22.12.09
20.12.09
I'd take a non-white Christmas as long as I'm home for it.
Oh, goodness.
We're about to check out of our hotel, in PARIS STILL, and head to the airport. None of which was planned.
The problem was a 14 hour train ride from Paris to......Paris. We were not one of the trains *stuck* in the Chunnel, but we sat outside it waiting for the chance to go in. And eventually decided just to go back to Paris. So Em and I got a hotel right next to the train station, and worked with the 'rents to find a way to London. We're now flying there from Charles De Gaulle. Hopefully that flight's not cancelled. Then we have 14 more hours in Heathrow, and then fly to Chicago. If all goes well, we will have had a hell of a time travelling, but will still get to Chicago at the normal time. As long as I make it by Christmas.
So Emily missed out on London, but we got a private hotel room and internet. And the hotel and our meals will be reimbursed by the train people. You win some, you lose some I guess.
We'll probably buy more internet in Heathrow, so I might get one more blog entry in before I'm HOME.
We're about to check out of our hotel, in PARIS STILL, and head to the airport. None of which was planned.
The problem was a 14 hour train ride from Paris to......Paris. We were not one of the trains *stuck* in the Chunnel, but we sat outside it waiting for the chance to go in. And eventually decided just to go back to Paris. So Em and I got a hotel right next to the train station, and worked with the 'rents to find a way to London. We're now flying there from Charles De Gaulle. Hopefully that flight's not cancelled. Then we have 14 more hours in Heathrow, and then fly to Chicago. If all goes well, we will have had a hell of a time travelling, but will still get to Chicago at the normal time. As long as I make it by Christmas.
So Emily missed out on London, but we got a private hotel room and internet. And the hotel and our meals will be reimbursed by the train people. You win some, you lose some I guess.
We'll probably buy more internet in Heathrow, so I might get one more blog entry in before I'm HOME.
14.12.09
HOME IN A WEEK. WHAT THE WHAT?
I got to the Dublin bus stop in plenty of time to catch the bus to the ferry. I asked information where it would be and went there half an hour beforehand. I found other people also catching the ferry bus. When it was 15 minutes late, one of the other people went back to information to ask. Everyone was talking about how the bus doesn't run if the ferry's cancelled and one time they didn't make it to London until 9 the next morning! I was certain everything was going to be ruined and I wouldn't even make it to Paris.
Turns out, we did miss the bus (it did NOT come where they said it was going to come), but we just shared a cab instead. Me, an old English woman, an old Irishman, a middle aged Irishman, and our cabbie. They were hilarious and vulgar and I loved them. The old man was adorable and the woman was spitfire. Fantastic time.
Then the entire day was spent travelling, which really wasn't so bad. I got pretty used to it in Africa, and then I'd be in a truck on a bumpy bumpy bumpy road, with bugs around. So hours on a train isn't that big of a deal.
The hostel in London was awful--bad management, too many beds in a room, the person next to me reading with a giant fluorescent light on over my head. But all I did was sleep there, then the next morning on a train to Paris.
I really do love that city. I love the river and the streets and the people. I love that I know it well enough that I got around without a map, and that there are places of which I have memories. I walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, which was good but cold & difficult to do with a rolling suitcase. Then to the train station via metro.
Honestly, Europeans need to learn how to make train stations. Or really, just how to make them INDOORS. Open air train stations do me no good when it's freezing outside. Mont Parnasse was cold and the only place to sit was in chairs without backs. Not. Cool. When I got too cold I just went into a heated bookshop and flipped through People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue, so it wasn't so bad.
And then NANTES! It took a bit of time to find Emily at the train station, but I found her and I love her and I'm so happy to be with someone I know! We went out for food with one of her friends and talked for a really long time, then Skyped with our parents on a horrible connection that made them sound like robots, and then bed. Today has been her studying and me interneting mostly. It's nice to have a down day after so much travel and ado. (I may or may not have already watched all of 30 Rock that I missed).
Whenever I try to speak French it comes out as Swahili, Sijui and Ndiyo and Hapana instead of Je ne sais pas and Oui and Non. So I just smile awkwardly and let Emily talk.
Turns out, we did miss the bus (it did NOT come where they said it was going to come), but we just shared a cab instead. Me, an old English woman, an old Irishman, a middle aged Irishman, and our cabbie. They were hilarious and vulgar and I loved them. The old man was adorable and the woman was spitfire. Fantastic time.
Then the entire day was spent travelling, which really wasn't so bad. I got pretty used to it in Africa, and then I'd be in a truck on a bumpy bumpy bumpy road, with bugs around. So hours on a train isn't that big of a deal.
The hostel in London was awful--bad management, too many beds in a room, the person next to me reading with a giant fluorescent light on over my head. But all I did was sleep there, then the next morning on a train to Paris.
I really do love that city. I love the river and the streets and the people. I love that I know it well enough that I got around without a map, and that there are places of which I have memories. I walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, which was good but cold & difficult to do with a rolling suitcase. Then to the train station via metro.
Honestly, Europeans need to learn how to make train stations. Or really, just how to make them INDOORS. Open air train stations do me no good when it's freezing outside. Mont Parnasse was cold and the only place to sit was in chairs without backs. Not. Cool. When I got too cold I just went into a heated bookshop and flipped through People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue, so it wasn't so bad.
And then NANTES! It took a bit of time to find Emily at the train station, but I found her and I love her and I'm so happy to be with someone I know! We went out for food with one of her friends and talked for a really long time, then Skyped with our parents on a horrible connection that made them sound like robots, and then bed. Today has been her studying and me interneting mostly. It's nice to have a down day after so much travel and ado. (I may or may not have already watched all of 30 Rock that I missed).
Whenever I try to speak French it comes out as Swahili, Sijui and Ndiyo and Hapana instead of Je ne sais pas and Oui and Non. So I just smile awkwardly and let Emily talk.
11.12.09
The headline will read, "Donaghy saves GE comma marries your mom"
I got up an hour later today, meaning I slept through half an hour of daylight, but I needed it.
I actually slept through the football game I was going to watch two nights ago too. Which is horribly depressing, because the next game isn't until tomorrow, so I missed my only shot to watch football in an Irish pub. :(
But I think I'm on the edge of getting sick. I felt awful yesterday morning, nose running and stomach hurting--though that may have only been because I stuffed my face at breakfast. It's free, so I feel like I have to eat as much as humanly possible.
The biggest problem yesterday morning was actually the map, which was neither correct nor complete. It warned me, says right on it that it's not to scale, but still. The walk from Guinness to the Gaol looks to be maybe a sixth the length of the walk from the hostel to Guinness, but it took the same amount of time.
Once I got there though, it was incredibly worth it. Kilmainham Gaol, a jail that has bene part of 6 different Irish rebellions, including the 1916 Easter uprising and the Irish Civil War. I went on a guided tour with two other people and the guide, who was awesome. (Except he made fun of me for not knowing my history based on the fact that I didn't know Charles Stewart captained the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. I mean, honestly.)
Also, at the end of the tour, we got to see a crew shooint a reenactment scene for a documentary. We saw someone get executed by firing squad, which was really just people aiming, the click of empty guns, and the guy falling onto a mattress. Still cool though. And did you know that firing squards had 13 people, and there were 12 bullets and a blank? No one knew who had the blank, so each man could tell himself that maybe he wasn't actually responsible for killing that person. Interesting, huh?
From the Gaol I went to the Guinness Storehouse. On the way, I got asked directions. Honestly, I am the LEAST fashionable person on the street, what with my tennis shoes and safari pants and ridiculous hat and fleece whose pockets are weighed down tieh valuable. Clearly, I am not European. But it happened to me on the way to Avenue Q in London and again yesterday. I did, actually, know where both people were trying to get, but still can't believe of all people to ask, they picked me.
The Guinness Storehouse was really neat, and the view from the top floor was great. Even thogh I don't drink beer, I made it through my free pint at the top. It took me a *while*, but I did it.
Then it was back toward home. Did a bit of browing in Temple Bar shops, and ate at Elephant & Castle, where my friend who's studying in Galway told me to go and get chicken wings. I did, and it was an excellent choice, if a bit overpriced.
Then interneting with The Boyfriend. I would have posted then but the cafe closed an hour early, which was annoying.
Today I went back to my bench in Merrion Square. It's my favorite spot in Dublin. But alas, the sickness seemed to strike again. I walked around a bit instead, which kept me a little warmer, but eventually had to go back to the hostel, where I wrote and read and slept and packed. And ate my leftover chicken wings. :)
No football game tonight, but I figure I've got to go to a pub anyway, just see what it's like. London tomorrow, and I bought my ticket from Paris to Nantes, so I will definitely make it all the way to Emily on Sunday! I can't wait!
I actually slept through the football game I was going to watch two nights ago too. Which is horribly depressing, because the next game isn't until tomorrow, so I missed my only shot to watch football in an Irish pub. :(
But I think I'm on the edge of getting sick. I felt awful yesterday morning, nose running and stomach hurting--though that may have only been because I stuffed my face at breakfast. It's free, so I feel like I have to eat as much as humanly possible.
The biggest problem yesterday morning was actually the map, which was neither correct nor complete. It warned me, says right on it that it's not to scale, but still. The walk from Guinness to the Gaol looks to be maybe a sixth the length of the walk from the hostel to Guinness, but it took the same amount of time.
Once I got there though, it was incredibly worth it. Kilmainham Gaol, a jail that has bene part of 6 different Irish rebellions, including the 1916 Easter uprising and the Irish Civil War. I went on a guided tour with two other people and the guide, who was awesome. (Except he made fun of me for not knowing my history based on the fact that I didn't know Charles Stewart captained the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. I mean, honestly.)
Also, at the end of the tour, we got to see a crew shooint a reenactment scene for a documentary. We saw someone get executed by firing squad, which was really just people aiming, the click of empty guns, and the guy falling onto a mattress. Still cool though. And did you know that firing squards had 13 people, and there were 12 bullets and a blank? No one knew who had the blank, so each man could tell himself that maybe he wasn't actually responsible for killing that person. Interesting, huh?
From the Gaol I went to the Guinness Storehouse. On the way, I got asked directions. Honestly, I am the LEAST fashionable person on the street, what with my tennis shoes and safari pants and ridiculous hat and fleece whose pockets are weighed down tieh valuable. Clearly, I am not European. But it happened to me on the way to Avenue Q in London and again yesterday. I did, actually, know where both people were trying to get, but still can't believe of all people to ask, they picked me.
The Guinness Storehouse was really neat, and the view from the top floor was great. Even thogh I don't drink beer, I made it through my free pint at the top. It took me a *while*, but I did it.
Then it was back toward home. Did a bit of browing in Temple Bar shops, and ate at Elephant & Castle, where my friend who's studying in Galway told me to go and get chicken wings. I did, and it was an excellent choice, if a bit overpriced.
Then interneting with The Boyfriend. I would have posted then but the cafe closed an hour early, which was annoying.
Today I went back to my bench in Merrion Square. It's my favorite spot in Dublin. But alas, the sickness seemed to strike again. I walked around a bit instead, which kept me a little warmer, but eventually had to go back to the hostel, where I wrote and read and slept and packed. And ate my leftover chicken wings. :)
No football game tonight, but I figure I've got to go to a pub anyway, just see what it's like. London tomorrow, and I bought my ticket from Paris to Nantes, so I will definitely make it all the way to Emily on Sunday! I can't wait!
9.12.09
Granderson to the Yankees? *sobs*
Dublin is cold. It's nice, I like the cold. But still. Cold. I am wearing a hat indoors.
Ohmigoodness Avenue Q was amaaaaaaaaazing! I was supposed to be on the second floor balcony, but for some reason they weren't using it that night, so I got upgraded...TO SIX ROWS BACK. It was brilliant. There was some crazy guy there who brought a puppet to the show--I assumed he was part of it at first, but nope, just crazy. I fell madly in love with the actress who played Kate Monster. She was also Lucy the Slut (God if you don't know this show you probably think I'm insane) in this crazy deep sultry Southern accent. Brilliant!
The next day was all travel. The fast ferry was cancelled so I had to wait a couple hours and take the slow one, meaning I got to Dublin at 6ish instead of 2ish. Found my hostel with relative ease and headed out to explore the Temple Bar area. I just looked, scouted places to go for dinner tonight (and found one!), and came back. I was exhausted and just showered and slept. There were four girls staying in my room, but they all left this morning, which is sad because they were nice.
Today I was up and out before nine, headed toward Merrion Square. Guys. It is my new favorite place ever. It's a park except largely wooded instead of having everything cut down to make lawns. I sat on a bench and wrote and watched people for a good hour. Then over to St. Stephen's Green, where I read for an hour. Then to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where I read and wrote some more. Eventually I got too cold and started walking again. I saw Christchurch Cathedral, which was lovely and warm inside, even if I had to pay admission. Also did a quick runthrough of Dublin Castle, where there was a neat display of angel statues, but it was raining by then and I was only getting colder. I rescouted Temple Bar to make sure there would be football tonight (there is--Liverpool v. somebody) and came to the internet for a chatting date with the boyfriend.
I think I will probably end up taking a nap, honestly. It gets dark here in about half an hour, and my body doesn't like staying up for long periods after the dark. So I'll need a nap to make sure I make it out to dinner tonight. I think I'm going for a burger and greasy fries. Quite different from my usual diet lately--bananas and baguettes.
Tomorrow will be more exploring. Maybe Guiness Factory or Kilmainham Gaol or both. Pray it doesn't get too cold.
I'll be home in eleven days! It looks glorious and snowy according to lakemichigancam.com, a camera updating every ten minutes with a picture of the Grand Haven pier. I plan to spend my winter break alternating between sledding and being holed up under blankets with a cat and hot chocolate.
Ohmigoodness Avenue Q was amaaaaaaaaazing! I was supposed to be on the second floor balcony, but for some reason they weren't using it that night, so I got upgraded...TO SIX ROWS BACK. It was brilliant. There was some crazy guy there who brought a puppet to the show--I assumed he was part of it at first, but nope, just crazy. I fell madly in love with the actress who played Kate Monster. She was also Lucy the Slut (God if you don't know this show you probably think I'm insane) in this crazy deep sultry Southern accent. Brilliant!
The next day was all travel. The fast ferry was cancelled so I had to wait a couple hours and take the slow one, meaning I got to Dublin at 6ish instead of 2ish. Found my hostel with relative ease and headed out to explore the Temple Bar area. I just looked, scouted places to go for dinner tonight (and found one!), and came back. I was exhausted and just showered and slept. There were four girls staying in my room, but they all left this morning, which is sad because they were nice.
Today I was up and out before nine, headed toward Merrion Square. Guys. It is my new favorite place ever. It's a park except largely wooded instead of having everything cut down to make lawns. I sat on a bench and wrote and watched people for a good hour. Then over to St. Stephen's Green, where I read for an hour. Then to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where I read and wrote some more. Eventually I got too cold and started walking again. I saw Christchurch Cathedral, which was lovely and warm inside, even if I had to pay admission. Also did a quick runthrough of Dublin Castle, where there was a neat display of angel statues, but it was raining by then and I was only getting colder. I rescouted Temple Bar to make sure there would be football tonight (there is--Liverpool v. somebody) and came to the internet for a chatting date with the boyfriend.
I think I will probably end up taking a nap, honestly. It gets dark here in about half an hour, and my body doesn't like staying up for long periods after the dark. So I'll need a nap to make sure I make it out to dinner tonight. I think I'm going for a burger and greasy fries. Quite different from my usual diet lately--bananas and baguettes.
Tomorrow will be more exploring. Maybe Guiness Factory or Kilmainham Gaol or both. Pray it doesn't get too cold.
I'll be home in eleven days! It looks glorious and snowy according to lakemichigancam.com, a camera updating every ten minutes with a picture of the Grand Haven pier. I plan to spend my winter break alternating between sledding and being holed up under blankets with a cat and hot chocolate.
7.12.09
Last night! Oh my goodness.
We took the Tube to go see Buckingham Palace at night, but when we were getting off there was a sign that said, "Winter Wonderland" with an arrow pointing the opposite direction from the palace. We obviously had to go.
It was a real Christmas fair! There was tons of food and little shops and rides too! Rachel and I rode a spinny ride and my gloves flew out of my pocket, but it was worth cold hands--I have another pair anyway. I took a picture of a restaurant place called "WURST KOCH" for Hank's girlfriend, whose last name is Koch.
Pretty soon after we arrived, we found a Santa statue and I wanted a picture of Rachel and Hillary next to it. We were waiting for the people before us, and the guy said, "I don't believe in Santa Claus." and I told him he was ruining the spirit of Christmas, and he recognized my accent as American (not tough to do). He's from Massachusetts, here at cooking school, and we hung out with him and his roommates (Jaquim (sp?) from Portugal, who was quite sweet, and Mariana from Brazil who was very beautiful and took pictures of everthing) for the rest of the night. He took Hillary on the tallest free fall tower in the world, Rachel and I rode our ride. We tried to go ice skating but it was expensive and packed. Instead there was dancing (more like jumping around a bit and making fun of everyone there, who were all rather sauced), plus a requested "ChaCha Slide" that made it feel like we were in middle school again. Dinner of chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, pears and pineapple. The strawberries were the best (though the mulled wine might have to take the cake for my favorite part of the night). It was all such fun!
We might be hanging out with them again tonight, though the three of us are all going to musicals! I got a <$30 ticket to Avenue Q! Very exciting.
Today we tried to do changing of the guard but didn't have much of a view. I figure I'll just go again with Emily and get there super early. Hillary and I did see the changing of the horse guards though, which was fun but not as cool. She and I got up early and walked a ton to get me my Avenue Q ticket. By that time it was late enough for our three-day pass to kick in--we got it offpeak hours which means after 9:30 in the morning. I got my ticket to Dublin for TOMORROW!
Now laundry and probably hanging out in Hyde Park with a nice coffee and some writing or a book. Maybe the Tate, maybe the Museum of Science and Industry.
We took the Tube to go see Buckingham Palace at night, but when we were getting off there was a sign that said, "Winter Wonderland" with an arrow pointing the opposite direction from the palace. We obviously had to go.
It was a real Christmas fair! There was tons of food and little shops and rides too! Rachel and I rode a spinny ride and my gloves flew out of my pocket, but it was worth cold hands--I have another pair anyway. I took a picture of a restaurant place called "WURST KOCH" for Hank's girlfriend, whose last name is Koch.
Pretty soon after we arrived, we found a Santa statue and I wanted a picture of Rachel and Hillary next to it. We were waiting for the people before us, and the guy said, "I don't believe in Santa Claus." and I told him he was ruining the spirit of Christmas, and he recognized my accent as American (not tough to do). He's from Massachusetts, here at cooking school, and we hung out with him and his roommates (Jaquim (sp?) from Portugal, who was quite sweet, and Mariana from Brazil who was very beautiful and took pictures of everthing) for the rest of the night. He took Hillary on the tallest free fall tower in the world, Rachel and I rode our ride. We tried to go ice skating but it was expensive and packed. Instead there was dancing (more like jumping around a bit and making fun of everyone there, who were all rather sauced), plus a requested "ChaCha Slide" that made it feel like we were in middle school again. Dinner of chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, pears and pineapple. The strawberries were the best (though the mulled wine might have to take the cake for my favorite part of the night). It was all such fun!
We might be hanging out with them again tonight, though the three of us are all going to musicals! I got a <$30 ticket to Avenue Q! Very exciting.
Today we tried to do changing of the guard but didn't have much of a view. I figure I'll just go again with Emily and get there super early. Hillary and I did see the changing of the horse guards though, which was fun but not as cool. She and I got up early and walked a ton to get me my Avenue Q ticket. By that time it was late enough for our three-day pass to kick in--we got it offpeak hours which means after 9:30 in the morning. I got my ticket to Dublin for TOMORROW!
Now laundry and probably hanging out in Hyde Park with a nice coffee and some writing or a book. Maybe the Tate, maybe the Museum of Science and Industry.
6.12.09
Probably the biggest culture shock to London is that there are a lot of white people and I don't know all of them.
LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Not that I'm excited or anything.
Yes, I am indeed in London, but I'll see if I can do a more chronological update.
The hotel at which we stayed for the retreat was literally the swankiest hotel ever. I'd never been somewhere that crazy before. We had a triple, with a big living room, bedroom with full bath, bedroom with half bath, and kitchen. Moving from tents to the East African Hotel was a bit intense. But also great, because the bio kids came back so I got to see (/room with) Hillary and Rachel R and share all our stories.
I felt a bit bad, as I was really excited to leave Africa. I had had a great time, but the last three weeks were not as interesting as the rest of it, and I got quite sick of some of the people. Plus, London, Dublin, Nantes, home. So of course I was excited.
At the hotel we presented, which went well but was a long day. Did evaluations and such. Had a final dinner together. After dinner most of us jumped in the pool and started an African whirlpool---we ran around the pool in one direction for a long time until the current would just sort of take us. It was ridiculous and fun. Ethan joined for a bit. At one point we all decided to hold onto each other as we ran, and I was holding Ethan's arm and every time he turned the corner he would pull it really hard and pull me (and everyone attached to me) with him and I'd almost drown a little, except it was fun.
The bus ride to Nairobi the day after was long, but not bad. I passed out for most of it. David Sperling met us at the hotel and it was good to see him. For dinner we went to a mall, which was a huge culture shock. Not only a mall, but a mall decorated for Christmas. We felt a little thrown off.
The trip to London began with a cab ride to the airport in which we drove with the windows down and almost hit a cow on the way, and ended with a trip to the hotel in a bus with a zipped up fleece and blowing on our hands, no cows in sight.
Today--God I can't believe it's all been one day and it's only 3:30--Rachel, Hill and I came in on the Underground ("a Picadilly line train with service to Cockfosters," they reminded us at every station) and dropped our stuff at the hostel. It's literally right on Hyde Park and is awesome. As we started heading to Picadilly Circus we ran into Natalie from our trip, who had been staying nearby but was moving to a different hostel. She fed us a baguette and we helped her move her stuff. Got to Picadilly Circus and investigated cheap tickets--Rachel's going to see Wicked tomorrow and Hillary's going to see Blood Brothers. I want to see Avenue Q but have to check again tomorrow for cheaper tickets.
We did the National Portrait Gallery, which was pretty cool, and Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. All were lovely, and made even more so by the cold (but not too cold, I'm not even wearing underarmor) and occasional wind and most often sun and the last leaves falling from trees. I love this weather. We also took the underground (we have a three-day transit pass so we can ride anything as much as we want. I love city train systems) up to the Tower of London, but there were too many people for our tastes (plus it costs money, which is never fun), so we came back. Got some groceries (baguettes and goat cheese and grapefruit juice!) and now here we are.
I think tonight we're going to see Buckingham Palace tonight after dark, maybe just wander the city after dark to begin with. Tomorrow is possibly more museums, probably King's Cross Station ('cause we're nerds) and maybe the London Eye.
Next day I go to Dublin by myself! Crazy!
Not that I'm excited or anything.
Yes, I am indeed in London, but I'll see if I can do a more chronological update.
The hotel at which we stayed for the retreat was literally the swankiest hotel ever. I'd never been somewhere that crazy before. We had a triple, with a big living room, bedroom with full bath, bedroom with half bath, and kitchen. Moving from tents to the East African Hotel was a bit intense. But also great, because the bio kids came back so I got to see (/room with) Hillary and Rachel R and share all our stories.
I felt a bit bad, as I was really excited to leave Africa. I had had a great time, but the last three weeks were not as interesting as the rest of it, and I got quite sick of some of the people. Plus, London, Dublin, Nantes, home. So of course I was excited.
At the hotel we presented, which went well but was a long day. Did evaluations and such. Had a final dinner together. After dinner most of us jumped in the pool and started an African whirlpool---we ran around the pool in one direction for a long time until the current would just sort of take us. It was ridiculous and fun. Ethan joined for a bit. At one point we all decided to hold onto each other as we ran, and I was holding Ethan's arm and every time he turned the corner he would pull it really hard and pull me (and everyone attached to me) with him and I'd almost drown a little, except it was fun.
The bus ride to Nairobi the day after was long, but not bad. I passed out for most of it. David Sperling met us at the hotel and it was good to see him. For dinner we went to a mall, which was a huge culture shock. Not only a mall, but a mall decorated for Christmas. We felt a little thrown off.
The trip to London began with a cab ride to the airport in which we drove with the windows down and almost hit a cow on the way, and ended with a trip to the hotel in a bus with a zipped up fleece and blowing on our hands, no cows in sight.
Today--God I can't believe it's all been one day and it's only 3:30--Rachel, Hill and I came in on the Underground ("a Picadilly line train with service to Cockfosters," they reminded us at every station) and dropped our stuff at the hostel. It's literally right on Hyde Park and is awesome. As we started heading to Picadilly Circus we ran into Natalie from our trip, who had been staying nearby but was moving to a different hostel. She fed us a baguette and we helped her move her stuff. Got to Picadilly Circus and investigated cheap tickets--Rachel's going to see Wicked tomorrow and Hillary's going to see Blood Brothers. I want to see Avenue Q but have to check again tomorrow for cheaper tickets.
We did the National Portrait Gallery, which was pretty cool, and Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. All were lovely, and made even more so by the cold (but not too cold, I'm not even wearing underarmor) and occasional wind and most often sun and the last leaves falling from trees. I love this weather. We also took the underground (we have a three-day transit pass so we can ride anything as much as we want. I love city train systems) up to the Tower of London, but there were too many people for our tastes (plus it costs money, which is never fun), so we came back. Got some groceries (baguettes and goat cheese and grapefruit juice!) and now here we are.
I think tonight we're going to see Buckingham Palace tonight after dark, maybe just wander the city after dark to begin with. Tomorrow is possibly more museums, probably King's Cross Station ('cause we're nerds) and maybe the London Eye.
Next day I go to Dublin by myself! Crazy!
1.12.09
I love my time here, didn't know til I was gone
Last day of free internet. Last (half) day at camp.
I'll really miss this place. Everyone's been going into town during the day lately, but I stay here and get on computers or write or read or nap or laundry. It's quiet and it's pretty and everyone's nice. There are two zebras who run through camp with a herd of cattle and goats, which is kind of hilarious. And two dogs who are mostly annoying, one who is mostly nice, and one who is great. And the Petersons, who I will miss quite thoroughly.
I will not miss the bugs. Or the inability to function after dark if my light doesn't have enough power. Etc.
Today the bio kids get back and we stay at a swanky hotel. I'm excited. I miss Hillary and Rachel and we're going to have a freakin' great time in London together.
Paper's finished, one presentation down, one powerpointed to give tomorrow. The leader here is getting annoyed with us--probably because we make him drive us everywhere and most of the girls throw themselves at him and, in the process, think they are flirting when they tease him, but are actually kind of mean. He and I get along well though--I'll miss him too.
I'm not sure when I'll update again--probably not until Europe. Just figured I'd do a little goodbye to the Peterson compound.
Anyone got must-sees for London or Dublin?
I'll really miss this place. Everyone's been going into town during the day lately, but I stay here and get on computers or write or read or nap or laundry. It's quiet and it's pretty and everyone's nice. There are two zebras who run through camp with a herd of cattle and goats, which is kind of hilarious. And two dogs who are mostly annoying, one who is mostly nice, and one who is great. And the Petersons, who I will miss quite thoroughly.
I will not miss the bugs. Or the inability to function after dark if my light doesn't have enough power. Etc.
Today the bio kids get back and we stay at a swanky hotel. I'm excited. I miss Hillary and Rachel and we're going to have a freakin' great time in London together.
Paper's finished, one presentation down, one powerpointed to give tomorrow. The leader here is getting annoyed with us--probably because we make him drive us everywhere and most of the girls throw themselves at him and, in the process, think they are flirting when they tease him, but are actually kind of mean. He and I get along well though--I'll miss him too.
I'm not sure when I'll update again--probably not until Europe. Just figured I'd do a little goodbye to the Peterson compound.
Anyone got must-sees for London or Dublin?
27.11.09
I made myself lemonade today
We didn't mess up Thanksgiving! I mean, it wasn't REAL Thanksgiving, but it went so well. We had two chickens and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and corn (but it was creamed. yech) and stuffing and green beans and roasted vegetables. And apple pie! I think most people's favorite was the sweet potatoes, which was partially Mom's recipe. So you get kudos from a bunch of people in Africa. The pies turned out really well--I made them with Lila, who even made crust. They were a little liquidy but still delicious.
We cooked a lot and ate a lot, of course. Daudi and Trude (his wife) and Ethan all joined us, which was really nice. Turns out Trude's about as cool as Daudi, something I didn't really think was possible. After dinner we played a game--kinda a mix of charades and taboo--and it was fun except everyone got defensive when I said it was a tie at the end. Not so much the spirit of Thanksgiving from the team that actually won. :P
Presentation tomorrow, paper due Tuesday, another presentation on...Wednesday? I think. Then EUROPE, where I am skipping Strasbourg and just doing Nantes instead. Sad to miss the city, but excited to see Emily sooner! I miss people who've known me more than three months.
Found out yesterday that I definitely got into Neurobiology for next semester! Very exciting. Am also taking Presidential Politics, Political Parties and Interest Groups, and Modern European Intellectual History. I'm waitlisted for US Foreign Policy, but I think it turns out I'd rather take the history class anyway. I'm excited.
We cooked a lot and ate a lot, of course. Daudi and Trude (his wife) and Ethan all joined us, which was really nice. Turns out Trude's about as cool as Daudi, something I didn't really think was possible. After dinner we played a game--kinda a mix of charades and taboo--and it was fun except everyone got defensive when I said it was a tie at the end. Not so much the spirit of Thanksgiving from the team that actually won. :P
Presentation tomorrow, paper due Tuesday, another presentation on...Wednesday? I think. Then EUROPE, where I am skipping Strasbourg and just doing Nantes instead. Sad to miss the city, but excited to see Emily sooner! I miss people who've known me more than three months.
Found out yesterday that I definitely got into Neurobiology for next semester! Very exciting. Am also taking Presidential Politics, Political Parties and Interest Groups, and Modern European Intellectual History. I'm waitlisted for US Foreign Policy, but I think it turns out I'd rather take the history class anyway. I'm excited.
25.11.09
I didn't realize Stupak was a Democrat from Michigan. What the what?
We went to a movie theatre today! And saw a real live movie! There was popcorn and candy and everything!
It was very strange and absolutely fantastic. We saw "Inglorious Basterds", which is funny and a good movie (and good for the vengeful conscience, since all dem "Natzis" get killed). It was a lot less gory than I expected, seeing how it's a Taratino film. Quite good though.
We're also trying to do Thanksgiving tomorrow. I don't know how well it will work, but I'm going to help make an apple pie and maybe the sweet potato casserole. We gotta ask Daudi (who I'm madly in love with, if I haven't mentioned) if we can use his oven, since at the moment we only have one.
I've started making a list of things I miss. It has everything from the waves (which it actually has twice, since I forgot I wrote it the first time and really miss them) to The Walking Ladies to homemade pickles to long conversations with old friends. It is a list that makes me happy instead of sad; if I try to avoid thinking about things, I get homesick; if I think about them actively, it makes me happy.
Speaking of things I miss, from what I hear the Tigers are trying to trade away everyone I love. (Well not everyone, Verlander and Porcello and Inge are safe). But still. Talks of losing Polanco, Granderson, Jackson, Everett and now Cabrera too. Ridiculous.
We are officially done doing our research. Lila and Devyn and I went around the village with a translator surveying women about family planning. Now we have to do two presentations and a paper, but other than that (which to me is pretty easy) this program is OVER. I'm getting very excited to go to Europe, and two of my friends from the bio group are coming with me to London!
I did finally get sick, but it was only for 36 hours. I then passed it to the other kids in my homestay except Lila, and they all had it for longer. I felt lucky but a little guilty, both for passing it on and for everyone being sick at the homestay. Our host mom had to deal with three kids throwing up in one night, and everyone just wanting to lay around and sleep and not eat anything and make quick trips to the bathroom. Yech.
Um. I think that is it for now. Everyone have a marvelous Thanksgiving. Eat tons for me. (And Mom, don't forget we have to do Thanksgiving again when I get home. :P )
It was very strange and absolutely fantastic. We saw "Inglorious Basterds", which is funny and a good movie (and good for the vengeful conscience, since all dem "Natzis" get killed). It was a lot less gory than I expected, seeing how it's a Taratino film. Quite good though.
We're also trying to do Thanksgiving tomorrow. I don't know how well it will work, but I'm going to help make an apple pie and maybe the sweet potato casserole. We gotta ask Daudi (who I'm madly in love with, if I haven't mentioned) if we can use his oven, since at the moment we only have one.
I've started making a list of things I miss. It has everything from the waves (which it actually has twice, since I forgot I wrote it the first time and really miss them) to The Walking Ladies to homemade pickles to long conversations with old friends. It is a list that makes me happy instead of sad; if I try to avoid thinking about things, I get homesick; if I think about them actively, it makes me happy.
Speaking of things I miss, from what I hear the Tigers are trying to trade away everyone I love. (Well not everyone, Verlander and Porcello and Inge are safe). But still. Talks of losing Polanco, Granderson, Jackson, Everett and now Cabrera too. Ridiculous.
We are officially done doing our research. Lila and Devyn and I went around the village with a translator surveying women about family planning. Now we have to do two presentations and a paper, but other than that (which to me is pretty easy) this program is OVER. I'm getting very excited to go to Europe, and two of my friends from the bio group are coming with me to London!
I did finally get sick, but it was only for 36 hours. I then passed it to the other kids in my homestay except Lila, and they all had it for longer. I felt lucky but a little guilty, both for passing it on and for everyone being sick at the homestay. Our host mom had to deal with three kids throwing up in one night, and everyone just wanting to lay around and sleep and not eat anything and make quick trips to the bathroom. Yech.
Um. I think that is it for now. Everyone have a marvelous Thanksgiving. Eat tons for me. (And Mom, don't forget we have to do Thanksgiving again when I get home. :P )
18.11.09
She felt only that women should be able to make conscious decisions about their lives, if that made her a feminist, she guessed she was one
The Peterson compound has internet for free. I've managed to get on basically whenever I want, which is nice. We haven't been doing incredibly exciting things though, so I've had nothing to update.
Now we are in our homestays. There are advantages (beds, electricity, fantastic food, close to a place I can get Krest Bitter Lemon soda for 500 shillings each) and disadvantages (no showers, no running water, less access to internet). I'm staying in a house with Lila and Devyn (my partners for our independent study) and Nicole and Natalie (who are working with orphans for their independent study).
Life's pretty good. We've been gathering information about family planning via survey and have learned a lot and met some really interesting people. Last night and this morning it was pouring; I biked to the compound for internet this morning and got 1.) soaked and 2.) covered in mud. Plus the road is bumpy and muddy and filled with puddles. It was still kind of fun though.
I've been dataing and interneting all morning, and am about to head back to the homestay for lunch. In the afternoon (it looks like it's stopped raining) we'll go out and give more surveys, which is what Lila and Devyn did this morning.
It's nice to be busy, makes me less homesick. And I'm really interested in what we are studying. But it's still reaching the point where I'm ready to move on. Europe and home and the rest of my life. I think I just get restless if I stay in one place, no matter where it is, too long.
Fun things about our homestay: we have a cat! It curled up on my and purred and everything! We also had puppies for less than 24 hours--Nicole and Natalie each got one from an orphanage, but when they realized how much work they were (and that you couldn't ride a bike and hold a puppy at the same time), they returned them. I named one Jonah and he was adorable and I miss him.
The Petersons are still fantastic--we mostly work with Thad and his wife Robin, but Mike helps out too. Daudi too, though I haven't seen him in forever. Mike reminds me of Ric VanWheelden--sort of mellow and kind and they talk the same way. Robin reminds me of Bonnie or Jen Jelinek a bit--I think it's mostly because she looks like them. But, moral of the story: they are all wonderful.
Ethan, our new professor-type guy, is good too. I think we've seen him more in social settings than academic settings, but that's okay (It's "independent" study after all). We went out with him and some of the Petersons to a country club on Friday--played volleyball and drank the two for beers and such. We played lots of volleyball actually, which was tons of fun, but got a lot harder the darker it got (and the drunker most of us got). Met Ethan's brothers and Mike's daughter.
Saturday most of the group went back to the country club, but I stayed around camp and lolled and read and wrote. I'm reading a ton on this trip, currently "The World According to Garp" (which I have paraphrased for the title to this entry). Loving it.
Sunday we went back to the country club *again*; this time it was the "Christmas Fair." Not sure I'm okay with anything being labeled Christmas before Thanksgiving, or when it's so hot out you have to find shade and a cold drink, but it was fun. Got some earrings and presents for people, saw Santa and a circus act, and read a lot.
Monday was a day of interesting data collection and we returned to the puppies. It was the best Nov 16 I've had in a while. Hope everyone made it through it well. M.M.H. Always and forever.
Now I am officially going to be late for lunch! Love to you all!
Now we are in our homestays. There are advantages (beds, electricity, fantastic food, close to a place I can get Krest Bitter Lemon soda for 500 shillings each) and disadvantages (no showers, no running water, less access to internet). I'm staying in a house with Lila and Devyn (my partners for our independent study) and Nicole and Natalie (who are working with orphans for their independent study).
Life's pretty good. We've been gathering information about family planning via survey and have learned a lot and met some really interesting people. Last night and this morning it was pouring; I biked to the compound for internet this morning and got 1.) soaked and 2.) covered in mud. Plus the road is bumpy and muddy and filled with puddles. It was still kind of fun though.
I've been dataing and interneting all morning, and am about to head back to the homestay for lunch. In the afternoon (it looks like it's stopped raining) we'll go out and give more surveys, which is what Lila and Devyn did this morning.
It's nice to be busy, makes me less homesick. And I'm really interested in what we are studying. But it's still reaching the point where I'm ready to move on. Europe and home and the rest of my life. I think I just get restless if I stay in one place, no matter where it is, too long.
Fun things about our homestay: we have a cat! It curled up on my and purred and everything! We also had puppies for less than 24 hours--Nicole and Natalie each got one from an orphanage, but when they realized how much work they were (and that you couldn't ride a bike and hold a puppy at the same time), they returned them. I named one Jonah and he was adorable and I miss him.
The Petersons are still fantastic--we mostly work with Thad and his wife Robin, but Mike helps out too. Daudi too, though I haven't seen him in forever. Mike reminds me of Ric VanWheelden--sort of mellow and kind and they talk the same way. Robin reminds me of Bonnie or Jen Jelinek a bit--I think it's mostly because she looks like them. But, moral of the story: they are all wonderful.
Ethan, our new professor-type guy, is good too. I think we've seen him more in social settings than academic settings, but that's okay (It's "independent" study after all). We went out with him and some of the Petersons to a country club on Friday--played volleyball and drank the two for beers and such. We played lots of volleyball actually, which was tons of fun, but got a lot harder the darker it got (and the drunker most of us got). Met Ethan's brothers and Mike's daughter.
Saturday most of the group went back to the country club, but I stayed around camp and lolled and read and wrote. I'm reading a ton on this trip, currently "The World According to Garp" (which I have paraphrased for the title to this entry). Loving it.
Sunday we went back to the country club *again*; this time it was the "Christmas Fair." Not sure I'm okay with anything being labeled Christmas before Thanksgiving, or when it's so hot out you have to find shade and a cold drink, but it was fun. Got some earrings and presents for people, saw Santa and a circus act, and read a lot.
Monday was a day of interesting data collection and we returned to the puppies. It was the best Nov 16 I've had in a while. Hope everyone made it through it well. M.M.H. Always and forever.
Now I am officially going to be late for lunch! Love to you all!
9.11.09
One more thing...
I don't have my journal so I'm probably missing things, but just to finish up the previous update:
After the Maasai homestay, we drove to a camp by Lake Natron. We got to walk/hike/wade to another waterfall. This one was littler (in height and width) but stronger, and could pull you under real quick. But it was incredibly fun and we jumped off rocks and such. Some of the Maasai guides who came with us also climbed the rocks and jumped in, except the Maasai generally can't swim, so we had to make sure they made it back to the rocks. It was a little crazy.
The free day in Arusha was nice; now I'm up early to internet a bit before we have to leave at 9:30. I also have to eat and pack and shower, so I should be quick. I'm trying to get things together to apply for a paid internship in the Portland Council's Office. I just got an email about it and the application is due December 3, so here's hoping I can get stuff together and sent out before then.
I miss you guys, and home in general. It was so hot for a while on our trip that even the wind was hot. Makes you miss Michigan weather that's for sure. Speaking of Michigan, I hear Bob Monetza got elected to GH Council, so HOORAY! for that. :)
Hope this finds you well. Don't know when I'll have internet again because the program leaders are woefully unhelpful when it comes to information.
After the Maasai homestay, we drove to a camp by Lake Natron. We got to walk/hike/wade to another waterfall. This one was littler (in height and width) but stronger, and could pull you under real quick. But it was incredibly fun and we jumped off rocks and such. Some of the Maasai guides who came with us also climbed the rocks and jumped in, except the Maasai generally can't swim, so we had to make sure they made it back to the rocks. It was a little crazy.
The free day in Arusha was nice; now I'm up early to internet a bit before we have to leave at 9:30. I also have to eat and pack and shower, so I should be quick. I'm trying to get things together to apply for a paid internship in the Portland Council's Office. I just got an email about it and the application is due December 3, so here's hoping I can get stuff together and sent out before then.
I miss you guys, and home in general. It was so hot for a while on our trip that even the wind was hot. Makes you miss Michigan weather that's for sure. Speaking of Michigan, I hear Bob Monetza got elected to GH Council, so HOORAY! for that. :)
Hope this finds you well. Don't know when I'll have internet again because the program leaders are woefully unhelpful when it comes to information.
I've forgotten more than I'll write
Back in civilization. It feels quite strange to be among so many people, instead of the same 30 or so for three weeks. I've probably forgotten more than I'll even write, these weeks have been so crazy. Good crazy, though. I'll do my best to chronologically update.
Thursday, 15 October 09
We were introduced to our huge, open-air trucks that we would be with for the rest of safari. Drivers Habibu and Simon, who were absolutely amazing. Guides Douglas and Killerai, also amazing. General culture truck had Habibu, Douglas and Daudi Peterson, though we became close with everyone. I already miss Douglas and Daudi and Killerai like crazy, even though it's only been about a week since I've seen them.
We drove the whole day, stopping about every five minutes to look at some kind of damn bird. That got old QUICK. The ride was also kweli bumpy; you could rest but not sleep. Worked for me though. Also, Hillary, Rachel R. and I played MASH for some of the ride. We had a variety of themes: Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Arrested Development, Disney characters, Harry Potter. It was rather hilarious.
The next morning, we literally walked in the footsteps of elephant. Each truck went with their teacher and guide (my group with Daudi and Douglas) for a three-hour walk in the morning. We saw dikdik and bush duiker--two little antelope. I also identified a bird, and felt kind of important about it even though only a day earlier I was annoyed with the birds. That night we played Mafia around the fire, which was super fun. The villagers killed me off of course, which they always do, even though I wasn't the Mafia. But it was a great group activity.
Saturday, 17 October
We climbed a mountain! I almost died a bit, heat and asthma and elevation gradient and all, but everyone was really nice and I made it eventually. We had to climb the walls through a little cave, which was cool but I broke my camera kind of. Just the lens doesn't really close now, but it still works, and I took TONS of pictures (I'm going to try to get a few on facebook) for the rest of the trip.
I talked to Eli on the top of the mountain because it was our two-year anniversary. :)
We walked again in the evening, the general culture kids with Daudi and Douglas. We saw a lot of impala and began our identifying birds and poop and tracks. At one point Alex yelled, "Big cat! Big cat!" and I literally jumped over a bush to get there and see it, and it turned out to be a herd of impala. She definitely got made fun of for the rest of safari.
At this point I decided Daudi was my favorite of the Petersons, but I think that no matter which one came with us on safari, he would be my favorite. For the rest of my life I just kind of want to follow them around and record all their stories and maybe steal all of them from their wives. Maybe.
Sunday 18 October
I really think this was the best day of my life. I thought that during it, even though I also figured you couldn't know if that was true while you were experiencing it--but I still think it. I was so happy the entire day that I could have cried.
We drove to Tarangire National Park. On the drive we saw the usual: zebra, impala, giraffe. They hadn't (and still haven't) lost their wonder to me, but I was feeling tired and kind of meh so it wasn't a big deal. When we stopped at the edge of the park to pay and choo (pronounced "cho" and meaning "bathroom", though it has become a verb on this trip), I was feeling better and gave Lila and Claire piggy back rides (separately) which was fun.
Then. Tarangire. Oh. My. God.
We saw LIONS! I was 30, maybe 40 feet from a lion in the wild. From a couple lions actually. Other things we saw:
zebra, giraffe, impala, dikdik, reedubck, waterbuck, elephant, jackal, leopard, mongoose, wart hog, monkeys, wildebeest, water buffalo, python, monitor lizard, lots of birds.
By this point I had started to really enjoy looking at the birds, especially the raptors. There are some awesome eagles here.
Giraffe might have to be my new favorite animal. At least when they are running. It is mind-boggling beautiful. They look like they're moving in slow motion except they are going incredibly fast. It just makes you feel.
The whole day made me feel. Life bubbled in my veins and tried to burst out of me. We drove fast in the trucks and it rained on us but not hard. Makes you realize the world outside of yourself, yourself outside of yourself even.
20-22 October
We were in the Nou Forest. It was COLD and misty and so much like Oregon. The drive up the mountains was RIDICULOUS with the amount of trees and branches that were in the road. We were covered in leaves and burrs and bugs and everything by the end of it. And we had to stop in the middle and get out to machete the heck out of a tree that had fallen in the road. This was the drive that made us realize how awesome Habibu was; also how awesome his name is to yell: "Ha-bi-BU!"
I froze every night in the crappy sleeping bag provided for me by the program since mine disappeared on the airplane from London. But Michael gave me his Maasai blanket and I learned to stuff the open areas of my sleeping bag to better keep warm. And the days were fun, mostly free, though we had to write lab reports.
We hiked to a waterfall too, which was AMAZING! It was a long, long walk, and we passed it by playing a game. Someone would pick someone on the trip without telling everyone else who it was. We then had to figure it out by the answers to questions like "If I were a color, what would I be?" Devyn picked me, and I had thought it was me for a while but didn't want to guess myself. I was: a mix of Steve & Miranda from Sex & the City, faded blue jeans, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, a twisty water slide, the Gravitron, and trespassing (for what federal offense I would be). Also, if I were to kill someone, it would be in a Dexter-like way. I felt special and important.
When I picked Miles, most of the group, once they figured it out, told me I had him all wrong. But Sam told me he knew it by the third question (which was, sillily, "What kind of soil would you be?" with an answer of "Rich and damp but not muddy"). Seeing how Sam and Miles are attached at the hip this trip, I figure I did a pretty good job with it.
We finally made it to the waterfall and it was AMAZING! It was super cold, but most of us swam anyway. It was not as cold as the Lake often is--aka you didn't get a brain freeze if you stood under it for a while. So it was really really fun and people took lots of pictures. The way back from the waterfall was tough, all uphill. Kai stuck with me though and was nice, so it was a good walk back.
Afterward I spent 5 1/2 hours straight in my sleeping bag because I was so cold. But it was totally worth it.
Miles's birthday (the 23rd) was mostly a drive down from the mountains to our first Hadza camp in the Yaida Valley. It was a very pretty place and there was a beautiful rainbow too. The next day we went gathering with the Hadza women, which was interesting. The cooler part was finding honey--a guy broke it open with an axe and we got to eat it. There were some bees (non-stinging thankfully) in the honey, and Douglas said, "It's just a little extra protein" and I was a little nervous since he was channeling my mother. :) Delicious honey though.
That evening we shot arrows with the Hadza. I failed, rather miserably, until my last shot, which at least made it the distance of the target. I knew well enough to quit while I was ahead. Sam and Kai were the only ones to hit the target, though Michael came close. When Sam's arrow hit, Douglas, who had shot at the same time, jokingly got really enthusiastic that it was his arrow, and Sam was adorable and so sad! He just sort of shrugged and was like, "Oh, good job, man." And then got excited again when he found out it was actually his arrow. Michael did hit the target with a rock from his sling. He has basically a David and Goliath sling and just hurls rocks. The THWACK of the rock against the cardboard box target Douglas and Killerai made for us was rather satisfying.
That night we hung out around the fire with the Hadza. We traded songs--they'd sing to us and then we'd sing to them. They sang and danced and sounded good. We were insane. We sang My Country Tis of Thee and Row Row Row Your Boat and some other things. Our dance was the Macarena, which was RIDICULOUS. I left after Take Me Out to The Ballgame. Made me a bit happy but a bit homesick.
I had actually be rather homesick a lot then, but Miles took care of me again. He's a good kid to have around. I'll really miss a lot the bio kids come TOMORROW when they leave.
Sunday 25 October
We WALKED from the top of one mountain, down into the valley, across the valley, up another mountain. It took hours and was *incredibly* hot and by the time I made it to the top of the mountain at the end, I had kind of forgotten what flat ground looked like. But it was definitely worth it--the view from camp was AMAZING.
We slept on the big rock instead of in my tents, but it was cold and hard and I alternated between cuddling with Hillary and cuddling with Michael in my sleep. The next day we went HUNTING with the Hadza. I was feeling a little hivihivi, so we moved rather slowly and I actually came back early, but it was still a ton of fun. We shot at birds and dikdik and even a type of cat! Then I came back and slept for a long time. Everyone else went back out because one of the groups had shot a giraffe with a poisoned arrow. So they gave it time for the poison to work, then went back to get it. Apparently they tracked it for quite some time, but it was so big the poison wasn't enough, and it got better and ran off. Sounded like a fun time, though I was sleeping through it all.
Wednesday 28 October
Ngorongoro Crater! It's a controversial place because the Maasai living there got kicked out to make it all touristy, but the Maasai had kicked out one tribe who had kicked out another tribe, so it's not so easy to figure out. But it's a very cool touristy place.
We saw 15 LIONS! BEFORE LUNCH! It was mad! I was in a land rover with Alex and Devyn and Lila and Daudi (who was impressed with my birding skills merely because I could identify a heron. I mean, c'mon, who can't identify a heron?). We had such fun. 10 lions were in one group, moms and babies, and land rovers were everywhere around them. They just ignored us and walked through, made a bit of a play for some wart hogs, then just drank water. It was amazing though. They were 10 feet away!
Wildebeest are another favorite animal (in addition to giraffe). I think they are awesome looking and love the way they run and everything. We also saw over 100 species of birds. Zebra, Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, cape buffalo, elephant, warthog, and HIPPOS! No cheetahs or rhinos though, unfortunately.
That night there was A BULL ELEPHANT IN OUR CAMP. I ACTUALLY STOOD 10 FEET FROM A WILD BULL ELEPHANT. Don't worry, there was something between us (a trailer) so he couldn't just charge me, though actually I'm sure if he had wanted to kill me he probably could. He was just coming up to get some drinking water from the camp. It was pretty cool. There were also zebra and bush pig in the camp. Crazy!
The next day was a travel day. We stopped and picked up a turtle shell to look at it and suddenly everyone screams and then yells, "Meryl! It's in your pocket! It's in your pocket!" I was fairly sure it was a giant spider or scorpion or something. It just turned out to be a little adorable lizard. Douglas got him out for me and I took a picture.
Halloween was fun--everyone dressed as other people from the trip, and some were very very good. I dressed as Ken Clifton, which was rather fun. Other than that, we spent this couple of days studying up for our final test. Then Daudi and Douglas and Killerai left us. :(
3-5 November
MAASAI HOMESTAY! Ohmigoodness, it was amazing! Some of the kids spoke a little Swahili, so I could communicate mildly. My mom was about 90 and totally awesome and very sweet. Took great care of me and fed me a ton.
Everyone was just super nice, and Heather lived close, so we hung out a fair amount. We did a lot of beading (necklaces and earrings and anklets and bracelets!) The second night Heather and I played a game of sort-of tag with all the little kids in our boma. There were a ton of them and she would chase them one direction and I would chase them another and if we caught them we would tickle them or twirl them around. After that they all got a lot more comfortable with us.
We gathered firewood and walked to town and fetched water. It was all very interesting and cool and fun. The kids loved to sing at dinner and then make me sing back. The only thing I could come up with for them to be able to sing along was the chorus to the Sexual Life of a Camel. So there are a lot of kids in a Maasai village in Tanzania who know the chorus to that and would sing along as I sang it. Hilarious.
I have to go play Monopoly now--we have a free day in Arusha and then the bio kids leave us tomorrow. I have a bit more to tell you about (another waterfall!) but people are waiting!
Love to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, 15 October 09
We were introduced to our huge, open-air trucks that we would be with for the rest of safari. Drivers Habibu and Simon, who were absolutely amazing. Guides Douglas and Killerai, also amazing. General culture truck had Habibu, Douglas and Daudi Peterson, though we became close with everyone. I already miss Douglas and Daudi and Killerai like crazy, even though it's only been about a week since I've seen them.
We drove the whole day, stopping about every five minutes to look at some kind of damn bird. That got old QUICK. The ride was also kweli bumpy; you could rest but not sleep. Worked for me though. Also, Hillary, Rachel R. and I played MASH for some of the ride. We had a variety of themes: Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Arrested Development, Disney characters, Harry Potter. It was rather hilarious.
The next morning, we literally walked in the footsteps of elephant. Each truck went with their teacher and guide (my group with Daudi and Douglas) for a three-hour walk in the morning. We saw dikdik and bush duiker--two little antelope. I also identified a bird, and felt kind of important about it even though only a day earlier I was annoyed with the birds. That night we played Mafia around the fire, which was super fun. The villagers killed me off of course, which they always do, even though I wasn't the Mafia. But it was a great group activity.
Saturday, 17 October
We climbed a mountain! I almost died a bit, heat and asthma and elevation gradient and all, but everyone was really nice and I made it eventually. We had to climb the walls through a little cave, which was cool but I broke my camera kind of. Just the lens doesn't really close now, but it still works, and I took TONS of pictures (I'm going to try to get a few on facebook) for the rest of the trip.
I talked to Eli on the top of the mountain because it was our two-year anniversary. :)
We walked again in the evening, the general culture kids with Daudi and Douglas. We saw a lot of impala and began our identifying birds and poop and tracks. At one point Alex yelled, "Big cat! Big cat!" and I literally jumped over a bush to get there and see it, and it turned out to be a herd of impala. She definitely got made fun of for the rest of safari.
At this point I decided Daudi was my favorite of the Petersons, but I think that no matter which one came with us on safari, he would be my favorite. For the rest of my life I just kind of want to follow them around and record all their stories and maybe steal all of them from their wives. Maybe.
Sunday 18 October
I really think this was the best day of my life. I thought that during it, even though I also figured you couldn't know if that was true while you were experiencing it--but I still think it. I was so happy the entire day that I could have cried.
We drove to Tarangire National Park. On the drive we saw the usual: zebra, impala, giraffe. They hadn't (and still haven't) lost their wonder to me, but I was feeling tired and kind of meh so it wasn't a big deal. When we stopped at the edge of the park to pay and choo (pronounced "cho" and meaning "bathroom", though it has become a verb on this trip), I was feeling better and gave Lila and Claire piggy back rides (separately) which was fun.
Then. Tarangire. Oh. My. God.
We saw LIONS! I was 30, maybe 40 feet from a lion in the wild. From a couple lions actually. Other things we saw:
zebra, giraffe, impala, dikdik, reedubck, waterbuck, elephant, jackal, leopard, mongoose, wart hog, monkeys, wildebeest, water buffalo, python, monitor lizard, lots of birds.
By this point I had started to really enjoy looking at the birds, especially the raptors. There are some awesome eagles here.
Giraffe might have to be my new favorite animal. At least when they are running. It is mind-boggling beautiful. They look like they're moving in slow motion except they are going incredibly fast. It just makes you feel.
The whole day made me feel. Life bubbled in my veins and tried to burst out of me. We drove fast in the trucks and it rained on us but not hard. Makes you realize the world outside of yourself, yourself outside of yourself even.
20-22 October
We were in the Nou Forest. It was COLD and misty and so much like Oregon. The drive up the mountains was RIDICULOUS with the amount of trees and branches that were in the road. We were covered in leaves and burrs and bugs and everything by the end of it. And we had to stop in the middle and get out to machete the heck out of a tree that had fallen in the road. This was the drive that made us realize how awesome Habibu was; also how awesome his name is to yell: "Ha-bi-BU!"
I froze every night in the crappy sleeping bag provided for me by the program since mine disappeared on the airplane from London. But Michael gave me his Maasai blanket and I learned to stuff the open areas of my sleeping bag to better keep warm. And the days were fun, mostly free, though we had to write lab reports.
We hiked to a waterfall too, which was AMAZING! It was a long, long walk, and we passed it by playing a game. Someone would pick someone on the trip without telling everyone else who it was. We then had to figure it out by the answers to questions like "If I were a color, what would I be?" Devyn picked me, and I had thought it was me for a while but didn't want to guess myself. I was: a mix of Steve & Miranda from Sex & the City, faded blue jeans, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, a twisty water slide, the Gravitron, and trespassing (for what federal offense I would be). Also, if I were to kill someone, it would be in a Dexter-like way. I felt special and important.
When I picked Miles, most of the group, once they figured it out, told me I had him all wrong. But Sam told me he knew it by the third question (which was, sillily, "What kind of soil would you be?" with an answer of "Rich and damp but not muddy"). Seeing how Sam and Miles are attached at the hip this trip, I figure I did a pretty good job with it.
We finally made it to the waterfall and it was AMAZING! It was super cold, but most of us swam anyway. It was not as cold as the Lake often is--aka you didn't get a brain freeze if you stood under it for a while. So it was really really fun and people took lots of pictures. The way back from the waterfall was tough, all uphill. Kai stuck with me though and was nice, so it was a good walk back.
Afterward I spent 5 1/2 hours straight in my sleeping bag because I was so cold. But it was totally worth it.
Miles's birthday (the 23rd) was mostly a drive down from the mountains to our first Hadza camp in the Yaida Valley. It was a very pretty place and there was a beautiful rainbow too. The next day we went gathering with the Hadza women, which was interesting. The cooler part was finding honey--a guy broke it open with an axe and we got to eat it. There were some bees (non-stinging thankfully) in the honey, and Douglas said, "It's just a little extra protein" and I was a little nervous since he was channeling my mother. :) Delicious honey though.
That evening we shot arrows with the Hadza. I failed, rather miserably, until my last shot, which at least made it the distance of the target. I knew well enough to quit while I was ahead. Sam and Kai were the only ones to hit the target, though Michael came close. When Sam's arrow hit, Douglas, who had shot at the same time, jokingly got really enthusiastic that it was his arrow, and Sam was adorable and so sad! He just sort of shrugged and was like, "Oh, good job, man." And then got excited again when he found out it was actually his arrow. Michael did hit the target with a rock from his sling. He has basically a David and Goliath sling and just hurls rocks. The THWACK of the rock against the cardboard box target Douglas and Killerai made for us was rather satisfying.
That night we hung out around the fire with the Hadza. We traded songs--they'd sing to us and then we'd sing to them. They sang and danced and sounded good. We were insane. We sang My Country Tis of Thee and Row Row Row Your Boat and some other things. Our dance was the Macarena, which was RIDICULOUS. I left after Take Me Out to The Ballgame. Made me a bit happy but a bit homesick.
I had actually be rather homesick a lot then, but Miles took care of me again. He's a good kid to have around. I'll really miss a lot the bio kids come TOMORROW when they leave.
Sunday 25 October
We WALKED from the top of one mountain, down into the valley, across the valley, up another mountain. It took hours and was *incredibly* hot and by the time I made it to the top of the mountain at the end, I had kind of forgotten what flat ground looked like. But it was definitely worth it--the view from camp was AMAZING.
We slept on the big rock instead of in my tents, but it was cold and hard and I alternated between cuddling with Hillary and cuddling with Michael in my sleep. The next day we went HUNTING with the Hadza. I was feeling a little hivihivi, so we moved rather slowly and I actually came back early, but it was still a ton of fun. We shot at birds and dikdik and even a type of cat! Then I came back and slept for a long time. Everyone else went back out because one of the groups had shot a giraffe with a poisoned arrow. So they gave it time for the poison to work, then went back to get it. Apparently they tracked it for quite some time, but it was so big the poison wasn't enough, and it got better and ran off. Sounded like a fun time, though I was sleeping through it all.
Wednesday 28 October
Ngorongoro Crater! It's a controversial place because the Maasai living there got kicked out to make it all touristy, but the Maasai had kicked out one tribe who had kicked out another tribe, so it's not so easy to figure out. But it's a very cool touristy place.
We saw 15 LIONS! BEFORE LUNCH! It was mad! I was in a land rover with Alex and Devyn and Lila and Daudi (who was impressed with my birding skills merely because I could identify a heron. I mean, c'mon, who can't identify a heron?). We had such fun. 10 lions were in one group, moms and babies, and land rovers were everywhere around them. They just ignored us and walked through, made a bit of a play for some wart hogs, then just drank water. It was amazing though. They were 10 feet away!
Wildebeest are another favorite animal (in addition to giraffe). I think they are awesome looking and love the way they run and everything. We also saw over 100 species of birds. Zebra, Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, cape buffalo, elephant, warthog, and HIPPOS! No cheetahs or rhinos though, unfortunately.
That night there was A BULL ELEPHANT IN OUR CAMP. I ACTUALLY STOOD 10 FEET FROM A WILD BULL ELEPHANT. Don't worry, there was something between us (a trailer) so he couldn't just charge me, though actually I'm sure if he had wanted to kill me he probably could. He was just coming up to get some drinking water from the camp. It was pretty cool. There were also zebra and bush pig in the camp. Crazy!
The next day was a travel day. We stopped and picked up a turtle shell to look at it and suddenly everyone screams and then yells, "Meryl! It's in your pocket! It's in your pocket!" I was fairly sure it was a giant spider or scorpion or something. It just turned out to be a little adorable lizard. Douglas got him out for me and I took a picture.
Halloween was fun--everyone dressed as other people from the trip, and some were very very good. I dressed as Ken Clifton, which was rather fun. Other than that, we spent this couple of days studying up for our final test. Then Daudi and Douglas and Killerai left us. :(
3-5 November
MAASAI HOMESTAY! Ohmigoodness, it was amazing! Some of the kids spoke a little Swahili, so I could communicate mildly. My mom was about 90 and totally awesome and very sweet. Took great care of me and fed me a ton.
Everyone was just super nice, and Heather lived close, so we hung out a fair amount. We did a lot of beading (necklaces and earrings and anklets and bracelets!) The second night Heather and I played a game of sort-of tag with all the little kids in our boma. There were a ton of them and she would chase them one direction and I would chase them another and if we caught them we would tickle them or twirl them around. After that they all got a lot more comfortable with us.
We gathered firewood and walked to town and fetched water. It was all very interesting and cool and fun. The kids loved to sing at dinner and then make me sing back. The only thing I could come up with for them to be able to sing along was the chorus to the Sexual Life of a Camel. So there are a lot of kids in a Maasai village in Tanzania who know the chorus to that and would sing along as I sang it. Hilarious.
I have to go play Monopoly now--we have a free day in Arusha and then the bio kids leave us tomorrow. I have a bit more to tell you about (another waterfall!) but people are waiting!
Love to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12.10.09
Insert Witty Title Here
For Chrissakes, Clare, I can't post pictures that easily. I will try in a bit, but they might be on Facebook instead of here. But I have over 400 and don't really have time to pick out which ones to post. Did you see the one on Facebook of me in a buibui looking ridiculous?
Anyway.
I’ll see if I can do a chronology from the last time I updated:
A week ago Friday we had a free day in Zanzibar. We went up to the north, to a city I don’t remember and a resort I don’t remember. It was nice though, spent the entire day on the beach. We swam a lot—first time in the Indian Ocean. It was so salty and SO easy to float. Everyone played a lot of soccer and volleyball; we got very sandy and quite a few bruises, but it was a great time. Some other guys on the beach played with us—I’m not sure if they were actually cute or if I was just excited to interact with guys outside of the program. That was also the beginning of the group playing cards, which we have done pretty much ever since. There’s been a lot of hearts, since we can play with anywhere from three to five people, but there has also been cribbage and I’ve taught some people continental rummy and euchre. That night, I got a little homesick, but Miles makes everything better.
Saturday we headed to Pembe Abwe on the mainland Tanzania coast. It was a four-hour boat ride in two wooden boats, and I could have stayed on them forever. Then the place we stayed! It was four people to a banda (basically an A-frame cabin), and some of the bandas were, at high tide, literally thirty feet from the ocean. Our classroom/dining room/meeting area was an open air building built around a baobab tree. We got rather American meals that were delicious.
We woke for breakfast at 7 everyday, left between 8 and 9 depending on the tide, and took the boats for forty minutes to a reef, where we snorkeled until around 1. Back to the baobab tree for lunch, then we generally had free time, wherein I napped and wrote constantly. If we had class (mostly just the bio kids had lectures, general culture kids got more free time) it was around 4 or 5. Dinner at 7. Lots of card playing, star gazing and a little streaking (which I neither took part in or saw. I’d be less of a prude with friends at home, but 23 people you have to be with for another 2 months? Thanks anyway).
The people who own the compound on the coast are the Peterson brothers. We met two of them there: Mike and Thad. Both are quite sweet and very interesting, knowing pretty much anything you’d need to know about the area. They are wazungu, born and raised in Tanzania, except for boarding school in Kenya. But their parents were Swedish and from Minnesota, so they have basically the best accents ever.
I taught myself to dive while snorkeling too, which I had never done before. It was really cool, though if you go to low you’ll pop your eardrums, so you have to do the pop your ears thing. Except every time I did that, I felt like I needed to breathe again and had to come up. But some people went literally 45 ft down!
We started our bio class at the coast, which meant gathering data while snorkeling. I was in a group with Lila (we basically have done everything together since we were cousins/neighbors in Riruta) and Rachel Rogers working on echinoderms: sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. When Ken had first talked about them, before we went snorkeling, I thought nothing could be more boring. Then as soon as I got in the water they were my favorite things to see (besides moorfish, who are so pretty!). To get the data we would lay a 50-meter transect tape down in the water, then swim along it and count the number of urchins, stars and cucumbers within one meter on either side. Sounds pretty boring, but it was fun.
The boats also were amazing. I never once got seasick, so I loaned out my wristbands to people who did. I did my best to get on the boat that, though it did occasionally break down, had what amounted to a sun deck on it. Four or so people could climb up and just lay above everyone else in the sun. I really think I could have lived there my entire life: good company, warmth, water and sun—what more do you need? Also, on the way back on the last day, the wind picked up and the water got quite choppy. Using the motor we would rock back and forth to the point of some people being terrified we were going to sink (though honestly, we had just spent an entire week snorkeling for hours without wearing life jackets, I’m not sure what they were worried about). We put up the sail instead! It was not your usual sail, but a huge log only connected by ropes, that they had to swing out with the sail on it, and all the men on the boat yanked the ropes to get it into place. Sam put all his weight on it and nothing happened, which was pretty funny to watch; he was just hanging about a foot in the air until the other men started pulling too. Once the sail finally got up and in place (after almost killing those of us on the sun deck a couple of times) it was much smoother, though slower too.
Other things about the coast:
We stopped at islands for our breaks sometimes, and they were COMPLETELY SAND. Nothing else on them. It blows my mind.
Got homesick a bit, but got to talk to Mom and Dad and Eli, and Miles also took me for a walk, which makes things better. I love this place and the days are usually good, great even, but oftentimes after dark, I miss my people. Lila and Claire and Sam and Miles are generally helpful in that regard.
Mara, the professor’s 15-year-old daughter, cut my hair. Not super short or anything—about to my chin. It was just getting too long for me. I like it much better now, though I have to cut my bangs too.
Kweli means really in Swahili. So all I have to say is, Kweli, Tigers? Kweli?!
Got stung about a thousand times by jellies. Not the big types, but the teeny tiny ones, stings that don’t last, but hurt like a bitch when you get them (especially when it’s on your freaking lip!). So I wore my underarmor, aka a ninja suit, for most of the snorkeling. I had on black, full body underarmor and a gray beanie to prevent my scalp from burning. I looked pretty ridiculous.
Fought with coral a couple of times—lost every time. Fire coral burns even through the ninja suit.
Read “Darkly Dreaming Dexter.” Not good writing, but a great story. Will probably have to watch the show when I get home.
This Saturday we took what we were told would be an 8- to 9- hour bus ride to Arusha. It was actually 12 hours. And I was sitting on the wheel well the whole time. Those last two hours—not so much fun. But I took some ibuprofen as soon as I got off the bus, so I was pretty much okay. The trip would have been fine if we knew it was going to be 12 hours; it was those last two hours where we always thought we were almost there that was the bad part.
But eventually we arrived at the (other) Peterson compound in Olasiti. Had a night in tents (which I shared with Lila of course) and the next day headed into Arusha for two free days. Most of the group is staying at a cheap hotel, but Miles and Sam wanted to get a fancier one, so I was just going to sleep on the floor. Unfortunately we couldn’t really sneak that past them, and had to pay for a triple. But it’s really nice, with GREAT beds and a hot shower and free breakfast and a pool. So life’s pretty good.
Also in Olasiti before we left, the general culture group got their independent study partner and topic. I’m doing family planning, which was my first choice. Lila is my partner (seriously, we do everything together), and Devon also switched into our group because it’s what she’s focusing on for her thesis. We don’t actually do any work on it until after the three-week safari, but we’re supposed to be formulating possible questions and such. Basically the leadership of this program is horribly unorganized and we’re guinea pigs for this independent project so it’s pretty tough for some of them. In family planning, we can come up with some basic things to study. But for people with topics like “water” or “village governance”, it’s a little harder to try to think about what you’re going to study without any knowledge or information. (/rant)
Yesterday was great. We slept in, showered, ate pretty good breakfast (with great juice), I wrote most of this blog post, played some solitaire. Slept some more. Woke up to Alex and Devon and Miles and Sam playing Monopoly, so I joined. Miles murdered us. It was quite fun. We swam in the freezing cold pool for a bit, lay in the sun, ate lunch. Alex and I shared nachos, which of course were not really American nachos, but were still pretty damn good. Some journaling and card playing and then we headed out to meet up with the rest of the group for the circus.
The only problem was that it turned out that the circus did not have a show last night. It was kind of sad, but Lila and Alex came back to the hotel with Sam and Miles and me, and we had a lot of fun. Sam told us all a bedtime story that was about an hour and a half and included (per Alex’s request) a turtle, a UFO (bonus: the cast of Spaceballs), a king, and Alex herself. I drowned when our pirate ship sank, but it was worth it.
Other than that, I’m doing some stuff online, figuring out my schedule for next semester (probably Neurobiology, Presidential Politics, Political Parties and Interest Groups, and U.S. Foreign Policy. I told myself I wasn’t going to load up on poli sci courses, but they’re what I want to take!). I’ll probably sleep a lot and write a lot too. Life is good. I miss you guys though.
And I miss cold, surprisingly. It’s nice here, where mornings and nights are pretty chilly. I like wearing layers and curling up under blankets and cuddling. Can’t wait to get home at Christmas, hopefully to all of that, plus snow and family and friends.
This is actually going to be my last update for a long time. We’re headed for safari on Thursday, and we’ll have no internet access that I know of for three weeks. And I’m actually not sure how much access I have once the general culture and bio kids split up. General culture is staying in the Olasiti compound, but I assume we’ll probably occasionally come into Arusha, so hopefully I’ll be able to update. If you’re dying to know things, I talk to my parents and my boyfriend about once a week. Though, somehow I don’t feel like my life is riveting enough for you to not be able to handle a three-week hiatus.
Anyway.
I’ll see if I can do a chronology from the last time I updated:
A week ago Friday we had a free day in Zanzibar. We went up to the north, to a city I don’t remember and a resort I don’t remember. It was nice though, spent the entire day on the beach. We swam a lot—first time in the Indian Ocean. It was so salty and SO easy to float. Everyone played a lot of soccer and volleyball; we got very sandy and quite a few bruises, but it was a great time. Some other guys on the beach played with us—I’m not sure if they were actually cute or if I was just excited to interact with guys outside of the program. That was also the beginning of the group playing cards, which we have done pretty much ever since. There’s been a lot of hearts, since we can play with anywhere from three to five people, but there has also been cribbage and I’ve taught some people continental rummy and euchre. That night, I got a little homesick, but Miles makes everything better.
Saturday we headed to Pembe Abwe on the mainland Tanzania coast. It was a four-hour boat ride in two wooden boats, and I could have stayed on them forever. Then the place we stayed! It was four people to a banda (basically an A-frame cabin), and some of the bandas were, at high tide, literally thirty feet from the ocean. Our classroom/dining room/meeting area was an open air building built around a baobab tree. We got rather American meals that were delicious.
We woke for breakfast at 7 everyday, left between 8 and 9 depending on the tide, and took the boats for forty minutes to a reef, where we snorkeled until around 1. Back to the baobab tree for lunch, then we generally had free time, wherein I napped and wrote constantly. If we had class (mostly just the bio kids had lectures, general culture kids got more free time) it was around 4 or 5. Dinner at 7. Lots of card playing, star gazing and a little streaking (which I neither took part in or saw. I’d be less of a prude with friends at home, but 23 people you have to be with for another 2 months? Thanks anyway).
The people who own the compound on the coast are the Peterson brothers. We met two of them there: Mike and Thad. Both are quite sweet and very interesting, knowing pretty much anything you’d need to know about the area. They are wazungu, born and raised in Tanzania, except for boarding school in Kenya. But their parents were Swedish and from Minnesota, so they have basically the best accents ever.
I taught myself to dive while snorkeling too, which I had never done before. It was really cool, though if you go to low you’ll pop your eardrums, so you have to do the pop your ears thing. Except every time I did that, I felt like I needed to breathe again and had to come up. But some people went literally 45 ft down!
We started our bio class at the coast, which meant gathering data while snorkeling. I was in a group with Lila (we basically have done everything together since we were cousins/neighbors in Riruta) and Rachel Rogers working on echinoderms: sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. When Ken had first talked about them, before we went snorkeling, I thought nothing could be more boring. Then as soon as I got in the water they were my favorite things to see (besides moorfish, who are so pretty!). To get the data we would lay a 50-meter transect tape down in the water, then swim along it and count the number of urchins, stars and cucumbers within one meter on either side. Sounds pretty boring, but it was fun.
The boats also were amazing. I never once got seasick, so I loaned out my wristbands to people who did. I did my best to get on the boat that, though it did occasionally break down, had what amounted to a sun deck on it. Four or so people could climb up and just lay above everyone else in the sun. I really think I could have lived there my entire life: good company, warmth, water and sun—what more do you need? Also, on the way back on the last day, the wind picked up and the water got quite choppy. Using the motor we would rock back and forth to the point of some people being terrified we were going to sink (though honestly, we had just spent an entire week snorkeling for hours without wearing life jackets, I’m not sure what they were worried about). We put up the sail instead! It was not your usual sail, but a huge log only connected by ropes, that they had to swing out with the sail on it, and all the men on the boat yanked the ropes to get it into place. Sam put all his weight on it and nothing happened, which was pretty funny to watch; he was just hanging about a foot in the air until the other men started pulling too. Once the sail finally got up and in place (after almost killing those of us on the sun deck a couple of times) it was much smoother, though slower too.
Other things about the coast:
We stopped at islands for our breaks sometimes, and they were COMPLETELY SAND. Nothing else on them. It blows my mind.
Got homesick a bit, but got to talk to Mom and Dad and Eli, and Miles also took me for a walk, which makes things better. I love this place and the days are usually good, great even, but oftentimes after dark, I miss my people. Lila and Claire and Sam and Miles are generally helpful in that regard.
Mara, the professor’s 15-year-old daughter, cut my hair. Not super short or anything—about to my chin. It was just getting too long for me. I like it much better now, though I have to cut my bangs too.
Kweli means really in Swahili. So all I have to say is, Kweli, Tigers? Kweli?!
Got stung about a thousand times by jellies. Not the big types, but the teeny tiny ones, stings that don’t last, but hurt like a bitch when you get them (especially when it’s on your freaking lip!). So I wore my underarmor, aka a ninja suit, for most of the snorkeling. I had on black, full body underarmor and a gray beanie to prevent my scalp from burning. I looked pretty ridiculous.
Fought with coral a couple of times—lost every time. Fire coral burns even through the ninja suit.
Read “Darkly Dreaming Dexter.” Not good writing, but a great story. Will probably have to watch the show when I get home.
This Saturday we took what we were told would be an 8- to 9- hour bus ride to Arusha. It was actually 12 hours. And I was sitting on the wheel well the whole time. Those last two hours—not so much fun. But I took some ibuprofen as soon as I got off the bus, so I was pretty much okay. The trip would have been fine if we knew it was going to be 12 hours; it was those last two hours where we always thought we were almost there that was the bad part.
But eventually we arrived at the (other) Peterson compound in Olasiti. Had a night in tents (which I shared with Lila of course) and the next day headed into Arusha for two free days. Most of the group is staying at a cheap hotel, but Miles and Sam wanted to get a fancier one, so I was just going to sleep on the floor. Unfortunately we couldn’t really sneak that past them, and had to pay for a triple. But it’s really nice, with GREAT beds and a hot shower and free breakfast and a pool. So life’s pretty good.
Also in Olasiti before we left, the general culture group got their independent study partner and topic. I’m doing family planning, which was my first choice. Lila is my partner (seriously, we do everything together), and Devon also switched into our group because it’s what she’s focusing on for her thesis. We don’t actually do any work on it until after the three-week safari, but we’re supposed to be formulating possible questions and such. Basically the leadership of this program is horribly unorganized and we’re guinea pigs for this independent project so it’s pretty tough for some of them. In family planning, we can come up with some basic things to study. But for people with topics like “water” or “village governance”, it’s a little harder to try to think about what you’re going to study without any knowledge or information. (/rant)
Yesterday was great. We slept in, showered, ate pretty good breakfast (with great juice), I wrote most of this blog post, played some solitaire. Slept some more. Woke up to Alex and Devon and Miles and Sam playing Monopoly, so I joined. Miles murdered us. It was quite fun. We swam in the freezing cold pool for a bit, lay in the sun, ate lunch. Alex and I shared nachos, which of course were not really American nachos, but were still pretty damn good. Some journaling and card playing and then we headed out to meet up with the rest of the group for the circus.
The only problem was that it turned out that the circus did not have a show last night. It was kind of sad, but Lila and Alex came back to the hotel with Sam and Miles and me, and we had a lot of fun. Sam told us all a bedtime story that was about an hour and a half and included (per Alex’s request) a turtle, a UFO (bonus: the cast of Spaceballs), a king, and Alex herself. I drowned when our pirate ship sank, but it was worth it.
Other than that, I’m doing some stuff online, figuring out my schedule for next semester (probably Neurobiology, Presidential Politics, Political Parties and Interest Groups, and U.S. Foreign Policy. I told myself I wasn’t going to load up on poli sci courses, but they’re what I want to take!). I’ll probably sleep a lot and write a lot too. Life is good. I miss you guys though.
And I miss cold, surprisingly. It’s nice here, where mornings and nights are pretty chilly. I like wearing layers and curling up under blankets and cuddling. Can’t wait to get home at Christmas, hopefully to all of that, plus snow and family and friends.
This is actually going to be my last update for a long time. We’re headed for safari on Thursday, and we’ll have no internet access that I know of for three weeks. And I’m actually not sure how much access I have once the general culture and bio kids split up. General culture is staying in the Olasiti compound, but I assume we’ll probably occasionally come into Arusha, so hopefully I’ll be able to update. If you’re dying to know things, I talk to my parents and my boyfriend about once a week. Though, somehow I don’t feel like my life is riveting enough for you to not be able to handle a three-week hiatus.
1.10.09
Rabbit, rabbit
I was going to title this post--"The worst kind of loser--an infidel loser" because Lila and I are hilarious, but I think the truth might just be that we are ridiculous and no one else would think it was funny. Plus side: we are good friends.
Have gotten close with a lot of different people on the trip, which is nice. I would always come back to the hotel at night thinking I would write, then would end up talking to people until midnight instead. Worth the trade off though, and I have still been writing a lot. I also read The Giver yesterday in about an hour and a half. Very good book, even the second time around, and it was nice to have time just to myself and a book.
I’m rather bored with Zanzibar, at least with Stone Town. It’s incredibly touristy and doesn’t seem to have beaches without what we think are sewage pipes going into the ocean. So it’s too gross to swim, but too hot to do much of anything else available. There’s a lot of shopping, mostly for souvenirs, but I’m not a window shopper or a browser. I’m not really into shopping unless it’s for something I definitely want or need. And since I am being the Dutchest person alive here, sometimes even food doesn’t fall into that category.
When I get home I am having pounds and pounds of cheese. Also hamburgers, anything with real ketchup, and Mexican food. And I’m already looking forward to crepes in France—I suppose that’s where the cheese eating will start. And hard bread...mmmmmmm.
Have officially finished the first part of the semester: turned in my final reflection to D Sperling today, and took my Swahili test yesterday. After I had finished Rose told me I spoke very well as usual and she was very happy, so obviously I was happy too. I’ve been getting progressively worse grades on D Sperling’s reflections, but he told me not to worry about the last one (only a B, but not my style) because “I know you’re up here” (hand motion above his head) “This is just a blip.” He’s ridiculous. Lila described him as like a tortoise, which is very true and I can no longer look at him without thinking about it. He’s very smart but I did not much like him as a professor, and will not really miss him now that he’s left. I’ll miss Rose a lot though; she’s a favorite.
On Sunday a woman who works with Millennium Villages Project came to talk to us. They take villages and try to help them reach the Millennium Goals, which are what the UN decided were necessary to eradicate poverty: access to water, universal primary education, treatment for infectious diseases, women’s rights. She was incredibly interesting. I liked her work, but thought she was more interesting because she majored in music and political science, went on to get her Master’s in creative writing and music, and then did something awesome with her life. She is basically what I want to be when I grow up (minus the music part). She was also beautiful and funny, which helps. She told a story of how one of the elders told her she should marry a man from his village and she said, “Yeah...Baadaye!” meaning “later.” All the girls having been proposed to a million times now, we appreciated the story.
Every night there is a big hooplah at a park on the water—food everywhere, all these guys trying to entice you over, too many white people. Not really my scene, but it had some delicious cheap food. A Zanzibar pizza, which is meat, tomatoes, onions, an egg and a dollop of mayonnaise (aka a heart attack) fried (another heart attack) on some crust. I shared one with Alex, and we also shared a banana-nutella pizza that was just as delicious. And there’s cane juice everywhere, which is fantastic. All of the juice here is fantastic actually—we’ve been getting passion fruit juice every morning with breakfast (and I’ve been having 4 glasses), and in Pemba we had juice of something called a tree tomato, which tasted like watermelon with lime and was really really really good.
I’ve had gelato twice this week and am thinking about getting it in lieu of lunch today. It’s just so good: mango and passion fruit and mandarin orange. Even the banana tastes like real banana.
Tuesday we went to a Kenyan national park. Walked through a forest and saw a snake and a monkey and a fair amount of lizards. They also have spiders that basically look like they have horns. Some of the spiders here are actually gargantuan, and I am not a fan. But they stay in their webs, so it’s okay. (Geckos on the other hand, just live in our hotel rooms all the time.) We also saw MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!! They were so acclimated to humans that we were literally two feet from them taking pictures. I have some amazing pictures of this baby monkey showing off with its mother. Later we walked through a mangrove forest, and the guide let us actually walk on the mangrove roots over a whole bunch of mud, which was pretty fun.
Afterward we went to a spice farm. Thinking farm I pictured rows of plants or something. If I wasn’t shown around, I would have just thought I was walking through some trees. In reality, we saw cinnamon and coffee and vanilla and cardamom and nutmeg and curry and ginger and pepper and coconuts and starfruit and breadfruit and giant passion fruit and caocao and cloves. It was basically amazing. They let us smell and sometimes taste everything. Cardamom is amazing, both in smell and taste, even though I have no idea what you do with it. And cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree! Who knew? Sam and I both ate a tiny red chili though, which was a very bad decision. It tasted good but then I couldn’t stop crying.
Yesterday we went to a madrasa, which was interesting but kind of superficial. We only stayed in the classrooms long enough to say hi and maybe answer a couple of questions. Zach had ladies after him again—we think it’s because of his hair. Afterward we walked in smaller groups to the non-touristy area of town, but it was still just shops and things. I did manage to get lunch for 200 shillings (of our 8000 shilling allowance), so that was nice.
Had a horrible dream last night that my parents had sold the house and we had to move to Connecticut within the week. I don’t know why they sold it, but I just sat in it and cried and refused to leave. Moral of the story: Mom and Dad, don’t sell the house.
That is it I think. There is a potential plan for skinny dipping tonight (sewage pipes be damned) but I don’t know if it will happen. Must watch the sunset. It hasn’t been a priority because, well, I’m sort of spoiled in that regard, but I’d like to see it at least once.
Somebody best get a hold of me if the Tigers clinch the Division today (or within the next couple of days). It's killing me that I won't have internet to know. Also, what the heck happened to our starting rotation--Figaro and Bonine and Robertson? What the what? Maybe I spend too much time thinking about baseball. When Rose asked on my test for me to tell a bit about myself, I talked about watching baseball games with my dad. It's the first thing I check when I get online too. My fantasy team made the playoffs but lost in the first round. In conclusion: I think about baseball too much.
Have gotten close with a lot of different people on the trip, which is nice. I would always come back to the hotel at night thinking I would write, then would end up talking to people until midnight instead. Worth the trade off though, and I have still been writing a lot. I also read The Giver yesterday in about an hour and a half. Very good book, even the second time around, and it was nice to have time just to myself and a book.
I’m rather bored with Zanzibar, at least with Stone Town. It’s incredibly touristy and doesn’t seem to have beaches without what we think are sewage pipes going into the ocean. So it’s too gross to swim, but too hot to do much of anything else available. There’s a lot of shopping, mostly for souvenirs, but I’m not a window shopper or a browser. I’m not really into shopping unless it’s for something I definitely want or need. And since I am being the Dutchest person alive here, sometimes even food doesn’t fall into that category.
When I get home I am having pounds and pounds of cheese. Also hamburgers, anything with real ketchup, and Mexican food. And I’m already looking forward to crepes in France—I suppose that’s where the cheese eating will start. And hard bread...mmmmmmm.
Have officially finished the first part of the semester: turned in my final reflection to D Sperling today, and took my Swahili test yesterday. After I had finished Rose told me I spoke very well as usual and she was very happy, so obviously I was happy too. I’ve been getting progressively worse grades on D Sperling’s reflections, but he told me not to worry about the last one (only a B, but not my style) because “I know you’re up here” (hand motion above his head) “This is just a blip.” He’s ridiculous. Lila described him as like a tortoise, which is very true and I can no longer look at him without thinking about it. He’s very smart but I did not much like him as a professor, and will not really miss him now that he’s left. I’ll miss Rose a lot though; she’s a favorite.
On Sunday a woman who works with Millennium Villages Project came to talk to us. They take villages and try to help them reach the Millennium Goals, which are what the UN decided were necessary to eradicate poverty: access to water, universal primary education, treatment for infectious diseases, women’s rights. She was incredibly interesting. I liked her work, but thought she was more interesting because she majored in music and political science, went on to get her Master’s in creative writing and music, and then did something awesome with her life. She is basically what I want to be when I grow up (minus the music part). She was also beautiful and funny, which helps. She told a story of how one of the elders told her she should marry a man from his village and she said, “Yeah...Baadaye!” meaning “later.” All the girls having been proposed to a million times now, we appreciated the story.
Every night there is a big hooplah at a park on the water—food everywhere, all these guys trying to entice you over, too many white people. Not really my scene, but it had some delicious cheap food. A Zanzibar pizza, which is meat, tomatoes, onions, an egg and a dollop of mayonnaise (aka a heart attack) fried (another heart attack) on some crust. I shared one with Alex, and we also shared a banana-nutella pizza that was just as delicious. And there’s cane juice everywhere, which is fantastic. All of the juice here is fantastic actually—we’ve been getting passion fruit juice every morning with breakfast (and I’ve been having 4 glasses), and in Pemba we had juice of something called a tree tomato, which tasted like watermelon with lime and was really really really good.
I’ve had gelato twice this week and am thinking about getting it in lieu of lunch today. It’s just so good: mango and passion fruit and mandarin orange. Even the banana tastes like real banana.
Tuesday we went to a Kenyan national park. Walked through a forest and saw a snake and a monkey and a fair amount of lizards. They also have spiders that basically look like they have horns. Some of the spiders here are actually gargantuan, and I am not a fan. But they stay in their webs, so it’s okay. (Geckos on the other hand, just live in our hotel rooms all the time.) We also saw MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!! They were so acclimated to humans that we were literally two feet from them taking pictures. I have some amazing pictures of this baby monkey showing off with its mother. Later we walked through a mangrove forest, and the guide let us actually walk on the mangrove roots over a whole bunch of mud, which was pretty fun.
Afterward we went to a spice farm. Thinking farm I pictured rows of plants or something. If I wasn’t shown around, I would have just thought I was walking through some trees. In reality, we saw cinnamon and coffee and vanilla and cardamom and nutmeg and curry and ginger and pepper and coconuts and starfruit and breadfruit and giant passion fruit and caocao and cloves. It was basically amazing. They let us smell and sometimes taste everything. Cardamom is amazing, both in smell and taste, even though I have no idea what you do with it. And cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree! Who knew? Sam and I both ate a tiny red chili though, which was a very bad decision. It tasted good but then I couldn’t stop crying.
Yesterday we went to a madrasa, which was interesting but kind of superficial. We only stayed in the classrooms long enough to say hi and maybe answer a couple of questions. Zach had ladies after him again—we think it’s because of his hair. Afterward we walked in smaller groups to the non-touristy area of town, but it was still just shops and things. I did manage to get lunch for 200 shillings (of our 8000 shilling allowance), so that was nice.
Had a horrible dream last night that my parents had sold the house and we had to move to Connecticut within the week. I don’t know why they sold it, but I just sat in it and cried and refused to leave. Moral of the story: Mom and Dad, don’t sell the house.
That is it I think. There is a potential plan for skinny dipping tonight (sewage pipes be damned) but I don’t know if it will happen. Must watch the sunset. It hasn’t been a priority because, well, I’m sort of spoiled in that regard, but I’d like to see it at least once.
Somebody best get a hold of me if the Tigers clinch the Division today (or within the next couple of days). It's killing me that I won't have internet to know. Also, what the heck happened to our starting rotation--Figaro and Bonine and Robertson? What the what? Maybe I spend too much time thinking about baseball. When Rose asked on my test for me to tell a bit about myself, I talked about watching baseball games with my dad. It's the first thing I check when I get online too. My fantasy team made the playoffs but lost in the first round. In conclusion: I think about baseball too much.
27.9.09
buibui buibui rockin' everywhere, rockin' everywhere
Sorry it's been so long since an update. No internet access in Pemba.
Mombasa was very cool. One of the nights part of the group went out dancing. I (and some other people) met up with them later. They said they were at Club Rio and as we walked up it was really loud, looked like a cool place. When we got upstairs and rounded the corner to see the club, it was just a bunch of wazungu dancing together in a circle. It looked so ridiculous I came close to peeing my pants. But eventually I got ahold of myself and joined them looking ridiculous. It was a lovely night of revelry and dancing and boys protecting us from African creepers.
Bus ride to Tanzania then a flight to Pemba. The plane was tiny (13 passengers, I think) and someone got to sit up with the pilot. But honestly, I have had much worse flights in small planes in America. It was really cool and only about 20 minutes, and then we were on an island in the Indian Ocean.
Our hotel, where we stayed one night, was amazing. Great view of the water, quite a big place, good food (real ketchup and GREAT juice). The next day some of us headed to Pemba. Miles and Sam stayed at the hotel, suddenly too sick to do much of anything. I was really worried about Miles, who was the worst, and once we were in Pemba we had no way to get information about the sick people. Two other people ended up leaving the homestay because they were sick.
The homestays were awful, terrible, no good, very bad days. My biggest problem was people laughing at me, no matter what I did, but some of the girls got legitimately harrassed by the men. And we all got proposed to at least four times. There was a lot of sexual harrassment, some physical harrassment and a shit ton (sorry, language) of emotional harrassment. But it was only two days, and we all made it and then had a very long discussion about the problems that had arisen. D Sperling was incredibly apologetic, said this did not happen last time and they were going to fix it. Also, all the sick people are better now. Nobody had to go to the hospital or anything.
We're in Zanzibar now, which is the most touristy place ever. At the moment I am next to some *stupid* British tourists. But at least here we can wear more American clothes and not buibuis and/or khangas. As long as we cover our shoulders and almost our knees, we're good. It's much more comfortable. I also took my hair out of the braids (Thank GOD!) and am happier with that as well.
Five(ish) days in Zanzibar and then back to the Tanzanian mainland for what sounds like an AMAZING time at the coast, snorkeling all day for a week. Hooray biology! Also, after Zanzibar the people who take care of us are some people called the Petersons. I am going to convince them we are related, so Mom and Dad, I need some info on that part of the family. I'm planning to show them we're related and then get a job with them for the rest of my life. Sounds like a very good plan.
We're doing pizza for lunch today!!!!!!!!!
Mombasa was very cool. One of the nights part of the group went out dancing. I (and some other people) met up with them later. They said they were at Club Rio and as we walked up it was really loud, looked like a cool place. When we got upstairs and rounded the corner to see the club, it was just a bunch of wazungu dancing together in a circle. It looked so ridiculous I came close to peeing my pants. But eventually I got ahold of myself and joined them looking ridiculous. It was a lovely night of revelry and dancing and boys protecting us from African creepers.
Bus ride to Tanzania then a flight to Pemba. The plane was tiny (13 passengers, I think) and someone got to sit up with the pilot. But honestly, I have had much worse flights in small planes in America. It was really cool and only about 20 minutes, and then we were on an island in the Indian Ocean.
Our hotel, where we stayed one night, was amazing. Great view of the water, quite a big place, good food (real ketchup and GREAT juice). The next day some of us headed to Pemba. Miles and Sam stayed at the hotel, suddenly too sick to do much of anything. I was really worried about Miles, who was the worst, and once we were in Pemba we had no way to get information about the sick people. Two other people ended up leaving the homestay because they were sick.
The homestays were awful, terrible, no good, very bad days. My biggest problem was people laughing at me, no matter what I did, but some of the girls got legitimately harrassed by the men. And we all got proposed to at least four times. There was a lot of sexual harrassment, some physical harrassment and a shit ton (sorry, language) of emotional harrassment. But it was only two days, and we all made it and then had a very long discussion about the problems that had arisen. D Sperling was incredibly apologetic, said this did not happen last time and they were going to fix it. Also, all the sick people are better now. Nobody had to go to the hospital or anything.
We're in Zanzibar now, which is the most touristy place ever. At the moment I am next to some *stupid* British tourists. But at least here we can wear more American clothes and not buibuis and/or khangas. As long as we cover our shoulders and almost our knees, we're good. It's much more comfortable. I also took my hair out of the braids (Thank GOD!) and am happier with that as well.
Five(ish) days in Zanzibar and then back to the Tanzanian mainland for what sounds like an AMAZING time at the coast, snorkeling all day for a week. Hooray biology! Also, after Zanzibar the people who take care of us are some people called the Petersons. I am going to convince them we are related, so Mom and Dad, I need some info on that part of the family. I'm planning to show them we're related and then get a job with them for the rest of my life. Sounds like a very good plan.
We're doing pizza for lunch today!!!!!!!!!
22.9.09
It's f-ing hot here, but at least there's a large body of water
The end of our homestay in Riruta was quite nice. I gave my family gifts and they gave me girfts too, including recipes, which was nice. Saturday all the families came together for lunch. I played with some young adorable cousins, threatened to steal one.
Then it was back to the Methodist Guest House, where I wrote an essay and attempted to buy tickets for my trip to Europe. Only successful part of planning: booking a hostel in Dublin. So I may not be able to get there, but if I do, I've got a place to stay.
Stayed up late Saturday since we had a long (8ish hours) bus ride on Sunday. We saw zebras, giraffes, gazelles and elephants! In real life! Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful bus ride. The road was only bumpy for a little while, so most of the time I was able to read, write, or sleep.
Mombasa is nice. The first night we went to a festival for the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadhan. It was more a sketchy carnival than a religious experience, but it was very fun. Claire and I rode a swing ride (only got seats because the manager saved some for us--when Claire tried to get her own, a 20-something Muslim woman literally beat her out of the way!)
Also, Mombasa means WATER! So obviously I love it.
Yesterday began with shopping--I don't knwo the word for male Muslim clothing, but the guys bought that. Most of the girls bought buibuis (the Swahili version of a burkah). They are ground length black robes with scarves for your hair. The change in reception was amazing: walking around in American clothes, whatever, students, okay. Walking around in Muslim clothes, so many people told us we looked beautiful and welcome to Mombasa. Some of the girls think needing to wear them is dumb; but if you can so easily make so many people so happy, why wouldn't you? They're not as hot as you would think--or, more correctly, it's so hot here you think you might die regardless of what you wear. I haven't perfected the tying of the scarf yet, but I found a safety pin, so it stays for about an hour before I've moved to much and have to redo it.
Afterward we went to a press conference like event outside the Mayor's office. It was in Swahili so we didn't understand much, but they mentioned us! They recognized Professor Akmed Shake's (obviously not how you spell it, but it's how you pronounce it so whatever) students from America nad the girls got our picture for the newspaper! Well, they claimed it was for the newspaper anyway, and took down where we were from and what we were doing and all. We haven't found it in a paper but it might be in one published weekly, not daily. We'll see. A guy's already been selling calendars with the picture on it. Ridiculous.
This morning we visited the Swahili Institute, where they teach young boys and girls traditional Swahili crafts. Akmed taught us about Swahili poetry, and according to D Sperling, Akmed is currently the best Swahili poet in the world, so that was cool. Later we walked around Fort Jesus and no we have the rest of the day free!
Pemba tomorrow, Zanzibar Sundayish, then 8 days on the mainland coast, then safari! It's amazing how fast everything goes!
Then it was back to the Methodist Guest House, where I wrote an essay and attempted to buy tickets for my trip to Europe. Only successful part of planning: booking a hostel in Dublin. So I may not be able to get there, but if I do, I've got a place to stay.
Stayed up late Saturday since we had a long (8ish hours) bus ride on Sunday. We saw zebras, giraffes, gazelles and elephants! In real life! Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful bus ride. The road was only bumpy for a little while, so most of the time I was able to read, write, or sleep.
Mombasa is nice. The first night we went to a festival for the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadhan. It was more a sketchy carnival than a religious experience, but it was very fun. Claire and I rode a swing ride (only got seats because the manager saved some for us--when Claire tried to get her own, a 20-something Muslim woman literally beat her out of the way!)
Also, Mombasa means WATER! So obviously I love it.
Yesterday began with shopping--I don't knwo the word for male Muslim clothing, but the guys bought that. Most of the girls bought buibuis (the Swahili version of a burkah). They are ground length black robes with scarves for your hair. The change in reception was amazing: walking around in American clothes, whatever, students, okay. Walking around in Muslim clothes, so many people told us we looked beautiful and welcome to Mombasa. Some of the girls think needing to wear them is dumb; but if you can so easily make so many people so happy, why wouldn't you? They're not as hot as you would think--or, more correctly, it's so hot here you think you might die regardless of what you wear. I haven't perfected the tying of the scarf yet, but I found a safety pin, so it stays for about an hour before I've moved to much and have to redo it.
Afterward we went to a press conference like event outside the Mayor's office. It was in Swahili so we didn't understand much, but they mentioned us! They recognized Professor Akmed Shake's (obviously not how you spell it, but it's how you pronounce it so whatever) students from America nad the girls got our picture for the newspaper! Well, they claimed it was for the newspaper anyway, and took down where we were from and what we were doing and all. We haven't found it in a paper but it might be in one published weekly, not daily. We'll see. A guy's already been selling calendars with the picture on it. Ridiculous.
This morning we visited the Swahili Institute, where they teach young boys and girls traditional Swahili crafts. Akmed taught us about Swahili poetry, and according to D Sperling, Akmed is currently the best Swahili poet in the world, so that was cool. Later we walked around Fort Jesus and no we have the rest of the day free!
Pemba tomorrow, Zanzibar Sundayish, then 8 days on the mainland coast, then safari! It's amazing how fast everything goes!
16.9.09
Observe the Wazungu in their natural habitat
Took a shower (and I use that term loosely) last night. I meant to take one yesterday morning, but was unsure how to ask Yambura (the house help who does not speak well) slash didn't want to make her do more work when she already had to get Steph ready for school. Usually I just use one bucket with water in it and sort of bathe over it, dunking my head in to wash my hair (there's a vision you didn't need, huh?). But this time I had one bucket of water, stood in another bucket, and used a smaller one to pour the water over me. It worked pretty well but took a long time 'cause I didn't want to spill everywhere. I also scrubbed the hell out of my feet (as in, they stung afterward). Wearing sandals every day, especially with feet prone to sweating, in a place this dusty makes my feet get REAL dirty REAL fast. They are mostly clean now though, and I'm already getting quite the tan line. The pedicure I got with my mom the day I left the States held up pretty well for a while, but now is a bit chipped, and all the paint on two toenails just mysteriously disappeared. It looks kinda silly, but I figure I can hardly stand out anymore than I already do as mzungu, so who cares? As such, I may also be getting my hair braided--hopefully not with extensions like two of the girls in my group have already done. One of them pulls it off well, the other, not so much. If I get my hair done and pull it off, I'll try to get pictures up. If I don't pull it off, y'all will never know.
Friday night a relatively large group of us went into Nairobi and had a wonderful time. It took us a while to find the restaurant, so we walked around like complete tourists--worst feeling in the world. Even though anywhere we go peoploe know we're not from there, generally knowing some of the language and where we are going is enough to not feel horribly out of place. There's a difference between tourists and vistors or travelers (though no different words in Swahili, which bothers me). I hate being a tourist.
Buyt once we found the restaurant, the night was great. I had a ham and cheese and pinapple panini and a salad (I never thought I'd miss salad, but boy, do I) & stole some fries from other kids (with REAL ketchup!, not the strangely sweet tomato sauce they usually serve). Plus a Redd's, which is basically carbonated apple juice that is apparently alcoholic, but I'm not sure I believe them. It tastes like a children's drink.
Dinner was good, and afterward Natalie--who has already had a Kenyan proclaim love to her on her way to school--literally got a plate of meat sent to her. After seeing other people taste it and react, I refused to. Alex and I were a little afraid it was sent as a joke to see what the wazungu would do, but it was amusing anyway.
Afterward we went to a bar called Tacos and all swuished into one corner table. It blasted American music, mostly old hiphop songs, which was rather fun. After about half an hour, Lila and Alex saw two men make out and realized there was a conspicuous lack of women around. We were certain it was a gay bar. When Alex asked someone in the bathroom she got a rather offended, "No!", but there sure were a lot of men around. Later we danced--more between tables than on a dance floor--and probably looked completely ridiculous, but had a great time.
To get home, we all piled into one cab, SEVEN in the back and two in the front, but there was too much weight for the tires, so we climbed out. We tried another one, only five in the back this time, with two in the hatchback trunk, but the driver apparently was not licensed to pick up passengers in that area, so we had to get out again. We ended up taking two cabs and etting a bit lost, but the drivers were kind, and the fare had been decided on before getting in the car, so it wasn't a problem.
I enjoyed the night so much because I missed just hanging out with friends. The group is getting close and class is fun, doing homework together is nice, but it was great just to get to ahng out for a night.
I then spent most of the weekend sleeping and doing homework. Went to church, which is interesting and sometimes beautiful, even if I don't understand.
Yesterday we had a field trip! Nairobi Museum of Natural History and then the University of Nairobi. The museum was interesting but small and we had too much time, ended up sitting around. It was awesome to see exhibits on animals that we're going to see in REAL LIFE, though. They also had a scale that you could stand on and it would tell you how much you weighed in terms of which animal shared your weight. No matter how many people we piled on the scale, we never made it to hippo, just to zebra (whihc weighs more than a lion!). While walking around Rachel Y and Alex and I described our Museum of Natural Wazungu that we should make. There would need to be a whole wing on Chacos and sunscreen, of course.
At the University of Nairobi, we met about six students, talked a bit, and then they each took a small group on a tour. It wasn't too interesting, but was nice to talk to the students, who were fun. Our group got ice cream after our tour too, which was of course wonderful.
At the university, med students get a cadaver (six students per cadaver) in the THIRD WEEK! Pretty amazing. I might have to go into medicine after all, since to me, that was by far the coolest part of the school.
We took matatus to and from the field trip; they're privately owned buses, but are more like VW buses with 12 seats in the back. Kenyans tend to pack about 30 people in each, often with doors open and people stanidng on the outside. We fit the normal amount of peple and thus took two. The vans are decked out with stickers and graffiti, mostly about reggae, Bob Marley, and weed. But on ours there was also one that said, "Easy Skanking". Classy.
The matatus also generally blare American music, sometimes with videos. We were dancing and singing most of the time. ON the way back, our matatu stoppped and someone opened the hatchback and put something in. It was a littler nervewracking: the back of the van open and none of us knowing what was happening. Plus somet guys were hassling a few girls in the van. But soon enough they were gotten rid of, the back was closed, and we were on again. Turns out we literally stopped to get a subwoofer put under the backseat. The rest of the ride we freakin' jammed.
Though let me tell you, being a bunch of wazungu in a matatu blasting music while stuck in traffic--it gives you a new appreciation for animals in zoos.
Only a few more days with homestay families, then onto the coast! I am quite excited. Today after school a bunch of us are going to Nakumatt, the grocery store, to buy gifts for our families. Baba and Steph will just get T-shirts or the book of sand dunes that I brought, but I will buy Yambura nail polish or a Swahili-English dictionary, and mama will get a set of pots or something similarly useful.
Maybe one more update from Nairobi/Riruta before TRAVELLING! (I will spell it the British way if I damn well please.)
Friday night a relatively large group of us went into Nairobi and had a wonderful time. It took us a while to find the restaurant, so we walked around like complete tourists--worst feeling in the world. Even though anywhere we go peoploe know we're not from there, generally knowing some of the language and where we are going is enough to not feel horribly out of place. There's a difference between tourists and vistors or travelers (though no different words in Swahili, which bothers me). I hate being a tourist.
Buyt once we found the restaurant, the night was great. I had a ham and cheese and pinapple panini and a salad (I never thought I'd miss salad, but boy, do I) & stole some fries from other kids (with REAL ketchup!, not the strangely sweet tomato sauce they usually serve). Plus a Redd's, which is basically carbonated apple juice that is apparently alcoholic, but I'm not sure I believe them. It tastes like a children's drink.
Dinner was good, and afterward Natalie--who has already had a Kenyan proclaim love to her on her way to school--literally got a plate of meat sent to her. After seeing other people taste it and react, I refused to. Alex and I were a little afraid it was sent as a joke to see what the wazungu would do, but it was amusing anyway.
Afterward we went to a bar called Tacos and all swuished into one corner table. It blasted American music, mostly old hiphop songs, which was rather fun. After about half an hour, Lila and Alex saw two men make out and realized there was a conspicuous lack of women around. We were certain it was a gay bar. When Alex asked someone in the bathroom she got a rather offended, "No!", but there sure were a lot of men around. Later we danced--more between tables than on a dance floor--and probably looked completely ridiculous, but had a great time.
To get home, we all piled into one cab, SEVEN in the back and two in the front, but there was too much weight for the tires, so we climbed out. We tried another one, only five in the back this time, with two in the hatchback trunk, but the driver apparently was not licensed to pick up passengers in that area, so we had to get out again. We ended up taking two cabs and etting a bit lost, but the drivers were kind, and the fare had been decided on before getting in the car, so it wasn't a problem.
I enjoyed the night so much because I missed just hanging out with friends. The group is getting close and class is fun, doing homework together is nice, but it was great just to get to ahng out for a night.
I then spent most of the weekend sleeping and doing homework. Went to church, which is interesting and sometimes beautiful, even if I don't understand.
Yesterday we had a field trip! Nairobi Museum of Natural History and then the University of Nairobi. The museum was interesting but small and we had too much time, ended up sitting around. It was awesome to see exhibits on animals that we're going to see in REAL LIFE, though. They also had a scale that you could stand on and it would tell you how much you weighed in terms of which animal shared your weight. No matter how many people we piled on the scale, we never made it to hippo, just to zebra (whihc weighs more than a lion!). While walking around Rachel Y and Alex and I described our Museum of Natural Wazungu that we should make. There would need to be a whole wing on Chacos and sunscreen, of course.
At the University of Nairobi, we met about six students, talked a bit, and then they each took a small group on a tour. It wasn't too interesting, but was nice to talk to the students, who were fun. Our group got ice cream after our tour too, which was of course wonderful.
At the university, med students get a cadaver (six students per cadaver) in the THIRD WEEK! Pretty amazing. I might have to go into medicine after all, since to me, that was by far the coolest part of the school.
We took matatus to and from the field trip; they're privately owned buses, but are more like VW buses with 12 seats in the back. Kenyans tend to pack about 30 people in each, often with doors open and people stanidng on the outside. We fit the normal amount of peple and thus took two. The vans are decked out with stickers and graffiti, mostly about reggae, Bob Marley, and weed. But on ours there was also one that said, "Easy Skanking". Classy.
The matatus also generally blare American music, sometimes with videos. We were dancing and singing most of the time. ON the way back, our matatu stoppped and someone opened the hatchback and put something in. It was a littler nervewracking: the back of the van open and none of us knowing what was happening. Plus somet guys were hassling a few girls in the van. But soon enough they were gotten rid of, the back was closed, and we were on again. Turns out we literally stopped to get a subwoofer put under the backseat. The rest of the ride we freakin' jammed.
Though let me tell you, being a bunch of wazungu in a matatu blasting music while stuck in traffic--it gives you a new appreciation for animals in zoos.
Only a few more days with homestay families, then onto the coast! I am quite excited. Today after school a bunch of us are going to Nakumatt, the grocery store, to buy gifts for our families. Baba and Steph will just get T-shirts or the book of sand dunes that I brought, but I will buy Yambura nail polish or a Swahili-English dictionary, and mama will get a set of pots or something similarly useful.
Maybe one more update from Nairobi/Riruta before TRAVELLING! (I will spell it the British way if I damn well please.)
11.9.09
Sweaty and dusty and dirty, oh my
Just took my first test in Kiswahili. It went really really well and I don't think I got any wrong, but of course I probably did. I knew how to write everything though, and I fixed some mistakes when I checked my answers, so if I get some wrong it'll just be from working too quickly.
Today is good so far. I called to Eli this morning because I won't have the phone over the weekend & it had been a week since we talked. It was good even though I was sleepy. It's weird to wake up Friday and talk to someone on their Thursday night.
I keep forgetting to write about the animals here. Yesterday walking home from school there was a herd of cows walking down the road. Crazy. There are also goats everywhere, which I love, and stray dongs and cats, which is sad. On the road to school there are a couple of families of ducks and goats with kids and a puppy. Why are baby animals of all kinds so adorable? We go to school at a Kenyan's house, and he has a dog and a couple of cats, but the cats are skittish and might have fleas, so I don't get to cuddle. I just sit by Miles during class for that and he gives me massages. There's pictures of the whole group here: http://legacy.lclark.edu/~clifton/EA09/. I think our professor will continue to update those pages as we go. Perhaps when we are somewhere I can get consistent internet I will try to post some pictures as well.
All the homestays have electricity, but not many have running water. They may have at some point, but there is a huge drought in Kenya so they don't at the moment. My family does have a toilet though, as opposed to many who just have a hole in the ground outside. That was the case at church too, where there was also no TP. I felt appropriately sacriligous using the church bulletin but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
I will probably go into Nairobi with some kids tonight, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow there is sure to be dancing in town, but tonight should be more laid back, which is what I'm looking for. And we will not be opposed to dancing, if the situation should arise. Tomorrow I may also get my hair braided, which will probably take about four hours. I haven't decided yet. I'm pretty sure I'll look ridiculous, but also, when else would I have the chance? And I look pretty ridiculous as a mzungu here anyway--it's not like I could stand out any more than I already do.
One more week of homestay then Saturday we'll head back to the hotel for a night--where I can videochat, Mom. Sunday it is on to Mombasa and the coast. Yay!
Oh and I forgot to say, STEPH KNOWS MY NAME! Well, she calls me "Mare-OHN!", which is close enough. We play all the time. I'm not sure she's actually ticklish but she pretends to be. We play keep away with basically anything. And she loves sitting in my lap while I bounce my legs like she's riding a horse. Every time we finish she yells, "TENA!"--"Again!"
It is very dusty and hot lately. Apparently as we head to the coast and into Tanzania the sun is only supposed to get hotter. But I haven't gotten sunburned yet, which is nice. Hilarious story about my skin turning red though: I was leaning on my hand doing homework, and when I sat up my dad asked what happened to my face. I told him I was just resting my cheek on my hand. He just looks at me and says, "And it turns red?" and freaking cracks up when I nod. So strange that he would have never known that otherwise.
TGIF so I don't have to sit through history any more this week. But obviously a sad day. It's weird not to be in America for September 11.
Today is good so far. I called to Eli this morning because I won't have the phone over the weekend & it had been a week since we talked. It was good even though I was sleepy. It's weird to wake up Friday and talk to someone on their Thursday night.
I keep forgetting to write about the animals here. Yesterday walking home from school there was a herd of cows walking down the road. Crazy. There are also goats everywhere, which I love, and stray dongs and cats, which is sad. On the road to school there are a couple of families of ducks and goats with kids and a puppy. Why are baby animals of all kinds so adorable? We go to school at a Kenyan's house, and he has a dog and a couple of cats, but the cats are skittish and might have fleas, so I don't get to cuddle. I just sit by Miles during class for that and he gives me massages. There's pictures of the whole group here: http://legacy.lclark.edu/~clifton/EA09/. I think our professor will continue to update those pages as we go. Perhaps when we are somewhere I can get consistent internet I will try to post some pictures as well.
All the homestays have electricity, but not many have running water. They may have at some point, but there is a huge drought in Kenya so they don't at the moment. My family does have a toilet though, as opposed to many who just have a hole in the ground outside. That was the case at church too, where there was also no TP. I felt appropriately sacriligous using the church bulletin but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
I will probably go into Nairobi with some kids tonight, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow there is sure to be dancing in town, but tonight should be more laid back, which is what I'm looking for. And we will not be opposed to dancing, if the situation should arise. Tomorrow I may also get my hair braided, which will probably take about four hours. I haven't decided yet. I'm pretty sure I'll look ridiculous, but also, when else would I have the chance? And I look pretty ridiculous as a mzungu here anyway--it's not like I could stand out any more than I already do.
One more week of homestay then Saturday we'll head back to the hotel for a night--where I can videochat, Mom. Sunday it is on to Mombasa and the coast. Yay!
Oh and I forgot to say, STEPH KNOWS MY NAME! Well, she calls me "Mare-OHN!", which is close enough. We play all the time. I'm not sure she's actually ticklish but she pretends to be. We play keep away with basically anything. And she loves sitting in my lap while I bounce my legs like she's riding a horse. Every time we finish she yells, "TENA!"--"Again!"
It is very dusty and hot lately. Apparently as we head to the coast and into Tanzania the sun is only supposed to get hotter. But I haven't gotten sunburned yet, which is nice. Hilarious story about my skin turning red though: I was leaning on my hand doing homework, and when I sat up my dad asked what happened to my face. I told him I was just resting my cheek on my hand. He just looks at me and says, "And it turns red?" and freaking cracks up when I nod. So strange that he would have never known that otherwise.
TGIF so I don't have to sit through history any more this week. But obviously a sad day. It's weird not to be in America for September 11.
8.9.09
Let's type this entire thing for the second time...
HOMESTAY!!! Mama wangu (my mom) is very sweet but I haven't seen her much because she works a lot. Baba wangu (my dad) is also incredibly sweet. He mailed a letter for me and then refused to tell me how much it cost because he didn't want me to pay.
They let me speak Swahili (and mess up sometimes) without laughing at me. Baba wangu said that this group is learning Swahili much better than last group; given that he's only talked to me and Lila, I felt pretty good about this.
Dada wangu (my sister) is Steph, a five or six year-old ADORABLE girl. She can't pronounce/remember my name, but she calls me "Sistah!" and we are best friends. She fell asleep on me in the car the first night and held my hand on the way back frmo church the second day and bought me gum. We sing the numbers song together and play keep away and I tickle her and she follows me everywhere. I adore my family (and my American family. My mom who was so excited about me getting her text message and calling her back even though I was in Africa! :) )
Saturday was spent hanging out with my homestay family and all their friends at a carnival of sorts. Lila is my cousin (her dad and my dad are brothers and we live all of 20 feet from each other) so our families were together all weekend. She and I rode a Kenyan ferris wheel and we rode the boat ride with my little sister. It was a very good time.
Sunday was church but I didn't feel too well so I went outside. All the kids play in the churchyard during the service, so I watched them and made some friends. I still have the problem of wanting to steal all the African children. My sister came out and sat by me a while later. When another girl came up I told her Steph was my sister and she turns to her and goes, "Dada wako ni mzungu!" or "Your sister's a white person!!" It was hilarious.
After church we had basically more church. A group from the congregation came over and did a more personal service in the parking lot-courtyard-space between the complex I live in and Lila's house. It was long, hot, and about the only thing I understood was "Yesu." But it was still interesting.
School has been pretty good. I still love Swahili and can say SO MUCH. I'm not so hot on history though. I don't really like the way David Sperling teaches, een though he's brilliant and knows basically everyone in Kenya (the current prime minister, one of the first provincial commissioners, the Kenyatta family). It's better now that I know we are not having any tests except our "reflections" on our time here, but it actually made me homesick yesterday. "I don't like this class" became "I don't want to be in this class" became "I don't want to be here--I miss my friends and family--I want to go HOME!" It only lasted about forty minutes though, because afterward a big group went to play soccer at a field near the school. I went and watched and did homework and wrote. It was very fun. We played with some adorable Kenyan kids--cheerleading for basketball and chasing them around. Alex (the student leader, who's hilarious) carried one of them around and then pretended they had to carry her. One of them, a LITTLE girl actually gave her a piggy back ride and I got some fantastic pictures. Some kids are actually at the field now, and I'm headed over after I post.
What I was mostly homesick about was the feeling of being with friends. The weekend was reallyfun, but I got neither time alone nor that much time with friends. I need one or the other, it turns out. All of us wazungu are getting along though, which is nice. And, I mean, you can't not have fun with Kenyan kids. A group caught us outside our school and they all yelled, over and over again, "How are YOU?!" and shook all our hands. I would answer in Swahili, which threw them off.
Anyway--this keyboard is atrocious and my computer turned off earlier without saving, so I've spent much too much time writing this. Mom & Eli--turns out if you research phone cards online, there are some especially for US to Africa and it will be way cheaper. Maisha--My family hosted Liz last year, if you know them.
<3 <3 <3
They let me speak Swahili (and mess up sometimes) without laughing at me. Baba wangu said that this group is learning Swahili much better than last group; given that he's only talked to me and Lila, I felt pretty good about this.
Dada wangu (my sister) is Steph, a five or six year-old ADORABLE girl. She can't pronounce/remember my name, but she calls me "Sistah!" and we are best friends. She fell asleep on me in the car the first night and held my hand on the way back frmo church the second day and bought me gum. We sing the numbers song together and play keep away and I tickle her and she follows me everywhere. I adore my family (and my American family. My mom who was so excited about me getting her text message and calling her back even though I was in Africa! :) )
Saturday was spent hanging out with my homestay family and all their friends at a carnival of sorts. Lila is my cousin (her dad and my dad are brothers and we live all of 20 feet from each other) so our families were together all weekend. She and I rode a Kenyan ferris wheel and we rode the boat ride with my little sister. It was a very good time.
Sunday was church but I didn't feel too well so I went outside. All the kids play in the churchyard during the service, so I watched them and made some friends. I still have the problem of wanting to steal all the African children. My sister came out and sat by me a while later. When another girl came up I told her Steph was my sister and she turns to her and goes, "Dada wako ni mzungu!" or "Your sister's a white person!!" It was hilarious.
After church we had basically more church. A group from the congregation came over and did a more personal service in the parking lot-courtyard-space between the complex I live in and Lila's house. It was long, hot, and about the only thing I understood was "Yesu." But it was still interesting.
School has been pretty good. I still love Swahili and can say SO MUCH. I'm not so hot on history though. I don't really like the way David Sperling teaches, een though he's brilliant and knows basically everyone in Kenya (the current prime minister, one of the first provincial commissioners, the Kenyatta family). It's better now that I know we are not having any tests except our "reflections" on our time here, but it actually made me homesick yesterday. "I don't like this class" became "I don't want to be in this class" became "I don't want to be here--I miss my friends and family--I want to go HOME!" It only lasted about forty minutes though, because afterward a big group went to play soccer at a field near the school. I went and watched and did homework and wrote. It was very fun. We played with some adorable Kenyan kids--cheerleading for basketball and chasing them around. Alex (the student leader, who's hilarious) carried one of them around and then pretended they had to carry her. One of them, a LITTLE girl actually gave her a piggy back ride and I got some fantastic pictures. Some kids are actually at the field now, and I'm headed over after I post.
What I was mostly homesick about was the feeling of being with friends. The weekend was reallyfun, but I got neither time alone nor that much time with friends. I need one or the other, it turns out. All of us wazungu are getting along though, which is nice. And, I mean, you can't not have fun with Kenyan kids. A group caught us outside our school and they all yelled, over and over again, "How are YOU?!" and shook all our hands. I would answer in Swahili, which threw them off.
Anyway--this keyboard is atrocious and my computer turned off earlier without saving, so I've spent much too much time writing this. Mom & Eli--turns out if you research phone cards online, there are some especially for US to Africa and it will be way cheaper. Maisha--My family hosted Liz last year, if you know them.
<3 <3 <3
4.9.09
headed to the homestay
I’m almost completely packed for the homestay. We head there around noon. It’s somewhat frustrating because we don’t know much about them—Ken (the professor from LC) said they would have indoor plumbing, while Alex (the student leader) said we wouldn’t have running water. We’ve been told two people might be housed with the same family, and if that happened it would probably be a boy and a girl; however, Alex said that, so we’re not sure if it will happen or if it’s just what happened with her homestay.
It’s not much of a problem—we’ll figure it all out by the end of the day. It’s just nerve-wracking to go into a homestay with so little knowledge.
Thursday Alex, Rachel Y. and I went to a little “kiosk” for lunch. It was really more of a shack—about 8’X10’ with a metal roof and 10-12 people crammed inside into tiny makeshift booths. The food was amazing: beans with cabbage, rice, and chipatti, which is kind of like a tortilla except way better. It was less than a dollar each, and we didn’t even finish all the food.
We went back there yesterday with a big group and basically overran the place. Everyone there was really nice though, helping us with words and getting the cook to bring us dishes to taste. We ordered beans and rice and chipatti again, plus lentils. Absolutely delicious and again, less than a dollar each.
Have I mentioned aerobics? All the girls got up early on Thursday and took an aerobics class at the hotel. We pretty much made fools of ourselves, but it was a lot of fun.
Class has been pretty good—Swahili’s still great, but I’m not so big on the Kenyan history/politics/etc class. The guy who teaches it is absolutely brilliant and has been in Kenya for at least 45 years and knows everyone. It’s kind of insane; he tells stories beginning with, “Well I’m quite close with the current prime minister” and “I had the fortune to be very good friends with one of the first Kenyan provincial commissioners” and “I was told this by a member of the Kenyatta (the first president of Kenya) family.” So he is very interesting and very smart, but he goes off on so many tangents that we don’t really have a basic level of information yet. We don’t have a starting place from which to understand his tangents, which sometimes makes it hard to pay attention.
I still adore Swahili though. It’s amazing how much we’ve learned just in this first week. We’re separated into four groups of only about six people, and then there are four teachers who rotate through the groups. MJ is my favorite—a hilarious and adorable Kenyan man who uses a pointer in class at the most unnecessary moments. But all four of the teachers are very good, helpful, and kind. The thing about Swahili that we’ve learned so far that is the most confusing: they don’t use commas.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned that it’s cold here! I’ve worn my fleece every day. But it kind of reminds me of Michigan weather, because even though I needed my fleece yesterday morning, when I got back to the hotel for dinner I was sweating bullets.
I don’t know when I can update next—a few of us went in on internet from the hotel, which I’m using now, but I don’t know what will happen when we go to our homestays. Eventually we’ll find an internet café and I’ll keep you updated.
Ninatamani kukuona! (I miss you!)
It’s not much of a problem—we’ll figure it all out by the end of the day. It’s just nerve-wracking to go into a homestay with so little knowledge.
Thursday Alex, Rachel Y. and I went to a little “kiosk” for lunch. It was really more of a shack—about 8’X10’ with a metal roof and 10-12 people crammed inside into tiny makeshift booths. The food was amazing: beans with cabbage, rice, and chipatti, which is kind of like a tortilla except way better. It was less than a dollar each, and we didn’t even finish all the food.
We went back there yesterday with a big group and basically overran the place. Everyone there was really nice though, helping us with words and getting the cook to bring us dishes to taste. We ordered beans and rice and chipatti again, plus lentils. Absolutely delicious and again, less than a dollar each.
Have I mentioned aerobics? All the girls got up early on Thursday and took an aerobics class at the hotel. We pretty much made fools of ourselves, but it was a lot of fun.
Class has been pretty good—Swahili’s still great, but I’m not so big on the Kenyan history/politics/etc class. The guy who teaches it is absolutely brilliant and has been in Kenya for at least 45 years and knows everyone. It’s kind of insane; he tells stories beginning with, “Well I’m quite close with the current prime minister” and “I had the fortune to be very good friends with one of the first Kenyan provincial commissioners” and “I was told this by a member of the Kenyatta (the first president of Kenya) family.” So he is very interesting and very smart, but he goes off on so many tangents that we don’t really have a basic level of information yet. We don’t have a starting place from which to understand his tangents, which sometimes makes it hard to pay attention.
I still adore Swahili though. It’s amazing how much we’ve learned just in this first week. We’re separated into four groups of only about six people, and then there are four teachers who rotate through the groups. MJ is my favorite—a hilarious and adorable Kenyan man who uses a pointer in class at the most unnecessary moments. But all four of the teachers are very good, helpful, and kind. The thing about Swahili that we’ve learned so far that is the most confusing: they don’t use commas.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned that it’s cold here! I’ve worn my fleece every day. But it kind of reminds me of Michigan weather, because even though I needed my fleece yesterday morning, when I got back to the hotel for dinner I was sweating bullets.
I don’t know when I can update next—a few of us went in on internet from the hotel, which I’m using now, but I don’t know what will happen when we go to our homestays. Eventually we’ll find an internet café and I’ll keep you updated.
Ninatamani kukuona! (I miss you!)
2.9.09
Ndiyo tunaweza!
It doesn't really feel like I'm in Africa yet. We are staying at a hotel with a TV in every room and a swimming pool. We don't go to our homestays until Saturday.
That said, everything is kind of amazing here. We started Swahili today--six hours of only Swahili class. It's fairly easy though, especially having taken other languages so I understand conjugation and such. We've learned so much already, and I'm really enjoying it. (The subject of this entry is today's "phrase of the day": Yes, we can.)
The food at the hotel is good; I'm eating tons of pineapple with every meal. All of the girls are worried about the purported 10-15 pounds we're supposed to gain, so we're trying to be healthy. We might be going to a step aerobics class tomorrow before Swahili--at 7 in the morning or something ridiculous.
The group meshes well; I'm sure we'll encounter our problems, but for the time being we're all so excited to be in Africa that we don't notice anything bad about each other.
We're at the hotel most of the day, so again it doesn't really feel like we're in Africa. But when we venture out it is strange to feel so out of place, skin-color wise. Knowing a little Swahili makes that better, because we're not so much the annoying tourists as we are the students trying to learn the culture.
Classes other than Swahili start tomorrow, and Saturday around midday we get placed with families. We don't know anything about them as of yet, but from what I hear from past trip participants, they will speak English.
Got to run, just thought I'd check in to let you know I made it.
That said, everything is kind of amazing here. We started Swahili today--six hours of only Swahili class. It's fairly easy though, especially having taken other languages so I understand conjugation and such. We've learned so much already, and I'm really enjoying it. (The subject of this entry is today's "phrase of the day": Yes, we can.)
The food at the hotel is good; I'm eating tons of pineapple with every meal. All of the girls are worried about the purported 10-15 pounds we're supposed to gain, so we're trying to be healthy. We might be going to a step aerobics class tomorrow before Swahili--at 7 in the morning or something ridiculous.
The group meshes well; I'm sure we'll encounter our problems, but for the time being we're all so excited to be in Africa that we don't notice anything bad about each other.
We're at the hotel most of the day, so again it doesn't really feel like we're in Africa. But when we venture out it is strange to feel so out of place, skin-color wise. Knowing a little Swahili makes that better, because we're not so much the annoying tourists as we are the students trying to learn the culture.
Classes other than Swahili start tomorrow, and Saturday around midday we get placed with families. We don't know anything about them as of yet, but from what I hear from past trip participants, they will speak English.
Got to run, just thought I'd check in to let you know I made it.
30.8.09
We're off the captain shouted, slightly off!
Mom's yelling at us to go load the car. Thought I'd say goodbye first.
I woke up nervous for the first time--the Science Olympiad nervous where my stomach tingles. It was nice though; I'd dealt with this before and had two options: ignore it or throw up. I ignored it.
Had a lovely breakfast, one last walk on the beach with my dog begging us to throw her a ball, and a swim. The water was all of 55 degrees and I got a brain freeze going under more than once, but I'd be damned if I didn't get one last swim in my Lake.
Off to Chicago now. Late lunch/early dinner with Clare, seeing the kittens, then off to the airport for a travel time of more than 24 hours. I arrive in Nairobi at 6:05 am on Tuesday--11:05 pm Monday for those of you in the Eastern time zone.
See ya in December, Michigan. Wish me luck.
16.8.09
T-minus 14 days
In two weeks I head to Chicago, to board a plane to London, to board a plane to Nairobi, to spend a semester in Kenya and Tanzania. I'm going with a group from my school; we will have a few homestays and lots of travel. After Africa it's two and a half weeks in Europe for me: Dublin, London, Strasbourg and Nantes. Plus a few hours in Paris.
This is my blog; I will update as I can, whenever I have internet and time. Feel free to read, comment, forward to friends. Keep me updated on your lives as I keep you updated on mine.
“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” - Susan Heller
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