The Safari, Our Last Day, and My Last Blog

Hey there. It's been a while. We got back today from our 3-day safari, so I guess I should tell you all about it. I'll start by saying that the safari was, indeed, awesome. However, I had a general preconception about safaris that wasn't exactly the way things are. Let me explain. I was thinking we hop in a safari truck with a guide and go blaze trails in the African wilderness, risking life and limb in pursuit of wild beasts of myth and lore. In reality, it's much more different. We did hop into a safari truck, and we did have a REALLY cool guide (his name was Saloom...or something like that. He was half-Maasai, half-Indian, and about 6'5", 230lbs.). The first day, he picked us up at our hotel after we had a quick briefing with Aker, the white dude that owns the company. We drove about 2 hours to Tarangire National Park. I'll describe that place briefly. It has a river that never runs dry, so during the dry season (it's the dry season here, by the way), a whole bunch of animals come into the park to drink. We arrived at the park mid-morning, Saloom filled out papers, and we were on our way. The first thing you notice is the gravel roads. We weren't blazing any trails...they had been blazed already by like a bulldozer or something. The next thing you notice is all the other safari trucks. I mean, there were times when we were literally in "traffic" out in the bush. You'll see one truck stopped looking at something, so everyone wants to go over there, next thing you know, theres like 20 trucks looking at a zebra or something. The third thing you notice is the weird feeling that all of this feels very fake and set up. Yeah its a national park and yeah the animals can come and go as they please, but it feels like you have this dude with this truck driving you through a big zoo. Like they see us coming and call ahead to say "ok, here come wazungu, let the animals out of the cages." After a while you get used to it, but the Disney feeling never really goes away. On the whole, though, Tarangire was very cool. We saw all kinds of animals, from zebras to wildebeasts to giraffes to elephants to more zebras and baboons and then more zebras and then we even saw zebras. There are times, though, and this is true of all the places we went to, where there aren't any animals, and you basically drive around in this truck looking at trees. After Tarangire, we headed to the tented lodge that we would be staying in for 2 nights. It was about an hour and a half away, and by this point we were WAY out in the bush. It was really cool, though, because the lodge, the Ngorongoro Crater (day 2 park), and Lake Manyara (day 3 park) are all located on the East African Rift...basically in the mountains. The mountains were very, very cool. They looked a bit like Europe, despite all the African-looking stuff. A tented lodge, if you don't know, is basically giant tents with big beds and hot showers and front porches. It was very luxurious. There were a few Americans there, but mainly Europeans. We had dinner the first night with a girl named Courtney, who is from Baltimore but lives in London for her job. She arrived a dinner alone, so we invited her to sit with us. Her friend, it turned out, got bumped from the flight and would be arriving the next day. Courtney herself was very very funny, and the 5 of us had a great night laughing really loud and playing cards at the bar (the bar was more of a veranda on the edge of the cliff looking out over Lake Manyara and the desert and mountains beyond. Oh, and we could see every single star.). We woke up the next morning early and continued our safari to Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater formed when a huge volcano erupted and collapsed on itself. Because of the steep sides, it has become a huge isolated ecosystem of over 20,000 different kinds of animals...or thats what Saloom said. We did see a LOT of animals though. We had a lion sit right next to our truck, and even saw some lions hanging out by a buffalo they had just killed. Also there were zebras! And some elephants, giraffes, hippos, etc. And wazungu. Lots of wazungu. We stayed at the crater all day, then went back to the lodge for another night. While the girls rested, my mom and I took a walk with one of the Maasai guards as he explained all of the medicinal qualities of the plants that the Maasai used...so that was pretty cool. Then we had another dinner, slept again, and woke up early this morning to go to Lake Manyara, a short drive down the mountain. Basically this park encompasses this huge salt water lake and the surrounding jungle/plain area. By this point, we were used to all the trucks and the more common animals, and really just wanted to see a leopard. I'll say right now that we never saw a leopard, and in general, didn't see much of anything at all. We spent most of the trip joking around with Saloom about whether or not guides make up all the stuff they tell us. Oh and we talked about fat Americans. We spent a half day at Manyara in order to get back to Arusha. We got back here to our hotel (same one...different apartment), and the girls went out to do some shopping while I stayed in and read and took a shower. At 7ish, Emily and Meghan (the founder of TFFT) picked us up for dinner. We went to Pepe's, an Italian/Indian cuisine, and had a lovely dinner, recapping the entire trip. Tomorrow morning the two girls will pick us up and we will drive to Moshi, a smaller version of Arusha about an hour and 15 minutes away. We are scheduled to go on a coffee tour on the side of Kilimanjaro for 3 hours, and then we will head to the airport and get ready to head back to the US. Our flight leaves the airport at 8:50 pm, heads to Dar es Salaam to pick up those folks, then flies to Amsterdam, then to Detroit where we have a 3 hour layover, then to Charlotte and home. We've definitely had a great time, but we are also ready to go home. 2 and a half weeks in Africa really does feel like about 10 years. It will be nice to eat American food and not have to turn on the hot water 30 minutes before taking a shower. Don't worry though, we have PLENTY of pictures. See you on the other side. Kwa heri for good.

The Last Day at Matonyok

And so today we came to an end. I won't bore you with the usual stuff...we woke up, we ate breakfast (I don't think the french toast was cooked), and we got a dalla dalla to Olasiti. The whole way there we kept talking about how this is our last time doing this or that or this or that. We did search around Arusha for a place to make photocopies, and finally found a little Arabic shop (but aren't they all Arabic I feel like?). My mom was giving her kids a test, as was Amy, and me and Ashton had some connect the dot stuff to practice numbers with. So we finally did get to Olasiti, but on the walk to Matonyok, it began to rain. It started as a light drizzle, and never really got THAT heavy, it was just continuous enough to make the top layer of dirt stick to your shoes...you know, the annoying kind of rain. Since we had mud on our shoes, I spent the first part of the day barefoot teaching my kids the "R" sound (which apparently Ashton had taught them yesterday and just didn't tell me...thanks Ashton), while Amy and Ashton went with Nosim to get chickens and bicycles. After about 30 minutes of teaching, we decided enough, and we passed out the kids' pictures that we had taken of them two days ago. We had put them in paper frames that the kids decorated. Since they don't have a mirror, it was of course a BIG hit with all of them. After that we pretty much just played around for the rest of the day. I spent several hours working with Mike, Manuel, and two other guys from the village building the swingset that we had been shopping around for, and apparently they ended up finishing it just after we left later that afternoon, so I'm glad that worked out. We had a late lunch with everyone outside, which turned into a sort of goodbye ceremony. We noticed that many of the kids were somber all day, and we found out that Nosim had told them the night before that today was our last day (some of them cried, she told us). We had rice and beans, then we presented the cakes and juice boxes (the cake was AWFUL...very sweet and very dry) to everyone, which they loved. They had some cards for us and some prayers, and they had even hired a Maasai friend to construct the traditional Maasai stool for my mom. I don't want to go on and on about the ceremony because you really had to be there. Everyone was, of course, sad to leave, but at the same time very happy that we were able to give this group of people some things that could really, really help them. The cows, for instance, let them have milk to drink and to sell, and milk to make bread with to sell and eat, etc. Amy and Ashton bought 4 chickens and three bikes, all of which were a hit. Ndemno wore the Carolina Tar Heels shirt that we had brought for him. We gave out awards such as "Best Guide" to Mike and "Best Caretaker" to Nosim. When we finally did leave, there was a whole lot of hugging and more hugging and the goodbyes. A sad day, but a wonderful day. After Olasiti, we dropped by the Cultural Heritage Center, where Amy got a Tanzanite stone as an early birthday present. We then walked down the road a bit before catching a dalla dalla to our hotel (there was another traffic jam, so we got to take a detour through a part of Arusha we hadn't seen yet). We got to the hotel at about 6:30, and we rushed to get ready because Emily from TFFT was picked us up at 7:30 to go to Stiggy's again for dinner. She came to get us, we went to eat, and we basically recapped everything and talked about the safari we start tomorrow. Tomorrow, the safari company picks us up at 9, and we head out to, I think, Ngorongoro Crater (I'm not sure if thats first or not). Of course the next 3 days are going to be an awesome cap to our trip. We'll be relaxing in the African bush. It's weird, though, that after 2 weeks of laughing at the wide-eyed white people in safari trucks, we will now become them...at least the safari truck part...we've seen enough of Arusha to be locals. That being said, tonight may be my last blog. We did get an upgrade to stay in a lodge in the bush, so that may have internet, and of course there is the Monday night back in Arusha, but I can't guarantee internet, therefore, I can't guarantee blog. If we don't talk again, it's been great filling your imagination with summaries of our trip, and I hope that when we get back, you and I can talk in person about the great experiences we've had, and plan ahead to when we can come back and do more. Until next time. Kwa heri.

The Only Mzungu (White Person)

Today was by far the best day of my trip. At least fun-wise. Remember from yesterday all of the swingset planning and stuff? Today was when we put it into action. After breakfast, the girls all left to get a dalla-dalla to go to Matonyok per usual, while I waited here at the hotel for Mike. He arrived at 8:30 and we began our journey across Arusha. Hold onto your hats. Remember yesterday Mike and I walked to every hardware store in Arusha? Today we went to one final one that wasn't opened yesterday, and got basically everything we needed for next to nothing. We got several U-shaped bolts for tying rope to, as well as several meters of rope, and some long bolts to attach the logs together in an A-frame. After we grabbed those supplies, we walked to the place where we got the log-sized wood for the frame yesterday and paid for all 8 pieces...about 120,000 shillings. Also at that place we hired one of the guys who wheels stuff around on carts. If you Google Image "Africa" you'll probably see them. Basically they have huge wooden wheelbarrow-type things and you pay them to cart your supplies wherever you need. We paid him around 5000 shillings to carry all of our stuff (and it was a lot) about 3 or 4 miles. First we piled the 8 logs on, then he ran ahead of us to the carpentry store where the desks were waiting. At that store we loaded on the 4 desks with their attached seats (each one holds 2 to 3 kids) as well as the 5 swings that we had cut (we bought a long piece of wood and had it cut down to 5 swings, 2 ft long each). On top of THAT, Mike and I walked next door to a rice wholesale store and bought 50 kilos of rice (about 2 months worth) which we also threw on the cart. To recap...this 60-year old looking dude had 8 logs, 5 swings, 4 big desks, 5 kilos of rice, and the big chunk of rope that we got for the swings. This guy was ridiculous. So he ran ahead of us to one of the entrances to Olasiti, where we had arranged for Ndemno and Manuel to meet us with the trusty Land Rover. Mike and I walked a little slower to let him get ahead, but basically we walked the entire distance that we've been doing the dalla-dalla for everyday...about 4 miles. On the way I got to meet his dad, which was cool. So we finally arrived at the entrance to Olasiti, and of course the cart dude was waiting for us. We unloaded all of the supplies on the side of the dirt road entrance and waited for Ndemno and Manuel. When they arrived, it turned out that the Land Rover wasn't big enough for the logs and desks, but they did take the swings, rope, and rice. They headed back to Matonyok to rent a pickup truck to come back and get the rest of the stuff as well as Mike and I. So we waited. Luckily, this entrance to Olasiti is also a communal shopping-type area. I met one of Mike's frends, David, and he spoke a bit of English as well. He bought me some grilled corn, and I bought Mike, David, and myself some ice cream from some guy who was selling it for 100 shillings each. Then the three of us plus some random kid split a Special K Chocolate bar. Finally, after about 30 minutes, the pickup truck came back. It turns out that they had rented it for the day, because we also had to buy and ship the cows. It was basically a Toyota pickup with metal bars over the bed of the truck, making kind of a cage a little taller than the truck itself. I have pictures. Manuel drove, while Mike and I sat on top of the cage. It was pretty awesome riding through Arusha on top of a pickup truck. We took all the supplies to Matonyok and unloaded. As we were arriving, Ashton and Amy were leaving to go to the Rwanda Tribunal, located in Arusha, where they try criminals from the Rwanda conflicts and stuff. Mike, Ndemno, Manuel, and I waited at Matonyok for Emmy and my mom to come back from the bank, where they had extracted a lot of TFFT money for the cows and stuff (all the ATMs are broken here), ate lunch (rice and beans), then headed out to buy cows. Let me talk about cows. Apparently certain market days are reserved for certain goods, as far as Maasai markets go, and Thursday is cow day (tomorrow is chickens). So Emmy, my mom, and Manuel (driving) hopped in the front of the same pickup, while Mike, Ndemno, myself, and their friend named Elfus (he owns cows so he came along as the cow expert for buying and moving the cows) sat on top of the cage and stood in the back again. We drove through an even more remote section of Olasiti before getting to the main road which heads to Nairobi. My mom got out to catch a dalla-dalla back to Arusha. The rest of us headed down the highway (I was sitting on top of a pickup going about 80 with nothing but Africa and mountains around me...sick!) and then turned to go through a huge coffee plantation owned by some European dude. Except for Mt. Meru in the background and the obvious African-ness, this could have passed for South Carolina. Acres of crops with people working them...it was really pretty. The road itself stopped being paved, and we bounced along on top of the pickup for about 30 more minutes. We pulled off on a side road, got out of the car, and climbed up the side of a hill covered in about a foot of volcanic ash (like really really really fine powder) to get to the cow market. Ndemno, Manuel, and Elfus went ahead to negotiate for the cows. Apparently if I was associating with them, the dealers would charge much higher prices, so Mike, Emmy, and myself walked around and looked at some rope to move the cows. It was funny. Mike and Emmy would see a good cow, and then call Ndemno over the cell phones to tell them so no one would see us talking. This was like a LEGIT market, too. No one spoke Swahili (only Maasai, a separate language) and I was the ONLY white person within at least 10 miles. We were at the market for about 30 minutes before they finally settled on two female cows...one black and one white and brown. As we left, Mike handed me the rope to the white one, so I got to guide a cow out of a Maasai market in the middle of Africa. We went down the same ashy hill, only this time with cows, which decided to run, which kicked up all the ash, which made it like walking through a dirt cloud. To load the cows (which they named Julie and Amy) onto the truck, Mike grabbed the two front legs, I pulled the rope from inside the truck, and Ndemno pushed from behind. Primitive, but effective. Then Ndemno, Emmy, and Manuel hopped into the cab of the truck, while Mike, Elfus, and I sat on the bars above the cows. The road back was rough, and the cows kept slipping and falling down. I thought they were going to die, but they did just fine. Mike and I hopped off on the main road (a 30 minute drive sitting over cows) to catch a dalla-dalla back to town, but first we walked a few hundred yards to the Coffee Lodge. This is basically a fancy resort for white people set amidst a picturesque (?) coffee plantation. We decided to pose as safari guides interested in posting clients at the lodge, so they gave us a tour of all the grounds, the dining area, and all the rooms (which are basically houses...you get your own little cottage when you stay there). They also printed out the rates for staying (very expensive) and all that. It was a lot of fun. We finally got a dalla-dalla back to town, but on the outskirts and mainstreets of Arusha, we got stuck in traffic. This makes dalla-dalla guys mad, apparently, because when the can't get more passengers aside from the ones that have paid, they can't make money, so they all try to put their passengers in other dalla-dallas so they can go back for more. This happened to us, but we finally managed to get back to the hotel. After Mike left, my mom, Amy, Ashton and I went to McMoody's for dinner (the American place from last week), then got a taxi back to the hotel. We're done for the night basically, and tomorrow we will construct the swingset (hopefully), go buy some chickens, have a party, and say our goodbyes. Until then, wait for the pictures. Kwa heri.

A Whole Lot of Money

Holy crap today was crazy. As we begin to wind down at Matonyok before our safari, things are actually getting much more hectic. Per usual, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we walked to the dalla-dalla station and got a dalla-dalla to the outskirts of the village, upon which we began our walk to the orphanage. Since we've been here for some time now, are getting tired, and generally feel pretty comfortable being aliens, we've decided that the best way to respond to the hundreds of people yelling "WAZUNGU! (white people)" at us is to yell back "BLACK PEOPLE" in English. We figure since they don't think we can understand them, they probably can't understand us. Whatever works. So anyway, we got to the orphanage and did the usual teaching thing. My class moved on to the "th" sound, which they pronounce like "z." I tried teaching them the word "father," but since I am from the south, I pronounce it as such, whereas they pronounce it "fatha." My mom quickly corrected me, saying that we weren't here to teach African kids Southern dialects. My mom's class is working on making their own books. We brought with us several blank hardbound books, so her kids are telling her what they want to write, she writes it on a sheet of paper, and they copy it into their books. It's quite a project. I'm not sure what Amy is working on...maybe math or something. Oh and one of Ashton and my's kids peed on the floor again, but that is just everyday stuff now. During the school day, a group of 7th Day Adventist ladies showed up to give Ndemno and Emmy some food supplies and say some prayers and sing some songs. All of it was in Swahili so I don't know exactly what went on. After school we were lying around waiting for lunch when we realized it was getting close to 2 o'clock and lunch wasn't close to be ready. So...we decided to leave. Oh and I forgot some important points. The money that Ashton and Amy raised came out to about $2,500 dollars. In Tanzania, that is seriously like 8 million shillings. We talked with Emmy and Ndemno about what they would like us to get for them, and we ended up with the following list: a playground, 2 cows, several chickens, and maybe some banana trees. Surprisingly, we will still have quite a bit left over (we are thinking about getting some bicycles, food, etc.). Let me put this into perspective for you. To buy a chicken here costs between 2,000 and 4,000 shillings. Thats like 3 bucks. We have 2,500. A cow is about $200 to $400, and the swingset that Mike and I are going to build (more on that in a bit) is about $100. It's a great problem to have, really...too much money to spend on a really good cause. So anyway, we left the orphanage and hopped on a dalla-dalla with Mike. Amy and Ashton were starving, so we sent them on their way to Shoprite, while Mike, my mom, and myself got off at a wood shop to see about several large pieces of treated wood for the frame of the swingset. We're planning on building a basic A-frame thing, but long enough for 3 swings and a tire swing. We assembled a collection of 8 pieces of wood (these are like log-sized pieces), which we will purchase tomorrow. After that we all met back together at the same restaurant where I had the wrong panini the other night (they gave me the wrong one again) and mapped out what all we would need for the supplies. After lunch, Mike and I walked around town to price some stuff, while the girls went to the bank and back to the hotel. Let me talk about Mike and my's adventure. About 90% of the stores here are closet-sized shops lined up in rows on the sides of streets. We went into about 20 of these hardware stores looking for stuff like hooks, chains, ropes, nuts, bolts, etc., but no one had any. So we've decided to use rope to hold the swings, and then we're going to buy long steel bolts which we will then have cut and welded to form big enough loops for the rope. This is going to be a process. Once we figured everything out, we met with my mom back at the hotel and she handed me 300,000 shillings for tomorrow. Let me talk about the plan for tomorrow. Hold on to your seat. We will wake up early. Mike will meet us here for breakfast. The girls will get on a dalla-dalla for Matonyok, while Mike and I will take all this money to go around Arusha and bargain for all our supplies. In addition, we will have to hire a truck to get it to the edge of the village, where Manuel will pick us up in the Land Rover that somehow still works. When we get all this to Matonyok, the girls will join up with us and we will go out to shop for 2 cows (that is going to be awesome). We will get the cows, hire another truck to carry all of us and our 2 cows to the edge of the village, where we will then drive the cows Maasai style to Matonyok. All of this is going to happen in a period of 5 or so hours. I doubt it will go down as smoothly as we say, but you'd be surprised at how with all the chaos here in Tanzania, everything is actually very organized. I'm just excited to go cow shopping. On Friday we will go shopping for the $3 chickens, of which we will get several, as well as bicycles, food, and possibly some banana trees. We have a lot of money to spend, and not a lot of time to spend it. These next two days should be a summation of our time here in Africa, before we take a 4-day safari vacation and then head back to America and the land of milk and honey. I really can't wait to go cow shopping.

Part 2 of Bear Grylls

Ok so for part 2, I will cover today. Like I said, we woke up in tents in the African bush basically, freezing our butts off in the cold African weather. After getting all the kids out of the tents and getting dressed and ready, we walked into the house for breakfast. No eggs and waffles for us though. We had chipati (like a friend pancake-type thing) with carrot bits and a touch of onion, as well as bananas cooked with goat meat (pretty good actually) and some coffee and some regular bananas. Oh, and potatoes. I've had so many potatoes fried in grease in the past week that even thinking about them makes me sick. So we hung out for a bit and talked about the night and whatever, then we started school per usual. Sorry I don't talk about the school stuff very much, but by this point, it's pretty much the same every day. My class is working through A, E, I, O, and U sounds, while my moms is doing stuff like civics and making up songs for Matonyok. I don't know what Amy's class is focusing on, but there are only 4 kids in there. Ashton is with me and the 20 little kids, some of which have literally peed on the floor. So school happened, and we left before lunch to go see about ordering some desks. Oh and on the way the trusty Land Rover we've been taking to the road ran out of gas, so we walked the rest of the way. So the desks. Amy and Ashton raised about $2,500 through donations (thanks everyone!) which we have decided to spend on, among other things, several desks for Matonyok. We went with Mike and Nosim to a woodshop, and ordered 4 double desks for TZS 20,000 each (thats like 20 bucks a piece. Sweet!). They will give the kids something to write on and something to sit at, as well as peace of mind for us. After dealing with the wood stuff, we and Mike and Nosim hopped on a dalla-dalla to ride to the "snake park" (it has a real name, but I don't know it). Basically it's a reptile zoo. Also, it's very far away. The dalla-dalla ride took about 30 minutes, although it felt like 3 hours, and it was packed the whole way until we got to a Maasai market, where many people got off. We got to the snake park and ordered our lunch, which they make as you walk around. We saw a whole bunch of snakes, big and small, poisonous and not, as well as birds of prey, crocodiles, and turtles. We got to hold a baby crocodile and a non-venomous snake, both of which were really neat (Amy and my mom refused). After that we sat down for lunch (cheeseburgers, but like African-ish...not extremely good). After our lunch, we went to the other 2 features of the "park." First, we rode camels. Yeah...we rode camels. I'd never ridden a camel before, but first off, those things are huge. Second, when it stands up and when it sits down, you almost fall off, especially when there is a Maasai dude smacking it's leg with a stick. Sweet life. From the tops of the camels we could see over the wall into yet another Maasai market (these guys don't mess around) where they were dealing with all kinds of food and livestock. After the camel ride we went to the final feature, a Maasai museum. You basically walk through the lives of Maasai. It's really cool, although the sculptures of people look like zombie/aliens/Maasai...weird. Oh and there was a display of how they circumcise people. Yeah. So after that we were done with the snake park. We hopped on a dalla-dalla to head back. Oh but this dalla-dalla was like a Rolls-Royce dalla-dalla. Since it was such a long way from the snake park to Arusha, they have big, almost RV-sized things to take you back. We stopped at the market to pick up more people, and whatdoyaknow, a guy got on with like 7 chickens. Seriously, live chickens. So that happened. The guy sitting next to Amy and Ashton said that he's been on when there have been goats. I bet they put cows on there too, knowing the Maasai. Crazy African nomads. The dalla dalla ride was long, but at least it was comfortable. Oh I forgot to mention that at the Maasai museum thing, my mom bought a stool. Literally, a stool, but a special, stumpy, Maasai stool. I don't know how we are getting it back. So the dalla dalla. Mike and Nosim got off at their stop, and all of us wazungu got off at ours. We walked back to the hotel, stopped at Dolly's for a doughnut (why not), and then finally got back to having a roof over our heads. For dinner...like I said...PIZZA! It wasn't the best, but hey...it's pizza. After I write this I'm going to take a shower, then I am chilling for the rest of the night. All the American students have just arrived in here, and I hate that. So I'm out. Kwa heri.

A Night in the Bush

Whew! We're back! And we're alive! Since we camped last night and I couldn't get on the internet, obviously, I'm going to do 2 blogs tonight. One for yesterday and last night and then one for today. Right before I started writing this, Amy, my mom, and Ashton hitched a ride from the dude who runs a safari company in our hotel lobby to go and pick up pizza for our dinner (sketch!). I can't wait for the pizza though. Anyway, yesterday was just like a normal day. We woke up, but this time we had to pack all of our stuff up as if we were leaving. The hotel won't let us keep our things in the apartment if we aren't there, so we stored it in their luggage storage room. In addition, we crammed our bookbags with an extra set of clothes and all the other stuff required for a camping trip. We ate breakfast at the hotel, all of us very nervous for camping out in Africa. We don't even camp out at home, so the fact that we are doing it here, in the wildnerness of wildernesses, is pretty ridiculous. After breakfast we got a cab, which stopped by Shoprite so we could pick up marshmallows for all the kids and a whole bunch of chickens (not like live chickens...the kind from Harris Teeter) for dinner. We weren't about to settle for just beans and rice. We got to the village outskirts and made the long walk in, only this time we were loaded down with all of our stuff. When we got to the house, we did the normal routine. The kids sang to us, we went in, taught school, etc. Only this time, instead of leaving right before or right after lunch, we hung around. It was as if the day had hit a dead end. We really didn't have that much to do. I played soccer with most of them, but then got tired and sat in a tire while they all laughed at my really white scalp. To my chagrin, my mom had taught the kids how to do a bit of Cat's Cradle (the stuff where you make cool designs out of string with your hands) and they kept telling me to stick my hand in between the string so they could do tricks. It got annoying after about 3 hours. On a lighter note, the day was clear enough to where we could see Mt. Kilimanjaro from Matonyok, or at least we could see the very top. Mt. Meru is the one closest to us, and don't get me wrong it is very big, but not big enough to have snow on the top. It was really neat. Also, as the sun went down, it made a very beautiful sunset. This is Africa, so everything is very natural. The sun setting on Mt. Meru was also really cool. We got a lot of pictures. Then it was time for dinner. The house has a few lightbulbs, which run on a generator which sits in their backyard, so it made it like an eerie-type glow. Dinner was really good (especially the chicken...great thinking Americans!), but at the same time, it was the same type stuff we've been eating there all week. For dessert we brought out the marshmallows. We didn't have a fire to cook them on, so we just handed them out. For many, this was their first experience with them, so they were hesitant. Mike didn't want one at first because he thought they were a poisonous type of mushroom (he didn't understand 'marshmallow'), but once he realized his misunderstanding, he ended up loving them. The kids all did too. We didn't get the brilliant night sky we were all expecting. Sure there were a lot of stars, but the moon was so big and so bright that it blotted out millions more. Before the kids go to bed every night, Ndemno lets them into his and Emmy's room, where there is a computer. They all gather round and watch Swahili pop Christian music. You can tell they've seen the same videos many times because they know all the words and dances. Just when we thought everything was winding down, Ndemno and Emmy took us with them on a walk to see their LEGIT Maasai friend. I'm talking like this guy had 3 wives legit. (2 live at one "compound," and the 3rd lives farther away. The guy was gone visiting the third). So we walked in Africa in the dark with Africans to a traditional African house. That was cool. Go to google images and look up a traditional Maasai round mud house. It looks just like that. The first one we went into had dinner over the fire, and it seriously looked like a burning building inside as far as smoke goes. You couldn't breath unless you crouched down, and you could barely see anything. Oh wait, whats this that just touched me? Oh yeah...THEY KEEP THE FRIGGIN LIVESTOCK IN THE HOUSE! These houses aren't big to begin with, but inside, not including the family of about 7, was 6 cows, some goats, some chickens, some lambs, etc. I wasn't kidding when I said this was legit. They let me take pictures, so I'll show them when I get back. We then went to the second, identical house about 10 feet away. Apparently jealousy doesn't exist in Maasai culture. No smoking fire in this one, but there were the cows, chickens, sheep, goats, and people. Bear Grylls couldn't handle what we did. Heck yeah! I touched a cow that was in a house! On the way back I talked with Ndemno about the multiple wives thing, and apparently one of the kids that goes to Matonyok (not as a boarder, just during the day), his dad has 9 wives and between 60 and 70 kids. TIA right? So now it was time for bed. The tents had been set up earlier, and they were what you'd expect a tent to be. I had my own, and all the girls slept together. Let me first say that it was friggin cold. Africa isn't always hot like you would think, and when the sun goes down, it's downright freezing. On top of that, all we had to sleep with were travel sleeping bag liners (like a fleece, basically) and U-shaped airline travel pillows. It wasn't comfortable. At all. Once they turned off the generator it was crazy quiet, but also very loud with all the dogs off in the distance and birds and all that. I slept most of the night, but I did wake up to the sound of the first rooster about 3 miles away. Oh and then another one crowed...then another one...then another one...then another one...I think every rooster in Africa crows within 5 minutes of each other. Except for the one at Matonyok. It was like 30 minutes late. Amatuer. I went back to sleep for a bit then woke up to the sound of the kids coming to get us. They haven't seen many tents before, and they don't have white people spend the night a lot, so they were all, of course, smiling ear to ear. Overall it was very worth it. I couldn't do it for 2 weeks with any level of comfort, but one night was excellent. The rest of the day will be in the next blog. Talk to you after dinner! Pizza!

Another Day Walking Around

Today we woke up at about 9. Breakfast for us was at the h0tel. We ate french toast without syrup, which sucked, but we managed. After breakfast we ended up heading down to the craft market, about 2 blocks from our hotel. We got a whole bunch of souvenirs (?) but the best part is just haggling for prices. They try to charge ridiculous prices for stuff probably made in Mexico. But we had fun. I'm writing this blog from a crappy hotel computer because my laptop couldn't connect, but whatever. TIA. So we stayed at the market for a few hours, then came back to the hotel to drop our gifts off before heading out for lunch. While waiting at a street vendors for our food, I bought an English-Swahili phrasebook for 1,500 shillings and 2 pieces of gum. Actually 5 pieces of gum...I gave three pieces to three kids watching us. The food I got wasn't what I ordered, so I gave that to the guy as well. We walked around, with no plan at all really, and eventually took a dalla dalla to the Cultural Heritage center (remember? The place with all the white safaris). We did a bit more shopping there before heading back to the hotel again. We then caught a cab to the cinema complex, about 10 miles away. There were A LOT of white people there (I think it's the hangout for white locals). Dinner was good, but it took a very, very long time. Now we're back at the hotel hanging out until tomorrow. Tomorrow we go back to Matonyok, and we're actually spending the night! That should be a LOT of fun, and quite an experience. That means no blog tomorrow night, but two tomorrow. Don't worry...we'll be back alive. Only one week left, plus the 4 day safari. Kwa heri!

Locals

Haha today started out differently! Since it's the weekend, our services weren't required at the orphanage (I mean, I guess they would have been appreciated, but it's our weekend). That means that we got to sleep in. My mom woke up at 9 (I think) and took all of our dirty laundry (or most of it...we have a lot) to the laundry service here at the hotel. Apparently all my boxers were too expensive to wash, so we have to do that in the sink. Great. The rest of us (Ashton, Amy, and I) woke up at 11ish. We sat around for a bit, got dressed, and then headed out. The first place we went to was Kase's Bookstore; a short walk from the hotel. The annoying thing about walking anywhere around the tourist-y areas of town is the fly catchers (the dudes that sell paintings and stuff that "they made"). They offer to help you get somewhere, etc., and try to sell you stuff at the same time. Highly annoying. So anyway, we got to Kase's, and shopped around for some learning books for the kids. I also got a Swahili-English dictionary, and I'm interested in buying a Bible in Swahili (I think it'd be cool). The store itself was very cramped, with nearly every open space filled with books. After the bookstore we walked about 5 shops down to a restaurant called Bamboo. This, too, was a quasi-tourist spot. There were of course many locals, but also a few wazungu (white people). We got lunch foods, except for Ashton, who got French toast. After lunch/brunch we walked back towards the central clock tower, to a grocery store, where we resupplied on water. Also, throughout the week, we've been looking for a big cake to take to the orphanage on our last day. Since there are so many kids there, and since birthdays don't seem to be that big of a deal here, none of the kids has one. So we've decided to throw our own for all of them. The grocery store didn't have any cakes though. After that we headed to this store called "The Tanzanite Experience." Tanzanite is a rare gemstone that is mined here. Many of the Maasai sell it here in town. Apparently this place that we went, The Tanzanite Experience, has a good deal, and an additional discount for TFFT workers. But...it was closed. The town itself is getting ready for the festival/holiday called Saba Saba. It's basically they day that Tanzania was declared a free country. It's on Tuesday, and it should be awesome. So then we continued our walking. Along the way I ran into a friend I've made here named Nixon. He's a local 19-year old who I met on the first or second day. He started walking with us and he and I talked about Swahili, Arusha, etc. He also took us to the soccer stadium here in town. There was an 18-under tournament going on, and we got to watch the second half of one of the games. The stadium itself was pretty ghetto, but the backdrop was awesome. A bit of Arusha and then Mt. Meru in the background. It was cool. After the stadium we kept walking, through the main market at the center of town. We stopped at a few shops, where I got a Tanzanian soccer jersey, before going to a t-shirt store where they sold tons and tons of t-shirts. At this point, Nixon left us (I gave him TZS 1000 for helping us out) and we headed over to Shoprite and the place where we would have dinner. We ate at a place called Ciao Gelato. It is Italian-themed, owned by a German guy, and located in East Africa. That was weird. The food was good (mine wasn't...Mango juice is bad, and they gave me the wrong panini) but the desert was divine. Ashton got vanilla and coffee gelato, while my mom and I both got an iced chocolate. It was chocolate milk, chocolate gelato, and pieces of chocolate on top. Yeah. After that we visited a chocolate shop, where Amy got some desert (non-chocolate, of course), and then got a taxi back to the hotel. So we're here now, in the internet cafe again, winding down for the night. Who knows what the plan is for tomorrow. We may go see a movie tomorrow night, but as far as the day goes, everything is either closed or closes down early on Sundays, so we'll see. Whatever happens though, we're still in Africa, and it's still awesome. Peace.

Maasai Market

Ok, so you've gotten used to the morning routine. We wake up, eat, etc. We are now experienced dalla-dalla riders, so we are able to take those to get out to Fidi Fosi (the road that the "entrance" to Olasiti is on...one of them). It's interesting on our walks to the orphanage...the little kids that run to us only know how to say "Goodbye! Goodbye!" So we got to the orphanage and the kids sang to us, then we did our lessons, etc. My class spent a lot of time outside studying the parts of trees, and then today we also moved on to the sky. We all laid down in the grass (there were thorns...I didn't realize that) and identified clouds, sky, sun, moon, stars, etc. It was lovely. We had lunch there again, too, but this time no beans! Instead there was a mystery meat with rice, which was decent. By the way, as I'm sitting here, there is a Muslim call to prayer. I don't know if I've talked about those yet. If you're unfamiliar with Muslims, they do this 5 times a day. Wait...I have talked about these. Whatever. Google it. It's annoying. So we ate lunch and then walked with Nosim and Mike to the Maasai market. We've realized that "How far of a walk is it?" doesn't get it done here. You have to specify "Africa far" or "America far." These people have been walking their whole lives, so a 45 minute walk (which this one was) seems like a hop, skip, and a jump. Luckily the scenery is very nice (I mean...its Africa. The whole time we've had this huge mountain, Mt. Meru, in the background.) So we walked for about 45 minutes, including a little bit through the huge, 7 foot or so ditches left over from running water during the rainy seasons. Eventually we got to the village outside of the Maasai market. Mike and I reasoned that Olasiti is like a miniature Tanzania. In and of itself it is technically a village, but within there are various groupings of homes, businesses, etc. that have their own names. The Maasai market was obviously not made for white tourists. I mean these were legit Africans doing legit day-to-day business. There were hundreds of goats, which the Maasai buy, sell, and eat (I saw a hairy goat leg cooking over a grill...Mike asked if I wanted some. No thanks; Hapana asante). Additionally there were the clothes they wear (I put on a whole Maasai outfit for a picture...which ended up costing TZS 2500) and the tire sandals. I bought a pair!! They're really cool. Google "Maasai tire sandals" if you want to see them. The girls bought some fabric, and Mike and Nosim bought some food for their families. I tried to buy a Maasai bush sword/machete, but the dude tried to give me the "wazungu (white people) price"...TZS 15000. Mike said no way and instead said he'd give me his (a legit one!!! SICK!) and then go buy another one for the Maasai price (I'll give him the money). After the Maasai market we got on a dalla-dalla with Mike and Nosim (they got off halfway to see a friend) and got off at the main dalla-dalla station (the side of a road). We went to Dolly's Patisserie (spelling?) which we have frequented daily. It is owned by an Arabic lady and her family, and the stuff there is legit, especially the doughnuts. We sat in there and argued about whether or not it was Pepsi's fault that the teeth of Appalachain poor kids have been rotting out since they're addicted to Mountain Dew. I don't know. It was on Oprah or something. Anyway, Ashton and I won the argument against Amy and my mom because we are smarter. So we sat in there until it got close to dark, which of course means we need to get back. We walked back to the apartment (a new one...on top of the one we've been staying in) and watched the only English channel on tv...WWJD TV: diehard Christians...great. Now we're about to eat at the hotel again. Tomorrow and Sunday we don't go to the orphanage. Instead, we'll be walking and shopping around town, and we may go on a hike to one of the waterfalls in Ngorongoro. Who knows. Until next time...kwa heri marafiki yangu.

Another Side of Arusha

Today began like any other. We got up, got ready, ate breakfast, and got a can to the entrance to the village. Oh wait...I forgot to mention about the cab. WE (the Americans) had to tell the cab driver (Tanzanian) how to get through Arusha. SWEET! Of course we knew that place like the back of our hand...we've gone to the orphanage everyday by a new road through the village (Olasiti). So anyway, the driver finally got us to the outskirts. The many roads to the orphanage/village are literally just on the side of the main roads. We started walking, which of course took us like 40 minutes, and eventually got to Matonyok. The walks are always the best part. White people (wazungu) are like aliens in these African villages. I mean, everyone sees us and yells and runs to us...I haven't felt this popular since high school! When we got to Matonyok, the kids had already started their classes (there is a Tanzanian who lives nearby and volunteers as a teacher at Matonyok. We don't think Mike, Emmy, Ndemno, etc. like him all that much, because they rarely talk to him. It's really funny.). I found that the best way to teach the little kids is to keep them active (my mom gave her class some trail mix today). You can only do word sounds for so long before it gets boring. Even for African kids. Yeah...I've had little 3 year old African kids fall asleep in my class; apparently this isn't just an American thing. So for "science" we walked around outside, pointing out leaves, grass, dirt (they call it soil), and the parts of a tree: root, trunk, leaves, branch. They couldn't figure out "branch" for the life of them, but they did get clouds, rain, sunshine, etc. (it was all in English). We left Matonyok before lunch, and Nosim (Mike wasn't there today) walked us to the main road again; another 30 minute walk. During our walk we heard a loud shrieking coming from a house. Nosim casually translated and told us that someone had just died, then went on to tell us that it was one of her dad's (Ndemno) friends. No biggie I guess. We got to the road, and left Nosim, taking our first dalla-dalla ride alone. The guy who does the money tried to short change us TZS 200 (200 shillings...a coin), but Ashton demanded in English that he pay us the money, which he eventually did. It was really funny. We had to get back to our hotel by 3 because Alley and Emily, the two TFFT girls who live here, were picking us up to go to the school that they visit every day, called Usa River (TFFT sponsors some kids who go there. Amy and Ashton also were visiting Richard, a boy that they have been sponsoring from TFFT at Myers Park...TFFT=The Foundation for Tomorrow). To get to the school, we basically took a right where we usually take a left. As newbies, it opened up a new world to us. Instead of busy streets it was tree-lined roads with LINES! I mean, it was still obviously African and poor-ish, but nice nonetheless. Apparently it was the same road we came in on from the airport. The difference between dayAfrica and nightAfrica is ridiculous. The school itself is more of a knowledge compound. There is a gatehouse, a school building, a dining hall, dormitories, a place where teachers sleep, etc. Additionally there is about 5 acres (that we could see) of grassy areas, soccer fields, a basketball court, etc. It was really cool. I played soccer with the kids (using a tennis ball), and of course, learned more Swahili. I actually got into a quasi-argument in only Swahili with a girl about whether or not one of my goals was actually a goal (it was). I purposely called the guys girls, which they all found really funny. I did get really attached to the kids as well (you'll find that in Africa, especially with kids, you get attached to everyone), which climaxed as we were about to get into the car to leave. One of the kids, Prince (his full name is Prince Elvis) ran up to me as I was about to get in the car. All of the kids had been telling me Swahili words the whole time, but I guess he felt this last one was necessary. "Nakupenda...I love you." Yeah...I think I'll be coming back here. So we left and went with Alley and Emily (they have a car, remember) to a restaurant called Stiggy's. It was delicious! To keep us warm, they hung small cauldrons full of softly flaming coals next to us (not as dangerous as it sounds, and very effective). After dinner, the girls dropped us off, and so here we are now. Apparently our apartment is booked for tomorrow, so we have to take the one upstairs, but still the same place, etc. Did I mention that on Monday we will be camping at Matonyok? Apparently no one who comes to Africa camps at a Maasai village. YES! I think we're going to roast marshmallows with the kids. Talk to you tomorrow. Kwa heri.

An Informative and Out of Chronological Order Blog About the General Happenings in Africa

This post doesn't describe a day in particular, just our experiences in general...there may be more of these, so WATCH OUT!

Matonyok itself, as I have said, is the house and grounds of our orphanage. This isn't an orphanage like "Annie," though...it also functions as the house of the family, kids, and grandmothers, as well as the Sunday school. In total, there are 32 kids, 19 of which live in the house. As far as adults go, there is Ndemno (the dad), Emmy (the mom), Mike (the helper and our guide, also my Swahili teacher), Nosim (Emmy/Ndemno's daughter and helper), Emmanuel (they call him "Manuel," he is also a helper and the driver of the Land Rover that should probably be towed away...he speaks very very very little English), Susie (the cook), The Nameless Masai Grandmother (she's 91 and still kicking...literally, or at least beating chickpeas. I know I'm scared), and I think that's it. The Land Rover, by the way, in order to get going, requires that everyone push it down the driveway as Manuel revs the engine. While the family is obviously very poor, at least to our eyes, they are also very efficient. The children all share clothes, are constantly dirty, etc., but always very happy. The current project at the site is this biosomething fuel thing. It's two tanks buried in the ground into which flows mud and the people's waste. This creates a gas that can be used in the house. I mean, other stuff is involved so it doesn't smell like poop all the time, but the idea in and of itself is genius. Everyone loves everyone and they are very loyal to family. They are also very hard workers. Every morning we are given tea, and whenever a guest comes, they greet EVERYONE. Today, the agriculture people came over to check on the chickpeas for some reason, and greeted me as if I lived there. It was really a neat experience.

The city of Arusha is like any other city...except not. There is no traffic lights as far as I've seen, and if there were ever any street lines they have long since been erased. Cars drive on the left (technically), and it's really every man for himself. The other day we came to a section that was under repair, and must have been for some time, because everyone just drove around through the mud. We were in a dalla-dalla (rollercoasters of death, basically) and raced a truck 3 times our size down a bumpy muddy hill to get to the crossing first. AWESOME! (Ashton bumped her head). We think we are going to die every day because really there are no road rules...at all. I don't even know if pedestrians have the right of way, its just whether or not the driver wants to go through the hassle of wiping death off of his car. Everyone sits around and looks like they are doing nothing, while an equally large number have shops that seem to sell all the same stuff. We get hassled in the touristy parts by people called "fly catchers," who try to sell cheap African stuff to wide-eyed white people. Hapana sitaji, rafiki yangu! (No thank you, my friend!) Everything is dirty and crowded, but at the same time, everyone is very very friendly and helpful. Additionally, everyone seems to move slower and more relaxed. For the first few days, Mike would keep telling us to slow down and enjoy everything...a very anti-American ideal. While of course there are many things that America could offer to Africa, or at least Arusha, there are also many, many things that they could offer to us. It's like a modern city (sort of) with traditional ideals. Sweet! Oh yeah, and the Muslims. Apparently Africans don't like Muslims too much, but they live here anyway, and seem to own all the shops. When the ladies walk around in their full-body burkas, it makes the whole place look like Star Wars. 5 times a day (including like 2 o'clock in the morning...ugh) there is the standard call to prayer over the loudspeaker. It wakes everyone up and pisses everyone off, so I guess that is part of the reason why they don't like Muslims too much.

The standard American idea is that everyone wants to rob/hurt you in Africa. Never once have we felt in danger, and only the first few times walking around did we feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, like I've said, everyone is very friendly. So, if you ever come to Africa, pack lightly (I've worn the same outfit, except shirt and underwear, every day. We plan on donating all the stuff we bought for the trip, including clothes, to the orphanage), don't worry about your safety (except at night, because you will die...apparently), and embrace the culture. I know more Swahili after three days than Latin after 7 years. Also, don't do the tourist thing with safari packages, etc. Book a hotel (or an apartment in our case) that doesn't necessarily cater to Americans/white people, and just move around. You'll find it very entertaining sitting there with people from Tanzania laughing at the white people falling out of safari trucks and tripping over camera equipment and bottled water. Mike and I did that today at the cultural center. A white lady and her husband walked by me and I said "Mzungu" to her (it means "white person), to which she replied "Jambo!" (Hello!), I'm sure thinking that she was about as African as Nelson Mandela. So blaze your own trail, or whatever you want to call it. At least thats my opinion.

p.s. dalla dalla's are different...you will always be scared on a dalla dalla, but even so, after a few days you will love it, and when I leave here, it will be one of the things I miss the most.

p.p.s. not every mosquito carries malaria, nor does every piece of food have a deadly disease attached to it.

Wazungu (White People)

Another awesome day in Africa. Per usual, we woke up early, but this time instead of meeting Mike and Nosim, we had had Alley arrange for a cab to take us to the outskirts of Olasiti (the name of the village, remember?). I told the cab driver where to take us, but I had gotten directions from Emmy, who's English sounds a lot like Swahili, so what I wrote down clearly wasn't the right thing (it said Bada Bada Mpia CD Posi...that's what is sounded like when I talked to her). So we got dropped off nowhere near where Mike and Nosim were going to meet us in the village. No worries though...we got to walk through a traditional African village by ourselves and say hey to everyone...like a movie again. By the way, when I say village, don't think like 8 huts around a fire with giraffes and lions roaming on the horizon...there are a lot of huts/houses/shacks, and they are both close together and very spread out; all in all its probably at least several hundred acres...think more like a county, or an area code. Anyway, we walked from where we got dropped off to Matonyok, about 45 minutes. On the way a 17-year old started walking with us, and we communicated in broken English before he left to study at school. We got to Matonyok and were sung to again (apparently this will be a daily thing) before beginning our lessons. I can't speak for the other 3, but I myself taught the youngest kids how to make the "a" sound with works like "man" and "pan," then, after we had a quick recess, we did math outside. I made a plus sign (which could also be turned into a minus sign) and an equals sign out of sticks, and using the kids as number amounts, we did basic math like 1+1 and 6-4...etc. It was a lot of fun, and the kids loved to be picked up. Eventually we had lunch time: chipati, bananas, oranges, ugali, and beans (we had given them money for the market), after which I walked around with the kids while they told me Swahili words for things like rope, stone, stones, etc. We left the orphanage early today, and went with Mike and Nosim to the Cultural Heritage center; basically an Epcot for Safaris. We've realized that when you purchase the safari package, you are basically kept away from the real Africa that we are experiencing...everything for them is very glamourous, clean, expensive, English-speaking, etc. I'm extremely glad that we are doing what we are doing...basically becoming African for 2 weeks, riding dalla-dallas, buying food, negotiating prices, getting dirty, etc. After the Heritage place, we took a dalla-dalla with Mike and Nosim to the center-ish area of town, where they left us to find our way home on our own. Obviously, since I'm typing this, we did just fine. We got back to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and took a cap to a restaurant called "McMoody's." Apparently this is the American restaurant in Arusha. We had hamburgers, pizza, milkshakes, etc., and it was actually all very good. We saw a really funny (in a sad way) sign too...it said "Give to a streetchild today, and there will be two tomorrow." We've also saw a lot of Masai today. Masai is the biggest tribe in this area, and also the most proud. They walk around (most of them) in the traditional bright robes and tire tread shoes (just Google Image 'Africa' or 'Masai' and you'll see) and speak in their own Masai language (the grandma at Matonyok is Masai, so are Mike and Nosim and Ndemno and Emmy...basically everyone, but they don't all wear the clothing). It feels a little bit like Disneyworld, when they walk in to the shops and stuff dressed in their "costumes," although they could easily kill all of us with a twig. Apparently many of them come from their "land" 6 hours away to sell the famous gem tanzanite. We saw some today for $4,000, so they're making bank. So back to the day. We ate at McMoody's and then walked on our own back to the hotel (a quick 4 or 5 or 10 blocks...whatever). Now, we're sitting in the internet cafe communicating with relatives (I'm trying to sell stock). After that I assume that we'll go back to the room, do some Sudoku, maybe play some cards...who knows. If you go out on the street after dark and you are white, you die...or at least thats what the Americans say.