Still in Dar....

So I thought I was going to Bagamoyo today but I'm still in Dar. I went back to the orphanage Malaika (which means angel in Swahili) today and had a great time. Two volunteers who have been here for quite a few weeks left today so the kids sang a beautiful song to them. It was really sweet and both the kids and us volunteers were teary.

I had a good conversation with Alexis yesterday about the Bagamoyo experience. She left Bagamoyo after one week and finished her two weeks in Dar. She said that she was by herself in Bagamoyo (no other volunteers had been there for a while) and that the accommodations were really difficult for long periods of time. I'm not looking for the Ritz-Carlton but I need to be mildly comfortable (and I really mean this is the mildest sense) while I am there, especially since I'm going to be there for such a long time. Also, the teachers in the school that I would be working with don't really care about teaching the kids- they don't get there on time, they don't have lessons, sometimes they just have the kids color and other times they let school out after a half day. All of this has left me really hesitant about going to Bagamoyo. I have had two really great days working at Malaika and I love the staff and kids there. I talked to Marley (one of the program staff people) this morning and asked if I could be switched to the Dar site. I didn't really get an official answer so I'm kind of unsure about where I am going. If I go to Bagamoyo it will be tomorrow and I will start work in a week. This week is apparently a holiday week in the schools which is another reason why I'm hesitant to go up to Bagamoyo. So I think, all in all, a move to the Dar site at Malaika will be for the best; my talents will be best utilized by the kids and staff at Malaika.

We had a really large group of people come in last night/this morning. Four ladies from Denmark, two guys from Virginia (the just graduated from High School!! so young!) and a woman from NY. Another young woman, Emily, came back to the hostel last night after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (affectionately called Kili). Her pictures are amazing and I'm kind of jealous. It costs a lot of money (she spent about $1100) and you have to be in fairly good shape. So the next time I'm in Tanzania (which I'm sure will not be too long from now) I'm going to climb the mountain.

Anyway, the two boys and the woman from NY came with Emily, Jill and I to Malaika today and I think they had a good time. I think they were really nervous especially since when we got in the dala-dala this morning, the driver was fixing the engine and when we were trying to leave the money taker had to push the dala-dala to get it going. But, in the end, we got there safely. During nap time, Emily and I took a walk around the area near the orphanage. It was hard stuff to see. Mountains of trash, some of it burning (because they don't have a waste system like the U.S, that is how trash is dealt with) and some of the trash being picked through by kids and women. The houses are hard to describe; they look like they are going to fall down at any second and are filled to the brim with different family members. According to Emily, one of the areas we ended up walking in is not traveled a lot by muzungu's (white people) so we got a lot of stares by older gentlemen and women and we were followed by kids who got a kick out of it when we would turn around and smile and wave. We ended up stopping in a fabric store where I bought khanga fabric to make a bag and a skirt. There is a tailor down the street from the hostel who made Emily, Jill and Alexis (who left at 5 this morning) some dresses, shorts and bags. I will drop off the fabric tomorrow (since she is closed on Sundays) and pick it up in a few days.

All in all, the first few days have been really interesting and eye-opening. A lot of the things I thought I knew and understood are being changed by people I meet and things I experience. But, I guess that is part of why I came on this trip.

Also, thank you to everyone who has commented on this blog. Its a really great feeling to know that people are with me on this journey. I really appreciate every comment so please keep them coming. :)

My internet time is almost up, so until the next time,

Namaste!