I'm sorry it has taken me a few days to get up information. It has been a little crazy here (maybe as you can guess from the entry title). The safari was amazing! Though there were tons of people all the time (the perils of the norther safari route) the scenery and the wildlife was spectacular. I swear I will put up pictures really soon...when things calm down here a little.
Some of the highlights include: a adult male lion taking a nap in the shade of our car (but not before giving us a frightening glimpse of his teeth), a cheetah killing and eating an impala (a little gruesome sounding, I know, but it really was an amazing sight), almost getting charged by an adult elephant protecting its newborn baby elephant and driving through a sea of zebras and wildebeest. If you can stand the large amount of tourists, a northern safari is definitely worth every penny paid. Just make sure you are a conscious tourist.....
Yes, so volunteers have been arrested and all volunteer work with the organization I am here with has stopped. At the end of the safari, Yotam (the country coordinator) met us at the Arusha hostel with the news. Apparently, immigration is getting stricter with the visas and arresting people who they find to be in violation of their visas. Since IFRE said to purchase a tourist visa, that is what I did, even though it clearly states on the visa that all work, either for pay or volunteering, is strictly prohibited. I was nervous about this before I left, but after talking to the US coordinators I felt assured that it was not actually a big deal and that nothing would happen. I was wrong. Immigration agents have visited most of the organizations that IFRE (and other volunteer organizations working in Tanzania) works with, including Malaika, questioning, detaining and sometimes arresting the volunteers that are working their. To work in Tanzania it is necessary to have a residents visa. However, the reason volunteer agencies recommend getting the tourist visa is that residents visas are very difficult and costly to get. But now, volunteers are having to pay a fine and get a new residents visa, so ultimately it is costing us more money. I'm unsure if I want to go through the expense as I leave next Friday- I think I might just risk it and continue working.
Yotam has been in Arusha sorting out the mess up there (there are many more volunteers in the Arusha area than in the Dar es Salaam area) and so I am in a holding pattern until he comes down here, either tonight or tomorrow. He has told me not to go into work until he comes and talks to me and we sort things out and it is so frustrating. I had already been away from the kids for 5 days because of Safari and now I am going to be gone for (probably) the entire week. I might go in tomorrow around lunch time for an hour or two just to visit them (and maybe bring them some caki to apologize for my long absence).
I can understand why immigration is being more stringent- I am taking away a job from a Tanzanian citizen who could potentially be teaching English and providing care to the children. It is the same argument that is used in the United States with illegal immigrants (or at least part of the argument) and it is interesting being on the "illegal" side.
The whole mess is just causing me (and all of the volunteers who have had to return to Dar es Salaam because their projects have temporarily stopped) a lot of heartache and trouble. But, I will try and be optimistic and hope that it will all be sorted out quickly (no hakuna matata right now please, Tanzania government.....)
I will keep you all updated on the saga.....
Namaste!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The past few days have gone by very quickly. Though nothing out of the ordinary has happened, each day has been special in its own right. All of the kids are doing well in school and at home. It is so great to see everyone living harmoniously, helping when they need to help. A few days ago, Ema and Hamisi asked me to help cover their school notebooks (notebooks similar to the Rhodes College blue book) in brown paper. It was a very sweet moment and it reminded me of when my mom and I would cover my school books in elementary and middle school so as to keep them nice. With most of the kids in school, my mornings are very quiet and though I try to fill the time with those who are not in school, I miss the noise and busyness of having all of the kids home.
Yesterday, CJ (Amita's neice) and I cleaned and organized the office. What an undertaking! In the back of the small office, in between the bunk beds and the bookshelf were three huge boxes filled with toys, games and books. These things had been left by previous volunteers but no one ever bothered to unpack them or put them up. We have tons of stuffed animals (though those are not so much of an interest to all of the little boys here), puzzles, and TONS of cars (thank goodness!). We organized the book self, putting the toys that the kids were most likely to play with out while the rest of the toys we organized in boxes to put into storage. These toys will be saved for the new 300 child facility that will soon be finished.
Today, we found out that Sadi had sold his uniforms so that he didn't have to go to school. A few days ago, he sold his backpack and school notebooks for 200 tsh (20 cents). W are not really sure what to do about this as he will not tell us who he sold the items to. Today, he went to school and wore Solum's uniform (Solum was home sick) but tomorrow, I'm not really sure what he is going to do as the children are not allowed in school without a uniform.
For the past few weeks, the kids have had a weird skin infection on their heads- disgusting looking sores. they have all had their heads shaved to try and combat the infection and so that medicine can be applied. Well, over the past week or so, I have given too many hugs because now I have this skin infection all over my face. It looks gross and it hurts but I have recently gotten medicine for it so hopefully it will be gone soon!
Tomorrow I am headed to Arusha for Safari. It's a nine hour bus ride to Arusha and my Safari will start on Friday and end on Sunday. I will be visiting Tangire NP, NGorongoro Crater and Lake Maynara NP. I'm so excited as I have heard amazing things about these parks. Hopefully I will get to see lots of animals (and not too many mzungu's)!!
When I return to Dar from Safari I will only have 2 weeks left in the country. I have such mixed feelings about returning and I am sure that it is going to be a big shock to me. I am definitely not the same person now as I was then.
Sorry for the brevity but it is getting dark out and I need to start walking back to the hostel.
Namaste!
Yesterday, CJ (Amita's neice) and I cleaned and organized the office. What an undertaking! In the back of the small office, in between the bunk beds and the bookshelf were three huge boxes filled with toys, games and books. These things had been left by previous volunteers but no one ever bothered to unpack them or put them up. We have tons of stuffed animals (though those are not so much of an interest to all of the little boys here), puzzles, and TONS of cars (thank goodness!). We organized the book self, putting the toys that the kids were most likely to play with out while the rest of the toys we organized in boxes to put into storage. These toys will be saved for the new 300 child facility that will soon be finished.
Today, we found out that Sadi had sold his uniforms so that he didn't have to go to school. A few days ago, he sold his backpack and school notebooks for 200 tsh (20 cents). W are not really sure what to do about this as he will not tell us who he sold the items to. Today, he went to school and wore Solum's uniform (Solum was home sick) but tomorrow, I'm not really sure what he is going to do as the children are not allowed in school without a uniform.
For the past few weeks, the kids have had a weird skin infection on their heads- disgusting looking sores. they have all had their heads shaved to try and combat the infection and so that medicine can be applied. Well, over the past week or so, I have given too many hugs because now I have this skin infection all over my face. It looks gross and it hurts but I have recently gotten medicine for it so hopefully it will be gone soon!
Tomorrow I am headed to Arusha for Safari. It's a nine hour bus ride to Arusha and my Safari will start on Friday and end on Sunday. I will be visiting Tangire NP, NGorongoro Crater and Lake Maynara NP. I'm so excited as I have heard amazing things about these parks. Hopefully I will get to see lots of animals (and not too many mzungu's)!!
When I return to Dar from Safari I will only have 2 weeks left in the country. I have such mixed feelings about returning and I am sure that it is going to be a big shock to me. I am definitely not the same person now as I was then.
Sorry for the brevity but it is getting dark out and I need to start walking back to the hostel.
Namaste!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
What a day.....
So I actually wrote this last night after a particularly long and stressful day. I would have posted it last night but, in accordance with a bad day, the internet cafe on the walk home was closed.
From Friday, July 25:
It is rather sad when your journal becomes you best friend. But, all alone in this country, this darned journal is the only thing that actually understands English. :)
Today was a really rough day. I had a premonition that the day would not go well but I just shrugged it off as my pessimistic nature at work. I should have l listened to myself and stayed in bed, waiting for the day to go by. There was nothing out of the ordinary on the morning walk to the dala-dala, just the same date and marriage proposals that I get everyday. A dala-dala had just pulled up to my stop when I was crossing the street and I even got a fairly good seat in the second row. After two stops, however, before he opened the door to let more people on, the money taker man looked at me and pointed to the vacant last row. Now, I try and avoid this row like the plague. It is the Bermuda Triangle of dala-dala rows- once you go there, you never leave. As a small consolation to myself, I didn't scoot over in the row but rather stayed in the aisle. That didn't last long. A few seconds later a man was making a noise and moving his hand in such a way as to say "move over." Being the good little girl that I am, I listened and scooted over. We reached Shoppers Plaza and to my chagrin, there were about 15 people wanting to get on this dala-dala. I was stuck! My stop was rapidly approaching and I had no escape plan. So picture this, me, trapped in the back of an overly full bus trying to figure out if the dala-dala would slow down enough for me to climb out the window or if I could somehow hold my bag and hold down my skirt at the same time as I was trying to climb over the benches. I started calling out "sousha Mkwajuni! Sousha Mkwajuni!" (Stop Mkwajuni) hoping that someone would take pity on this poor mzungu who had the misfortune to find herself trapped. When we reached the stop before mine, I tried to move up closer to the front but we were so packed in the back that I couldn't dislodge myself enough to stand up. I watched my stop come and go, dejectedly calling out "sousha, sousha." The thing about dala-dalas and Tanzania is that both are ridiculously noisy and I was more than likely not heard over the din of roosters, goats, car horns and shouting. Four stops and two miles later I was finally able to get out of the dala dala but not without arguing with the money taker first. Since I had actually traveled out of Dar, he wanted to charge me 500 tsh (about 50 cents) when the normal fare is 200 tsh (about 20 cents). I told him I had wanted to get out at Mkwajuni but he didn't let me and I handed him the 200 tsh coin and turned around to walk to work. I arrived at Malaika 45 minutes late to find a strange car parked out front. Turns out, child welfare had decided that this morning of all mornings would be their day to do a surprise visit. I walked in hot, sweaty and grumpy and was glared at by the child welfare lady. As it is one of my jobs to get the kids ready in the morning and do some type of fun and educational activity before school starts, many of the kids were still lying in their sleep clothes watching cartoons. Not exactly the best impression. Any other day, this would have been fine but of course, child welfare came on the one day I was not ready. Ultimately, the visit went fine but after they left I got an earful from the orphanage director (who I have only met twice in 3 weeks- she never really comes to work...ever). Needless to say, I will be leaving the hostel at 6 am just in case anything like my dala-dala experience ever happens again I can still get to work on time. :)
The rest of the morning went fine, and after lunch when all the kids arrived home from school and the mosque, I took most of the kids outside for a football match. We were having a great time until I went to steal the ball and the ball hit my baby toe and jammed or sprained it. Now wanting to upset the kids, I quietly limped back to the house while muttering some choice words in Swahili. By the time I hobbled back to the house my toe was bright red, throbbing and swollen. I left work early saying that I was really tired even though I was secretly in a lot of pain. I made my way the mile to the dala dala stop and didn't have to wait too long. I also managed to get a seat in the front row. Maybe things were turning around for me! Wrong. My dala dala stop is the terminal stop for that line and usually there are just one or two other people on the dala dala with me getting off at Nyrere. But as it turns out, the time I was on the dala dala was a peak time and so when the driver saw that there were only a few of us on the bus, he pulled over with 1.5 miles left to go and told us to get off as he wanted to turn around to collect more fares. On any other day, I would have been a little perturbed but generally fine with having to walk almost 3 miles home but today I was upset. With tears in my eyes, I stumped along home, cursing every rock that decided to jump in my teva's. I called my dad and he listed to me cry and complain before consoling me and saying just the words I needed to hear.
Things are starting to look up now: when I finally arrived home, no one was here so the hostel was actually quiet. Most of the people have gone to Zanzibar for the weekend and the two who didn't are going on a small weekend Safari. I will have the hostel to myself for 2 glorious days. Thank goodness!
Even though today was really rough and I had a crying breakdown, I'm still loving my time here. No lies, Tanzania is a hard place to live as a westerner but it also has an odd and magical charm that draws you in and becomes part of your heart. So even though individual days may be stressful and rough, I will always love this country and the people, leaving part of my heart here on the dusty roads, cramped dala dalas and loving children.
From Friday, July 25:
It is rather sad when your journal becomes you best friend. But, all alone in this country, this darned journal is the only thing that actually understands English. :)
Today was a really rough day. I had a premonition that the day would not go well but I just shrugged it off as my pessimistic nature at work. I should have l listened to myself and stayed in bed, waiting for the day to go by. There was nothing out of the ordinary on the morning walk to the dala-dala, just the same date and marriage proposals that I get everyday. A dala-dala had just pulled up to my stop when I was crossing the street and I even got a fairly good seat in the second row. After two stops, however, before he opened the door to let more people on, the money taker man looked at me and pointed to the vacant last row. Now, I try and avoid this row like the plague. It is the Bermuda Triangle of dala-dala rows- once you go there, you never leave. As a small consolation to myself, I didn't scoot over in the row but rather stayed in the aisle. That didn't last long. A few seconds later a man was making a noise and moving his hand in such a way as to say "move over." Being the good little girl that I am, I listened and scooted over. We reached Shoppers Plaza and to my chagrin, there were about 15 people wanting to get on this dala-dala. I was stuck! My stop was rapidly approaching and I had no escape plan. So picture this, me, trapped in the back of an overly full bus trying to figure out if the dala-dala would slow down enough for me to climb out the window or if I could somehow hold my bag and hold down my skirt at the same time as I was trying to climb over the benches. I started calling out "sousha Mkwajuni! Sousha Mkwajuni!" (Stop Mkwajuni) hoping that someone would take pity on this poor mzungu who had the misfortune to find herself trapped. When we reached the stop before mine, I tried to move up closer to the front but we were so packed in the back that I couldn't dislodge myself enough to stand up. I watched my stop come and go, dejectedly calling out "sousha, sousha." The thing about dala-dalas and Tanzania is that both are ridiculously noisy and I was more than likely not heard over the din of roosters, goats, car horns and shouting. Four stops and two miles later I was finally able to get out of the dala dala but not without arguing with the money taker first. Since I had actually traveled out of Dar, he wanted to charge me 500 tsh (about 50 cents) when the normal fare is 200 tsh (about 20 cents). I told him I had wanted to get out at Mkwajuni but he didn't let me and I handed him the 200 tsh coin and turned around to walk to work. I arrived at Malaika 45 minutes late to find a strange car parked out front. Turns out, child welfare had decided that this morning of all mornings would be their day to do a surprise visit. I walked in hot, sweaty and grumpy and was glared at by the child welfare lady. As it is one of my jobs to get the kids ready in the morning and do some type of fun and educational activity before school starts, many of the kids were still lying in their sleep clothes watching cartoons. Not exactly the best impression. Any other day, this would have been fine but of course, child welfare came on the one day I was not ready. Ultimately, the visit went fine but after they left I got an earful from the orphanage director (who I have only met twice in 3 weeks- she never really comes to work...ever). Needless to say, I will be leaving the hostel at 6 am just in case anything like my dala-dala experience ever happens again I can still get to work on time. :)
The rest of the morning went fine, and after lunch when all the kids arrived home from school and the mosque, I took most of the kids outside for a football match. We were having a great time until I went to steal the ball and the ball hit my baby toe and jammed or sprained it. Now wanting to upset the kids, I quietly limped back to the house while muttering some choice words in Swahili. By the time I hobbled back to the house my toe was bright red, throbbing and swollen. I left work early saying that I was really tired even though I was secretly in a lot of pain. I made my way the mile to the dala dala stop and didn't have to wait too long. I also managed to get a seat in the front row. Maybe things were turning around for me! Wrong. My dala dala stop is the terminal stop for that line and usually there are just one or two other people on the dala dala with me getting off at Nyrere. But as it turns out, the time I was on the dala dala was a peak time and so when the driver saw that there were only a few of us on the bus, he pulled over with 1.5 miles left to go and told us to get off as he wanted to turn around to collect more fares. On any other day, I would have been a little perturbed but generally fine with having to walk almost 3 miles home but today I was upset. With tears in my eyes, I stumped along home, cursing every rock that decided to jump in my teva's. I called my dad and he listed to me cry and complain before consoling me and saying just the words I needed to hear.
Things are starting to look up now: when I finally arrived home, no one was here so the hostel was actually quiet. Most of the people have gone to Zanzibar for the weekend and the two who didn't are going on a small weekend Safari. I will have the hostel to myself for 2 glorious days. Thank goodness!
Even though today was really rough and I had a crying breakdown, I'm still loving my time here. No lies, Tanzania is a hard place to live as a westerner but it also has an odd and magical charm that draws you in and becomes part of your heart. So even though individual days may be stressful and rough, I will always love this country and the people, leaving part of my heart here on the dusty roads, cramped dala dalas and loving children.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
More Safari Pictures
So sorry about the brevity of the last post. I was racing against the clock- literally. I had 45 seconds left to log on to blogger, open a new post window and make sure the blog posted. I made it with 1 second to spare. Crazy crazy.
Anyway, I am too tired today to write an actual post other than to say that I have posted some more safari pictures.
The link-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/
Also, as per a request, I will post pictures of the house I am staying at in the next few days. Sort of a day in the life of Jen in Africa!
So, until next time,
Namaste!
Anyway, I am too tired today to write an actual post other than to say that I have posted some more safari pictures.
The link-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/
Also, as per a request, I will post pictures of the house I am staying at in the next few days. Sort of a day in the life of Jen in Africa!
So, until next time,
Namaste!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
almost about to run out of internet time but check out some of the safari pictures. not all could get posted because of bad internet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Safari. part one.
I know that it has been a while but I have a valid excuse! Last Friday, while walking home from work I received a phone call from Yotam (the country coordinator for IFRE) asking what my plans were for the weekend. I though this was a little strange, but I thought I would play along, saying that I was probably going to rest at the hostel and enjoy the quiet. He asked if I wanted to go on Safari for three days leaving the next day, explaining that he had an opening and they needed three people for the trip. He gave me a FANTASTIC price, an offer I couldn't refuse. So the next morning I loaded into the Land Cruiser with Jim and Nate(two of the guys who have been working at Malaika and staying at the hostel) and drove 7 hours to Selous National Park in Southern Tanzania. I wrote in a journal while I was there so that I wouldn't forget my thoughts and so that I could post it up here when I got back.
I have a post that I wanted to put up on Friday (but the internet was down) and I'm going to wait till tomorrow or the next day to put it up so as to do both entries justice.
Without further ado, the Safari:
From July 20, 2008:
Here I sit, at the bank of the Rufiji river, exhausted from a full day of safari but exhilarated from the amazing scenery and wildlife. All day, I had one verse from the beginning of Genesis stuck in my head: "God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind and the livestock according to their kind and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:25) And it certainly is good!
So, they don't call where we are staying "Hippo Camp" for nothing! Last night, I fell asleep to the sounds of the hippos- a noise that sounds like a cross between a dog and a cow. We woke up early this morning so that we could leave for a game drive at 8 am. We piled into the Land Cruiser after breakfast, ready for our adventure. After only being in the park for 15 minutes, we crossed paths with a pack of elephants- literally! Five elephants and a baby elephant were grazing after their morning water break, taking their time crossing the dirt road. Of course, this made for some amazing photos! At the same time, giraffes were wandering around but they were a little shy and ran away (oh so gracefully). Our guide, Saidi knew exactly where to take us so that we could see the best (and the most) animals. After a while of incredible scenery, we traveled over a small hill and what we saw below us could only be described as something out of the opening scenes of The Lion King (and yes, I had that soundtrack stuck in my head the entire safari!). The hill looked out over a small valley with green grass, a rarity in the dry season. Wandering around were monkeys, giraffes, impalas, birds and zebras with crocodiles and hippos resting by a lake in the distance. There really are no words ad the pictures don't do the beauty justice. I think this is something that has to be experienced because it is so amazing. We drove down to the valley and though the zebras and impalas were rather skittish, the giraffes allowed us to get so close before starting to walk away. After a while, we moved back to the main road in search of lions. It took us a little while but we finally stumbled across a lion and lioness (according to Saidi, the guide, they were on their honeymoon). Both were napping and resting in the shade of an acacia tree. After taking pictures, we drove around another bush when Saidi made a sudden stop, pointing to a spot under the bush. There, two small lion cubs were resting. They were so adorable that it was hard to believe that they are also fairly dangerous. We stopped for lunch (the deal was no lunch until we saw lions) and made our way back down to the bank to eat. Saidi pulled off the path by a 2000 year old Baobab tree and invited us to sit. I kid you not, walking around us were giraffes, zebras and lots of baboons. After a while, we started to drive again and realized that most of the animals resting in the afternoon heat but it was nice to drive leisurely, watching the scenery go by. After a few hours, we decided to head back to camp and now I am sitting on a bench facing the river, writing, watching the sun set, hippos swimming nearby birds flying and enjoying a safari beer (because what could be better than drinking a safari beer after going on safari! :) ) Tomorrow is another adventure and I cannot wait!
From July 21, 2008:
I just arrived back to the hostel after a 7.5 hour drive! Wow! But for me, it wasn't as bad as our trip there becasue somehow I managed to get the front seat ( I think the guys were being chivelerous- or they were deffiring to their elder ;) ). Regardless of the good seat, 3 hours of extremely bumpy roadshas made me really tired. I attempted to kill time by writing a journal entry on the way home, but again, too bumpy. The day started very early0 6:15 am as the boys and I had to be by the mess hall at 6:30 to meet for our river tour. At first I thought the river tour might be kind of hokey (I'm from FLorida- Disney River Cruise ring a bell? :) ) but it was actually pretty fantastic! The boat was very small and very close to the water and at first I was afraid the hippos might try to get in the boat with us! It started off a little slow but i think that was becasue the animals were just as tired as we were. But not after too long, we saw a few families of black faced velver monkeys, jumping from tree to tree. According to Saidi, they make fantastic pets (and I'm really tempted to bring one home. Kristina, do think a monkey could make friends with Pepe?) We aw tons of birds- in such beautiful colors too, like a crayola box. Saidi was sitting in the front of the boat with bonoculars and told the the boad driver to pull over to the side by a big tree. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to be looking for so I looked over at Saidi and he just pointed up. I glanced up and I'm pretty sure I screamed. Right abouve my head (no, litterally 3 feet above my head) was a 4 foot long river lizaerd, a miniature dragon looking creature. The boys chuckled at my obvious discomfort and I quickly snapped a picture before I ducked my head down and prayed that the lizard didn't decide it was hungry. A little farther down the river, we saw a few crocodiles lazily swimming down the river looking for breakfast. Nathan and Jim thought his was pretty cool but being from South Florida, I have seen too many crocodiles/ alligator looking creatures. Still I do appreciate the cool factor. By this point, I was getting a little antsy. Don't get me wrong, lizards, crocodiles, monkeys and birds are really cool but I really wanted to see hippos. We were staying at hippo camp and I hear them all night so I knew they were out there. After a few minutes, my prayers were answered and Saidi saw a few hippos snouts in his binoculars. The boat man headed that way and within 45 seconds, I was within 300 feet of 4 massive hippos (adult hippos weigh a minimum of two tons). We took tons of pictures and marveled at these not-so-gentle giants when all the sudden one of the hippos descended into the water and started running on the river floor- a pretty amazing scene. But the hippon was running very fast our way so the boad driver decided it was time to move so that we didn't hurt the hippo with the boat motor, or worse get tipped over by the hippo and made a mid-morning snack! On our way back, we literally stumbled upon a group of baby and adolescent hippos playing on an island in the middle of the river. Fantastic pictures! After this it was time to go back to shore and leave the camp for our long drive back. Great trip but too too short!
Pictures to follow soon!
Namaste!
I have a post that I wanted to put up on Friday (but the internet was down) and I'm going to wait till tomorrow or the next day to put it up so as to do both entries justice.
Without further ado, the Safari:
From July 20, 2008:
Here I sit, at the bank of the Rufiji river, exhausted from a full day of safari but exhilarated from the amazing scenery and wildlife. All day, I had one verse from the beginning of Genesis stuck in my head: "God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind and the livestock according to their kind and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:25) And it certainly is good!
So, they don't call where we are staying "Hippo Camp" for nothing! Last night, I fell asleep to the sounds of the hippos- a noise that sounds like a cross between a dog and a cow. We woke up early this morning so that we could leave for a game drive at 8 am. We piled into the Land Cruiser after breakfast, ready for our adventure. After only being in the park for 15 minutes, we crossed paths with a pack of elephants- literally! Five elephants and a baby elephant were grazing after their morning water break, taking their time crossing the dirt road. Of course, this made for some amazing photos! At the same time, giraffes were wandering around but they were a little shy and ran away (oh so gracefully). Our guide, Saidi knew exactly where to take us so that we could see the best (and the most) animals. After a while of incredible scenery, we traveled over a small hill and what we saw below us could only be described as something out of the opening scenes of The Lion King (and yes, I had that soundtrack stuck in my head the entire safari!). The hill looked out over a small valley with green grass, a rarity in the dry season. Wandering around were monkeys, giraffes, impalas, birds and zebras with crocodiles and hippos resting by a lake in the distance. There really are no words ad the pictures don't do the beauty justice. I think this is something that has to be experienced because it is so amazing. We drove down to the valley and though the zebras and impalas were rather skittish, the giraffes allowed us to get so close before starting to walk away. After a while, we moved back to the main road in search of lions. It took us a little while but we finally stumbled across a lion and lioness (according to Saidi, the guide, they were on their honeymoon). Both were napping and resting in the shade of an acacia tree. After taking pictures, we drove around another bush when Saidi made a sudden stop, pointing to a spot under the bush. There, two small lion cubs were resting. They were so adorable that it was hard to believe that they are also fairly dangerous. We stopped for lunch (the deal was no lunch until we saw lions) and made our way back down to the bank to eat. Saidi pulled off the path by a 2000 year old Baobab tree and invited us to sit. I kid you not, walking around us were giraffes, zebras and lots of baboons. After a while, we started to drive again and realized that most of the animals resting in the afternoon heat but it was nice to drive leisurely, watching the scenery go by. After a few hours, we decided to head back to camp and now I am sitting on a bench facing the river, writing, watching the sun set, hippos swimming nearby birds flying and enjoying a safari beer (because what could be better than drinking a safari beer after going on safari! :) ) Tomorrow is another adventure and I cannot wait!
From July 21, 2008:
I just arrived back to the hostel after a 7.5 hour drive! Wow! But for me, it wasn't as bad as our trip there becasue somehow I managed to get the front seat ( I think the guys were being chivelerous- or they were deffiring to their elder ;) ). Regardless of the good seat, 3 hours of extremely bumpy roadshas made me really tired. I attempted to kill time by writing a journal entry on the way home, but again, too bumpy. The day started very early0 6:15 am as the boys and I had to be by the mess hall at 6:30 to meet for our river tour. At first I thought the river tour might be kind of hokey (I'm from FLorida- Disney River Cruise ring a bell? :) ) but it was actually pretty fantastic! The boat was very small and very close to the water and at first I was afraid the hippos might try to get in the boat with us! It started off a little slow but i think that was becasue the animals were just as tired as we were. But not after too long, we saw a few families of black faced velver monkeys, jumping from tree to tree. According to Saidi, they make fantastic pets (and I'm really tempted to bring one home. Kristina, do think a monkey could make friends with Pepe?) We aw tons of birds- in such beautiful colors too, like a crayola box. Saidi was sitting in the front of the boat with bonoculars and told the the boad driver to pull over to the side by a big tree. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to be looking for so I looked over at Saidi and he just pointed up. I glanced up and I'm pretty sure I screamed. Right abouve my head (no, litterally 3 feet above my head) was a 4 foot long river lizaerd, a miniature dragon looking creature. The boys chuckled at my obvious discomfort and I quickly snapped a picture before I ducked my head down and prayed that the lizard didn't decide it was hungry. A little farther down the river, we saw a few crocodiles lazily swimming down the river looking for breakfast. Nathan and Jim thought his was pretty cool but being from South Florida, I have seen too many crocodiles/ alligator looking creatures. Still I do appreciate the cool factor. By this point, I was getting a little antsy. Don't get me wrong, lizards, crocodiles, monkeys and birds are really cool but I really wanted to see hippos. We were staying at hippo camp and I hear them all night so I knew they were out there. After a few minutes, my prayers were answered and Saidi saw a few hippos snouts in his binoculars. The boat man headed that way and within 45 seconds, I was within 300 feet of 4 massive hippos (adult hippos weigh a minimum of two tons). We took tons of pictures and marveled at these not-so-gentle giants when all the sudden one of the hippos descended into the water and started running on the river floor- a pretty amazing scene. But the hippon was running very fast our way so the boad driver decided it was time to move so that we didn't hurt the hippo with the boat motor, or worse get tipped over by the hippo and made a mid-morning snack! On our way back, we literally stumbled upon a group of baby and adolescent hippos playing on an island in the middle of the river. Fantastic pictures! After this it was time to go back to shore and leave the camp for our long drive back. Great trip but too too short!
Pictures to follow soon!
Namaste!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sorry it has been a few days- working late combined with getting sick does not lend itself to internet usage. I'm feeling a little better so I decided to make the mile trek down to the internet cafe.
Here is another link for some more pictures of the kids: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/?saved=1
Most of the younger kids (the kids in the group I teach) are doing very well. I'm so surprised at how quickly Adam and Sadi have picked up reading small words- they are fantastic and so intelligent! Adam is absolutely brilliant at math. He sailed through addition and subtraction and he has picked up multiplication with ease. I only have to show him things once and then he understands perfectly. Maybe I need to start doing calculus with him to challenge him...... :) Unlike Adam, Sadi didn't take to the multiplication as easily. I let Adam go a little early so I could spend some one on one time with Sadi. It took some time and some creative ways of explaining the multiplication tables but I think he understands it now.
Some of the other kids are having some problems grasping the alphabet. Juma just cannot seem to grasp the concept of the alphabet; its like his brain is just not processing the information. I will say "A" and point to it and ask him to say "A" (sema A) and point to it. He can do that but once we move on to "B," "A" is completely forgotten, as if we didn't study it. We have sung the alphabet song hundreds of times, each time with me pointing to the letters as we sing them but he never says the letters in order. But, he thinks he is doing it correctly and doesn't understand why I keep saying, "hapana, hapana" (no, no). Yesterday, when I arrived to work, he came running out of the boys room with a piece of paper in his hands. After I had left the evening before, he wrote down the alphabet to show me the next day. He was so proud of his work and I thought maybe we had had a breakthrough, maybe he finally got it. But when I looked at the papers, the letters were not in the correct order and most were backwards. He could tell from my face that he had not done it correctly and he took the paper out of my hand, crumpled it up and threw it down. It was a sad morning for both of us as I tried to explain in my (very) broken Swahili that its not his fault and that he will learn it eventually and that he is still a very smart boy. I'm somewhat at a loss of how to effectively teach him but I'm trying everything I can think of. Today we sat and made the letters out of play-dough and that seem to work a little and he was very proud of himself, sticking out his little chest every time he got a letter right. But I'm not sure if tomorrow (or even later today) he will remember. I just keep hoping that eventually it will all click, but until it does, I'll try everything I can think of to help him learn.
Dula and Modi are also having some problems learning the alphabet but I think that is due to laziness on their part. It is easier for them not to try (and do the same thing every day) than to work hard, make progress and learn new things. They are both really intelligent and it will take some creativity on my part to get them motivated.
Adam was bit by a scorpion today. We have also been painting the inside walls of the orphanage and some of the kids have been helping move things. Apparently, Adam was moving some bricks out of the way and a scorpion claw ( is that what it is called?) attached to his finger. The other kids helped him get it off and he came in screaming and crying. While CJ and I were preparing him for the hospital, Amita (house mom) went outside to see the scorpion. She came in saying we didn't have to take him because the stinger was still intact and that that is where the poison is kept. He was still pretty upset but I gave him a piece of candy and that seemed to make it a little better.
So, its been a little crazy and a little trying but I'm finally having the time of my life. I love it here and I'm a little sad to think that in 4.5 weeks I will be leaving the kids. But, I won't think about that. :)
Namaste!
Here is another link for some more pictures of the kids: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/?saved=1
Most of the younger kids (the kids in the group I teach) are doing very well. I'm so surprised at how quickly Adam and Sadi have picked up reading small words- they are fantastic and so intelligent! Adam is absolutely brilliant at math. He sailed through addition and subtraction and he has picked up multiplication with ease. I only have to show him things once and then he understands perfectly. Maybe I need to start doing calculus with him to challenge him...... :) Unlike Adam, Sadi didn't take to the multiplication as easily. I let Adam go a little early so I could spend some one on one time with Sadi. It took some time and some creative ways of explaining the multiplication tables but I think he understands it now.
Some of the other kids are having some problems grasping the alphabet. Juma just cannot seem to grasp the concept of the alphabet; its like his brain is just not processing the information. I will say "A" and point to it and ask him to say "A" (sema A) and point to it. He can do that but once we move on to "B," "A" is completely forgotten, as if we didn't study it. We have sung the alphabet song hundreds of times, each time with me pointing to the letters as we sing them but he never says the letters in order. But, he thinks he is doing it correctly and doesn't understand why I keep saying, "hapana, hapana" (no, no). Yesterday, when I arrived to work, he came running out of the boys room with a piece of paper in his hands. After I had left the evening before, he wrote down the alphabet to show me the next day. He was so proud of his work and I thought maybe we had had a breakthrough, maybe he finally got it. But when I looked at the papers, the letters were not in the correct order and most were backwards. He could tell from my face that he had not done it correctly and he took the paper out of my hand, crumpled it up and threw it down. It was a sad morning for both of us as I tried to explain in my (very) broken Swahili that its not his fault and that he will learn it eventually and that he is still a very smart boy. I'm somewhat at a loss of how to effectively teach him but I'm trying everything I can think of. Today we sat and made the letters out of play-dough and that seem to work a little and he was very proud of himself, sticking out his little chest every time he got a letter right. But I'm not sure if tomorrow (or even later today) he will remember. I just keep hoping that eventually it will all click, but until it does, I'll try everything I can think of to help him learn.
Dula and Modi are also having some problems learning the alphabet but I think that is due to laziness on their part. It is easier for them not to try (and do the same thing every day) than to work hard, make progress and learn new things. They are both really intelligent and it will take some creativity on my part to get them motivated.
Adam was bit by a scorpion today. We have also been painting the inside walls of the orphanage and some of the kids have been helping move things. Apparently, Adam was moving some bricks out of the way and a scorpion claw ( is that what it is called?) attached to his finger. The other kids helped him get it off and he came in screaming and crying. While CJ and I were preparing him for the hospital, Amita (house mom) went outside to see the scorpion. She came in saying we didn't have to take him because the stinger was still intact and that that is where the poison is kept. He was still pretty upset but I gave him a piece of candy and that seemed to make it a little better.
So, its been a little crazy and a little trying but I'm finally having the time of my life. I love it here and I'm a little sad to think that in 4.5 weeks I will be leaving the kids. But, I won't think about that. :)
Namaste!
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