Maasai Wanderers

The internet connection is really slow here, so it's difficult to upload pictures. But it's working a little better today so I thought that I would add some while I could.

The above picture is from Friday when we did a program called Maasai Wanderings. The Maasai are a local tribe here in Northern Tanzania and are also prevalent in Southern Kenya. They are primarily a pastoral people, but also are agrarian. Many of them still live in out in the grasslands and have never even been into the city of Arusha, despite being about 45 minutes away by bus. Maasai Wanderings is a tourist program started by an Australian woman, Donna, and her Tanzanian husband who wanted a way to make a living and to also do community building. They adopted a school out in the Maasai lands and are using some of their profits to build up the school. During our day, we learned about traditional Maasai medicinal practices, then made our second stop to hike up this hill (pictured above) where we learned some Maasai mythology, and then we went to the school.



Once we arrived at the school, we went to watch the Maasai Warriors, the young men pictured above. They were performing a traditional dance for us. It's characterized by their high jumping. They invited us to join in, and of course, many of us couldn't do it, but it was a lot of fun.

Afterwards, we went and had a tour of the school. The Maasai Wanderings company has totally transformed the place within the past 6 years, adding buildings made of actual brick and mortar instead of mud, adding glass windows, more toilets and getting better teachers to come in. The school has changed so much that the children think they are Europeans, with a school that nice. But as Donna told us that, she looked around and laughed sadly, "oh, could you imagine this school in Europe? Never."


It's the sad reality of many of the schools. It's a public school and it gets some funding from the government, but not nearly enough. For example, they added a nursery school, and since 2002 the enrollment has grown to 205 children. And all have only one teacher and have to fit inside one small classroom. Below is a picture of the classroom.



Also, for their society, it's such a privilege to go to school. Education is a gift not to be wasted. I know that I sometimes take for granted my own education, but being here makes me treasure it even more than I have before. I wish that everyone would have the same enthusiasm and pride in going to school as these children do.

Right now, the school really needs another classroom to house the overflow of all the children. I asked about the cost of the building and they said about 10,000,000 shillings, which is only about $10,000. It would make such a difference and I really want to try to help.


On Saturday, we went to Sundance Lodge and had lunch. Afterwards, we were taken out by a Maasai guide to visit a Maasai village. We walked about 3km through the grasslands and cornfields, crossing many children herding their goats and cows. When we arrived at the village, we were welcome by a woman and her children to visit inside her bomo, or hut. Once I walked inside, I couldn't see or breathe. They had a fire going and had no chimney. The smoke was so thick, but you couldn't see it from the dark. However, I was thinking "don't be rude, don't be rude" but it was so bad that I had to cover my mouth with my shirt in order to breathe. Inside, the woman showed us where she cooked and we heard an infant crying. I couldn't believe that there was a baby in all of that smoke! It was so bad and I felt so rude that I had to leave.


The boma next to the one that we went inside.

Once I got outside, I talked to one of the professors who went with us on the trip, shocked that there was a child inside. He told me that it's a common project in many developing countries throughout South America and Africa just to go and build chimneys for families. They don't think that there's anything wrong with the smoke, but it's led to asthma and lung cancer for many women and children who live in the bomas. It's those kinds of things that you don't even think about that can greatly improve the quality of life for people.

Overall, I really like being out in the villages better than in the city. There's a beauty, peace and serenity there. The city is kind of overwhelming, with a lot of hustle and bustle, dust and dirt, and really bad emissions. Although I know it's nice to be in the city, what with the shops, restaurants and internet cafes, there must be something nice about not having to worry about all of that out in the villages.


A view on the walk on our way back to the lodge

That's it for our excursions of the week. I can never put into words all of things that I'm thinking, feeling and experiencing, but at least this blog can be a small glimpse.

Tomorrow we begin our academic work, beginning with a guest speaker. It's one of the prosecutors from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the United Nations tribunal for the criminals of the Rwandan genocide. The ICTR is being held at the Arusha Convention Center, right down the street from our Center. I'm really looking forward to hearing all about it, especially because of how we read Paul Rusesabagina's book and heard him speak at Chapman sophomore year (the man and story upon which the movie Hotel Rwanda was based). It will be interesting to hear about how they are legally handling the aftermath of the genocide.

Hope you all are doing well! Miss you!

Getting to Know Arusha

June 26, 2008

**FYI** I just wanted to let you guys know that due to my very sparse internet time, I write my blogs into a Word Document and then copy and paste it into my blog. So the times and dates written on my blogs are not going to line up with the time that I actually posted it. I have no internet access at the hotel and we're hardly at the Center - and even when we are there, we're in class, so there's really not much time. I'm actually writing this from an internet cafe in town and have to leave pretty soon because we're going on a hike at Sundance Lodge in a little while.

Anyways, onto the blog!

It’s been quite the couple of days!

On our first day, we were picked up in the dola-dolas (I have no idea if I’m spelling that right) which are like public busses, except they are more like shuttles or large vans. They are easily recognized by often piling 25 people into a 16-seat vehicle, manned by erratic drivers and their crazy assistants whose job is to yell out the window to ask if you want a ride, and often have famous American rappers or NBA teams advertised by being painted all over the windows (see me and Ludacris posing together below). The dola-dolas are really intimidating to ride in, especially since they don’t speak English or have set fares, and so they literally shake a fist full of change in your face when they want you to pay. There are routes (sort of…) but they’re really hard to follow and not really designated. And there’s definitely no schedule or designated stops like there are for public transportation in America. However, it only costs about 25 cents a ride (300 shillings) so I guess it’s a pretty good deal, as well as quite the overall experience.

We were taken to the Nyerere Center for Peace Research of Arcadia University, which is where we will have our classes and lectures. The first two days have been Orientation, so we have had lectures in the morning (on Wednesday, it was a general program orientation and on Thursday it was a 3 hour Swahili Language lesson). In the afternoons, a group of young people (all around our age) from the Arusha chapter of Miracle Corners of Tanzania (MCT) came and took us out into the city in order to get more acquainted. MCT is a non-profit which was established to teach the youth of Tanzania English and basic computer skills, both of which they are awarded certificates at the end of their program. They also have the Perfect Youth Group (PYG) which puts on plays, does traditional Tanzanian singing and dancing, and performs with drums and other instruments.

The first afternoon, we wandered around the city with our guide, Brian, helping us to find the bank, post office, market, and other useful places for the next month. He also took us to lunch – which was an experience in itself. The diet of Arushans mostly consists of rice or chips (like French fries) with meat (usually beef, maybe pork) or roasted chicken. They also have beans and spinach for the sides. At all of the restaurants, these are basically the only options, as well as fresh fruit. However, we can only eat the fruit with thick skins – so plantains, watermelon, oranges, papaya, mangoes and pineapples have been our fruit option. I have pretty much eaten rice at every meal, except breakfast, and have come to the conclusion that by the time this trip is over, I will have eaten more rice in a month than I have in my entire life before this. It’s really filling and really cheap – and it’s becoming obvious to me why it’s such a staple in many parts of the developing world. Brian also took us to a little area slightly more outside the city where it was a bit more rural. There were cornfields, homes, and a school. It was absolutely beautiful, and my favorite part of the day. I can’t wait to go on our nature hikes and our safari in the coming weeks – the countryside is so beautiful and it will be nice to get out of the city – it’s quite smoggy and dirty.

The second afternoon, on Thursday, they took us over to MCT after lunch. It was such a great afternoon – we introduced ourselves in our broken Swahili to the students in English class (“Jambo! Mimi ni Caroline. Ninatoka Merikani, jimbo la North Carolina”) and then they introduced themselves in English. Needless to say, they were much better than us. After that, we got a tour of their quaint facility and then they took us outside for their show. They performed two skits and then did three traditional song and dance performances, with two drum players, one xylophone player, and everyone wearing the traditional clothing. It was soooo good! I want to take African dance classes now. I’m on a mission to find some when I get back to California.

The most endearing part of the afternoon was that all the little children from the neighborhood came running over to watch the show. We put them on our laps so they could see better and they LOVED our digital cameras – always wanting us to take pictures and then show them on the playback screen how it turned out. We taught them handshakes (and they taught us a few) and had so much fun with them. As my roommate and I were talking about, it’s funny how even though we couldn’t verbally communicate, that didn’t matter at all. We were able to have such a good time playing with them without that being a problem.

Shifting gears to some reflection, it’s funny the things that you don’t appreciate or notice in America that suddenly you miss once you don’t have. I have been feeling that way about a few things over the past couple of days.

Things I miss about America:

1. Crosswalks, Stoplights and Stop Signs
1. Oh. My. God. These things literally do NOT exist in Tanzania. At all. It’s a free for all on those roads – and to make it worse for us Americans, they drive on the left side of the road thanks to the British having control over Tanzania until the early 1960’s. Crossing the street is waiting for a break and then just booking it, hoping a pineapple cart or Land Rover won’t hit you. But there are so many people that it’s not that dangerous because everyone is doing it all the time. However, I still miss those basic traffic laws…
2. Western-style toilets
1. Okay, so I’m not completely ignorant and I knew that I might have to encounter some holes in the ground, but I thought that was going to be out in the villages. Not the case. At the restaurant on our first day of lunch, I went to find the restroom (or “choo” which means “toilet”). When I walked in the door, I thought I had stepped into the Janitor’s closet or something… because there was no toilet. I kept gazing around confused until finally I spotted a porcelain hole in the ground filled with mysterious fluids. I gasped and ran out of the bathroom. I wasn’t prepared for that. You think you are, until you’re face-to-face with the impending act of squatting, and suddenly, it’s a whole other ballgame.
3. Proper signage
1. This may sound weird, but there are no street signs and no safety signs. For example, there are huge potholes and other holes in the ground, all over the place. But there is literally no kind of signage or grates put up at all. You used to hate those orange cones or blocked off areas on the sidewalk, thinking they’re a nuisance, but then you come to appreciate them as you almost break your ankle in a gaping gorge in the walking path.
4. Unlimited Hot Water

Yeah, I knew that might be an issue – but I still miss it.

But there are some definite advantages that must be duly noted.

Things I love about Tanzania:

1. CHEAP EVERYTHING
1. Let me start by being kind of shallow - There’s a nice bar across the street that about 12 of us went to the other night – the Backpacker’s Lounge. It’s a western tourist haven. There’s a TV, free internet, it’s nicely decorated, western toilets, and guess what… cheap booze! Well, it’s expensive for Tanzania standards, since it’s a tourist bar, but $2.00 beer and $2.50 glasses of wine are just fine with me. We also got some really good toilet paper at a fabulous place across the way called Shop-Rite for only 30 cents a roll. Hot damn.
2. The Music
1. They play music everywhere and it’s my favorite kinds of music – as many of you know, I love hip-hop. Not only do I hear a lot of Chris Brown, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Sean Kingston and Beyounce everywhere I go, I also hear fantastic reggae and African hip-hip music playing intermittent with the American hip-hop. And I LOVE it.
3. The Kindness of the People
1. So, they have a saying here which is “T.I.A.” which means “This is Africa.” Basically, whenever things are shady or kind of go wrong, people just shrug and say TIA. So, while you do have to guard your bag at all times and lock up many of your belongings in the hotel, you have to remember TIA.

Other than those people (which exist in every country, no matter where you go) I have found that people here are generally more kind and welcoming. As we learned in our Swahili lesson, people will constantly greet you by saying “Jambo” or “Habari” on the street – and it’s taken very rudely if you don’t answer. There is a guy in our group from Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and so he is helping all of us with our Swahili, including the slang. We’re now able to say “Mambo”, the slang for hello, and then respond “poa” which means “cool.” It’s so funny because people will say hello to us on the streets, just because we’re American, and they also laugh when we turn around and yell “poa!” I like that general friendliness. There’s still a bit of it left in the South, but being in Southern California for the past three years, I have sorely missed that hospitality and general kindness. Adding to that, one of the more poignant moments of my trip so far came when our tour guide Brian was showing us around town on the second afternoon. He had to basically order all of our food and handle our bill at the restaurant because there are no menus and they didn’t speak any English. Afterwards, I thanked him for having to help us so much. And he responded, in rough English, “no problem. We are all human beings. We all have hearts.” So simple, but so moving. I feel like that is Tanzania wrapped up into just a few words. I wish the whole world thought that way.

Anyways, that’s all for tonight So, with that, kwa heri! (Good night).

Finally Here!

Greetings from Arusha!

After the easily most grueling travel experience of my life, we have arrived!

I began my journey as I left San Antonio, Texas on Sunday, June 22^nd 4:30pm, then had a layover in Houston, was delayed, then arrived in NYC around 1am. It took 30 minutes to get my luggage and then another 45 minutes to get a cab! That line was seriously the length of a football field. Although JFK is an insane airport, New York has that energy that I just love – so much that I didn’t mind waiting. Well, didn’t mind as much as I would have somewhere else.

I checked into my Holiday Inn in Queens around 2:30am, napped, showered and left to go back to JFK at 8:30am on Monday, June 23rd. Then I got on my 13 hour flight to Dubai, where we arrived around 9am on Tuesday (Dubai is eight hours ahead of the East Coast). I wish the layover had actually been longer because Dubai is incredible! It’s on an island in the Persian Gulf and as we flew in, I have never seen such beautifully colored water. It’s also a huge city, with a giant skyline. Of course, you couldn’t see much because of the heinous amounts of smog – it was worse than LA. We flew on Emigrates Airlines which was amazing! The 13 hour flight wasn’t even that bad because the airline was so nice – and we were in coach, too! We had these personal televisions and could watch a ton of movies, TV shows and listen to CDs – and good stuff too, like Flight of the Conchords. It was fantastic. Plus, the food was actually pretty good. Surprising, right?

Once we got to Dubai, we had to book it across the airport because our connecting flight to Nairobi, Kenya was already boarding. We got the gates, where they checked us in and took us onto a bus. The bus drove across the tarmac and we boarded the plane as I will call “Presidential Style” with a set of steps to walk up, like the President does as he board Air Force One. As we boarded, I couldn’t believe that I was standing smack dab in the Middle East. I really would like to see more of it someday.

The flight to Nairobi was another five hour trip and not quite as nice as the first one, but it wasn’t too bad. We landed around 2:30pm Nairobi time (which is 7 hours ahead for the East Coast, 10 for the West Coast). We got our transit visas, gathered our bags, and headed out where the shuttle was waiting to take us to Arusha, Tanzania. The shuttle was driven by someone else from Arcadia University, and aboard it were the 13 American students who flew together on the group flight I was on, plus our 2 program directors who were also on the flight. We also met up with our professor, her husband and their 15 month old son, as well as another girl in the program who is from South Korea, but flew in straight from Peru as she has been there for the last 3 weeks doing volunteer work. We also met up with another guy in our program who flew in from Rwanda and met up with us.

It was quite the effort leaving the airport as we had to put all of our huge and heavy bags on the top of the shuttle and strap it down for the ride. I felt sorry for the men hoisting up my bags… so heavy. I thought we were going to have about a 3 hour ride, but no – I was gravely mistaken. We set off for Tanzania around 3pm and didn’t arrive at Arusha until 10pm tonight! Yes, it was another 7 hour shuttle ride. The first half was pretty incredible because of all of the sights. As we drove out of Nairobi, I was in awe of the way in which the people were living. Of course I knew what to expect, but it’s one thing to watch it on a documentary and another to be seeing it with your own eyes. Everything just looks so old, dilapidated and dirty. Half of the roads are not paved – which is the big factor in why the shuttle ride was so long.

As we left the outskirts of the city and headed into the grasslands, it was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. We were driving through in late afternoon, at sunset – and all you can see for miles and miles are the grasslands, with small bushes and trees, the occasional houses and huts, and littered with herders and their goats and cows. There were faint mountains in the distance, and since it was partly cloudy, you could see the actually sunbeams as they broke through the clouds and spread over the grasslands. It was just like – yep, you guessed it – the Lion King. We could also recognize the Massai people distinctly – they are herdsmen and wear long, brightly colored robes, usually red and orange. We could see them out in the fields, blots of color in the brown and green rolling landscape.

We had a couple moments of excitement as we caught a little Safari preview. In the distance, we saw a herd of Zebra grazing. It was so strange to see them in the wild, just grazing like a bunch of cattle or something! Alongside them were several herds of antelope. It was just so surreal. We actually had a moment where an antelope ran out in front of our shuttle! Luckily, they can run so fast and that we didn’t hit it – but it was pretty frightening.

We had to stop at the Kenyan border to submit our exiting paperwork and then again on the other side on the Tanzania border to purchase and receive our Visas. We then finally arrived, bleary-eyed and starving, at the Meru Inn where we’re staying in Arusha around 10pm. They helped us bring in our bags and then served as a delicious Indian meal of rice, curry and vegetables, flatbread, potato cakes, salsa and salad. We then were led up to our rooms in the Inn. To be honest, they are going to take some getting used to. I’m usually not uptight or picky about things like this, but it just feels a little eerie here. To make it worse, my roommate isn’t coming until sometime tomorrow because apparently she’s having some horrible travel experiences and is stuck somewhere – which is obviously unfortunate for her, but it also sucks that I have to spend this first night alone.

Tomorrow we’re having breakfast, then heading off to the Center – The Nyerere Center for Peace Research – for a morning orientation session, and then getting a tour in the afternoon from Arusha natives who will show us where the best stores, ATMs, bars, etc. are in the city.

I can’t believe I am actually here – I had a moment where I had dozed off in the shuttle and then woke up, startled as I saw the rolling plains of Kenya all around me. This is going to be such an incredible experience, and I can’t wait to get to know everyone in the program, as well as get to know Tanzania and Arusha.

Hope you all are doing well! Love you and miss you.