moshi, which happens to be on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro! We leave on Tuesday to go relax up north for a couple days and then return to campus on the 22nd to get ready for the Tanzanian students to come back!

Room and board!

Some of you have expressed concern about me and what life is like here, so I thought I would give you a little insight as to where I am.

Hall C or “foreigners block” is one of the best dorms on campus – although you probably wouldn’t know that unless you’ve been is some of the other dorms. Our group lives between the 6th and 8th floors, which is quite a hike when you don't have an elevator, but well worth it! The building was geniusly designed to get amazing breeze, and I wouldn’t move to a lower floor for anything!

My current room, is very similar in shape to the room I had in Larson sophomore year but smaller and with an entirely view. I eat I watch the sunrise as I eat my breakfast (and take my Malarone) every morning. The picture above is my bed – it was taken the day we moved in so you’ll have to excuse the mess…

Although it only works half of the time our hall does get wireless, which means that occasion I get to talk to you all for free! We also have western-style toilets, which makes me ridiculously happy. The water goes comes and goes, but has been pretty good lately, although I’ve been told that once school is in session it will be off more often than it is on. I also quickly discovered that the best time to shower is the late afternoon just before it cools down because the water sits in black containers on top of our building… and so is slightly less freezing at the end of the day.

My diet consists of rice, more rice, and beans. The cafeteria the we frequent most serves wali na maharage (rice and beans) for Tsh. 600. That’s the equivalent of about 55 cents, and is what I order for probably 75% of my meals. Another favorite is chipsi mayai (sounds like 'chips in my eye' but is really french fries and chips fried together in a sort of omlete... aka: greesy goodness).
Vegetables are hard to come by in the cafeteria but there's a great fruit and vegie vendor outside who will cut up and prepare anything you want to add to your meal or take back to the dorm.

Only one and half more weeks on Kiswahili and it's going fast! Because I now have a month long break I'm planning on traveling south and west of Dar for the first half with three of the other girls on the program (Wendy, Stacey and Liz). After our orrientation a family friend of another student (Chris) has invited all 10 of us to come stay at her home in Moshi for a week.

Apparently she lives in Moshi district, not town, which is just fine by me, becuase her house is literally on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro! Hopefully I will get some hiking in, even though I won't be summiting!

PS: I've added pictures to a couple of the previous posts as well, so have a look!

Bagomoyo

We just got back from a wonderful weekend up the coast in Bagomoyo. Friday was "Farmers Day" (a national holiday) so we didn't have Kiswahili. We took a bus up to Bagomoyo and after lunch headed straight for the beach.

The tide was out but that wasn't going to stop us. We walked proabably 1/2 km into the ocean and still were only waist deep - but it was good enough! I've seen the Pacific and Atlantic oceans before, but this was the first time I'd swam in one! And definitely not the last - I can see the Indian Ocean from the balcony in my dorm room!

Saturday, after getting up early to watch the sun rise, we toured the city. Bagomoyo was a major stop in the Ivory and Slave trade that used to run out of Tanzania and Zanzibar and there are lots of historical sites still remaining. One of the buildings that we toured was a slavehold before slaves were taken to Zanzibar - the slaves there were blind-folded and led through and around the building and then down to the beach and boarded on boats to Zanzibar. After they reached the island they were unblindfolded, but even if they had been able to maintain their bearings through entire process, being on an island and surrounded by water meant there was no way to escape.

I can't say that it was an enjoyable experience, but it was definitely a good insight into such an important piece of Tanzania's history.

Dar es Salaam

We started Kiswahili courses on Monday which have been a little frustrating already, but I'm excited to finally be able to make sentences!

Next week we should start teaching at the Mlimani Primary School if scheduling works out. We visited yesterday and met with our teachers, but most of us are having scheduling conflicts. Almost all of the classes teach English in the morning, and because we are taking Kiswahili at that time things have gotten a little complicated.

We found out yesterday that classes, which were supposed to start on the 15th, aren't starting until the 29th. Which means we have two more weeks of travel time (yay!) but two fewer weeks of class (yay?) and two fewer weeks with students on campus (boo!). No one is really sure why things have been moved yet - I heard something about a grant not coming through... but that doesn't quite make sense.

We still have orientation for international students on the 12th (it couldn't be moved back, because most students have already purchased their plane tickets) so hopefully there will be new people and experiences with that. Most of us are planning to travel for the first half and then take shorter trips and day trips from Dar for the last two weeks.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like I can do Kili :( ! First of all because I can't convince any one in my program to go with me, but secondly because its 2-3 times more expensive than I had originally thought... My only option is to wait and see if I can find a connection of sorts on campus and get the friend rate.

With classes being pushed back this whole trip suddenly seems short. We have 3 more weeks of Kiswahili, a break (granted the break is a month long) and then only 2 1/2 months of class!! It's going so fast! I am missing home and look forward to see you all, but hoping time slows down enough that I am able to do and see everything!

Living with the Masaai!

We spent the last 2 days staying in a Masaai village called Eluway. We arrived late morning on the first day. Our drivers dropped us off at Aang Serian, a secondary school that our hosts, Gema and Lesikar, started as a way of promoting the maintenance of indigenous knowledge among the Masaai in that area.

The school itself is non-government, but teaches the same curriculum as the government schools do, with additional courses and projects that promote the passing on of knowledge that kids used to gain from the elders of their village, but are now missing (and subsequently the knowledge is being lost) because of westernized schooling. We were given a tour of the school grounds by the head master and also were informed that the Masaai runners, who did a marathon in London earlier this year (you may have read about it in the news - I hadn't but both of our professors and several students had and were very excited about this), came from Eluway and that one of them was a student at Aang Serian, but unfortunately was not at school that day.

After the tour we made the hour-long trek to the boma which were staying at. After lunch we got our first lecture from Gema on Ethnicity and Identity which was followed by tea and another lecture on Concepts of Development. Gema is a such a fascinating person. Although she never actually told us, my guess is that she went to school for Anthropology. She is British and has married Lesikar and into the Masaai community. She has been living in Tanzania permanently for the past 5 years but first came to the country 9 years ago. They have two little girls who are absolutely adorable, and split their time between Arusha, Mondoli Ju and Eluway.

We had dinner after the lectures and then were given time to journal until the cows came home - literally. The Masaai are pastoral and heard cattle and goats. Which meant that once the animals did come home we all got our shot at milking both. Unfortunately I would not make a very good Masaai woman - I had zero luck with both my goat and cow.

The second day we got up with the animals at 7 and ready to set out for Olpul. Olpul is the Masaai hospital. It is a place that men and women retreat to either rest and recoup either before or after major life events (i.e. circumcision, illness, child-birth). There are separate locations for either gender, but because neither Gema nor any of the other females on our trip count as 'real woman' (we are white, not Masaai) we were allowed to spend the day at the men's camp.

Part of the reason for the separate camps is because while at the Olpul site the Masaai typically only eat meat and drink medicinal soup. This is problematic because they also follow a custom that doesn't allow men to eat meat after it has been seen by women. Gema explained that when she first heard of this she was outraged thinking that the meat was made somehow unworthy or less clean after the women had looked at it, but that she later learned that this was a way to ensure that women and children always had food to eat - that the warriors could not keep it for themselves. So the men would go off to Olpul to eat away from the women.

Gema gave us our first lecture on the history of Olpul - other than what I previously stated, Olpul is both the name of the location and the act of the ritual slaughtering that takes place there. Sooo in that spirit, we finished our lecture and got down to the good stuff!

[DISCLAIMER!!! DESCRIPTION OF GOAT SLAUGHTER IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART - skip to the bottom of the third paragraph if you don't think you can stomach it!]
A bed of branches was laid out and the one of the warriors brought the goat over, laid it on its back and suffocated it. Because the Masaai are pastoral they don't believe in spilling the blood of animals, and so rather than slitting the throat of the animal being sacrificed they suffocate it. (While we were waiting we learned that cows actually suffocate much faster than goats - but require more men to get the job done). The slaughter itself was a little hard to watch at times, but not too bad. The further along the process got the easier it was to disassociate the meat from the animal.

In following the theme of not spilling blood, the Masaai keep the blood within the body cavity until it has all drained... and then drink it. We all knew that this was going to happen, and that we would be offered some to drink (this was not an obligation of course - no one would be offended if we turned it down). I had thought originally that I would have a sip, but in my mind I had imagined a cup of the blood being passed around - which did happen - but only after the 4 of the warriors took turns cupping the blood out of the carcass with their hands and slurping it up.

This was the only point in the whole process that triggered my gag reflex. (See photo above.) Needless to say I had to pass when the cup of blood did come my way. To the amusement of the rest of us Gema and Lesikars daughters both love this part of the ritual, and after everyone who wanted a sip had their chance the oldest, Nandi who is maybe 5, threw back an entire glass, getting blood all over her face, and spilling a couple drops on Chris who happened to be her lap at the moment.

Don't get too concerned though! After lunch Gema gave us her final lecture on the science of Masaai medicine. She granted that while eating raw meat and drinking blood would not be advisable on its own, because of the scientifically proven qualities of the medicinal soup, when they are taken together you would be just fine. I did drink the medicinal soup, which was definitely not appetizing, but not bad. It had parts of the goat, including the fat, and other carefully chosen plants in it. All of this was mashed and boiled into a smooth liquid form which you could drink - no chunks (I was concerned about that).

After Olpul we headed back to the boma, were we rested, journaled, and had dinner. After dinner, and after if got dark the festivities continued with dancing and singing! This only served to remind me again that I would not make a good Masaai woman. A. because I cannot sing in the high nasally tone that they do, and B. because I have no idea how they can move their shoulders like that!! The men's dance essentially consists of jumping up and down, but the women, who wear huge beaded collars, do one of two things. They either get the collar to bounce up and down (kind of like a see-saw) through some amazing shoulder technique, or they make the collar shiver - it's almost like a shimmy, but its so small that all you can see is the white collar vibrating around their necks. I don't think that any of the wzungu (white people) were able to master either of these dances - but we were definitely all forced into the spotlight to try it out on several occasions!

This morning we had breakfast, packed up and left for Arusha. It was a fun visit, and I'm so glad that we had such an amazing opportunity, but I am also looking forward to sleeping in a bed again - and more adventures in Dar es Salaam. We catch the bus for Dar tomorrow morning!

Safari!

What a crazy day on so many levels!

We just got back from our trip to the Ngorongoro Crater, which was both amazing and frustrating. We got to see zebras, wildebeests, water buffalo, giraffes (not inside the crater), hyenas, warthogs, flamingos, lions, elephants and hippos - all of which was completely awesome.

On the way there we passed lots of little villages and shops, including Maasai "cultural bomas". These, growing rapidly in number, are small clusters of Maasai huts, just off the road which are geared at attracting tourists. The deal is that a group pulls over, pays a fee to get into the boma, gets shown around, takes as many pictures as they want, and is then shown to the gift shop... Because of the way that land is being bought up, indigenous groups like the Maasai (who are pastoral) are being pushed out of and off of land they previously were free to roam. They are struggling to survive using the methods they have always survived on, and have turned to tourism, much like the rest of the country.

The Ngorongoro Crater is a conservation area - a term that in the west we tend to think of positively, but has had negative repercussions here. The Maasai, previously used the Crater for grazing their cattle, but now are facing restrictions on their use of the land. They are allowed to live within the conservation area, but not within the Crater. They may only enter the crater between the hours of 6 am and 4 pm, just like the tourists. Our driver, mentioned that some people are trying to move in the direction of making the Crater and National Park, which would mean no one is allowed to live there at all. The biggest argument the Maasai use to hold their ground against being pushed out, is that the park employees (rangers) are also living within the conservation area. But, we passed an apartment complex on the way in, just outside the conservation borders, that is going to house park staff and their families...

All of this makes me wonder what role we are playing as tourists going on safari. Are we supporting the country, by putting money into its greatest means of income? Or are we helping to promote and perpetuate a process which is making life for the indigenous peoples of this country impossible?

On our way our of the park, we stopped at one of the 4 hotels on the rim of the crater, the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. In 2005 it was named 2nd best hotel in the world by a British travel magazine. It was the most lush and extravagant place I have ever stepped into! The rooms were shaped like clusters of Maasai huts, and decorations were matched accordingly, trying as best as possible to look African while remaining excessively comfortable. I asked our guide what it cost to stay there - brace yourself - - - $1150 per night per person. And they were completely booked. Of course, if you would like to come during the low season the price would be reduced by half... The amount of money that tourism brings into the country is astonishing, but I have yet to see where it is used in supporting the people who live here.