Ninaona wanyama!

For the record...I don't seem to be a really good blogger, or at least make posts in a timely fashion.  I'll just blame it on IST - Indian Standard Time.

Lake Manyara and Ngorogoro Crater (aka the true Lion King)
Where did I stop last time?  Oh yes, I posted just before my Ngorogoro/Lake Manyara weekend.  SOOOO...the entire EWH group took a weekend trip to Ngorogoro Crater and Lake Manyara, which are both west of Arusha towards the Serengeti.  We left on Saturday morning (June 19) and traveled to Karatu where we lodged.  In five land rovers, 25 students embarked on a fun-filled weekend of animals, nature, and...more animals.  On Saturday, for the day, we saw Lake Manyara - a mix of dense and sparse forest and wet and dry land - standing as the car drove with the rooftop up.  As the air swept through my hair and the dust found shelter in it, I saw elephants, baboons, small monkeys (specifically white ones with black faces), flamingos, storks, wildebeest, zebras, giraffes and hippos.  The elephants, specifically, were everywhere, which meant Ruvi was very happy.  They traveled in small groups - parental elephants with the watoto elephants.  (Watoto = children)  Only once were they irate at our presence as they would pick up dirt from the road and throw it everywhere; however, I still love the elephants and were my favorite at Lake Manyara.  The baboons were interesting because they could be identified by their flaming red butts, and the other monkeys I mentioned were known for their bright blue male specific area.  (Pictures will be shown in due time)  The hippos from afar look like gentle, rotund, and loving grandmothers, but up close they remind me of irate, old (and obese) men.  I can definitely see at least ten people fitting in their ENORMOUS stomachs - but despite their obvious dangers to my life, I thought they were pretty amazing...from a far distance.  Storks...well...they're everywhere.  I did see a herd of zebras and wildebeest (did get an awesome panorama shot of them walking) - but this was only a small sample of the many more zebras and wildebeest I was to see that weekend.  Giraffes...were also everywhere, but more exciting than seeing storks.  Most of the giraffes seen would gracefully sit and slowly make 360 degree turns with their mouths as they chew.  That is, they were always eating.  (Swahili side note: twiga = giraffe). Lake Manyara, though, was (to put it simply) awesome - I loved the dense, wet forests.  There is just something different about the greenery in the forested areas - it was refreshing, serene, and peaceful to be under a sky of trees and overhanging branches.  The sparsely forested areas were more eerie and ominous - but fascinating to see at the same time.  It was definitely a different kind of nature I had not seen before.

After going to Lake Manyara, the entire group returned to our lodging area for the rest of the evening.  Some of us ventured out onto the road to see the town...fortunately my small group was not assaulted by random people calling us mzungus.  Unfortunately, the town was not too exciting.  The next morning (Sunday, June 20) we headed for Ngorogoro Crater.

Ngorogoro Crater was a volcano that imploded on itself and formed this massive crater and over thousands of years has enabled life to subsist at an altitude of 1400 m.  Again, my group insisted we stand up for the ride up the Crater, which was amazing - it was morning and the breeze was cool but not too cold for the most part.  Our driver sped along the road, providing us a makeshift roller coaster while we began to dissect the massive crater through the fog.  The fog tended to inhibit our vision and the whole area just seemed cryptic and mysterious; but we saw spots of the sun creeping through the clouds onto the crater's rim and down the slopes.  Animals were initially sparse - we saw many antelope, wildebeest, and zebras.  We spotted an ostrich and hyena from a far distance.  The morning portion of the trip was mostly looking at wildebeest, zebras, and zebra butts - zebras really love to show off their butts - it's a little awkward (but hyyyyy-larious).  Antelope and dik dik could also be seen everywhere.  We also saw more hippos and such; however, ftw, as we left the crater, we saw...(drum rolllllllllllllll)....LIONS.  Yes, two lions came right near our safari car seeking shade from the cars.  It was truly epic.  


(Side Note: Wildebeest intelligence versus Zebra intelligence - Zebra ftw).


As we left the crater, we went up and through a densely forested portion of the crater's slopes.  The most memorable moments were viewing the expansive images of the crater as we continued to ascend the crater.  At each moment we saw a different view, a different perspective, and a different component of the crater.  As our group dodged the prickly thorns of the acacia trees, we observed a once in a lifetime spectacle of nature - a diverse but little version of nature that cannot describe what we saw with justice.  If only Rombo hospital would let me upload pictures with my flashdrive.  

In one word, Ngorogoro Crater was phenomenal.  Perhaps it was because I find great joy out of seeing something real, original, and natural; however, it was something beautiful and untouched - something we rarely find today - and I can't put into words how much I enjoyed those hours looking at what many of us just imagine seeing in our lifetime.  I will soon post pictures and continue posting - at a more regular basis.  


Kwaheri! (Bye!)

Behind on the Beginning

As I munch on potato chips and stare at England frantically seize the ball against Algeria, I thought it might be nice to update my blog.  Since my last post, it has been a long two weeks plagued by a disconnect from the internet - a reasonable explanation for my lack of "posting" - but a great reason to write a lot and talk about everything that has happened.  

I arrived to the Kilimanjaro area on June 2, 2010 at around 7:30 pm.  My journey began, however, in Chicago on June 1 where my parents dropped me off and I took a flight to JFK - New York airport with two other fellow "EWH"- ers.  The 1.5 hour flight went smoothly, and upon reaching New York the three of us rested and ate at Buffalo Wild Wings - our last taste of American restaurant food for two months (in perspective, not a bad thing).  As the three of us sat in B-Dubs with our open advertisement of Duke University attire, a vocal man struck up a conversation about Duke’s recent national championship win in Lacrosse against Notre Dame.  (Side note: that gives us at least 2 national championships in the past year….woot!)  Constantly persisting a conversation with the three of us and intermittently making 1/8 turns with his tall glass of beer, we asked him where his journey was to take him.  He was on his way to LA to finish writing a screenplay for a potential film.  He was a screenwriter!  Now, if the guy was truthful to us – which, I slightly doubt – I would say it was an interesting encounter. 

Finishing the last of our satisfying 8 piece wings, we proceeded to the gate to vegetate before our first long stretch of the 24 hour journey.  A fourth member of the program joined us, and at around 6 pm we took a flight from JFK airport to Amsterdam airport.  We left, however, 1.5 hours late because of the weather.  For the ensuing 7 hours, I watched movies, stared at the front of my seat, read a bit of The Hobbit, and slept.  The food was not too bad – edible at least.  We reached Amsterdam airport at around 9AM Amsterdam/Netherlands time and met with the rest of the group who had come from various places.  We eagerly awaited the commencement of our real summer trip – the flight into Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

The flight consisted of mainly students, safari-prone people, and a few Tanzanians.  Initially, I sat next to two elderly women whom I presumed were a daughter/mother pair.  They looked like they were ready to take a safari at any moment, and their American origins were revealed by the daughter’s long sleeve shirt plastered with multiple mini American flags and fireworks.  As the flight proceeded I eventually moved seats and sat in the back of the plane with the other program participants.  The flight lasted around 7-8 hours, and I spaced out through movies while trying to learn a word or two of swahili.

Results:

Rafiki = friend...that's right, the baboon from Lion King was "friend."

Simba = Lion

Mufasa = not a Swahili word :(

Zazu = not a Swahili word (I think...)

Pumba = foolish, silly, weakminded, careless, negligent (compliments of wikipedia)

Yes...I looked up names from the Lion King...there is nothing wrong with that. :)

It was a twenty-four hour journey of movies, buffalo wild wings, and eying open aisle seats to ensure that I could make a quick getaway to the restroom when need be.  Trust me, climbing over strangers in a less than compact seating arrangement is not fun - especially when KLM has decided to place their seats so close together that movement ceases when passengers lean back all the way in their seats.  Nonetheless, the flights went well, and we arrived in Kilimanjaro at around 8:00 pm Tanzania time.  We would have left by 8:30 pm, but my carry-on bag decided to not come.  Now, a carry-on bag implies that I had the bag on the plane...but the geniuses in JFK-New York Airport decided my carry-on bag was "too big" and forced me to check it in.  BUT IT NEVER CAME WHEN I WANTED IT...but fortunately it came the next day.  Nonetheless, airlines' employees are...somewhat inept.

All the program participants boarded the bus and we were then taken to MS-TCDC - a Danish training center for individuals who come to Tanzania to do volunteer work, take classes, etc.  The host parents were waiting in a line with name tags that had our names on them.  They patiently (and cutely) waited for their temporary "mzungu" children - mzungu means white, or pretty much "foreigner" in Swahili - and I slowly approached my host mom who then gave me a warm and loving hug to welcome me and my roommate.  

They took us to their home, a 2 minute drive from the classroom in which we had assembled, and saw a comfortable living space - a nice bed with our own bathroom (shower and toilet).  Fortunately, we got the better half of the accomodations - or at least we got the better bathrooms.  I just hope I don't have to worry about squatty potties the next month....I think.

The following morning we started our Swahili and engineering classes.  My host mother made us fabulous masala chai - pretty much the best I've had so far.  Then I went to my first Swahili class, which was quite the experience considering that I was once again put into a foreign language class after 3-4 years.  French was my last language taught to me in the classroom (not since high school), and I felt as if I was thirteen again in Stanley Clark faced to learn a totally new language.  The only difference is that my ability to absorb it as fast as I used to has somewhat diminished.  Nonetheless, it is pretty cool learning Swahili.  Our classes in Swahili are 4 hours long with a 30 minute break for chai - yes, they have tea breaks consisting of drinking hot milk, chai, coffee, or hot chocolate and then eating popcorn or roasted, warm peanuts.  

Swahili side note: coffee = kahawa, kafi = slap, chai = tea, karanga = peanuts

Following our Swahili lessons we then had lunch - which is pretty much the most awesome part of the day.  We get three different types of salads - fresh vegetables - along with 4-5 different hot entrees, chappati (basically made like paratha), and 3 choices in dessert.  I pretty much look forward to eating lunch everyday.  After lunch we have lecture/lab and learn about different types of medical devices we'll be encountering in the hospitals and how to do basic troubleshooting/repair of these types of equipment.  This goes on for about 4 hours.  By the time it is 4:30 pm we're ready to head out and crash/hangout/do whatever till dinner.  This is the typical schedule from 8 am to 4:30 pm - with awesome lunches and chai breaks in between.  

Between that Wednesday and Friday, it was a combination of intense language/medical equipment repair classes and visits to low-key "bars," hanging out with other EWHers, and spending time with my host family.  My host family is a simple but interesting family.  Both parents have had children from previous marriages and have 2-3 children from their current marriage.  The oldest one in the house at the moment is Mikaya who is around 13 years of age.  He is a wicked dancer and will jam to Akon (and the like) frequently.  It seems as if Michael Jackson is his idol (very legit).  Their 5 year old grandson Jo also lives in the house and is the most wonderful little boy who communicates through non-verbal means with my roommate and I.  Everyday when we get home we look forward to playing with him and practicing our Swahili with him while he practices his English with us.  During dinner, he also tends to entertain us with his odd but picky food choices.  His favorite foods: chappati, rice, banana (ndizi), and spaghetti.  I enjoy the meals my host mother prepares for us, though.  A lot of vegetables, a lot of roots, and sometimes a meat dish.  I find that meat can be quite expensive hear - along with certain vegetables.  

I'm getting sleepy now...I shall complete this on Monday...promiseeee...bye for now!! :)

Officially One Week Before EWH Trip!!!

I couldn't resist...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX07j9SDFcc

It is officially T-7 days till I leave for my summer trip to Tanzania.  I will be there June and July participating in the Duke Engineering World Health Summer Institute with about 24 Duke and non-Duke students.

Agenda for Two Months:

Month 1 - language classes in Swahili and classes in medical equipment repair.
Month 2 - working in assigned hospital assessing the hospital's needs, taking inventory, helping in repairing medical equipment, etc.

This is hopefully what I will be seeing outside my window for the next two months:

and this....

Follow my blog this summer and see photos, read stories, and learn more about Tanzania! I promise my future posts will be way more interesting than this. :)