Safari

So I'm aware I haven't updated in awhile. but things are going well. THe reason most recently is I have been on safari without Internet. I'm sure you don't want a twenty paragraph blog entry so I will try to summarize as much as possible.
I am currently in Cairo visiting a dear friend. Had the best airplane service on the way here, with unlimited mango juice refills, a whole row to myself, and a real breakfast, fruit, egg omelet with chicken and tomato, two types of rolls with apricot jelly and cheese, which I must admit I defintely engulfed the cheese with MUCH pleasure after being deprived in TZ of good cheese, and a wonderful book. HIGHLY recommend Five People You'll Meet in Heaven to anyone! Easy, fast, profound read.
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Today we saw Coptic Cairo. I didn't realize what a Christian history Cairo had and it was really cool to see relics and textiles quite well-preserved from the 3rd century! The archaeologist in me definitely came out as I went through the museum and the old churches. I also went into my first mosque today, the oldest one in Egypt, which was almost comical because I covered my hair and then they require tourists to wear a "special uniform" which is a green version of a Monty Python cloak. Korans are so beautiful/the Arabic language in general is so beautiful, but it is definitely a myth that if you can understand Swahili you can understand 70% of Arabic. To make matters more complicated, VERY FEW speak English here-not even taxi drivers. So when we said we wanted to go to the basilica and it wasn't recognized we said al hamer (sp?) which means pyramids. We meant the plaza that is shaped like a pyramid, but the driver took us in the direction of the pyramids before we realized what was happening. Here, the work week is Sun-Thurs. so tomorrow I'm off to do some sight seeing by myself.
It is SO different here from Tanzania. For one, you must cover your shoulders, not even sleeveless shirts are okay. Two, you cannot say hi to anyone or even acknowledge a man who just says welcome to Egypt. Whic is so difficult since in Tanzania you not only acknowledge EVERYONE, but that is the goal of a journey, not the destination. The fresh squuezed fruit juices are unbelievable and the one Egyptian dish I have tried was delicious. Claire also greeted me with fresh baked cookies and I indulged in brownies last night-oh how I have been deprived ;) Eating chocolate, watching a chick flick, and having girl talk-so needed.

The past week has been a variety of things. I think the highlight was Lushoto. Full of fruits I had never seen before like the mist pear, which I can best describe as a baked apple pie apple, and fruits that made me nostalgic of South America like the tamarillo, and a beautiful 1850 meter climb through the Magamba Rain Forest. It was incredible to see a rain forest appear out of nowhere and really cool to learn about all the natural remedies these people have right in their own backyards-off the trees. Like the Kefla (sp?) leaves for colds. We also saw chameleons, which was a fun, though failed, game of spot the chameleon. Wait for the FB pics of this and you'll see what I mean. It did anger me a bit though when the village children were asking us for gifts and then became even more specific and were asking us for pens. I would like to denounce tourists who think it would be nice to give children, who can hardly afford clothes and food, pens and candy, who then in turn learn to beg for them. Anyway, this brought amusement between kids not believing Sprite was soda, thinking it was water becaues of the color, and them insisting I drive around their little toy car, which of course resulted in a side collision on the side of the road (I emphasize it was a toy). We also saw a cave from WWI where people used to hide. This reminded me that it was a WORLD war, even Africa was affected (Tanzania was a German colony at one point).
Camping was beautiful! Looking up into the starry sky, the cool breeze, the BEAUTIFUL views, and the camping sites were all quite incredible! My favorite was by far in Selous Game Reserve. It was after a long, disappointing day of finding out we were not eligible for TZ citizen status (we thought it was resident status) and after driving 15+ hours to get there finding out it was going to be $105/ day which none of us could afford. So we, after two hours of pleading with the officials who one of the travellers knew her sister, bargained that we would drive through in four hours and camp outside the reserve. Which was fine with me. It was 30 to camp inside the reserve with no bathroom or access to water. The campsite outside the reserve was 10, with a hammock, a swinging chair, a bar, tables, a beautiful view of the Rafiji River that had hippos, and a chance to practice my Italian. There were guards too included (in Selous we would have had to pay for one). So things worked out and despite the wasted money on gas and time driving, we got to spend an extra night at the beachhouse in Dar where we went and saw Selif Keita (look him UP!), a west African (Mali) band with some incredible percussionsists, guitarist, bassist, and synchronized back-up singers/dancers. He's an albino and apparently albinos are used as a sacrifice so he was bringing awareness to this and giving Albinos a good rep. In typical TZ fashion, the concert that was supposed to start at 9:30 didn' tbegin till 11 pm, and then the tuk tuk broke down 5 times on the way home so I didn't get to bed till 1;50. After batting mosquitoes enough inside the house for half an hour, I, without my glasses, set up the tent outside and slept like a baby till 6:30 when I was awoken to go run the "fun walk 8k with an American breakfast following.." Little did we know, it was a half marathon, or 9k, that didn't start till 7:30 (meaning MUCH hotter), and one samosa was the reward. But it was for the rotary club, I got a t-shirt, and they raised 135,000,000 shillings (a little more than 100,000 dollars for 25 TZ schools to have drinking water so that made me feel super good AND I ran it-the whole thing-in the Dar heat! Aside from the heat, it was a beautiful run, taking me by the seaside. The afternoon was spent in the WARM Indian Ocean water with TZ kids asking me to teach them how to swim. First three kids bombarded me and I explained it was too dangerous in the best Swahili I could muster. Then an older guy, probably early 20s, late teens, came and I figured one-on-one I could manage-and succeeded :) Then I took a much needed nap on the beach and finished the night off with a delicious barbecue and early bedtime as I had to be at the airport at 4 am the next day.

So hopefully that wasn't too long ;) More on Cairo to come next week when I return.
Salaam,
Sara

the African spirit

I don't know how else to describe it, but quite frankly this place has a spirit of joy. I went and saw Joseph and the Techni-Colored Dreamcoat. I must admit I was VERY surprised by the quality of the show. Not only did they have costumes and the music was wonderful, but the kids were just so good. The conductor couldn't have been older than the rest of the class (6th form which is more or less 6th grade or their 6th year in school). He was so enthusiastic and into what he was doing, waving his arms in a figure eight pattern regardless of the song. Dressed in a rainbow, bright vest and never stopping, he meant business. Granted he would have completely failed even Intro to Conducting, but that wasn't the point. The dancing was quite impressive and the power behind the songs when at least 50 children are singing at once is quite incredible! I almost cried at the end.

Sat. night, Ms. Courtney Greeley came with two of her friends for the night before climbing Kili and then going out into the field for seven weeks! It made me sad to think about Luther. It made me realize how much I had forgotten, but of course it was great to see her and hear words like "pop" again. We also threw a frisbee which made me SO happy!

Went with the Arusha Hiking club on Sun. and met some new friends. Unfortunately, we just walked through a village and it was overcast, but still really nice to just walk and get some fresh air. Got a pedicure for 7000 (equivalent of less than 5 bucks!) and a dang good one too! My feet were so calloused from MT. Apparently being vegetarian makes you lose a lot of weight. Everytime I go to the gym I'm 4 kilos lighter! I'm starting to wonder if the scale is broken..

4 days till break, that's really all I can think of!! Our plan is to go to Selous Game Reserve (where there are 64,000 elephants, 4000 lions, and 2000 giraffes (bigger than Serengeti!), Lushoto to do some hiking in the mountains, and of course hit up the Indian Ocean. Then I'm off to Cairo to visit Claire. Probably won't be a whole lot to update before then.

Cheers

Yet another language..Chaga

So my friend Hellen invited me to Moshi today to go to her house in Kili. Moshi is SO much smaller than Arusha. The soil is like the red soil you'd find in the Southwest of the US and there are banana trees everywhere, but it is also MUCH hotter. The first baptism in TZ occurred there too! Beautiful area! Unfortunately it was cloudy so I couldn't see the peaks of Kili and Meru (usually you can). And I found a deal for climbing Kili so it's happening in Dec!!! Have I said how great this week has been :)!

I went to not only a Tanzanian church service, but a Chaga (tribe) service so the songs were in Chaga. It was really cool to hear some of the same tunes though, showing how universal music can be. Regardless of the language change, the music remains the same. On the way out there, we listened to the radio and it was choir music (some even from St. Olaf! talk about a small world!), but in Swahili. I would never have guessed it was an "African choir" because I always think of them having a beat, but once again the stereotype was broken.

Fortunately, most of the sermon and lessons were in Swahili so I could have my friend help me translate. It was really interesting though. The sermon wasn't based on the gospel saying this is the context of this verse, etc. instead it talked directly about what actions we should do. Very different than the US. Also, the service was THREE hours long. Not because it was all part of the service, but because an award was presented, the whole finances were read including how much each area collected, money was raised (yes during the service) for the children's Sun. next Sun., and there were two offerings. Because it was a village there was the typical offering, but there was also the tithes of people's goods such as 3.5 m sugar cane sticks, huge banana bunches, fruits, vegetables, and even a bundle of grass for cows. THEN after the service, we walked outside and proceeded with a 1/2 hr auction of said items. Definitely a cultural experience!

Then we went to her aunt's house for ndizi ya pikwa, cooked bananas with meat in a broth. Basically like a potato stew but with bananas. Quite yummy! We were then going to go hiking, but it was too hot. Banana wine is still on my list of things to try, but it seems many religious TZians don't drink because they know it can be abused. Which kinda bothers me and in my opinion should be all the more reason to drink because I feel that is all the more reason to show there is such a thing as responsible drinking (sorry that was a horribly constructed sentence).

My Swahili notebook probably got filled up with three pages of stuff. So yea, eventful weekend after all! I can't believe it's already Mon. tomorrow. Friends, it was SO good to talk to you!!! Miss you all, but loving TZ and can't even believe I considered rejecting this offer.

Pendo na salamu (Love and best wishes)
Sara

Life just keeps getting better and better

It seems we have a weekly power outage and that is when I update. Tonight we are performing at a nearby restaurant, get paid!!!, and get free food and drinks. Though it will be interesting if there is no power…

I am truly in a routine and most definitely feel like I live here. Teaching is going very well and going to the schools is again my favorite. The kids are so fascinated and today I even introduced what a harmony was and how to breathe when we sing. I can’t remember if I talked about UE so if I didn’t I will in my next post. It would be silly to write about it if I have. There are some REALLY cute puppies there though, but super sad. There are only 2; there were originally 9, but the other 7 have died :(.

I also got an infected knee since I’ve last updated, but thanks to antibiotics, I’m finally getting better. Last wknd I went to the Polo club. Talk about a contrast. Of course it was nice, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt guiltier, basking in luxury while I am passing people working, balancing things on their heads, and children being thoroughly amused with a mere, deflated soccer ball.

Sweetest thing-I go to a gym and the owner there is basically giving me free personal training. AWESOME! I’m finally reading again working out too! J I highly recommend The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner to anyone. You will learn a lot and possibly learn a new country; I never knew Moldova existed! Lots of interesting points about what makes a human happy. Which is why I don’t worry about the future more than I subconsciously can’t help and just try to live in the present. My Swahili teacher gave me a tour of our complex. Little did I know we have tortoises, the place used to be a zoo in some capacity with parrots, ostriches, etc. AND the best part of all, right behind our house is a beautiful river with lush banana trees and honestly a tropics feel and a HUGE veggie garden. It’s not ours, but it still makes me feel at home. And orange, banana, cashew, and MANGO trees. So while I would NEVER go there in the dark, during the day, I have a new place to sunbathe, read, or just get away from the city life-right in my own backyard.

Oh and I taught, not 1, not 2, but 3 piano lessons last Sat. in complete BROKEN Swahili! I’m starting to feel competent but definitely still have a long way to go! I rode in my first dala-dala last wknd but it really wasn’t eventful. It was just like a van ride. And I made my first TZ  female friend outside of work who is a mutual friend with someone from Luther. Really nice and only lives at max. 2 miles away (probably less!).

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what to do for the Oct. break we have in 2 weeks! One week is for sure Cairo and the other….TBD. Probably a combination of the coastal beaches with some type of hiking and DEFINITELY camping. I just can’t get it out of my system!

Okay update after the gig. I guess it went well because not only did we ask to come back since it was so different than the normal guitar/voice combo, BUT we got offered a gig for NYE in Ngorogoro with FREE ACCOMODATION, MEALS, TRANSPORTATION, A REALLY GOOD SALARY, AND A FREE SAFARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for Oct. break I’m 90% sure I’m going to do just what I described above-mountains, beach, and Bagamoyo all camping. Found some travel buddies tonight so that’s great too! God, this place just keeps getting better!

No electricity again!

GRRRR! Power out AGAIN!!!!!!!!! It was out all day today, finally came on at 7:30 pm tonight and now is back off 3 hrs later. They do power cuts here but no one has any warning of when they will happen so of course scheduling Skype dates is impossible (sorry again Ryan!). Other than that, everything is continuing to go well though I can’t lie. I had a bit of a reality check this weekend, including my phone getting robbed (but I love my new one so it’s okay and let’s be honest I had few numbers in it), but overall it was still a fun wknd. Went to the Arusha International Arts Festival, which wasn’t so international, but still quite cool to see African acrobats, amusing to watch African “hip hop” and a band that is most closely classified as REPETITIVE reggae! I met a lot of young people at church so that was great. Saa Nane taught me how to make ugali, maize flour that you dip in beans, vegetables, and spinach usually. He can cook SO well! We made the BEST guacamole I have EVER had! And today I learned how to make chapati, a TZ flatbread. I feel like I have the advantages of having a host family in that way, but the independence of living without a family. I joined a gym, which while expensive, I really think I won’t regret because it has a roof but is open aired so it’s like you’re outside, has great heart-pumping music, I’m back to reading (sadly, working out is really the only time I have a good 30 min to read), and the facilities are very nice. Calanetics just didn’t give me the same high I get from a good cardio and weight lifting. I am very sore today though since I haven’t lifted weights since I’ve gotten here!

I know I talk about this every time but my Swahili is getting better and better. I had to translate a letter into Swahili for the Umoja Ensemble parents (that starts on Fri!!!) and of course I had MANY errors, but just the fact that I got fragments of sentences right made me very happy and I’m really trying to speak as much Swahili as I can to the house staff even though they speak English. Though it was funny when I got dropped off after work and told Babu he didn’t need to open the gate since I got a ride. I tried to ask him how to say ride in Swahili but all he said was “lifty” in English and I chuckled at the fact that this toothless, leopard hat wearing, old man couldn’t think of word in his own language.

As my Facebook says, I’ve started a granola making business with two customers at the current moment, and have made yogurt, hummus, and bread. The bread turned out SUPER well which I was worried about since it didn’t rise before it went in the oven, but maybe yeast just works differently here. The hummus is a bit too tahini-ified so I need to figure out how to mellow it without adding water and ruining the consistency, but of course the Internet isn’t working to find a recipe.

The African sunsets are so beautiful here-literally looks like a ball of fire in the sky. Have  three pages left of The Legacies of Julius Nyerere which I would recommend to anyone! It’s all different opinions on his discourse on development and then finishes with my favorite chapter, where he defines socialism and makes some excellent points. I’m not necessarily pro-Socialist governments, but I do think he has some very valid points, and especially with the corruption of TZ government today, the power of Mwalimu (teacher) as they call him here, is emphasized.

Jacaranda trees are in full bloom, which is a bright, light purple. GORGEOUS! I’m finally starting to walk around town and know where I am though I still have a long way to go. And my piano schedule is filling up and non-profit work has started so life is in full swing.

Well hopefully the Internet comes back on tmrw morning so I can post this.

Salamu, (Best regards)

Sara

Jacaranda trees are BEAUTIFUL

While much has happened since I've last posted, that's the thing I want to stress most. Walking down city roads and seeing purple trees is amazing. Today we went to the Arusha Declaration museum. Tanzania used to be under German control. It makes me sad that when we learn about WWI we never talk about the German colonies like Tanzania so we don't think about the consequences and fatalities that occurred here. I've been reading The Legacies of Julius Nyerere, which is a fantastic book with so many different viewpoints, so it was cool to see in the museum pics and a bio of the man I've been reading about. The museum also had BEAUTIFUL original paintings that in the US would sell for 1,000 and here were only 100 so i may indulge! The white walls in my house are especially in favor! 100 for a piece of artwork I can have forever I think is a good investment!
Teaching is going well. Not really a lot of news there except that the new teacher at ISM is a Luther grad named Chelsea. That's all I know! SMALL WORLD! And the music director is from Lacrosse. Liza's goodbye party was good, so weird and sad to see her go, but I am so independent now.
Since she has left:
I have arranged a CS meeting and gone out with them (tonight) to the International Diversity Festival involving African acrobats, traditional dancing/drumming, hiphop which was HILARIOUS to watch them dance (NOT hiphop dancing like the States), and, get this-inside the bar they'd hand you headphones that had disco music on them. SO people would sit solitarily listening to disco music!
I went to the other TZ school on Thurs. that was a Maasai school out in the middle of nowhere and a huge maze quite literally to find! But a gorgeous school, really quite comparable to a US school with complex grammar lessons, posters, desks, and computers. I'm SO excited for Umoja ensemble to start!
And I rode a bike from the gym back home by myself. People made this sound much scarier than it is-there are plenty of sidewalks here, quite honestly more here than MN, and people go very slowly since there is basically almost always traffic. I really feel like I can say I feel like I live here and this wknd is already loads of improvement with knowing the city. Walking helps so much!

I bought a kitenge, an African dress, but despite the fact that they measured me, it is still WAY too big so I need to bring it back to get altered. But aside from that, it actually looks really cool and I actually look decent in it ;) We played at a baptism before Liza left and it was really fun to all play together. We also went to a Tanzanian's house for the most delicious chai tea i've had yet (w/ ginger) and butter sandwiches. He's invited us back to cook African food.

Well my eyelids are beginning to close so I'm going to tuck in. First Outreach lessons tmrw (meaning piano in Swahili which will more than likely be Swanglish as they call it here).

Cheers,
S

Safari and Maasai: 1st Weekend in Tanzania!

Sorry for the delay on this update. These past two days have been crazy  busy with lessons starting this week, all going extremely well by the way! I've always loved teaching and now it's so exciting to have so many different kids from so many different backgrounds and a good number originally from the Netherlands, some from India, some from Arusha, very few from the States, and some from the UK. Tomorrow another school gets added to the mix and I take my first taxi, not quite ready for a dala dala, though my Swahili is still dramatically improving and I can understand A LOT! I would definitely say I"m already at survival level :)

So the past weekend, our driver is also a trained safari guide and took my housemate, another American who left today (and took some awesome pics, soon to come!), and myself to Tarangere National Park. I'm glad that for Tanzanians it is very affordable (about a dollar), and non-East Africans is $35 entry fee, but so worth it! The first animal we saw was a zebra, which we looked at, fawning over it and taking multiple shots. Saa Nane told us we'd see more and we were disappointed when he drove away. But then next was elephants, which later ended up crossing the road right in front of our car and eating from a tree right on the side (I have a video!) and were HUGE! A baobao tree is a HUGE old tree and the elephant was taller! Then wildabeests, which not to sound mean, but truly are the ugliest animal. Then warthogs (Pumba anyone?) and Thompson gazelles from afar, later to be closer. The animals continued! Impala, dik-dik, baboons including one tiny baby holding onto her mother as she was carried around, giraffes, which looked way different than the zoo, and two lionesses stalking a zebra. The zebra came closer and closer to the napping lions. Two of the three lions woke up and started to watch the zebra, but didn't move. They got into pounce position and just watched the zebra get closer and closer. The zebra went around the backside of the sleeping lion and the heads of the other two lions turned. The lions didn't chase the zebra until it was down by the watering hole, at least 75m away! They missed, but it was really cool to see a scene I've only seen on Animal Planet come to life. Of course as the lion is sneaking up on the zebra, the safari vehicles are sneaking up on the lion. And then after their futile attempt, they decided to go back into the shade, walking by our car to get back there! Incredible. We saw some birds (lovebirds, ad, imm, vultures, and ostriches) and then went to a picnic spot where there were monkeys and we could look out at the vast plateau around us and see the elephants and zebras from up on a bluff. It felt so good to stretch our legs too after sitting in the car for 3 hrs. It was a FANTASTIC first safari. I hope to do Ngorogoro when my parents come, where there are only ten rhinos left in the world!

Then we met Liza's dala dala and headed to a Maasai village called Ol Tukai. Liza's boyfriend who died (RIP Korbitt) made a 200,000 acre conservancy and taught the Maasai about anti-poaching. The Maasai are a pastoral people who only eat cow meat and drink milk and cow blood, yummy. They have many wives and a woman's only purpose is to have babies. Their sandals are made out of motorcycle tires and many had gaged ears and lots of jewelry. Their dances involved which man could jump the highest and running towards the girls...I never said I approved of the symbolism. Their music was interesting. Acapella and very rhythmic (again I have a video) and lasted a long duration. I've learned so much from my Mapuche paper, which btw will be published in the NCUR proceedings in Nov :) Anyway, after paying each one 5000 shiillings (less than 5 dollars), of course eleven show up, we cooked a delicious meal over the fire on animal skulls and looked up at the beautiful starry sky. I love how insignificant I feel, looking up at the southern hemisphere sky and not recognizing any of the constellations. Though Venus was very bright! In the morning, we mainly hung out, and I took a walk down to Lake Manyara. This is clearly the bush, the middle of nowhere, and this space was so vast and such a powerful, beautiful landscape. Gazelle and flamingos played at the water's edge.

Then we went into town after talking to the oldest, richest ( measured by cattle and amount of wives) man and ate Tanzanian bbq of goat and beef meat. The meat is very chewy here so I wasn't a huge fan. I've only eaten meat 4 times now! But I think from now on I'll stick to pork, chicken, and fish. On the way back, we rode camels (for 5 mins), but it was definitely an experience getting up and down! The camel bends his legs down and it takes everything in my power to lean back and not fall off. Camels walk so slowly. No wonder they trotted through the deserts in Arabia. They'd never get anywhere at a normal camel rate-it's probably 1/2 a human step!

Today was really cool because we went to Makumira University that started as a Lutheran theology school and now has many other degree programs (sound familiar, Luther?) including music. To give you an idea of the Tanzanian way of thinking, the school year has been pushed back so that the gov't doesn't have to pay its deadlines. WE met the two directors who run the school and I'm hopefully going to collaborate with one with her girls' choir and my community choir, and we're going to join an African ensemble class when the semester begins! They will be a GREAT resource and I kept thinking of Luther and their j-term class.

Well my eyes are getting heavy and I have Swahili at 9 am followed by teaching so I'm off to bed. Badai (See you later)