Time flies...

Six months ago I was flying to Tanzania to spend a month volunteering and sight-seeing.  My being there was an accident, planned less than two weeks before departure.  You can read about it all under the Africa tag, which I've linked to above.

Tanzania and it's people had a profound impact on me.  I got wake to expansive vistas, walk through lush gardens and plantations, and see stunning wildlife.  I also saw cultures struggling to hold on to tradition, children learning to live through the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, and schools crumbling at the poorly built seams.  Through it all I saw joy and pride.  I saw love and hope and kindness and a welcoming spirit.  I was given the gift of friendship by people who had little else to give, and it is more precious than any expensive trinket.

If there is one thing I have tried to take away from my time there, it is that even on my worst day, I have everything in the world at my finger tips.  We must learn to be more grateful for everything we have, whether it's a home, a job, or just a loved one to come home to.  So many out there lack so much more.  It was a philosophy that was quickly put to the test when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer just six weeks after my return.

The trip feels a bit like a dream now, the fade of memories hastened by the post-trip cancer drama.  I continue to be thankful for the experience.  It may have saved my life.  It definitely changed it.

Hurrah for Starbucks!

I just received a note from Peace House ( the school I volunteered at in Africa) and they received $1000 from Starbucks for my time there! 

The Starbucks "Make Your Mark" program lets individuals or teams of partners earn up to $1000 for a non-profit by matching their time with Starbuck's money.  Because I did over 100 hours of volunteer work in Tanzania, Starbucks gave $1000.  I hope the library where I spent most of my time is able to get more shelves for the many books still waiting to be catalogged.

If you are a Starbucks partner and you're already volunteering, please talk to your manager or check out http://lifeat.sbux.com to register for a partner match.  It's a simple process, you've already done the hard part by giving your time!  If you aren't involved with volunteering, please consider doing so.  If you can get a team of partners together to volunteer, just think how quickly you could reach that 100 hours and earn $1000 for an important organization.

Lake Manyara National Park

I've had a hard time sitting down to type my final thoughts because I don't want it to be final. I've been home a week now, back to work, back to my little life, and I still don't want to believe the trip is over. Then again, I keep thinking it's February. It's like I decided to take a nap, had a fabulous dream, and woke up. I can't quite grasp that it was all real.

I'll start by just going over our last few days. On Thursday the 25th we left with the women's group to visit Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorogoro Crater. Thursday we drove through Lake Manyara National Park and I was amazed at how, once again, we were seeing a totally different landscape from our previous safaris. The road towards the lake winds through lush green canopies, some places have trees so thick and dense that it's quite dark. When I think of jungle, this was the image in my mind.

Though a small park, Lake Manyara offered a beautiful vista all its own. Most of the animals were "repeats" but we saw some different behaviors like a giraffe lying down. That's an odd one! Some new sightings included a chameleon (which was bright green though crossing a brown road - it did an odd slow wavy walk which our guide said was to look like a leaf. i.e. not food) and a Nile Monitor Lizard. I was excited by the lizard as I was the one to spot it. Not as exciting as spotting a leopard but hey, I'll take what I can get.

After a relaxing evening at our BEAUTIFUL lodge, we got up early on Friday to head towards the crater. The road into the crater is a steep and winding one through dense foliage. It was a foggy morning and the road had an eerie quality to it. An elephant could have been fifty feet ahead of us and we'd hardly know it! Our fabulous guide, Eli (ell-ee, short for a name I can't spell!), said it was rare to see many animals other than monkeys and baboons along the escarpment. We started our day on a lucky note when three big female lions wandered into view. After spending some time with the lions in the mist (one got so close I could have reached out and touched her. If I had, I wouldn't be typing quite so well.) we pulled forward to find a cub and two more young lions. The females were on their way to meet this group and we waited while they gathered. It was pretty cool and the fog gave it a unique feel.

I might have to come back to the actual crater as it deserves it own entry. Suffice to say it was one of the beautiful places I've ever seen and as we drove into this amazing ecosystem I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of longing to stay in Tanzania. Despite some serious home sickness the week before, I ended up feeling drawn to the country, its beauty, and its people. More on that soon.

Posting from the beautiful Ngorogoro Farm Lodge where internet is slow so posting will be short. We head home tomorrow night. I'm not ready to leave here, the people and the beauty have taken over my heart.

Final Days

We head to Ngorogoro Crater this morning with the women's group then back here on Saturday to pick up our bags and fly home. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly.

As usual, I have no idea what the internet situation will be at the lodge so I will bid you adieu for now and check in as soon as I can...maybe from the US? *sheds a tear*

A less peaceful house

Being so focused on Peace House, it's easy to forget that this school is not typical. Most schools do not have libraries, some do not have electricity, many have more than 40 students in a class. We thought 40 seemed like too many but here? It is a luxury.

Susan, the librarian, arranged for us to visit a Tanzanian primary school run by the government. The school we visited was very typical of what Peace House students might have experienced when they were younger. Susan said that what set this school apart was that the headmaster actually cares and wants to see things improve.

When we arrived, a shout of "MZUNGUS!" (White people!) greeted us. The children were on a morning break and were scattered everywhere. And I mean everywhere. In the buildings, in the "yard," across the road, everywhere. The actual pupils range from about 7 to 14 but there is also a kindergarten for kids about 5-6 years old. We were obviously more of a novelty here than at Peace House.

The headmaster was very kind and answered a lot of questions along the way. His school has 1300 students and 40 teachers. If you do the math, that sounds like 32 kids per teacher. Unfortunately that's not the case. Many classrooms have two teachers, one to teach and one to hit. Even more classrooms had no teacher present, just assignments written on the chalkboard for students to copy. In the older classes, a few students had sticks, to keep the others in line.

The government is supposed to provide books but they never get enough. They might get five copies of a text book meant to be shared amongst 100 students in a class. It's impossible! The books are for sale at local shops but they cost almost as much as a month's rent. Most parents already struggle to buy a notebook and pen for their kids.

We saw class sizes ranging from 60 to 100 in a room. The classes get a bit smaller as the kids

get older, mostly because parents pull them out due to money. Or, in the case of girls, to marry them off and get a cow as dowry. The classrooms have open windows with no screens, no electricity, and pitted dirt floors. There are maps and diagrams crudely painted on exterior walls.

Apparently one huge problem is that some teachers simply don't show up. The kindergarten, housed in a freshly painted new building, donated by a church in Greeley, CO, was missing their

teacher. So instead there were 80 5-6 year olds wandering the grounds - mostly following us around. They were beautiful and happy little children but with no supervision whatsoever. Keep in mind that the grounds of the school are mostly rock, and it sits right on a road. No fences, no safety measures. The football field (pictured) is little more than a ditched with some of the rock cleared, with a puddle in the middle.

The whole place was rather heart-breaking. Looking around, we struggled to even see what these kids need...other than everything. You could donate books, but not enough, and there is no one to read to them. You can't donate any technology as they have no electricity. Perhaps the best thing would be the basics - notebooks, pens, pencils, etc.

Rich told me (jokingly) to remember that I'm not Angelina Jolie and therefore not allowed to just "pick out" an African baby to bring home.

But one little girl who followed me around with big eyes, in her purple skirt and torn shirt, she just tugged at my heart strings. I truly hope she has a family to go home to and who will support her through the years. I hope she gets the chance to study and come to a place like Peace House. And I hope she gets the hugs and kisses that I so longed to give her.

The Tanzanian education system needs change, and it needs it now. A school like Peace House is amazing, but it can help so few relative to the many who want help. I hope today's students can go on to change the world, to provide for the future what wasn't provided for them.

COFFEE!

So, Monday morning we finally got to go on our tour of the neighboring coffee plantation. You have to keep in mind that since our first day here, everyone who found out I work for Starbucks said “You must visit Burka Coffee Plantation!” It is one of the few local plantations to actually roast coffee as most of the beans are exported. It is also well known here that Burka sells to Starbucks. I saw the trees that grow the beans that go into Starbuck’s Gold Coast Blend! Crazy, huh?

The tour was about two hours, with the last 30 minutes dedicated to a very thorough coffee tasting. Now friends, remember how I gave up caffeine in September because my Doctor thought it would help my migraines? I gave up the giving up as soon as I found out I was coming to Africa. I simply couldn’t come to such a prominent coffee growing region and say no to caffeine. So far so good on the headache front so we’ll just see what I end up doing when I return.

Our tour started in the nursery where we saw the sandy soil where coffee plants start. The germination rate is very low, they may plant 100 seeds and only get 10 plants. It’s also very slow. They don’t sprout for at least three weeks and there are no leaves for eight or so. (I am trying to remember this all and can’t just google it as I normally would, so please forgive factual errors, I will try to fix them later.) They stay in the starting nursery for six months and then go on to the next nursery for 18 months. There the technicians try to weed out any weak plants as well as see what diseases are affecting a given crop.

The actual plants have a very long life after that slow start. Some of theirs are almost 90 years old. When a tree’s production slows down, they chop it off at the stump and new branches grow. The roots of the old plants are so deep that the fields of old trees don’t need as much irrigation. They become more efficient as they grow. The branches of some trees are weighed down by beans. I was amazed at the yield of a single branch! When they are green, they are called berries, red is a cherry, and it’s not a bean until the skin is washed away and the parchment removed.

The grounds themselves are beautiful. The coffee fields had a lot of big trees, providing shade for the coffee as well as added nutrients to the soil. Shade grown coffee makes for better quality but less quantity. They also have patches of other fruits and vegetables mixed in with the coffee. I think he said that it was partially for soil quality and partially to bring bees, as apparently plants pollinated by bees also produce better coffee.

Working at Starbucks, I have mastered my “higher prices for high quality” and “better farming conditions” spiels but to see it first hand was amazing. Burka has two daycares, a first aid station, ambulance, and both permanent living quarters as well as camping areas. (They have about 200 people on staff year round but up to 6000 during the harvest!) They have set some of their 1200 acres aside as a private nature reserve which is home to a natural spring providing all their water as well as providing water to local villages.

They also have a system by which at certain times, local people can come into the plantation to pick the afore-mentioned vegetables as well as bundles of firewood gathered from dead trees. There is a metal flag with one end red and the other green, when green is up, everyone is welcome to the vegetables. Many of their coffee buyers will give a surprise visit, parking nearby and walking into the fields to see if everyone is safe and happy. Because of these changes, working on a coffee plantation is seen as a desirable job, not the near slavery of the past. Well, at least at Burka.

While not organic, they are certainly leaps ahead of a lot of farming. Use of DDT is a real problem locally and is being used on food with which it’s not meant to come in contact. Burka starts with a natural method of pesticide – more bugs. They keep a close eye on pests as well as the pest’s enemies. When the predators outnumber the pests, they don’t spray. If the pests outnumber the predators, they do minimal spraying. Judging by the number of butterflies and bugs I saw, they aren’t spraying very often.

Sadly our visit was in the off season so we didn’t see much going on. I really wanted some photos of people working but there was hardly anyone around. They do get some ripening berries year round but the main season is June, July, August. By September they are just trying to get as much off the trees as they can before the rains hit. This time of year they are just processing the few cherries they find in small batches.

There are two main processing methods, wet and dry. Wet is more time consuming but produces a better quality. The cherries are husked and the washed and finally fermented to loosen the parchment surrounding the bean. Then the beans are aged on big racks in the African sunshine. Burka only uses the dry processing method for lesser quality beans. These include those that float during the wet processing and those that are left of the tree too long. These are taken straight to drying, husks and all. It’s a time saving process but the flavor of the coffee really suffers.

The coffee tasting was a highlight for me. First we were offered a cup of coffee, and may I say it was one of the smoothest cups of black coffee I’ve ever tasted. Sadly I didn’t have much of it as we quickly moved on to an extreme tasting. Our guide, Dennis, set up about 12 cups, all marked to indicate the contents. First we had a test of coarse vs. fine coffee, both brewed in what looked like a little tea pot. Next came a comparison of the grades. We had AA, AB, and PB (peaberry). The grades refer to size with AA being the biggest and most “pure” tasting. These beans are used mostly in blending, to complement a bolder flavor. Then we tried a couple different blends each roasted differently. And finally we tried two dry processed coffees, not my favorite.

Overall I loved the tour and feel more knowledgeable about coffee in general and the role Starbucks plays in changing the quality of life for so many people. Even if I weren’t a barista, I would feel good knowing more about this massive business. I don’t believe that all farms are as good as Burka, but with consumer pressure on coffee buyers, more will have to improve. And I’ll never complain about the price of beans again! (Oh wait, I get them free. Definitely won’t complain!) Now let’s see if I can get the four pounds of Burka Coffee in my suitcase and home!!

Tarangire

The first thing I noticed when we arrive at Tarangire National Park, English major that I am, is that I have been spelling Tarangire incorrectly. Whoops! We got up early Friday morning to be picked up by our guide, Abraham, at the Peace House gate at 7am. Despite it being only a one night stay, our small duffels were packed to within an inch of their duffely lives. Camera gear, sunscreen, bug spray, first aid kit, etc etc etc all add up! We get to do another mini-pack this week for the crater and that is for TWO nights. We might need our full suitcase!

The drive to Tarangire is an interesting one, going through Kisongo and then out further into Maasai land. We saw a lot of huts and herds of goats and cows. We also saw a lot of young boys and girls herding who should have been in school. The government is trying to force Maasai children to go to school, but it’s not working well. I’m torn between knowing that education is important and letting these people live their lives. Who knows what the right answer is?

Abraham also told us that most Maasai fathers pull their daughters out of school around nine years old so they can focus on the skills needed to be a good wife. When a daughter marries, the father is given a cow in compensation. Since Maasai men count their wealth in cows, it’s important to get their daughter a good match. I wonder how many cows Rich owes to my mom!

We seemed to choose two of the hottest days to visit Tarangire. It was swelteringly hot and I did not get sunscreen on in time so I have two red arms. It was a constant battle over what got shade – the camera or me. Seeing as Rich once told me he would throw me in front of the camera if we were attacked by a bear, I tried to protect the camera as best I could. The sun also brought out tsetse flies. These are the flies that cause sleeping sickness in cattle and for a little while I thought I had it as I couldn’t keep my eyes open in the back of the jeep. Eventually I chalked it up to the heat, early morning, and lack of coffee. Tsetse flies aren’t all that dangerous to humans but are very annoying as they do bite – even through socks!

Almost immediately after entering the park we were greeted by some animals we didn’t see in the Serengeti. Some of the new things we saw were waterbucks, oryx, leopard tortoises, squirrels, mongoose, and cape buffalo. We also saw many more warthogs, vervet monkeys, and impala than we did before. But what we really came for were the elephants. And oh did we see elephants! There were a lot of very small babies as well as big family pods. Most amazing was near the river where many groups had come together and there were several dozen elephants, spread out almost as far as you could see. Because there was a lot of food and water, theydifferent pods didn’t need to compete with one another. Normally they all keep their distance but we got to see them all together.

We also saw a great little group of lions with one or two females and six little cubs. These were definitely the youngest we’ve seen and the most active as well. They were adorable and playful, a bit wary of the truck but too distracted to care much. I think Abraham took us slightly off road to see them, something not allowed in the Tarangire, but it was totally worth it. The area was pretty dry and bare so we didn’t drive over any grass.

When we got to the Tarangire Safari Lodge for the evening, we ran into Lara. She and her family were visiting their research camp for the weekend so we set up a plan to stop by the next morning after breakfast. We did a little shopping in the lodge boutique and had a delicious dinner before heading to bed. After the long day, we fell asleep very quickly despite the heat.

After breakfast we headed through the park and down a very bumpy and winding road to the Elephant Research Camp. The camp was started by Lara’s husband, Charles, and has been expanded over time. They lived there for ten years, even for the first two years of their older daughter’s life, before building a home in Arusha. It’s a small and cozy little place with a few tents for researchers and staff, a small kitchen complete with gas powered fridge, bucket shower, dining area, office, and porch. Pretty much all their power (except the fridge) comes from solar, charging up batteries that then charge laptops and lights. Coming into the camp, one of the first things you see is a funny little covered ledge with cell phones lined up on it. Apparently they determined that was the only spot in camp with reception, and built a phone stand. It’s pretty cute.

The next morning was another early one, meeting Abraham at 6:15am in hopes of catching the sunrise. Unfortunately the small break in the clouds went away so we didn’t get a very dramatic morning. We did see a pod of elephants just outside the lodge, shadowy masses in the dark dawn. A few other animals were up and moving around but the pickings were slim so we headed back for breakfast.

Some of my favorite things in Tarangire are the massive baobab trees. These huge trees can be anywhere from 300 to thousands of years old. The fibrous trunk is often scratched by elephants and over time is so weak that it will just fall away, leaving the tree hollow. In some cases elephants and other animals have damaged the tree so badly that there will be holes right through, or the entire side will collapse. And yet the tree still stands. Some people call them upside down trees as when the leaves fall off, their thick twisted branches look more like roots. I first recall learning about baobab trees from Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) in French class and I was very excited to see them in person. It is daunting to touch something than might be more than 1000 years old. We are such tiny specks in the scheme of things.

We had a lovely time with Lara and her family and also met some more friends of theirs, making it a regular little tea party in the bush. Their research is pretty fascinating and I love that they get to name the elephants. I would have far too much fun with that!

The game drives after that were pretty uneventful, with animals seeming to hide from both us and the heat of the day. After another nice lunch we headed back to Arusha, Abraham seemed to be sick of us and the lack of animals and rushed us home quite a bit more quickly than we arrived. But I know that guiding like that is hard, especially when the fish don’t bite or the animals don’t cooperate. It was a slightly harried end to an otherwise good trip and I won’t let it ruin the experience.

It was nice to be “home” and to take a shower after two sweaty days. We had popcorn for dinner and spent the evening backing up photos and playing Bananagrams. And then I got the best night of sleep I’ve had for a week. It was awesome.

Today is Sunday and it’s another quiet one – for now. The big women’s group arrives today and we will meet them for lunch in the dining hall in a little while. Then they are throwing a tye dye party this afternoon and movie night this evening. Our quiet weeks at Peace House are likely over but it will be fun to see what they have planned for the kids.

[Despite my date editing (I am Doctor Who! I control TIME!!) it's actually Monday morning now, there was no internet yesterday. I have like four more photos for this post but the net is so slow, I can't upload them right now. Will edit later when the net is quieter. Coffee tour today!]

The market and the lodge

Well, it’s Thursday afternoon and the power is out. Thankfully my laptop has power left so I can type this up and post it when the power returns. There is a dark cloud blowing over Peace House and though I can hear the thunder already, the rain hasn’t yet hit. At least these fast heavy storms bring with them a cool breeze.

Where was I? Oh yes, Wednesday. Mom had heard about a good shop near Peace House called Fotini. When we arrived here she asked everyone if they knew of it, where it was, etc. We came up empty handed. Finally I googled it and discovered that it does exist, but it’s not in Arusha. It’s technically in Kisongo, a town just down the road. We asked Ernest the taxi driver about it and he said he knew where it was and that there was also an interesting market nearby. So we planned for Wednesday to be Kisongo morning, to coincide with the weekly market.

It was fun to turn left instead of right out of the Peace House road for a change and we got to see a new expanse of land. Kisongo is a Maasai village and we drove past many traditional huts. Finally we found the turn off for Fotini, with a large sign just off the road. A little ways further down we found another smaller sign directing us up a hill. How anyone finds this place without a referral is beyond me! We drove up the flower lined hill until the road seemed to end and found nothing. Thankfully Ernest asked a gentleman walking down the hill if he knew anything and he pointed us back the direction we had come. Sure enough, halfway down the hill, there was a gate with Fotini painted on it in big letters. Unfortunately there was another sign on a piece of computer paper that read “Closed for renovations. Please visit our shop at the Coffee Lodge.“ We had come all this way to a shop that was closed. Whoops.

Thankfully the day wasn’t a complete waste as Ernest drove us in to the market. There is very little rhyme or reason to the market set up, and one sort of road that sort of goes through the middle. I say sort of because if someone decides to park their truck and refuses to move it, the road becomes a parking lot.

The market was truly a sea of colors. The Maasai men wore their red or blue robes, women were in every color imaginable, the bananas and mangos were green, the donkeys gray, white and brown goats, yellow pineapple slices, and the list goes on.

There was no real structure for stalls or the like, instead it was a patchwork sea of people with their goods laid out on blankets or bags, or piled on carts. Apparently different towns have markets on different days, and people come from miles around to buy and sell. We saw people walking, biking, or riding packed into truck beds. Obviously these markets are the place to be.

Ernest asked if we wanted to walk around but we were short on time and a bit intimidated as well. There were two white couples that I saw, both with guides. He did hop out at one point to take our photo in the car and Mom also asked him to buy us a pineapple. He bargained and got us a pineapple for 1,000 shillings. That’s about 80 cents! He also got a big slice for himself, I’m not sure if that was out of our money or a free sample, but he certainly earned it either way.

After the fascinating trip through the market, we went back towards Peace House, stopping briefly at Arusha Coffee Lodge to check out the mini-Fotini and have some lunch. I’m ashamed to admit that I had a hamburger, something I rarely do when I travel. However on this long trip I decided I was allowed an American treat after eating rice, beans, kande, etc. Tonight we are finally going to try the traditional ugali. We went to lunch one other day to have it but they had a special meal as a going away surprise for one of the staff. Every other time it has been on the menu, we have had plans. Mom can’t get out of it this time!

As I said earlier, there are two sides to Africa (well, probably many more but two that I’m seeing in this short time) and we really jumped between them going from the market to the lodge. The market is a bustling place but very raw. The lodge is pristine and sculptured. Bungalows there can range up to $900 per night for full board. It is where celebrities (like Jessica Biel recently) stay and fundraisers are held (the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently hosted an event there). It is as far away from the rest of Africa as one can get.

The rain has hit now and the breeze is amazing. The walk back to our house will be less amazing and more wet and muddy. There are no light showers here, only storms. They are quick and heavy, and despite their force, the ground doesn’t really seem to absorb much. The top layer turns to mud and even that dries up quickly after the sun comes out.

The power has come back on so I will try to post this before the next roll of thunder kills it again!

Emerging from the African Sun

It has been insanely hot and humid these past few days, making it hard to want to do anything. Even sitting and typing is a sweat inducing chore when the air is so still and heavy. Thankfully we had a bit of rain today so the evening has cooled down considerably.

Monday was a lazy day. We took the free school transport into town to check out the tourist board in the morning. The tourist board claims to be able to help you book cultural visits to Maasai villages and whatnot, but we were just pointed to a wall of poorly made brochures. It was a short and disappointing stop. Then we went next door to Africafe to have breakfast while we waited for return transport. And waited. And waited. One must not look a gift horse or a free ride in the mouth and I actually enjoyed the coffee and people watching. I ordered an iced latte with vanilla and the vanilla syrup came in a tiny pitcher on the side, like syrup. It was pretty cool. We also ended up ordering a double mocha milkshake toward the end of our two hour wait, it was rich, cold, and delicious. The café was lovely, if full of Mzungus (white people). Mom and I were quite amused to be across the street from the Lutheran Centre (see yesterday’s photos) and thought about going in to see what was going on.

There are several Swahili proverbs about time:

· HHaraka haraka haina baraka=Hurry hurry has no blessing

· Mwenye pupa hadriki kula tamu=A hasty person misses the sweet things

We are finding than time moves differently here. You must be grateful for what is given, even if you have to wait a bit. I like the pace here, but then I’m always happy to stop, relax, and look around.

Tuesday was a lazy morning, getting to the library a bit later than usual but still getting almost 150 books barcoded, cataloged, labeled, and shelved. We may not always work long hours, but we work hard. At 3:30 we were picked up by Ernest, the taxi driver. While he isn’t really “our driver” he is Peace House’s most recommended driver and we’ve already used him several times during our stay. He speaks great English, is helpful, and very conscientious of our safety and comfort. Apparently he is also a barbecue king, something we will see firsthand next week at a Peace House volunteer party.

Our first stop was at the TFA complex, kind of a strip mall anchored in the center by the large grocery store Shop-Rite. On one side is a kitchen store and a Woolworths (really!) as well as a few random shops. The other side has two coffee shops, a gelato shop, souvenir shops, chocolate shop/bakery, photo gallery, Tanzanian restaurant, wine bar, and Vama, the Indian restaurant we were at the other night. We had a good poke around the shops and finally did a bit of shopping. A basket, jewelry, and two scarves were among our bounty. We tried the gelato but it wasn’t as good as Italy. No surprise there. I had hoped to have an iced coffee with ice cream at Stiggbucks but they were closing for the day.

After our shopping trip, Ernest picked us up again and brought us to Via Via, a restaurant and cultural center in the old German Boma. When Tanzania was occupied by the Germans, this was their headquarters. Today it houses an “art gallery” (shop), tourist center, the National Natural History Museum, a small open air stage for performing arts and Via Via restaurant. For all of the hype in every guidebook, I was expected something more…put together. Instead it’s a maze like assortment of structures. The art exhibition was really just five people sitting around waiting for tourists to come buy things.

I’m not a huge fan of shopping in Arusha as the custom seems to be for the salesperson to follow the white person closely and force upon them anything they express the slightest interest in. Yes, that’s a lovely bracelet but I can already tell it won’t fit me. No, I really don’t need to try it on. Sure, I picked up the beaded Obama bracelet but it was out of bemusement, not interest. It’s a pushy method and while I understand their need to make whatever money they can, I really hate it. There are several times I might have bought something but I got so uncomfortable that I just wanted out. Susan, the librarian here, says that we just have to put our hands up and say “Asante” (Thank you) and be pushy right back. But that is so different from our shop customs that it is a challenge.

Once we found the restaurant, the food was great. Mom had a spaghetti al pesto with a very fresh and very garlicky pesto. I had the special of the day which was a beef curry with rice. Mom actually liked mine almost as much as her own. Our window-side table looked out over a lush yard and several mango trees. We were also joined by several lizards. I know they are harmless, and even a bit cute, but they still scare the bejeebers out of me when they scurry across a floor or wall.

Wednesday is going to be a separate entry as we were really across the board in our adventures. Stay tuned J

Since we did very little of interest on Sunday (which was fine by me) I thought I would use this blog to reflect on my time here so far. We are halfway through our month.

Africa has challenged me in many ways. I don’t mean the heat or the bugs. (Mom had to wage war against another spider for me last night…but I won a valiant battle against the ants. At least the butterflies are pretty!) My sensibilities and values have been challenged and I find myself caught between two worlds.

Driving through the Serengeti, especially the southern bit that allowed off-roading, we often went miles without seeing a road and even further without seeing another vehicle. Yet the tracks were visible, crisscrossing the landscape. Several times a day we would notice a group of jeeps, surrounding a good find. Lions, cheetahs, whatever it may be. These poor wild animals could hardly escape the flash of the cameras, the oohs and aahs of adoring tourists. I felt guilty for being part of an industry that profits from the destruction of natural habitat. But then I also realized that perhaps the people with their cameras might be moved by the experience to give back and help protect both the animals and their land. As much as I loved what the off-roading allowed us to see, it just felt wrong.

Driving and walking through Arusha has also challenged some of my preconceptions. Arusha is a poor but bustling city with the UN tribunal for the Rwanda genocide and hundreds of safari companies based here. Watching the sidewalk is like being inside a National Geographic photo - a group of traditionally dressed Maasai men here, women carrying huge bags, buckets, or bundles on their heads there. Women selling roasted corn on the cob along the roadside and men pulling rickshaw carts overloaded with bags. By my standards, the majority of people we pass on the street look very poor. But do my standards apply here? Is poverty the same everywhere? Do these people even want our life? We may have big homes and cars and televisions, but we also live a frenzied pace, spending little time with our families and losing sight of core values.

Arusha also has a huge disparity of wealth. There seems to be little or no middle class. And unfortunately the class lines seem to fall along race lines as well. Not always, but most of what I’ve seen has been a huge racial divide. The sports club where Peace House played rugby was “a little piece of paradise” as our roommate called it. It is very nice, with workout facilities, a beautiful pool, bar, restaurant, shop, salon, and coffee shop. It’s impossible to not notice that most of the people enjoying the facility are white. The accents vary greatly from British to German to Aussie to American but the skin is mostly white. The same holds true for most of the good restaurants we’ve been to. The clientele is predominately white. The staff? Mostly black.

I can’t help but wonder how well the money trickles down. The sports complex charges only $50/month for a two person “family” membership. That’s half what the YMCA costs back home. Surely the wages for the employees can’t be much by US standards, but they are probably quite good by Tanzanian standards. Whose standards should we use - those at the top or those at the bottom? Perhaps they have settled somewhere in the middle, but something tells me that isn’t the case. I hope I’m wrong.

I have accepted that I am here to help in whatever little way I can, and that is good enough for right now. Though these three weeks of help don’t feel like nearly enough, they are more than most people will ever give. It’s easy (for some) to just write a check but time is a rare and precious gift, especially to we frenzied Americans. I hope I am making at least a small difference because the experience is making a huge difference in me.

Tanzanian weekend

I can’t even count how many spine labels I’ve put on books this week. Suffice to say we’re making progress but there are still rooms full of boxes full of books. There is plenty to do.

Friday night we decided it was time for a treat so we hired a driver, Ernest, and went into a highly recommended restaurant, Blue Heron. After a brief glimpse of Arusha rush hour traffic, Ernest found us a cut through which, while traffic free, was very bumpy. One of the guide books we brought along has a blurb about the dangers of driving in Tanzania and says that if there were more paved roads, there would probably be MORE fatalities. The dusty bumpy roads offer natural speed control…to a degree.

When we arrived at Blue Heron, it looked a bit like we were trespassing into someone’s yard. A bit unsure of ourselves, we started in the gift shop. There were some neat things but overall it was just clutter. But at least we ran into one of the proprietors who helped us find a seat outside. All of the seating is outdoors but the upper level is more secluded and more covered. The lower level, where we sat, was like sitting in someone’s garden at a lovely table under an umbrella. A fountain gurgled nearby and lanterns flickered all around.

The food was astounding. Mom and I shared a pizza and chicken dish. The pizza was cooked in their outdoor brick oven and had basil, mozzarella, prosciutto, and salami. It was supposed to have mushrooms but the delivery has only just come and they weren’t cooked yet, so the added the salami instead. This pizza put Minneapolis pizza to shame. The salami was definitely local and cured in small batches, nothing like the pepperoni we’re used to. The crust held the pizza but was crisp and yielding. It was delicious. The chicken was also fabulous, with the perfect amount of garlic and spice along with veggies and parsley potatoes on the side. The actual ice cream was forgettable, but being our first since arriving made it taste great in spite of itself.

Most of Saturday was spent relaxing and waiting. We were trying to make plans in town but some locals have a very different concept of “appointment” than we Americans do. Finally we heard back and so Macon, Katie, Mom, and I headed towards town. In a rough building on a side street we found Lodi, a Filipino seamstress living and working in Arusha. After another quick trip further up the side streets we found ourselves at her favorite fabric shop. There were a dizzying array of colors and patterns available. I picked out two, an airy lined pattern of burgundy on cream and a heavier blue and black. After we returned to Lodi’s home/shop Katie, Macon, and I were measured. Hopefully I will be coming home with two custom skirts! She also offered to alter the skirt I brought as a pattern, as I bought it in a hurry before the trip and it is a bit too big.

By this time we were all hungry so after a short and slightly terrifying walk we arrived at Vama, an Indian restaurant with great reviews. Mom was a bit wary but I convinced her that we would find something suitable. We had a bit of a fright when the power went out just as food arrived, but we were planning to just make it work. Thankfully the lights came on after only a minute or two because curry is not a great food to eat in the dark. At least I wasn’t wearing white!

After a delicious meal, Mom has decided that she likes Chicken Tikka Masala! To be fair, that is a purely English invention but hey, it’s a start. She insisted that it be “not spicy” and got her wish. The waiter had obviously met a few other timid westerners in his time and was very accommodating. I had a “mildly spicy” chicken korma that was really good. We also had plain naan and rice. It was a good introduction to another cuisine for Mom. A bit odd for the middle of Tanzania but apparently they do a lot of trading with India, probably because of the Zanzibar spices.

Very tired when we got home, plus Mom had to help me wage war against the spider living under my bed. It decided to venture up into my sheets. I knew there would be a lot of bugs here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I have a fair few various bites but so far not too bad. It’s been no worse than a Minnesota evening, and at least here I have a mosquito net. Now if they only had a spider net as well…

Extracurricular Awesomeness!

After we finished up in the library yesterday, Macon took us on a tour of some of the after-school activities offered at Peace House. It amazes me that these kids even have the energy for extracurricular activities with the extreme school schedule they follow.

The school has several clubs to choose from including cooking, choir, rugby, football (soccer), netball (basketball), drum, dance, scout, running, and acrobatic. We weren’t able to see them all in our wanderings, but we saw a lot.

Drum and Dance clubs work together, performing traditional dances. The group was small yesterday, and it’s all girls, but still great to see. In a very strict society, it’s fun to see the relaxed side of the girls.

We got to see the school gardens, which are currently growing tomatoes, garlic or onions, and several other things. They also keep rabbits and the flock of sheep who love our front porch. They have a great chicken coop set up just waiting for a flock. The garden space is big and has a lot of room for more plants but there just aren’t the people or resources to bring it to its full potential.

Holy buckets! These boys can leap. They certainly had fun showing off for the camera and I had fun playing with quick shutter speeds trying to catch them mid-air. These guys were doing leaps, back flips, jumps, and spins – all in the middle of the woods with sawdust where a soft mat should have been. Using old tires and bricks for height and even climbing into trees and doing back flips off thin branches, it was amazing. Apparently they sometimes perform in the dining hall, a building with all concrete floors, doing high leaps with no mats. Scary!

We also saw some amazing and intense football, though I still can’t figure out how they knew who was on what team given the lack of uniforms. One boy was sitting the game out because he was in hospital just a few days ago with Malaria. Though potentially deadly if not treated in time, Peace House has a nurse on staff and got him help quickly. He may have been disappointed about missing a good game, but I can’t help but wonder if he would possibly have lived if still living in poverty. Peace House may be primarily a school, but they are also a lifeline for many of these kids.

Overall the kids have been curious and welcoming. The standards here are high and very few make it all the way through. It costs about $2000 per year for one student here, but that includes everything – meals, clothes, even school supplies. The school has exams each month and students must meet a minimum standard to continue. 115 form one students just started in January. Form three has only about 30 students. Unlike most schools they don’t simply kick them out and say “Sorry, no longer our problem.” I was astounded to learn that if a student doesn’t pass the exams, Peace House actually find them a new school and pays the tuition. If they get the funding needed to build the planned vocational school, those past students will have first opportunity to enroll should they not succeed academically.

I’ve been learning a lot about the Tanzanian school system. Pretty much all the primary grades are taught in Swahili, though English may be a class subject. Then when secondary school starts, the government requires that all classes be taught in English. Oh, and the national exams are in English as well. Imagine speaking little or no Japanese and then having to take and pass chemistry taught only in Japanese. Could you? And to add to the pressure, the national test results, given at the end of form 2 and form 4 (think 14ish and 16ish) are actually published in the paper. It’s crazy. Most of the classes here are taught purely as lecture with students copying the teacher’s notes and translating them later. They have no textbooks and so often come check out texts from the library. I just can’t fathom what algebra must sound like in a foreign language.

They are working hard to do something amazing here at Peace House, but they have to work within the constraints of the Tanzanian rules. It’s a tough road but hey, Tanzanians are used to tough roads. Perhaps one of the students here today will later be the politician to pave the way for a better system tomorrow.

Highlights of Peace House

So we got to Peace House Secondary School on Friday the 5th and rather than bore you all with another novel, I thought I would start with just a few highlights from our time here so far.

• Friday Night – Shower! We were thrilled to both get a hot shower in our guest house before going to dinner at Arusha Coffee Lodge. Dinner was great, it’s one of the best

restaurants in the city and very close to the school, but entrees are only 5000-20000tsh. I let slip that Mom’s birthday was Saturday and Tait, the volunteer coordinator, managed to get the staff to bring out a chocolate cake with “Happy Birthday Judy!” drizzled on the plate and a sparkler for a candle. It was very sweet!

• Saturday – The school was competing in their first ever rugby tournament so we caught a ride with the team and spectators over to the athletic complex. A local fitness center very popular with expats was kind enough to offer their fields for the games. The center was beautiful with a bar, fancy restaurant, nice pool, shop, coffee shop, and more. Definitely a place for the upper crust. Our first dinner plans were nixed due to a power outage and our second plans were nixed due to rain so we were at the Coffee Lodge again. Oh darn.

• Sunday – We started the day by going to church with the school director, his daughter, and our roommate. Arusha Community Church was about a 60/40 mix of expats and locals and we ran in to several people we’d met at the rugby game including Peace House neighbors and the librarian, Susan, with whom Mom and I would be working closely. Jeff, the director, drove us to a grocery store to get some essentials and as we were walking in the door, we ran into Lara and her two daughters! This big foreign city is already starting to feel like home.

• Monday – Our first day volunteering! We met Susan in the library and had a bit of a tour. It’s a fairly big space with four back rooms. They have a lot of books in boxes waiting to be c

ataloged, one of our projects for the next three weeks. I spent my time entering new students into the system and then attaching spine labels while Mom and Susan cataloged. They have entire sets of American textbooks for subjects like Elements of Writing, Chemistry and Biology. Some are in great shape, others look like they have been abused by high schoolers, which they have. For dinner we had our first meal in the dining hall – kande, beans, and watermelon. From what I was told, Kande is kind of a maize paste. It was mixed in with the beans. Though bland, it was surprisingly good and very filling!

• Tuesday (Today) – Another day in the library. I started by shelving books, a daunting task in

the current state of the library. Kids are still learning to use the library which means books are put away backwards and out of order. However, Mom says that’s a kid thing, not a cultural thing. We ate lunch in the dining hall and today it was rice, beans, and watermelon. There were some carrots mixed in with the beans and again, it was filling. A bit of spice wouldn’t go amiss. In the afternoon we helped Susan teach the new students learn about using the library. Most of these kids have very little experience with books so the lesson started with how to turn pages without folding them and ended with them checking out a book for the first time. I manned the

circulation desk and was overwhelmed by kids shoving books at me, all trying to check out at the same time. Eventually we got a line, but it was a constant battle between chaos and lines. At the end of the day, I was tired. Very very tired.

Tomorrow we’re heading to do some more shopping in town before working with Susan again. I’m learning so much about these kids as they learn about everything else.

Continued adventures in the Serengeti

So, where were we? Oh yes, being woken up by a thunderstorm. While I understand that the Serengeti has a rainy season, I wasn’t quite prepared for it. Somewhere in my mind we were headed to a hot, arid, dry desert, not a (mostly) lush savannah.
After a fabulous breakfast with more fresh fruit, we headed out to go “fishing” as our guide, Morgan, put it. He said game drives are like fishing for animals – sometimes you catch them, sometimes you don’t. Either way you just try to enjoy the view.

Being a good fishing family from Minnesota, we got a tug on our line very quickly. Morgan spotted a swarm of vultures, a sure sign of something nearby, and we headed into a little glade. What we found surprised even Morgan. We had stumbled upon five lions devouring a wildebeest likely killed the previous night. While gruesome, it was also fascinating, especially when the dominant male roared in the distance and all five perked up as if awaiting orders. They quickly went back to either eating or slipping into a food coma.

The rest of the morning was filled will wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles. All fabulous but eventually you start to think “Oh. More wildebeest. Awesome.” We struggled to get some good zebra photos but they were quite skittish and would run away from the truck. Many were visibly pregnant and we saw a lot of zebra babies which Morgan said were just days old.

I am typing this on Monday night from Peace House and we just lost power again. Thank goodness I charged my laptop earlier! Hope to get at least this draft done before losing battery. Life here is certainly unpredictable! Luckily, Mom brought tealights so I am typing by candlelight. It’s a bit like Abe Lincoln’s log cabin but with laptops and Fanta. So maybe not like that at all.

Back to day two in the Serengeti. Before we had to head back to camp for lunch, we spotted a big male lion perched on a rocky volcanic outcrop. These massive “kopjes” look like giant boulders but are apparently just the top of a much larger remnant of volcanic activity in the region. As he lounged with a lioness, Morgan spotted more lions coming from the distance and upon closer inspection we found four females and three cubs, likely about three months old. Their bellies were so full they almost dragged on the ground and they were a bit more scared of us than the adults.

Eventually the whole pride climbed up on the rocks, just in time for massive raindrops to start falling. After quickly putting the top back on the truck, we headed to lunch, spotting a few more repeat animals on the way.

This afternoon we took a different route back to the plains and went around the edge of Lake Ndutu. I was excited to see a few flamingos but apparently the real flamingo hot spot is Lake Manyara, which we will see on the end of our trip. We found an entire lion pride chilling out in a muddy marsh complete with one adult male, five females, and nine cubs about six months old. These lions give new meaning to the phrase “lazy lion” as they lounge away after a good meal. We pulled in about five feet from a female and she barely batted an eyelash.

I think the most interesting spot of the day was when we found another flock of vultures destroying a carcass. Two jackals were nearby and were desperately trying to get in for a bit of action but these vultures are big and mean. And they scream! Morgan assumed this was a lion kill at first but then said no, there was too much “meat” left on the bones. We figured it must have been a natural death but then we stumbled across two male cheetahs, both looking pretty full. Apparently cheetahs are quite timid and despite their speed and strength, they can often be forced away from their own kill before they are finished. It’s hard to imagine a vulture or jackal scaring a cheetah, but it happens.

Short game drive on Friday morning but it was hot and dry and the animals seemed to be on their own schedule. Having been so lucky the previous days, we really couldn’t complain. One interesting part of the game drive experience was that apparently in the southern parts of the park that get lass traffic, the vehicle is allowed to go off road. In the central park where it’s busier, that would just destroy the habitat but where we were, there is enough time after the busy migration season for the land to recover. However, we found out that the park service can change the boundaries for off-roading any time. We found this out when the game warden found us and took Morgan’s park pass away. When we asked him how they notified the drivers of these last minute changes, he said “By finding us and fining us.”

After a quick lunch we headed back towards the central park and the airstrip. We had to make a quick detour at the ranger station so Morgan could pay his fine and get his pass back. I say quick but nothing here is really quick. But he got it worked out and I got to scope out the flock of chickens the rangers keep. Yes, I was in the Serengeti and still got exciting about chickens. So sue me.

The drive back to the airport held a couple of surprises. Just before the park gate we found a big herd of elephants, including a little bitty baby. Well, as little bitty as a baby elephant can be. It was adorable. Heading further into the park we had time to take a side road that Morgan had a tip about. We had a slight traffic jam when a second group of elephants decided to hang out in the road for a little while. Sadly they were heading away from us but I did get a few photos of elephant butts.

The real highlight of the side road was the rarely seen leopard. Morgan had said they were hard to find and would only likely be found in the central park. But we had been very lucky so far so we crossed our fingers and toes – and it worked! Barely visible lounging in a tree was a sleeping leopard. It took us about ten minutes to even figure out where in the tree he was and if you blinked, you had to refocus. His camouflage works very very well. With the leopard under our belt, we had a pretty complete safari experience.

Now, just between you and I, I had one very cynical thought about the leopard. Morgan talked up our odds of seeing one so much that it just seemed crazy to find one hiding in a tree on an off road. The fact he seemed to know exactly where it was baffled me even more (though the guides do share tips on the radio). A little tiny part of me thought to myself “from this distance, and so hidden in that tree, that could totally be a fake leopard planted there by guides.” Isn’t that awful of me?

Crap, I am over my self-imposed thousand word limit. I guess I’ll have to save final reflections for another post!

Two nights in the Serengeti

So our plane landed safely, twice even as we had to drop off a couple of people at a different airstrip. I’ll be honest with you, the small plane flight is one of the things that most scared me on this trip. I’m not sure why, those planes just don’t look sturdy enough to be trusted. Give me an airbus any day.

The Serengeti airstrip is literally a strip. It was certainly the first time I’ve landed on a runway that had gazelle tracks on it. There is a building where our guide, Morgan, went to get our paperwork for being in the park. Also, there are bathrooms. Actual bathrooms with flushing toilets as opposed to the hole in the ground I was expecting. It was certainly not Amsterdam Schipol, but better than I expected.

Once Morgan had our paperwork ready, we were off to our camp. Though he wanted to show us some of the central park on our way, we had to hurry a bit as you’re not supposed to be in the park after 6pm and with our late departure it was already 5. We seemed to hit the animal jackpot the moment we left the airport. First we ran into a troop of baboons. Well, not actually ran into, that would be awful. There were several babies, one being carried on its mother’s back. Soon after the baboons were monkeys. Morgan called them black faced monkeys but after checking my guide book I think they were Vervet Monkeys. Both the baboons and the monkeys just wandered around the side of the road, paying us little attention.

I should take a moment here to thank my husband for letting me borrow his nice Canon EOS 20D. I haven’t told him this yet, but a monkey actually snatched it out of my hand and ran off with it. I kid, I kid! It’s fine honey. A bit dusty but working well. Love you! I will say though, it is a fancy camera and I instantly forgot most of the crash course he gave me. I spent the first 24 hours in the Serengeti convinced that all my photos were blurry and awful because I wasn’t doing something right. It turns out that most of them are blurry and awful but I got a lot of amazing ones too. My goal was to take so many photos that a few just had to come out well. It seems to have worked. Next time though, Rich gets to come along and he can have the nice camera…and use it properly!

Continuing our path southward through the Serengeti we went past a little pool with a few hippos but they were so submerged that even the telephoto lens could only barely make them out. But still…hippos! We found a lone giraffe by the side of the road and then headed through the gates out of the Serengeti. Our camp was technically in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area just south of the Serengeti. There are about five conservation areas, included Serengeti National Park, that make up one of the largest undisturbed and most diverse ecosystems in the world.

Finishing our drive to camp we really got a taste of the great migration, driving through a herd of hundreds, if not thousands, of Wildebeests. Though they were divided into “small” groups, they stretched as far as the eye could see. Zebras were scattered amongst the herd as well as Grants and Thompson’s Gazelles. We also saw a hyena, jackal, and a cheetah. Morgan said that people often go days and don’t see a cheetah so we must be very lucky to see one the first night. The luck continued for most of the game drive as we ended up seeing nine cheetahs.

When we arrived at our camp, there was a huge campfire going and we were once again greeted with fresh juice. After a few minutes by the fire we sat down to a dinner that could have come from a four-star restaurant but instead came from a shed about 30 meters from the dining tent. The starter was a leek soup and mains was spiced lamb, roasted potatoes (a bit different from ours, almost slightly sweet), a sort of stew with vegetables in spices (Mom thinks there were bananas too but I don’t recall them), and a cucumber tomato salad. We had been warned not to eat the salads but Lara reminded us that most good camps, lodges, and restaurants have figured out how to safely clean their fruit and veg as competition is fierce and they can’t afford to have bad reviews. The camp manager said dessert was banana mouse but it was really a pudding. By either name, it was delicious.

After being walked to our tent by flashlight, we settled in quickly. The tent was quite substantial with two twin beds and a dressing table in one room and bathroom in a separate section. The tents used solar power for evening lighting which made it easy to forget you were in a tent and not a hotel room. However, the bumpy floor beneath the tent surface was a fast reminder, especially if you had to wander across it at 2am. It required more dexterity than most midnight potty runs! Wake up call would be 6am so we headed to bed before too long. I had trouble falling asleep and heard some odd noises outside that I assumed were a wildebeest grunting. In the morning our guide said it was actually a lion. It turns out the MGM lion’s roar is quite rare, maybe only for use in fights. Morgan also said that a lion can roar five miles away but sound like it’s just outside the tent. Or he could be lying and lions really were just outside our tent but they tell us the other to keep us calm. I wasn’t about to go out and check.

After the grunting lion I fell pretty quickly to sleep, until about midnight when the thunderstorm moved in. I was awoken by distant thunder, rumbling so low that I thought the nearby wildebeest were stampeding until it stopped too soon. Then the next clap was closer, and again even closer. Soon the light rain became a downpour, pelting our tent. I actually woke up thinking I had left the fan on because of the constant patter of rain, but of course I wasn’t home and we didn’t have a fan. It was a bit disorienting to say the least.

I’ve reached one thousand words so I think I will save day two for another post. Oh, and hey…thanks for reading!


(P.S. Posting from a very slow connection so I'm doing the best I can with photos but not sure exactly how it will turn out!)