Touring the Ngorongoro Crater

Our early morning consisted of a lot of zebras, wildebeasts and water buffalo...but our adventure had only just begun. The land was beautiful. We were surrounded by mountain walls with only us and the wildlife within. It was incredible to feel so intimate with them. It's difficult for me to even use words to describe the experience. Going to zoos is nothing, although, I'm certain that that has numbed me to being so close to the animals. The picture above can indicate that. We were literally that close to a lion...and he just stared at us. This was just after he finished mating with a lioness. The lioness was under the culvert in the road. He was lying in the ditch and staring at us.

Lions, elephants, wart hogs, zebras, rhinos, hippos, everything on day one...and even more adventure to look forward to the following day!!

Ngorongoro Crater, the beginning...

(Our group of seventeen at the top of the Ngorongoro Crater.)

Excited and anxious, I had no problem hopping out of bed at 6 am to get ready and eat for our 7 am departure to Ngorongoro Crater. The conservation area was about an hour and a half drive through Masai land from our camp. It was awesome to see the Masai working, tending their herds of cattle and sheep, doing laundry, and traveling by foot from village to village. Their lifestyles are so simple and yet they seem to be so fulfilled.

As we near the park, we get our first glimpse of African wildlife from afar...GIRAFFES!!!! I took some great pictures, but they were fairly far away (about 500 yards). We were ready for our adventure. We finally arrive at the park around 9 am. We popped the roof off of our jeeps and off we drove. Once inside the park, we have to head uphill some to get the the summit of the side of the crater. On the top, we get out and make use of the fantastic photo op (as shown above). We got a bit of history about the Crater from our guides as well. The Crater is a volcanic crater that has grown because of the shifting of the tectonic plates. The mountain beside the crater is an active volcano that erupted in December of 2007 - a mere three months ago. It was an incredible site. The wildlife in the Ngorongoro crater are permanent residents. They do not migrate in and out because all of their needs - food, water, and shelter - are met within the walls of the crater.

We finally start our descent into the Crater. It seemed like such a long drawn out drive, but the excitement once we finally arrived was incredible. We came in three jeeps (Land Cruisers actually), and my car held (from L to R in the picture) Leann (US), Ann Michelle (Boston), Lindsay (Edmonton, Canada), Cathy (Edmonton), and myself. None of us had ever done anything like this before and we had all dreamed of doing it since we were little kids. Our dreams were coming true!!!

At the base of the Crater, the first thing we run into is zebras (punda milia). We had been told that we would quickly tire of zebras. They are a gorgeous creature. They are donkeys (not horses) with stripes that look like they are painted on. It was almost surreal to see them in the wild. They were right next to our jeep throughout the safari and we never tired of them. It is the season for having young, so we got to see lots of baby animals. Actually, we saw a baby animal for every animal we saw except for the lion.

Living right alongside the zebras were wildebeasts and buffalo. In the picture above is a heard of zebras and wildebeasts. It was simply incredible. The base of the Crater was filled with heards since they never migrate.

I want to spend the appropriate amount of time on the safari, so I'm signing off for now to head to lunch and will post more later when I have time...There's many more animals to talk about and show pictures of. I can't wait to download my pictures -- I've got at least one of every single animal we saw!

The pictures in this blog are not my own but those taken by Bushmen Expeditions. My pictures are not uploaded yet and this is just easiest!

Visiting a Masai Village

Finally the time has arrived to head out on safari. We leave home base around 1:30 and start off on our drive to the our campsite which was right near Lake Manyara (which we visited on Sunday). The campsite was nice and not near as rugged as you might think. We had guides that pitched our tents and one roommie per tent. Our campsite had showers, a bar, a flushing toilet, oh, and a pool. It was a little strange to be in this town where probably most of the community didn't have running water and we had a pool. The pool was actually pretty gross, but that's another story! Ha!

We went on safari with Bushmen Expeditions (this is the little plug I promised I would do for them for anyone visiting the Moshi/Arusha/Kili area). It was a fantastic deal which included visiting a Masai village, a camel ride, safari through the Ngorongoro Crater, and safari time in the Lake Manyara National Park. Both Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara are conservation areas. Only the Masai are allowed to live in the land. (The Masai do not hunt or farm, they are a ranching tribe, so their animals are allowed to graze on these conservation plots.)

The Masai village was AMAZING. Masai is one of the four Swahili language groups. They are a warring people (I think I just made that word up). They live in small communities in huts made of cow dung. The Masai live solely off their livestock -- cattles and goats (mostly cattle). They eat only beef and drink both the milk and the blood of the cow. They do not eat any kind of vegetable as they historically were a nomadic tribe of a very arid region.

They performed this awesome welcome ceremony for us. I took some video, but you'll have to wait til I get home for that! Their community was very small. They kept their livestock in a pen in the middle of the community which consisted of about 10 huts. Individual families keep their cows in their small huts to keep them safe from people who would steal them. I thought this odd, not to protect them from predators, but they indicated that wasn't a problem at all. It's so hard to even begin to explain the village, but it was a phenomenal experience.

We returned to the campsite after that for a nice dinner prepared by our own personal cooks. We had a group of 17, so it was a big group to feed, but it was fantastic! After that it was time to hit the hay for an early 6:00 am wake-up to leave for the Ngorongoro Crater.

It's PICTURE time!!!!

The grounds at my home base. They are gorgeous!

The living room at home. It's cozy and everyone congregates here.

The whole group of newbies -- we all started on February 16. Many are staying for weeks after I leave. Makes me sad to go...

Around town...the top is just a store front that I thought was neat. The second is the view from the top of the hotel bar that we hit our first day.

Friday fun!

The final day of my first week was excellent. I spent the morning at nursery school, helping Lillian teach the kids and the late morning at the secondary school observing a teacher again. I got some great tips from the volunteer whose last day it was on what to teach each of the classes...particularly the Form 1 class. I watched Teacher Mark teach the students and got some really good ideas from him -- games, pronunciation exercise and then lesson. I finally felt prepared to teach!!!

When I returned to the nursery to get picked up, I learned that I would be doing a home visit on Monday. I was finally ready to teach and Uwawayaki had something more up their sleeves! I was super excited for the home visit though!!!

Friday afternoon, we headed off for safari. That's going to require a whole blog to itself...or probably two, so stay tuned over the next couple of days!!

Relaxing day!!!

I'm really far behind on posting blogs and I figure everyone is getting somewhat tired of hearing about the mundane details of the day...like the fact that I shower every morning at 6:45 am.

Anyways, Thursday in class was much better. I was at the nursery school and the teacher was there and she led the lesson. We spent the week doing letters A,B, and C and the numbers (1-10) in English and Swahili. The lessons are really remedial and the teacher speaks very little English...yet she is teaching the lesson. That's pretty much how it goes in all of Moshi I think. I went over to the secondary school for the second half of the morning but requested not to teach because I had no idea where in English lessons the students were. I opted to watch the lesson given by Madam Mary. Only after heading off to the class did I realize that I was going to be watching her teach Form 2 and she had asked me to teach Form 1. This was not going to be a helpful shadowing...

It actually was. The students in Form 2 are only mildly ahead of the students in Form 1. It was a great lesson for me -- a relearning of present participle ('I have left the building' if you needed a reminder...). I left the class somewhat ready to start teaching on Friday.

Thursday afternoon we got some free time for the first time all week. I spent the afternoon at an internet cafe (actually writing the previous entry) and wandering around town. Moshi is an incredible place and I love being here. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. It's going to be so hard to leave!!! Tomorrow is my half-way mark.

It's just another day at the office

Day two. I come in to class prepared (well, semi-prepared) to teach. I brought pictures of body parts for them to learn in English. We got off to a great start. They seemed to catch on quite well, but I'm still not sure they fully understood what they were saying. About ten minutes into my lesson, a woman shows up who is identified as the class's teacher. It was pretty awkward. She let me finish the short lesson and then I gave her class back to her. It seems that there was a system (of course, I didn't know it) that the class is following. Her name is Lillian. She's probably around 30 and doesn't know much English, yet she is teaching these 3-6 year old children English.

We start off with the letter A. The older kids (5-6 years) copy words, the younger kids (3-4 years) copy the letters Aa. That is basically how English is taught to all the Moshi kids -- copying what the teacher writes on the board. I don't think they understand what they are learning and it's really hard with no resources to teach them these things.

I already have a favorite student by day two. Sahidi. He's in the younger class (not that the classes are separated), but he's the cut-up of the class. He's dressed in camouflage shorts that are too big that keep falling off to reveal his lack of underpants, a tattered orange t-shirt and mismatched flip flops. He is the one that greats me with a hug and sort of hangs on my throughout the day. He calls me 'mzungu' which means white person and is semi-derogatory. It's literal translation is visitor, but many of the locals identify white people as mzungu. I correct Sahidi everytime, but he doesn't stop.

Sahidi brings me his first assignment (writing the letter 'a'). He had written nothing. Lillian informs me that he can't write. Isn't that what a teacher is supposed to do?! I pull Sahidi aside and helped him with the letter. I'm happy to report that now he can write the letter 'a', but that is all he can write. I find out later that this child is HIV positive. Immediately, I wonder if that is the reason that he hasn't been taught how to write. It's tragic that it seems that they have just given up on him. I am determined to keep working with him and make progress where I can...it's slow and challenging...and probably will be until I depart.

I didn't make it back to the secondary school on this day. There was so much to be done at the nursery and I wasn't sure I was supposed to head over there.

All in all, I think day two was a success...on to day three...

Thrown into the lion's den

Day one at the work was interesting to say the least. Mama Martha (the woman who formed Uwawayaki Women's Group) took me around. First we went to the nursery school. The school is for ages 3-6 and is in the backyard of a building that serves as the office for the nursery school. I have about 50 students ranging as I said from age 3 to age 6 with a wide range of knowledge. Some can speak a bit of English and some can't even speak Swahili. The school itself is outside in the yard on a large cement floor with a small pavilion over it. It's pretty much what I expected...about mid-range for schools here.

After briefly checking out the nursery, I walked with Mama Martha to the Uwawayaki Secondary School. It, too, is outside and only have the cover of a pavilion. There are three forms (grades for the Tanzanians) Form 1, 2, and 3 (sorry to state the obvious!). Each class is massive. I spent a few minutes watching each of the classes. Form 1 is the lowest grade and has about 50 students between 12 and 13. Form 2 is the middle grade with about 70 students ages 14-15. Form 3, the highest grade, has another 50 students ages 16 and up. Each of these classes have only one teacher -- although different teachers for math, science, and English. There are two offices that are very much like the shed my dad has out behind our house. The school, surprisingly enough, has a computer! I assume it has internet, but I have not yet confirmed that. I should really stress here that I am using the term school very loosely. There are no walls for any of the classes. The secondary school students sit at desks in the dirt. They do wear a uniform (white blouse/shirt and green pants/skirts). I spoke with the woman in running the school, Mary, and she informed me she wants me to teach Form 1 English.

As I observed each of the classes, I noted the curriculum being taught to each of the grades. Form 1 was on a break when I observed, but Form 2 was deep in session. I could see across the small room that it was English written on the board. To my complete and utter dismay, it was biology. Form 2 was learning biology in English!!! I would have never guessed they would be learning such high level material. And just as my shock was about to wear off, we head to Form 3 only to find that they are learning electricity and circuits. I couldn't believe the caliber of the curriculum. I left the secondary school in complete shock.

I returned to the nursery for the remainder of the morning only to find that the mwalimu (teacher) was not there. The assistant teacher spoke no English and made a hand gesture that implied that the class was mine. I was not prepared for this. On the board was written numbers and when I had observed previously I saw that they knew their numbers in English and Swahili. And that's just what we did. Moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano...over and over and over again. Finally, the mwalimu returned. He spoke minimal English and this time verbally indicated that the class was mine to teach. I was nervous, overwhelmed and horrified!! It didn't take long to figure out that the watoto (children) didn't really English. They only repeated what they had memorized without actually understanding what they were saying. I thought to myself, 'It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks.' Finally, after reviewing numbers, shapes, and colors, the mwalimu told me it was break time. Off we went to play. Play time involved a large circle and lots of singing. It was so different because it was about group bonding and playtime. Not like in the US where it's individual playtime. This is a culture that is vastly different from the US -- it's so community-centric that views your neighbor as your family. I always knew that but it is so apparent in the daily activities that I get to see.

After playtime was snacktime. Porridge. It's basically cream of wheat...and it smelled horrible. The children don't mind. They are some of the few children that get porridge at school. The women's group business is how the porridge is provided to the students.

The children are simply amazing. They don't have much and they are the happiest children I have ever seen. They were so eager to learn that they all paid attention all through my pitiful lesson. It's so amazing to see these children who have virtually nothing (by Western standards) seem to have such a blissful existence. Even the adults at the school are so happy to just be. There is joy all around and smiles everywhere. They seem to take each moment of life as if it is a precious gift. I think it's something that many of us could all learn a lot from...I know that I am...and will continue to.

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.

Our mission should we choose to accept it: To find the Y.M.C.A. and to observe the economic activity out front.
Partner in crime: Zahra, a sweet 18-year old girl from Scotland.
Directions: Take a right outside the gate, a left at the end of the road and the YMCA is right across the street.

Off Zahra and I go. Following the directions to a T. We arrive at said location a mere 3 minutes after beginning our journey. It didn't look like a Y...we thought we better ask. We greet a local woman and ask. She doesn't understand a word, but luckily, there's a group of young men nearby who overhear us and point us further down the road. Again, we set off.

After walking for another 8 minutes or so with still no sign of a Y, we decide we should probably inquire again. Thankfully, we had stumbled upon a gas station. In we go. Again, greeting in Swahili, followed by an awkward exchange of asking where the Y was. We resorted to just saying the letters, "Y.M.C.A.?" Another point and some directions in Swahili. We start moving again in the general direction of the pointing and realize that we are just going to have to ask one more time.

The nice woman we stopped on the street graciously pointed us in the right direction. Much to our surprise, we had wandered right in front of it!! While our directions were terrible (we complained later!), we found our way to the Y.

Once there, we didn't see anyone outside...and therefore no economic activity. We ventured inside and found a couple of other volunteers also at the Y learning about the activities the Y has. We ran into John from England who offered to give us a tour of the facilities. John is the education director for all of the YMCAs in Tanzania...and he spoke no Swahili. I greeted him with a Shikamoo (the greeting I give to elders) and he looked at me as if my head had just fallen off. It was really odd to think he held such a position, but couldn't even greet in the language that he worked in. It was really a shame. He was a nice man anyways, but it's quite sad and explains some of his later behavior.

The Y has a pool that costs 3,000 shillings to use (that's about $3) for the day. The catch is that there is no halfnakedness allowed. Women must wear a full piece bathing suit and shorts. Men, a shirt and shorts. No one was swimming yesterday.

We were shown the auditorium, which is an open-air room that can seat up to 1,000 people and is used frequently for large university events. It was really neat and looked like any other lower income auditorium.

He showed us the clinic which was just another building with offices. There are two doctors and a dentist on site and they accept walk-ins. There were quite a few younger people waiting outside for a counsel, but John told us the clinic is very expensive and not many Tanzanians can afford to go there. The clinic also had a a couple of operating rooms, but we didn't get to see beyond the closed door.

Our next stop was the Shule Watoto (children's school). We visited two classrooms of preschoolers (anywhere from ages 3-7). John brought us in and introduced us to the class. We greeted them in Swahili. The children were extremely excited to see us. They were grinning from ear to ear with a look of awe on their faces. The sisters had them sing us a Tanzanian song and we applauded them in Swahili (not your typical American applause, but involves rubbing your hands together, clapping your hands, stomping your feet, and blowing a kiss). They thoroughly enjoyed that -- and they definitely laughed at us! John was a bit awkward with the introductions.

His introduction: We have very special visitors today. A person from Canada, a person from England...AND two people from AMERICA. They are our special visitors today and how do we greet our special visitors?

He then began applauding and the children followed suit. It was quite bizarre and made me very uncomfortable. I'm very well-informed that people from the States are very highly regarded, but to have that encouraged by someone who works in the community about someone who works in the community was really disheartening. This is why the notion that Americans (and other foreigners) have some special quality lives through generations.

Our next visit was to the adult class. The Y also houses a hotel management school where locals can go to learn the skills needed to manage hotels. John strolled through the class and interrupted in order to introduce us, the special visitors. He introduced us in the same way. The students were our age and it was even more awkward than with the children who didn't understand. I wish it had been different and we could've interacted more with the adult class, but our time was limited and we got a whole lot more than we had bargained for already!

On our way out we ran into another Canadian volunteer who commended us on our efforts - that's always refreshing! We bid adieu to John and the other volunteer and off we set on our trek back to home base. I little humbled, a litte sheepish, and a lot more curious and excited about our next three weeks.

Goals, Expectations, and Placement

Habari za leo! (Good day, how are you?) It's the middle of the night on my fourth day and I wanted to take a little bit of time to send you an update.

Yesterday was a full day. We started at 7:30 and didn't end until dinner at 7:00! We did orientation for the morning and spent the afternoon learning more about our placements. Our first task of the day was to identify goals for the time we are here and to identify our expectations for the program, for our volunteer placement and for the country. The first was an individual reflection to which I had the following goals:

1. to make an impact in the community, especially in helping to empower the women that I will be working with and helping them to further develop and refine their entrepreneurial skills as it relates to their local business
2. to experience the Tanzanian culture through food, local interaction, and site visits
3. to learn Swahili

The second was a group activity, but generally speaking, we identified expectations of security (which we very much have - Mack Daddy is our overnight security guard, you can't feel safer than with someone like that guarding your gate!), support, to teach as well as learn ourselves, and to become comfortable outside of our comfort zones. It was a great exercise in reflection!

We did a scavenger hunt, but I'll go into more details about that in the next post.

The afternoon gave us an opportunity to meet the leadership at our placement.

Mama Martha is the founder and head of Uwawayaki. Uwawayaki was formed in 2002 in response to Mama Martha's loss of her brother to HIV. After his death, Mama Martha found herself caring for his wife and their three children. Because of this experience, Mama Martha recognized the need for a support group for widows and orphans that have HIV. Uwawayaki has many facets and I'm hoping to get some time working with each of them. The group has a nursery school for children from 3 years old to 6 years old, a primary school for ages 7 to 12 and a secondary school for ages 13 and above. The women's group helps to teach as well as provide money for resources for the school (books and porridge for meals). Additionally, Uwawayaki helps to provide care for the sick and elderly. Often, they will make home visits to those members that cannot leave their homes because they are too sick. In the homes, they help provide the family with food (rice, sugar, etc.) and clothing if needed. They help out with hospital bills and hospital transport if necessary when they can. Mama Martha was very adamant in stressing that they only help out a minimal amount, but as much as they can.

In order to do all of this, Uwawayaki has three business ventures - a chicken farm, a pig farm and a basik making business. The chicken farm is used to get eggs that are then sold into the community. The pig farm raises pigs for butcher and the basik-making is a clothing making venture. All of the excess money is then put towards the education of the children and to helping with the health care needs of the other group members.

It was a humbling conversation and I let Mama Martha know that I want to be put to work in any way that will most help Uwawayaki. I start work tomorrow!

We finished off the afternoon with a quick jaunt to the city. We got a guided tour of the city and found some of the local hangouts, coffee shops and bars, and visited an amazing artist and a basik-making shop. I plan on going back to the artist and he even offered to let us do some painting on our own! I am also having a couple of things made from the basik-making shop, the Unique Boutique!

All in all a grand day...more on my scavenger hunt next.

Leo Moje (lay-oh moh-hay) (17 February 2008)

Leo moje, day one. 6:15 am. I wake up to the sun not even risen yet and the roosters not even crowing. I tried to go back to sleep to no avail...so I decided to get up and spend some time online. I walk out into the CCS common room (which is in the same house that I live in) to find that the internet isn't on. I tool around for a little bit trying to fix it but give up and journal instead.

Breakfast doesn't get served until 7:30 and I was famished. Other volunteers started trickling in around 6:45, so I got almost 30 minutes of alone time to think and just be in KILIMANJARO!!! Wow, I can't believe I'm here!!

Breakfast itself left a little to be desired -- these really weird biscuits, watermelon, bananas and oatmeal. I guess I can't complain, it's cooked and cleaned up for me!! I might be spoiled when I get back home and have to do all that myself!!!

A group of us decided to go into town. I desparately needed a comb and I wanted to check out Moshi. Our guide, Heather who had been here for about 12 hours longer than we had, led us to town which is about a 15 minute walk. It was still morning, a little before 10, so it hadn't gotten hot yet. The sun was still beating down on us and it warmed up quickly. I can't complain though because I'm here...which still seems quite surreal!! The locals immediately came up to us, mzungu (m-zoon-goo/white people) and began chatting us up. I got to practice my Swahili which most of the locals were quite impressed with! That excited me!! In fact, some of the volunteers are even impressed with my Swahili!!

Moshi was awesome! It's a nice little town and I found a comb, the internet cafe and a bar with no problem. Actually, I have to give props to Sam for finding (and suggesting) the bar. We just stumbled into this hotel and found the bar on the top floor. The view was INCREDIBLE. We caught a glimpse of Kilimanjaro and could see a 360 degree view of Tanzania. It was amazing. The beer was good. I got a Serengeti which was more flavorful than the Kilimanjaro that some of the other volunteers had. Good choice on my part and it had a really neat label with a chui (choo-ee/cheetah) on it.

This was all before lunchtime at 1 pm...A great day already!! Orientation for my program starts at 4 pm. Once the program starts, I'll probably have less time to blog, but I'll do my best!

First Glimpse of Home Base (Evening of 16 February 2008)

Finally, home base! Jes, Sam and I arrived after a long 24 hour journey to find home base quite inviting. We got our room assignments, Sam is in Pandya Mlia (the Zebra Room) and I am in the Simba room (you know that one from the Lion King!!). (I can't remember what room Jes is in, but it's not the Swahili names that I know! I came home, unloaded a little and showered. I've never had a better shower -- and it was about 5 minutes long and ice cold...and glorious!!!
After my shower, I started meeting the other volunteers. My roommates, Chelsea (from nw Washington state), Megan (I don't remember where she is from) and Kelly (from Austin), are all really cool. Chelsea and Megan have been here for about a month already and I think Kelly is going to be here for two months. Turns out that I'm one of the few volunteers that is going to be here for such a short amount of time. It's so wild that people have such an opportunity!
My room and home base are poa (cool in Swahili). It's very camp-like and everyone is instant friends! The meals are served three times a day and there's no in between...bread is always out if we need a snack, but that's the extent. The long-term volunteers have said they have gained weight since they've been here. That seems obsene to me because I've been starving almost the entire 24 hours I've been here (even with the three meals I got)! The food is wonderful. We've got beef and lots of fruit and vegetables. There is this spinach-like salad that I'm not a huge fan of, but it's not bad. There's a lentil salad that looks and tastes like Indian spiced chickpeas to me. We've also had watermelon, fresh pineapple, mango/cucumber salad, avocado/tomato/cucumber salad, and some traditional rice-like dish (when I remember what the name of it is, I'll let you know).

Last night, we hung around talking and learning about each other and sharing our excitement about the upcoming weeks. The veterans went across the street to the bar. I was too tired to go, but I'll go sometime in the near future. They tell us that it is literally some woman's backyard and she serves alcohol only to accommodate the CCS volunteers. She's got chairs and tree stumps for tables. Apparently, she is putting in a convenient store to sell snacks to the CCS volunteers. What a great entrepreneur!!

Bedtime arrived around 9:30 pm. I was exhausted and fell right to sleep snuggled in my bed with my mosquito net tucked in. I had a crazy Lost-esque dream (for those of you that don't know Lost, sorry you don't get that reference) where I found a baby that could speak and I taught him Swahili...well, the phrases I know. I blame the air, the water (NO, I haven't really had any Tanzanian water, mine's only come from the cooler!), the heat, and the severe exhaustion, but it was WEIRD even for me!!

Written 17 February 8:45 am

The Long Road Home (16 Feb 2008 at 2 pm)

Our journey to home base begins. We have an old-school van that is prepped for tours. The windows open all the way and it appears that there is a removable roof. Richard sits on the right side and we drive on the left. We exit the aiport which requires having a guard open the gate. We didn't have any problem coming into the airport, but apparently the exiting is the problem!

Home base is a 45 minute drive from the airport. The road leaving the airport is long, narrow and bumpy as most Afrian roads are. It's paved though and there are cyclists and people walking all over the place. Most people are carrying big loads, of what I'm not sure. We come to our first intersection -- to the left is Arusha and to the right, our home, Moshi. Off we go. I notice a couple of things first. There are lots of livestock, cows, donkeys, and chickens. The cows are extremely thin and everything eats right off the road where the only green grass is. The cars speeding past do not deter them. It looks very dry and brownish green. There's lots of dirt and only patches of green grass which is probably why the cows are so thin. It reminds me a lot of my drives through the Navajo reservation actually. Things seem old and make-shift. There are the occasional mud houses and lots of houses that have been started and not completed (or were at one point completed but then abandoned). There were really dark rain clouds off in the distance where Mt. Kilimanjaro is.

The weather was warm still, but the wind blowing through the car was nice. After several kilometers of semi-desolation, we make it to the marketplace. It was bustling with activity since it was a Saturday. Locals were everywhere and the shops looked interesting and fun. The road, still extremely narrow, seemed a bit more treacherous as we zoomed through the marketplace, narrowly missing pedestrians and dangerously passing slow vehicles in the left lane. Apparently, this driving is the norm. We were in good hands so I was never scared at any point, but it was quite exciting. We never got much past 40 km/hour, so we weren't going that fast!

After the marketplace, we went through what is more the town that we will be frequenting. I'm not sure if it was actually Moshi but it's fairly close to where we live. There's a Mr. Price store which is apparently the main store for getting anything beyond food (think 7-11 meets CVS).
Finally, we turn into our drive. It is dirt with massive potholes. This is the norm for roads in Moshi. We didn't have a long drive down it (literally a couple 100 feet), and we turn into our home base. We are in Rau Village and I assume that's the town that we go to when people talk about heading in to town...When I got here, I realized I forgot a comb, so I'm unbrushed right now and probably somewhat frightful! The other volunteers shuddered a bit when I mentioned that I didn't have a comb...sounds like I"m going to have a tough time finding one. Better learn the Swahili word for comb!!

By the way, I learned quite a bit of Swahili on the plane (comb wasn't one of them, but...) and I'm not half bad!!

(Written 17 February 2008 at 8:45 am)