Zanzibari Sun Set

Holy Hot Holidays!
Wk of 12/21-12/28

This past week I escaped from Arusha town to the southern parts of Tanzania. My friend Heather and I ventured by early morning bus down to Dar where we met up with Imee and Debby.
[Photo 1. MCH Girls Reunion: Debby, Imee, Me]The first noticeable difference about the city of Dar es Salaam is the extreme heat and humidity. I’ve gotten used to the hot days in Arusha, but the nights are always nice and cool. Not so in Dar. In the evening the temp was still hovering around 85-90 and 100% humidity. After a quick dip in the pool, we all got ready for an Ethiopian dinner before Imee jetted off to Europe for the holidays. The food was delicious! Ethiopian meals are served family style on a large platter of spongy bread. Each dish is dumped out onto the bread and you tear pieces away and scoop up the sauce and dish of your desire. My favorites were the lamb and the cottage cheese(more like Indian paneer cheese)/spinach dishes. After dinner we went for a round of trivia at an Irish pub. A friend of mine who I met in Arusha but lives in Dar took a few of us to a local bar as an escape from the expat saturated bar we were at.

The next day we spent lounging next to the pool, relaxing with our books. For lunch we walked down the road to a shopping center where I spotted chocolate mint ice cream. That was a much better substitute to lunch in the hot hot weather. After lunch it was back to the pool to cool off. That night we picked up another arriving friend from Arusha who would be joining us in Zanzibar. The morning of our departure from Dar, we made a much needed pit stop at good ole Mr. Price! This was the largest one I’d been in with an amazing selection of tshirts, jeans, and all things I love: ) Thankfully we made it just in the nic of time to catch the afternoon ferry to Zanzibar Island. To ward off any seasickness I slept most of the 2 hr boat ride (and it was my afternoon nap time).

I thought it was hot in Dar-but it was even hotter in Zanzibar! To make matters worse, the power in Zanzibar was out, meaning no electricity for air conditioning or even fans! Our hotel did have a generator, but as good conservationists they only turned the generators on from 6-9pm. Unfortunately our room had only a single window that faced a small, center courtyard with no breeze. I sweated through the night sleeping like a star fish spread across my bed. However, despite the heat-Stonetown was pretty amazing! The architecture is Arabian inspired, the streets winding and narrow, and the attitude laid back like many beach towns. The highlight of Stonetown was the Forodhani Gardens; a public space where vendors set up shop at night and sell skewers of fresh seafood, fruit, Zanzibari pizza, sugar cane juice, and falafel.
[Photo 2. SEAFOOD GALORE]
We tried everything from lobster to shrimp to marlin, tuna, and barracuda! The verdict is: seafood is delicious! Zanzibari pizza is more like an omelet with chopped onion, tomato, pepper, and beef. My favorite desert was definitely the fresh slice of pineapple.

While in Stonetown, Heather, Debby and I decided to take a Christmas Eve day spice tour. Zanzibar historically was a major port for spices. Many are native to Zanzibar, but many also were brought over by the Portuguese, Spanish (?), and English. We saw, smelled and tried many things including vanilla, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, lemon grass, and ginger.

[Photo 3. Heather and I smelling Lemon Grass] Towards the end of the tour we also had a chance to try the abundant fruits of Zanzibar: passion fruit, jackfruit, oranges, papaya, pineapple, coco, and star fruit. The fragrance through the woods was amazing!
After the spice tour we attempted to withdraw money from the ATM-luckily, I had brought US dollars and could exchange at a bureau, but Debby and Heather were in dire need of an ATM. In true African fashion, none of the ATMs around Stonetown were working; partly due to the power outage and partly due to ‘nothing ever works in Africa.’ We ran from bank to bank and ATM to ATM with no luck. Finally a nice Zanzibarian took pity on us and offered us a lift to another bank. We finally found one that worked and the girls were able to take out money! This new friend turned out to be our savior-very fitting on Christmas Eve, even if he was Muslim. In return we invited him to our evening gathering. The night was great! We met up with my roommate Kala and another Arusha friend Megan at a near by bar where the special entertainment was an Arabian fire dance show!
[Photo 4. Fire starter, Xmas Eve]

On Christmas day, Heather, Debby and I travelled across the island to Jambiani for some beach time! It turned out that our new friend just so happened to grow up in Jambiani and offered to drive us to the town. Six of us piled into the car and took off for an adventure on the beach.
[Photo 5. The Jambiani Gang] Debby and I were ecstatic to see water-Arusha swimming pools just doesn’t cut it. The cool thing about this beach trip was that I can now add the Indian Ocean to places I’ve been! The water was crystal clear and warm, the sand white and powdery soft! On our second beach day we went up the coast to a private beach where we were the only people for miles in all directions! That is except for the fisherman who caught our lunch! While we waited for our fish to cook, we sipped milk from freshly picked coconuts and floated in the water. Truly an amazing holiday!

[Photo 6. Coconut Freshi (they say freshi in swahili)]

While I loved my escape to the island, I was looking forward to be back in the cool temps of Arusha! I guess when you miss being in your familiar surroundings, that’s when it’s really home.

Parties, Celebrations, Graduations Galore

Wk of 12/11-12/18


This week has been full of ceremonies and celebrations. On Friday the 11th, Jackie invited me to a graduation ceremony at ECOLI-the pre-school she has worked with for the past 6mo. These children will be moving on to primary school starting in late January. The school year here is Jan-Dec, with a few holiday breaks throughout. I was optimistic in thinking I was merely attending the ceremony as an audience member; of course I would be a ‘guest of honor’ and required to sit at the head table along with the District Ward Officer, a ECOLI board member, the assistant director of the school and Jackie. The ceremony was quite formal, with readings by the District Ward Officer and another guest of honor who preached the importance of education—to preschoolers, mind you. and not in a tone you’d usually address 5 yr olds… The children as usual were cute as could be. They marched into the ceremony singing and doing a little dance step.The families were very excited for their babies to be receiving recognition of moving on in their education, each mama or family member providing a lay and a gift to the child as their name was read for their ‘diploma.’ Despite the meager resources, ECOLI provided a light lunch for all which included samosa, sausage, potatoes, chipati (Indian style flat bread), fruit, and a soda.

The following Monday, Jackie organized a party for all the children of ECOLI-not just the graduates-at a local playground.
Many of these children (and their parents as well) have never left the neighborhood of Unga Limited. Unga=flour. The neighborhood is in an industrial part of town where the flour mills are located. As in the states, usually the neighborhoods closest to the industrial zones are quite poor. This field trip across town was quite an event for these children! When they first arrived at the playground, it was evident they were unsure what to do. But with some encouragement and a few demonstrations, they went wild! The kids ran from the slide to the swings to the merry-go-round. As I pushed kids on swings, blew bubbles, and played chase, I imagined myself as a ‘recess duty attendants’ at Lincoln Elementary School. I did not however, blow my whistle or make badly behaved kids stand on the brick wall for the recess period.

Later in the week I was invited to another party at the other site Jackie volunteers at, Shika. It just so happens that my other two roommates, Kala and Asa, work at Shika as well. I thought I would attend the party as a visitor, play with a few kids, help pass out lunch, however when Friday rolled around, Jackie ended up very sick and Kala was just out of town with a flat tire. Asa (pronounced O-sa) was desperate for help. Together we lugged 30 kilos of frozen chicken, a gift from Meat King, to the center that would be prepared for the kids’ lunch. Once there I was thrown into the mix painting faces, organizing ball games, and directing the parachute games. It was quite chaotic! (This school center is quite different from ECOLI in that it is sponsored and run by a British group that brings in many volunteers. The kids are used to seeing Westerners for about 2wks at a time and being showered with gifts and resources for the center. My social work background in a therapeutic preschool tells me this is not the ideal set up for children who are vulnerable and have attachment issues with adults. But I guess that’s my perspective.)

Despite my concerns about how the center runs the children are still children and deserve as much fun as they can get. The face paint was a hit! After painting all the kids, it was my turn. The kids turned their brushes on me and went to town. Even though I thought I had washed my face thoroughly, I realized after an entire afternoon of walking around town I had an orange tinted moustache.
Thanks kids!


Both school centers, and all Tz schools for that matter, are now on holiday break until about the 2nd week or so of January. So I get a little reprieve from parties and ceremonies. However, I’m gearing up for the arrival of my first shipment of school text books from Books for Africa! The container is due to arrive in Dar es Salaam around Jan 12th. From there the container will be shipped up by semi truck to Arusha were we will begin the sorting and distribution process.

An Eventful Week in Arusha

11/22/09-11/27/09

Birthday, Graduation, Thanksgiving
[Photos: 1) Megan and I celebrating our birthdays-both 11/22 babies; 2) Jackie and the giant tortoise at Arusha School; 3) Teacher graduates entering the ceremony with a song and dance; 4) Thanksgiving dinner at the New Arusha Hotel-Me, Jackie, and Heather enjoying our turkey, mashed taters, and wine (we talked the server into 'all you can drink wine')]

I have many favorite foods but at the top of the list are Thai and Indian cuisines. In Arusha, I’ve had no luck finding Thai, but Indian food is plentiful here. Last weekend, I started my birthday weekend celebration with a dinner at Big Bite with a few new contacts from my old stomping ground. Thanks to Lizz, the ever-networking-wonder that she is, I have new UMN friends who are doing their medical residency here at the Lutheran Hospital. So over a meal of mutton korma and naan we talked about Minneapolis and Arusha.
Since I share my birthday with another gal here, we decided we’d treat ourselves to a nice dinner on Saturday night before going out for the night. We went to a nice restaurant owned by an Australian and ate steak with blue cheese! Afterwards we all went across the road to a local favorite, Shooters, for some karaoke. Together Megan and I celebrated 62 years! It was a fun night, despite the fact that I was quite exhausted on Sunday for my real birthday. However, my roommates wouldn’t allow me to have an easy day and insisted I continue the birthday celebration until midnight Sunday night.

After an eventful birthday weekend, I jumped into the work week by making arrangements for the arrival of the Books for Africa shipment. Things move quite slowly here in terms of work pace, and as the holiday season approaches things are slowing to a snail’s pace! Its becoming more and more difficult to make appointments with necessary officials and plans continuously are cancelled. But I expect that everything will still manage to get accomplished.
The middle of the work week was marked by attending a graduation ceremony for a teacher training program. The program/preschool Jackie works at also hosts a teacher training program. About 35 or so teachers completed the course and are now certified as teachers with a specialty for early childhood education. Ceremonies in Africa are of a different breed. The decorations are always reminiscent of prom circa 1988, there is always a skit or dramatization involved, the ceremony lasts for hours! and the food served always involves an intestine or two. Despite not understanding a word of the ceremony, the celebration is always enjoyable.
Many of the graduates were women in their 40s and above and the joy and pride on the faces of their husbands and families was very touching. For me the highlight of the graduation was seeing the giant tortoise in the courtyard that lives at the school. Who has an actual tortoise as their mascot? I must admit it puts the LaPorte Slicers’ mascot to shame.


I often get emails asking about things and foods that I eat here or foods that I can’t get…Even though I’m a million miles away, this Thursday I still was able to eat my turkey and mashed potatoes! My American roommate and another new American girl went to a nice hotel in town for a special dinner. For 35,000 Tanzanian shillings (~$25) we had a full Thanksgiving meal complete with a mini pumpkin pie and champagne!



Throughout the whole week I watched two friends’ 10wk old puppy. For those who know me and my stance on having children, this week has confirmed my belief. I should not be responsible for any children for more than a few hours at a time. I like dogs (and children), but I don’t like having to constantly take care of it, clean up after it, watch it to make sure it doesn’t eat something on the floor, and then be woken up to make it breakfast before I’m ready to get up! Not to mention, I didn’t just pour dog food out of a bag into a bowl. I had to make a special porridge from water and flour with fresh fish or meat. Ugh! Even though its a really cute German Sheppard puppy, but I was so happy when the friends returned and took the puppy home. And their payment for my services was a spice boat from Zanzibar! Now I have saffron, red and yellow curries as well as fresh tea!

Daily Grind

Weeks of 11/1/09-11/20/09

During the last two weeks I have been busy with work in the Arusha Region, travel to Dar es Salaam to visit a friend from home, and a whole lot of trivial pursuit. Did you know that a snail’s reproductive organs are located in its head? Just a little factoid you might want to commit to memory.

I had the good fortune to be invited to a grant writing workshop with Jackie. The school she works for does pre-primary education which is not supported by the government. The program is struggling, but the director understands and believes in the importance of early childhood education. The teachers have been coming to work with no pay for many months. They are dedicated, to say the least.
Jackie, Juhudi and I sat with an expert grant writer and defined the programs activities. This was the third step in the process of organizing before writing the grant. The program has applied three times before and been unsuccessful, but with the help of this woman and the thorough process I hope the program will receive sustainable funding.

The children at the school are absolutely darling! I’m not a big baby person, but these kids are SO cute! When you walk into the classroom, they all jump up, put their hand to their forehead like a salute, and sing a song to welcome you. They then run and hug you and just want to hold your hand. Despite the fact that the program resources are stretched so thin, the school has recently begun to welcome in the young neighborhood children who sit outside the door and windows watching. So a new class of 2 year olds has formed. Since each of the other teachers was busy teaching the other ‘classes,’ I attempted to entertain the minis-it was more damage control as they were beginning to throw the picture books at one another-Building Blocks moment! I sang the only song I could think of: Head, shoulders, knees and toes. It worked! Even though they had NO idea what I was saying, they liked the movements. The school was thinking that it would be better for them to at least come into the school and have exposure to a classroom setting, but I think it may actually be more disturbing to the other three classrooms that are going on.
Shika is another school program that Jackie works at, as well as my other two roommates. One afternoon I visited the afterschool program to speak to the staff and see the program in action. Very action oriented it is! The children were very rambunctious; playing soccer, doing yoga, playing a game with tennis balls-all in a very small yard with two big, obnoxious dogs in the mix. The program had invited a local Rasta musician to do a music session with the kids. However, he failed to show up, so Asa organized the kids to do their own music show. It was quite funny to watch these kids sing and dance to local pop music as well as their favorite-Michael Jackson.

Aside from work, I was able to travel to Dar es Salaam to visit my old MCH buddy, Imee! Since my bus left at 5.30am on Friday morning, I thought it would be best if I just stayed up all night and then slept on the bus. So Thursday night, I went out with my roommates until the early morning when I ran home, gathered my bag and chased the bus down. Off I went to Dar. Dar is very different from Arusha. Even though Arusha has 400,000+ people and is definitely a big town, Dar is a proper city. With a mall! And fastfood! Imee’s apartment is quite nice complete with cable and music videos  After a quick dip in the pool, Imee and I got ready for a run way show for Swahili Fashion Week. It was great! The fashions ranged from super chic to bizarre to wearable. After the show we relaxed at a posh hotel bar where I got fresh calamari, yum! The next day I accompanied Imee and her roommate to White Sands Resort where Imee started her scuba diving training. Tom and I reclined under a grass hut next to the pool for the day, drinking soda and soaking up the sun (through layers of SPF 50). It was a short but sweet weekend trip! I was ready to take on the coming work week refreshed!

This week Kala and I have taken to an afternoon ritual of sitting in the living room, eating ‘cayenne pepper cheese roll’*(patent pending on the snack), and quizzing each other with Trivial Pursuit for hours on end. Watch out, I may be the next one to win on Who wants to be a millionaire. What was the first country to legalize abortion in 1935?
A. Germany
B. India
C. Iceland
D. Canada

Answer to come in the next blog!

Exploration
10/28/09

This weekend I had the opportunity to explore beyond Arusha city into the surrounding area. On Saturday a group of friends decided on an impromptu trek to Maji Moto-a natural spring between Arusha and Moshi that flows from Kilimanjaro. So after rushing around, I hopped in the back of a truck and off we went.

The drive took us on a paved road toward Moshi. After 45 minutes of driving, we turned onto a dirt road into the bush. Driving for another 30 minutes on a rocky, dusty road left me covered in dirt and with tangled hair. The farther out we traveled, the dryer and dustier it got. Mountains stood tall in the distance beyond the expansive flat landscape. As we drew nearer to the springs I noticed the classic African giants, Baobob trees. Unfortunately, my camera was buried in my bag and therefore no photos of the trees. Suddenly, amidst the dry scrub bush and rocks, a few green palms sprouted up. We had reached Maji Moto, a true oasis!

Maji Moto, or warm water, was absolutely beautiful! It was amazing not only because it was beautiful, green, and clear blue water-but because it appeared out of nowhere. After exploring a bit and testing the water, our crew set up for a bbq. Due to my fear of schistomiasis, I decided against swimming in the water. Although I think it was perfectly safe-no snails, no schist-I decided to watch the others. I saw a big turtle and little tadpoles. The scene was amazing- the crystal clear, aquamarine water surrounded by lush green palms and ferns.

My companions came prepared for a feast. All afternoon we grilled steak, chicken, fish, and potatoes on the open fire. The afternoon definitely goes down in the books as one of the best experiences to date!



Yesterday I had the chance to travel in the opposite direction and visit a village and project site-Oldonyo Sambu. My roommate works for an NGO that my NGO often partners with. We(I) place volunteers on their projects based on the volunteer’s interest. The project in Oldonyo Sambu is a water project. The current system is a single pipeline that runs into the village. However, if something were to happen at the top of the line, water is cut off. They are currently working on a better system that adds additional pipes for back up, and also to spread the sources of water once it reaches the town.


Kala and I borrowed a mini pickup truck and drove out on the bumpy road to visit the site and family that hosts volunteers. Again, the weather has been so dry, the landscape is barren and brown. Several times we practically had to stop due to the strong winds kicking up dust. We couldn’t see anything in the dust storm.


When we reached the homestay, the daughter of the family squished into the pickup with us to travel to the school site where the father works. So once again, we took the little truck off roading. Kala kept saying, ‘I’ve lost the road,’ however I couldn’t even tell that we were on a road-there didn’t seem to be any difference from the dirt road and the dirt land. Since we were guests at the school, we were served egg and a pepsi at the ‘canteen.’ After visiting with the headmaster of the school and several teachers we headed back to the homestay. But in true African fashion, we gave several young school kids a lift in the back. With the extra weight in the back, eventually our little truck got stuck in the sand. Again, in true African fashion-everyone jumps out to help! They school kids were able to rock the truck out of the rut and back on track.

It was quite an adventure. While the life style in a small town is very different from city living in the US, the difference between the two is even more drastic in Tz. It was a nice to see something new and different, but I’m glad I have a few more amenities where I live!


(the structure to the left is a pen for the animals; goats, cows...)

How the other half lives

How the other half lives

10/22/09

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a chance to see up close and personal how the other half of the world lives. Ibrahim is a friend from Dar es Salaam who has made it his personal mission to show me the true Tanzanian life and people. So far our excursions have included visits to neighborhoods like Mianzini and Kaloleni, true local restaurants for chips, kuku and football games, a small music production studio, and even a Muslim funeral. I get the distinct feeling that its as much of a trip for me as it is for the people I’ve met. Not many foreigners venture to these places-evident by the surprised look on people’s faces when I enter.

It was quite interesting to participate in the funeral ceremony. The mourning/funeral period for this family was about 5 days long. The deceased was a good friend of Ibrahim’s and young wife and mother. She had been ill for awhile and finally succumbed. She left behind a 3month old baby girl, such sad story. Many people in the community came by the house the women to pay their condolences and offerings of sugar, tea, or money. As in traditional Islamic fashion, the women stay in one room, the men come in to say hello, but then congregate in a separate room or area. I greeted the women of the group and stayed with them while my friends went to stay with the men. Unfortunately, due to my lack of language abilities I couldn’t say much to the women and thus sat quietly trying to pick up on the conversations. I was invited to stay with the family for the next day’s ceremony. It was the last day of the mourning period and the sheik would be at the house to conduct the prayers. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up for two reasons-I’m not sure when I will have such an opportunity again, and I couldn’t be so rude as to refuse a personal invitation from the family. In the morning I sat quietly with the women again in the living room and was served chai tea and mandazi-fried sweet bread, much like a donut hole. They give you a heaping plate of mandazi, the other women finished their plates, but I could only eat so many donut holes. The tea was amazing! The word for tea is chai, so I was surprised that the chai served was actually what I would consider chai-Indian style chai.

After breakfast I hung out with my friend and the husband until about noon when the sheik arrived. Since I was in a tshirt and jeans, the husband borrowed Kanga (the African fabric that every woman wears) from his mother. Ibrahim and Mohammed wrapped me in the kanga and even wrapped my head properly. If there was anything I learned its that no fair skin woman can look good wrapped up like a muslim woman. I was invited out into the living room where the ceremony had begun, but had to sit off in an adjoining room since women and men don’t participate jointly in Islamic traditions. While I couldn’t understand everything, I could get the jist of the process. The sheik led the men in prayer often doing a ‘call and response’ type and then invited the people present to call out the names of deceased family members to offer respect and remembrance. After awhile I was led back to another part of the house-I think due to additional ceremonial things during which women can’t be present-but not sure.



Apparently as my friend led me away, the sheik has joking offered to convert me and then perform a marriage ceremony when he was done with the funeral ceremony. (At least I think he was joking…) In the more traditional areas women are not often friends with men. Either they are married or looking to marry. Many of my friends here are more progressive, but when you enter into some of the neighborhoods with an African male, the first question you are asked is if he is your husband-to-be. A follow up question is often how many kids do you have. One woman was shocked that at 26 I had no kids. ‘Not even one?!’ she demanded. After I convinced her that I had none, she asked if I could help her find a husband-a white husband. So for all you single (white) men out there, there’s a lovely, independent woman with 5 children who runs her own shop who is looking for love.
Bdai

Nairobi Weekend

Nairobi weekend
10/12/09







(Photos from the Awards Show 1.Wyclef Hosting MAMA, 2.Akon performing, 3.Jackie and I in the crowd, 4.The End)

This past weekend, I was invited to join some friends on a trip to the MTV African Music Awards (MAMA) in Nairobi. Of course I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. So on Friday afternoon, I left Arusha with three friends on a shuttle bus. Jackie, Johanna, Idi and I rode 8+hours down a dusty, bumpy road. The trip really isn’t that far, but the fact that we have to drive on a rocky road makes things slower. Tz is experiencing a severe drought this year, and so the land is extremely dry. While people would try to shut the bus windows to keep the dust out, it was impossible. At times it was difficult to breathe from the dust trapped in the bus. The other bad thing was that I had to sit on the isle seat, which is a folding seat. The back support didn’t stay up, so for 8hrs I was basically sitting on a stool trying to keep myself from bouncing out of the bus.

When we finally arrived, I was covered in dust and starving! Idi’s friends picked us up from the station and thankfully took us to Kenchick Inn-a fast food chicken and chips restaurant. While waiting for the rest of our food, Jackie, Johanna and I managed to scarf down an entire heaping plate of masala chips-YUM! I think that was the best meal of my life (maybe not best, but most satisfying for my starvation). While I was feeling better from the food, I was soon sadly disappointed to find that there was no water at Harry’s house for a shower, not even to wash my face. A ½ bottle of water left over from the bus ride was my only water source. After a long, tiring night the four of us crashed at a hotel in downtown Nairobi. For those of you who have been to Nairobi, you’ll understand the setting and the drastic difference between Nairobi and the rest of Africa. Its a very modern, ‘western’ city compared to the rest of the continent. However, even in the modern city at a modern hotel-there was no water to shower:(

Saturday night the four of us met up with a few other friends from Arusha to go to the MAMA show. The event was fantastic! I was quite impressed with Wyclef as a host, and all the talent that performed. East Africa swept the show winning a good majority of the awards. It was awesome to see the songs I hear all the time performed live. Akon was definitely a favorite among the crowd, and those of us from Arusha were so excited to see a Tanzanian song performed live, however you could tell by the rest of the crowd’s reaction that is hasn’t been played much beyond Tz.

The ride back was much better as we caught a ride with a friend. Riding in a personal car cuts off about 2-3hrs of travel time compared to a bus. Unfortunately though, there were many of use scrunched into an SUV, so there were four of us in the back seat. Thankfully Jackie has the same American standards as I for safety, even though we were scrunched we shared a seatbelt.

Even though it was short trip, Jackie and I were very glad to be back in Arusha where the people are kind and the water flows freely in the shower!!

Candlelight nights
10/8/09

Life in Arusha isn’t all that different from home. There are many luxuries that I’ve lived without for many years-tv, dishwasher, clothes dryer (that was to save $), power. But when its not a choice, I suddenly desire those things-at the very least a washing machine! This week I attempted to wash my clothes by hand. It was a miserable attempt. I’m not sure what the technique is, but I definitely have soap still in my clothes. Maybe next time I’ll ask Mama Vivian to show me the right way.

The food has been great. While I try to cook at home as much as possible, it gets boring sometimes and I must venture out! I’ve had a lot of kuku (chicken), chips (fries), and ndizi (banana). I had really good Indian food, pizza, and my all time favorite-the Healthy drink. There is a really nice little lodge/trinket shop/ restaurant/coffee shop named the Blue Heron-it is most definitely a Muzungu hang out. But they offer free wifi with any food or drink purchase. So sometimes I mosey on over for a Healthy drink and an email. The Healthy drink is amazing if not only for its flavor for its amazing color- what could taste better than bright fuchsia liquid. I’m pretty sure there is beet juice in it that gives it that awesome pink color. But the other ingredients are a mystery!

Another favorite dish is Chipsi Mye (pronounced my eye), or a french fry omelet. Oh the British, what a great influence they were. (a little language tip-if you don’t know the Swahili word, just try adding a ‘y’ sound to the end of the English word and chances are you’ve got it-chips=chipsi!) Chips Mye is also a great after bar food. There is a little street vendor that is open only at midnight and later for those bar go-ers who need a midnight snack. Sorry Uptown Diner, you’ve got nothing on the Chips Mye guys!

While I try to save money and take it easy on the week nights, it can be quite boring when night after night; the lights go out at 7pm, and you’re stuck in the house with only candles and a book. If it’s a planned outage-couldn’t they at least wait until 10pm. But 7pm your house becomes a prison. Its not very safe to walk at night; partly because its so pitch black at night you really do risk hurting yourself, and partly because you can be a walking target for mugging. Last night was a night home in the dark. While a dinner table lit with candles sounds very romantic, eating banana bread with your roommate Bridget Jones-style isn’t so romantic after all.

In other news, Kanye West was in town last week after climbing Kilimanjaro and Madonna is here now. My theory is that Kanye is laying low after making an idiot out of himself at the music awards show. Unfortunately he did not grace us with an impromptu performance at Masaai Camp Saturday night. Our stalking abilities are failing us once again as we can’t seem to find out what hotel Madonna is staying at now.

Hopefully this weekend will prove to be eventful and blog worthy.

Adventures of Arusha Town

Adventures of Arusha town

9/29/09

I’ve been acclimating to life here in Tz, learning my way around the town and practicing my greetings. I haven’t been brave enough yet to try a dalla dalla (mini bus) on my own into town, so I’ve been walking everywhere. The other options for transportation are of course car taxis, motorcycle taxis and bicycle taxis. I’m dying to try a piki piki (bicycle taxi)! They ride so fast down the street all you hear is a whiz as they fly by. It does help that the road is going downhill. Here is a picture of Mt. Meru which sits just behind the neighborhood I live in and provides a picturesque scene for me as I walk home. Mt. Meru used to be taller than Kilimanjaro, but blew its top off and is now the 5^th highest mt (I believe). This is the scene I walk home to each down with the beautiful purple blooms of the Jacaranda trees!

9/30/09

Today was a big day! Not only did I take a dalla dalla-twice, but I also caught a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) into town! The dalla dalla was of course packed to the max-It’s between the size of a minivan and a full size van and can seat about 3 and ½ people comfortable on a bench, but they always cram 4 grown adults on the bench, and have two-three people standing by the door. Of course they tried to overcharge (I’m white, therefore I’m rich and can afford to be ripped off- right?!) but I was proud of my bargaining skills.

After a morning full of running errands, I had to go back into town to meet Lyne to exchange paperwork for my residency permit. So to save my poor legs from walking all the way into town-again, I caught a boda boda. Personal and public safety is not a highly valued concept, and very few people wear helmets. I’m not sure I’ll ride on one again, as I like the way my head looks, but at least I tried it once. Plus my eyes were tearing the whole way!

On the job front, I’m setting up meetings with local organizations to continue the hard work Asa did as the previous Program Development Officer. Getting to know the community partners is essential especially when new volunteers seek placements in January. Visions is also a partner with Books for Africa. Both Asa and Sarah, the program development officer in Moshi, have been working hard for many months to assess schools’ needs for books and figure out logistics of distribution. Moshi will be expecting their shipping container, which holds 2000+ books, soon. Arusha will receive theirs in the near future, as soon as I figure out exactly what type of books to fill the container and to which schools they will be delivered. Asa has already done most of the grunt work for this part, and its only a matter of finalizing the details (sounds easy enough…right…).

As for the social scene, Jackie and Kala have been gracious enough to bring me into their circle of friends. Several nights I’ve gone out for dinner and drinks with their posse. It can be quite wild here-often people don’t go out til late and stay out til the early morning. I’ve always been a night owl, but I’ll have to remember to put that owl to bed, for work comes awfully early!

Arusha Arrival

(above are photos of the spacious livingroom, my bedroom, and the folks I spent time with on Monday including Jackie and Kala (the white woman in african outfit in the back))

I arrived Sun night at Kilimanjaro after traveling for what seemed like a decade. I somehow managed to hoist my 3, overweight bags onto a cart and navigate outside where Baba Vivian (father of Vivian) and his two boys were waiting for me. Baba Vivian lives on the same property as the Vision’s house and often picks up Visions newcomers at the airport. On the 50km ride from the airport to Arusha, he assured me that Tanzanians were very different from Zambians in that they are much friendlier, so my expectations are already high! It was much too dark to see the landscape, but I did notice many people stumbling alongside the highway. I thought maybe this was normal, however it turns out that Sun was Eid, or the end of Ramadan. Everyone was out to celebrate-much like Mardi Gras and Lent but in reverse, and without all the beads and feather masks. My housemate Jackie greeted me at the house when I finally arrived. Luckily the house had power (apparently a rarity after 6pm) probably due to Eid. Jackie gave me a tour of the house and the low down on everything!

The house is quite spacious with a large living room, kitchen and pantry, 4 or 5 bedrooms, and bathroom. Currently living in the house is Jackie, an American from Rhode Island volunteering for Visions; Kala, a British expat who is fluent in Swahili, has lived in Zanzibar and mainland Tz for 9 years (in addition to a year in Zambia and some time in Kenya), and coincidentally works for the same local org that Jackie is placed at through Visions; Asa, a Swede who previously held my position; and another gal who is off in a field doing work on her PhD in nutrition. Asa and the other woman are out of town but eventually I’ll meet them. My room is also large, with two beds, a desk, and a very generous closet-YAY!

Since my sleep was pretty messed up, I ended up sleeping all of Monday morning until Kala woke me up at noon to get ready and meet Jackie for lunch. Because of Eid, Monday was also a national holiday and most everything was shut. Therefore a group of us pretty much just hung out all day. At lunch Kala brought along a volunteer who will be working at her org in addition to her many friends. The Blue Heron was a good choice to ease Patrick (the other volunteer) and me into Arusha with a menu of Muzungu (white or Western) food. After a 4 hour lunch we eventually moved onto lodge with a pool. I find these places quite interesting in that you drive down a road (although it barely qualifies as a road) through a poor neighborhood and then arrive at a gate behind which is a well manicured lawn and chlorinated swimming pool. A major contradiction. After swimming, we moved on to restaurant and bar for kuku and chips-fried chicken and French fries, a pretty common meal at a Tz restaurant. The Tanzanians definitely lived up to their hospitable reputation and kept my glass filled with the local Kilimanjaro beer.

Tues and Wed I met with Lyne, the Tanzanian woman who works for Visions, and toured the city with Jackie as my guide. I’m starting to get my bearings and know where a few key landmarks are. It’s a dusty place and even though I’m wearing close-toed shoes, my feet are filthy by the end of the day, but that’s all part of the experience. There is some amazing scenery too, like the blooming Jacaranda trees which have the most beautiful purple flowers that hang over the street. I’m picking up a few Swahili phrases, but think it would be helpful to have a few lessons. Perhaps next time I post, I’ll be fluent in the language! The adventure continues...

Preparations

Next week I depart for a year long adventure in Arusha, Tanzania. Hopefully by that time I will be packed and mentally prepared for the 20+hours of traveling to get to the site. I'm sure I'll be running around at the last minute looking for some essential item-but that's the only way I know how to travel.

There I will be working as a 'supported volunteer' doing a lot of networking with local organizations in addition to the Ministries of Health and Education to support social and economic development. I'll also be doing a lot of writing to help get a health program up and off the ground by hopefully securing some funding! I'll be working for Visions in Action, a nonprofit based in DC that works internationally. I'm also excited to meet up with a few doctors who are doing great work in Tz and have connections to MN. That way I can keep my experience relevant to public health!

I'll be close to Mt. Kilimanjaro, so for those of you who are adventurous, come climb Kili and stay in Arusha! I hear great things about the area with Indian influences in the food, beautiful crafts made by the Maasai tribes people, and of course the amazing views!

Stay tuned for more...