Well, not much in terms of class here. Everyone is just kind of wandering around waiting for classes to actually start, but they never seem to. We are excited though because tonight we're going to the house of a couple we met at church and they told us they were going to make us Mexican! My favorite. I can't wait. I also had exciting news that my brother in law, Brian, was awarded the best composition in an ACDA competition- a huge award! His piece will be performed in Sioux Falls in March, and who knows, maybe my choir will be able to perform it because we will be there already performing. Fun news in SoDak.
Well, the news about our trip continues...and it gets crazy. We tried to leave Zambia and had some problems. When we entered the country they stamped our passports and asked how long we were going to stay. We were not all together at the time so Bre and I said two weeks to be on the safe side, but Anna and Lindsey said one week. Well, we had been there 8 days because of the slow buses and the border guard said we had to pay money to get out of the country. Bre kind of took over and was arguing with him and bartering and finally we gave him 10,000 Tsh, about 10 dollars, to give us the exit stamp. The funny part though is that he probably won't be able to use it because the schilling is a closed currency which means bureaus and banks cannot exchange for it outside of Tanzania. We were happy to leave Zambia though and enter Malawi, where more adventures law ahead.
We took a bus to Lilongwe where we quickly found the bus going to Mzuzu, near Nkhata Bay, our destination. Unfortunately, the bus to Mzuzu would not leave until it was full...and we sat, and sat...and sat. It was joto sana (very hot) and despite the bus being quite crowded, it was not all the way full so we just sat there frying, as our anger boiled with the temperature. After 2 and a half hours, and seller was leaning in the windown, and reached into my shirt pocket and grabbed 100 Malawian Kwacha. I freaked out. I swung my arm around to try to grab him, but I hit the window which slid back, picking the lady's arm behind me. I was mad I was pickpocketed! For the first time in my life, I think I actually wanted to deck someone. I just wanted to chase after him but I was pinned in the bus, roasting. We finally left after about 3 and a half hours and had a six hour bus ride in a minibus carrying roughly 30 people.
Because of the long wait we arrived in Mzuzu at dark and the buses to our destination, Nkhata Bay where no longer running. We got a cab and finally confinced him to accept US dollars because we didn't have enough Kwacha...but it was the ride from hell. We realized about half way there that this guy didn't have any breaks. He was using his parking break to stop and was going about 30 mph the whole way. As we finally reached Nkhata Bay, he didn't know where to go and was trying to turn around when his parking break failed and we backed right into a cement pillar. His car was dented in and at the same moment as he was in the middle of the intersection trying to start his car with the help of 10 people pushing, the Malawian police drove up, swerving at the last minute to avoid us. Everyone told him to just drive away and he floored it, but soon told us he couldn't take us to the Backpacker's Lodge because he couldn't make it up the hill. We just got out and walked about 2km with the help of two guys (one of them named Smart!) who walked us to the Lodge. It felt great to get there and when we arrived there was a party going on with a circus type guy doing tricks. We sat down and enjoyed and actually ran into a Swede and Norwegian we had met a week before in Zambia. I chatted a bit with them in Norwegian and then headed to bed.
We woke up the next morning to finally see our surroundings in the day light and they were amazing. We were right on Lake Malawi which is huge and looks like an ocean. The water was clear with neon blue fish swimming around and the place we were staying: heavenly. Amazing food, including pancakes in the morning, and hammocks and chairs everywhere for reading and napping. The next 3 days or so were pretty much lazy. Reading, sleeping, and playing chess with Anna. Even at night we could look out on the lake and see the fishermen who put lanterns in their boats to attract the fish...it looked like stars on the water.
Bre and I did try to change money in Mzuzu unsuccessfully. Traveller's Checks should be called stay at home checks because they don't take them anywhere! We had lots of fun at Nkhata Bay and met a crazy group of South Africans who were on holiday in Malawi. These stereotypical cocky, buff, south africans definitely made our time at the lodge funny. The last day in Nkhata Bay was also entertaining because I decided to get my hair dredded! It was the most painful thing I think I've ever done. One hour of constant pulling, knotting, and applying hot wax. What do you think? You'll have to check out the picture! Malawi Pictures
Bre, Lindsey, and I were getting excited to come back so we packed up the next day and went as far as Mbeya in one day. We had more problems at the border because they didn't want to let Bre in because she didn't have her residency permit stamped in her passport, but once again her diplomatic skills got us in, this time without money. I rode all the way to Mbeya next to a chicken too! Yeah, just on the bus, the lady next to me had her chicken wrapped up like a baby, and it slept like a baby. Occasionally given a gobble when we would hit a bump...just a regular sight in TZ. Mbeya was not the best. A guy attempted to pickpocket me but Lindsey and Bre were there to give the guy and shove and get him out of my pockets...needless to say we were ready the next morning at 5:30am to leave, although Lindsey got sick before the trip making us wish we could teleport back. I got off before the girls in Morogoro, a town about 2 hours from Dar, and stayed with a friend named Ayubuh who I met at the University. I had a great time at his house meeting his family and making sandwiches for them! They didn't know what sandwiches were so I made they a wide variety with goods from the market. I think they liked PB and J best. Then I traveled back to Dar and arrived Saturday afternoon about 4pm. It felt great to see the familiar Dala Dala's and to know what the price should be for everything. Back to Tanzania Pictures
Well, that's the travel adventures...kind of long winded, but entertaining. It's hard to describe everything but hopefully the combination of words and pictures will help. Enjoy the pics and the beginning of October tomorrow! Cheers!
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Sunday, September 28, 2003
We're back! We survived our journey to Victoria Falls and Malawi, and despite hours of travel, bribing border guards, and pickpocketing, we had a great time.
The trip started on the Tazara train: a very slow passenger train that took us from Dar all the way to Kapiri Moshi, Zambia. Bre, Anna, Lindsey and I from our program and Gerard, Stacey, and Meredith (Americans on a different program) also joined us. Along the way we were able to see the changing Tanzanian landscape from dry grassland to hilly green areas in the west. We had quite an experience with Tse-Tse flies. These flies have a vicious bite and a small number carry african sleeping sickness: a serious illness that makes you, well, sleep forever as the train attendant informed us when we asked what the insect was. Bre got one in her skirt and was bit numerous times while Lindsey and I both had a few random bites. We watched for symptoms though and all of us are still awake. You can check out the pics of our train travels and our first class apartment that we were in for about 40 hours, including two nights. We became quite attached to our vinyl beds I think! Tazara Train Pics
After our arrival in Kapiri Moshi we started our bus adventures. We took a small mini-bus about 2 hours to the capital of Zambia, Lusaka where we spent the night at a great backpacker's hostel called Chachacha's. When we arrived there though, they were full so we stayed in tents on their lawn. Worth both dollars we paid I'd say! We were rejuvenated with their great food and the next morning at 6am took a 10 hour bus to Livingstone, Zambia which is next to Victoria Falls.
We had a great time in Livingstone. We stayed at another cheap, fun backpacker's place called Fawlty Towers. We had so much fun at these places because you stay in bunk beds in a room with people from all over the world. We met a cool Australia, a Dutchman, and a group of British kayakers. It was so fun sharing travel stories, tips, and places to go with people who like us, loved to travel! We visited the Falls which were incredible. On the way, we had to wait about 20 minutes while elephants crossed the road! Then we arrived at the falls and there was spray everywhere, definitely living up to the local name that translates to "the water that smokes" or something like that. It was very humbling to see this amazing site and to think that we were in Africa, a weird realization of the obvious. It was also hilarious because at the same time, there was the world's strongest man competition in Zambia, so all these "world's strongest men" were at the falls. The strongest men looking at the strongest waterfall...an ironic site for sure. You can check out the pics and see how amazing the falls, they do little to justify the beautiful, but can say what I cannot describe: God's awesome creation. Victoria Falls
Our best adventure in Livingstone was whitewater rafting. We left our place at 8am, ate a good African breakfast of beans, bread, and tea and then headed to the water. The river was the Zambezi and is rated 5 out of 6, with 6 being impassable, so this was a serious river to raft! In fact, on the first rapid, we couldn't get over it and finally we paddled hard and our raft hit the rock and flipped! I was flung from the raft into the water and was probably under for about 5 secs which felt like a life time. I seriously thought I was good. I was panting when I finally found the surface and thought, 22 more of these! Well, I recovered and had a good time. We had a great guide who wasn't afraid to hit the rapids full speed. We all fell out 4 times our of 23 and our arms, lungs, and hearts were quite tired when we finally reached the end. We had a great time, saw great scenary, and even stopped in Zimbabwe for lunch (on the other side of the river). After living through whitewater rafting, we took a safer adventure the next day on a bike tour. It was amazing. A local guy who called himself the "local cowboy" because of his specially made straw cowboy hat biked us around the Zambezi. Along the way we had to stop because elephants were once again in our path. we also saw giraffees, crocodilles, and huge spiders before heading to the best part of the trip, a local village. He took us to a village where he had friends and we came in the midst of a traditional dance/song/game where someone dressed as a ghost type person chases kids and collects money that is then given to someone in the village. The only way the kids can keep him away is to sing to make him dance. We saw this awesome site as a oddly dressed character grooved to about 20 Zambian kids singing at the top of their lungs. Then, we went to a school in the town that the "local cowboy" supports with a portion of the money he makes. The school is for vulnerable children and orphans and it was very humbling. There was one lady essentially volunteering her time to teach maybe 60-80 kids in a room the size of a dorm room. They sang a bunch of songs for us like "One, two three four five, once I caught a fish alive," "If you're happy and you know it," and other songs. It was very emotional to see all these kids: on one hand b/c they had such a hard life, but on the other hand because they were having the opportunity to get an education. It definitely put a human face to the work I did this summer researching HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. That was them. Zambia Pics
The rest of our time in Zambia was spent relaxing at Fawlty Towers where good food and company surrounded us. We stayed I think 4 nights before heading back to Lusaka on bus. From Lusaka we caught another 6am bus to Chipata, Zambia which is close to the border of Malawi and Zambia. We had to stay there and had fun trying to save money by having all four of us (Lindsey, Anna, Bre, and I) in a double. Very tight, but we were only there for maybe 12 hours anyways.
The story will have to continue tomorrow as I am out of time, but halfway through the journey...fun huh?! It is great to be back in Dar though and feel a little bit like we're home. We are supposed to start class tomorrow, but it is really random...we'll see if we actually find classes to attend, most people are not even here yet! It's Africa time I guess. Go Twins! Hope all are well, hope to hear from you all soon!
The trip started on the Tazara train: a very slow passenger train that took us from Dar all the way to Kapiri Moshi, Zambia. Bre, Anna, Lindsey and I from our program and Gerard, Stacey, and Meredith (Americans on a different program) also joined us. Along the way we were able to see the changing Tanzanian landscape from dry grassland to hilly green areas in the west. We had quite an experience with Tse-Tse flies. These flies have a vicious bite and a small number carry african sleeping sickness: a serious illness that makes you, well, sleep forever as the train attendant informed us when we asked what the insect was. Bre got one in her skirt and was bit numerous times while Lindsey and I both had a few random bites. We watched for symptoms though and all of us are still awake. You can check out the pics of our train travels and our first class apartment that we were in for about 40 hours, including two nights. We became quite attached to our vinyl beds I think! Tazara Train Pics
After our arrival in Kapiri Moshi we started our bus adventures. We took a small mini-bus about 2 hours to the capital of Zambia, Lusaka where we spent the night at a great backpacker's hostel called Chachacha's. When we arrived there though, they were full so we stayed in tents on their lawn. Worth both dollars we paid I'd say! We were rejuvenated with their great food and the next morning at 6am took a 10 hour bus to Livingstone, Zambia which is next to Victoria Falls.
We had a great time in Livingstone. We stayed at another cheap, fun backpacker's place called Fawlty Towers. We had so much fun at these places because you stay in bunk beds in a room with people from all over the world. We met a cool Australia, a Dutchman, and a group of British kayakers. It was so fun sharing travel stories, tips, and places to go with people who like us, loved to travel! We visited the Falls which were incredible. On the way, we had to wait about 20 minutes while elephants crossed the road! Then we arrived at the falls and there was spray everywhere, definitely living up to the local name that translates to "the water that smokes" or something like that. It was very humbling to see this amazing site and to think that we were in Africa, a weird realization of the obvious. It was also hilarious because at the same time, there was the world's strongest man competition in Zambia, so all these "world's strongest men" were at the falls. The strongest men looking at the strongest waterfall...an ironic site for sure. You can check out the pics and see how amazing the falls, they do little to justify the beautiful, but can say what I cannot describe: God's awesome creation. Victoria Falls
Our best adventure in Livingstone was whitewater rafting. We left our place at 8am, ate a good African breakfast of beans, bread, and tea and then headed to the water. The river was the Zambezi and is rated 5 out of 6, with 6 being impassable, so this was a serious river to raft! In fact, on the first rapid, we couldn't get over it and finally we paddled hard and our raft hit the rock and flipped! I was flung from the raft into the water and was probably under for about 5 secs which felt like a life time. I seriously thought I was good. I was panting when I finally found the surface and thought, 22 more of these! Well, I recovered and had a good time. We had a great guide who wasn't afraid to hit the rapids full speed. We all fell out 4 times our of 23 and our arms, lungs, and hearts were quite tired when we finally reached the end. We had a great time, saw great scenary, and even stopped in Zimbabwe for lunch (on the other side of the river). After living through whitewater rafting, we took a safer adventure the next day on a bike tour. It was amazing. A local guy who called himself the "local cowboy" because of his specially made straw cowboy hat biked us around the Zambezi. Along the way we had to stop because elephants were once again in our path. we also saw giraffees, crocodilles, and huge spiders before heading to the best part of the trip, a local village. He took us to a village where he had friends and we came in the midst of a traditional dance/song/game where someone dressed as a ghost type person chases kids and collects money that is then given to someone in the village. The only way the kids can keep him away is to sing to make him dance. We saw this awesome site as a oddly dressed character grooved to about 20 Zambian kids singing at the top of their lungs. Then, we went to a school in the town that the "local cowboy" supports with a portion of the money he makes. The school is for vulnerable children and orphans and it was very humbling. There was one lady essentially volunteering her time to teach maybe 60-80 kids in a room the size of a dorm room. They sang a bunch of songs for us like "One, two three four five, once I caught a fish alive," "If you're happy and you know it," and other songs. It was very emotional to see all these kids: on one hand b/c they had such a hard life, but on the other hand because they were having the opportunity to get an education. It definitely put a human face to the work I did this summer researching HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. That was them. Zambia Pics
The rest of our time in Zambia was spent relaxing at Fawlty Towers where good food and company surrounded us. We stayed I think 4 nights before heading back to Lusaka on bus. From Lusaka we caught another 6am bus to Chipata, Zambia which is close to the border of Malawi and Zambia. We had to stay there and had fun trying to save money by having all four of us (Lindsey, Anna, Bre, and I) in a double. Very tight, but we were only there for maybe 12 hours anyways.
The story will have to continue tomorrow as I am out of time, but halfway through the journey...fun huh?! It is great to be back in Dar though and feel a little bit like we're home. We are supposed to start class tomorrow, but it is really random...we'll see if we actually find classes to attend, most people are not even here yet! It's Africa time I guess. Go Twins! Hope all are well, hope to hear from you all soon!
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
Alright, back in the lab with a little time. If you haven't read the blog from Mon sept 8th read that first b/c i'm going to try to finish the story now....
so we were walking down the beach looking for another trail and we finally found what we thought was one, but it just took us across the island to another secluded beach. We then were very intelligent and though for sure the main beach was just around the corner, so we thought we'd just follow the beach back. Soon however, the sand again turned to coral and so we walked through the shallow water, but the water got deeper and deeper. Soon we were wading with water up to my shoulders with hard, sharp coral on our right and the ocean surf hitting us from the left. we were walking on seaweed coated coral and were trying to balance our bags on our heads while maintain our balance. it was a difficult task. The wade was a long one...maybe a mile or two, but it was great b/c we saw all these awesome caves everywhere with crabs lining the walls. I felt like a pirate or a kid from the Lord of the Flies. We continued going on, always hopeful that our destination was just around the corner. Finally, after 45 min it was around the corner and we made it back with only a few cuts and bruises (and very wet shoes!) It was fun adventure around Bongoyo Island, but one that as Mike described, was a case of the dumb things smart people do.
Well, today I found a cheap restaurant in town and had fun visiting the immigration office in Dar to get my passport stamped for residency. It was crazy, packed full of people with passports just in piles behind the desks. I thought for sure I would lose my passport and be in Tanzanian indefinitely, but they did manage to stamp it and I escaped with passport in hand. Tomorrow we have a meal at our Swahili professor's house and on Friday we head out to Zambia to see Victoria Falls. We'll board the train Friday afternoon at 3:50pm and arrive in Zambia early morning Sunday. After a few bus rides we'll end up at the Falls and probably stay there a week or so before slowly heading back via bus through Malawi. It should be another adventure. then classes start and I guess I'll have to go back to the reality of being a student, but until then I'll just be working on my swahili and enjoying the laid back, fun Tanzanian culture. That's all for now folks. I hope everyone is doing well starting school and activities. Thank you for your e-mails and letters! I will try to respond to them as soon as I can. Tutoanana.
so we were walking down the beach looking for another trail and we finally found what we thought was one, but it just took us across the island to another secluded beach. We then were very intelligent and though for sure the main beach was just around the corner, so we thought we'd just follow the beach back. Soon however, the sand again turned to coral and so we walked through the shallow water, but the water got deeper and deeper. Soon we were wading with water up to my shoulders with hard, sharp coral on our right and the ocean surf hitting us from the left. we were walking on seaweed coated coral and were trying to balance our bags on our heads while maintain our balance. it was a difficult task. The wade was a long one...maybe a mile or two, but it was great b/c we saw all these awesome caves everywhere with crabs lining the walls. I felt like a pirate or a kid from the Lord of the Flies. We continued going on, always hopeful that our destination was just around the corner. Finally, after 45 min it was around the corner and we made it back with only a few cuts and bruises (and very wet shoes!) It was fun adventure around Bongoyo Island, but one that as Mike described, was a case of the dumb things smart people do.
Well, today I found a cheap restaurant in town and had fun visiting the immigration office in Dar to get my passport stamped for residency. It was crazy, packed full of people with passports just in piles behind the desks. I thought for sure I would lose my passport and be in Tanzanian indefinitely, but they did manage to stamp it and I escaped with passport in hand. Tomorrow we have a meal at our Swahili professor's house and on Friday we head out to Zambia to see Victoria Falls. We'll board the train Friday afternoon at 3:50pm and arrive in Zambia early morning Sunday. After a few bus rides we'll end up at the Falls and probably stay there a week or so before slowly heading back via bus through Malawi. It should be another adventure. then classes start and I guess I'll have to go back to the reality of being a student, but until then I'll just be working on my swahili and enjoying the laid back, fun Tanzanian culture. That's all for now folks. I hope everyone is doing well starting school and activities. Thank you for your e-mails and letters! I will try to respond to them as soon as I can. Tutoanana.
Monday, September 8, 2003
A crazy fun weekend in Dar! On Saturday Bre, Erin, Anna, a guy named Mike, and I headed to a small island off the tip of the Msasani Penisula in Dar. The best way to explain it is that Dar es Salaam is like a backwards J and at the very tip of the bottom of the J is the Slipway. This I think comes from the British term for slip-away b/c it literally is: it's like a mini-America in Dar. We wen to the Slipway and caught a 30 min boat ride to Bongoyo Island. It was beautiful! Blue green water, a nice ocean surf, sail boats and dhows (Tanzanian sailboats in the Bay) and of course sun and sand. Well, the five of us lathered on the sunblock and hit the water. After about an hour Anna, Mike, and I decided to go exploring on the island. Most of the island is forest with a few trails so we started on the trail and walked over dead sharp coral that formed the island and eventually found a great secluded beach on the other side. We sat down and ate our lunch of bread and cheese that we bought at the Americanish grocery store (and I farted the whole day from the cheese which I haven't had since I left home!) and chatted politics. After awhile we left and decided to walk down the beach adn try to find another trail...well, things got hairy....unfortunately, I'm being kicked out of the lab! OK, I'm going to leave you on the edge of your seats. You can see a little preview though. I put some new pics on the web. They're from a swim meet on campus and a trip last weekend to jinogwoni and the trip to bongoyo. enjoy!
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32e0154a48d
Beach Pics in TZ
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32e0154a48d
Beach Pics in TZ
Tuesday, September 2, 2003
A beautifully cool day in Dar today and it has been a great past couple days here. Saturday I had a rough day after an all day unsuccessful visit to town. I went to exchange traveller's cheques, but hit a brick wall in terms of service. the banks here close at noon, which I knew, so I got to the bank at 11:30am to get my money, but the Tanzanians said cashing checks took too long and they were already closing. I tried to argue in Swahili tonly to hit blanks. To compensate for the bad experience a few of the girls and I found an italian restaurant. It's been our mission in dar, to seek out and find the best restaurants. They are all generally cheap and always a relief from rice and beans. Sunday was great fun because we went to the beach! It was a beautiful blue with a warm sun and security guards so we could feel safe on the beach. We all chilled on chairs and I read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" which was kind of fun 10 years later. That evening we went to church and of course stuffed our faces with the free potluck style food after the service. I think Anna and I ate a half loaf of banana bread after the service. Yesterday was also a great day. I finally got money in town and also found an ATM that accepts my card! It only took one month. It was great too because on the way I found the only Subway in Tanzania and found the prices quite reasonable, only 2200 shillings for a 6inch meatball. I know where our next getaway is! Also, we are finalizing trip plans for our vacation. Our plan right now is to take the train two days west to Zambia and visit Victoria Falls! So if anyone has any hotel tips or things to do let me know! I met a German in Dar yesterday who told me bungee jumping is only $50...I might just have to do it to put the pressure on bekah to bungee while she is in New Zealand!
Today we started teaching again and we taught writing a letter. Bre who teaches with me has some kids in America to do the penpal thing with our class so we tried to write a letter which went quite. It was fun because we told them Pat Meyer's theory of writing 3 ideas and then we wanted to reinforce question words which they just learned. So they would write, I have three brothers and four sisters. Do you have three brothers and four sisters? They probably should be penpals with 1st graders and not 6th graders but it was fun.
Nothing big planned this week, but Friday we are going to a party/dinner put on by this guy named Zano who hangs out at campus. He works at the French Embassy as a chef and is cooking the meal for us! I'm excited! We take Swahili until the 12th of September and then have two weeks off before we start class at the end of September. We'll see how entering the real classroom goes. I'm a bit apprehensive.
I'm off now to see how the twins are doing and to reply to fun e-mail from Bekah. I received a package today from my mom with supplies which should get me through the rest of the trip! The funniest thing was holding the newspaper. I didn't realize the papers here were so oversized until I held up the argus leader and felt like I wasn't holding anything! But more news later. In the meantime check Anna's site which has more details on the trip:
annaosterbur.blogspot.com
Today we started teaching again and we taught writing a letter. Bre who teaches with me has some kids in America to do the penpal thing with our class so we tried to write a letter which went quite. It was fun because we told them Pat Meyer's theory of writing 3 ideas and then we wanted to reinforce question words which they just learned. So they would write, I have three brothers and four sisters. Do you have three brothers and four sisters? They probably should be penpals with 1st graders and not 6th graders but it was fun.
Nothing big planned this week, but Friday we are going to a party/dinner put on by this guy named Zano who hangs out at campus. He works at the French Embassy as a chef and is cooking the meal for us! I'm excited! We take Swahili until the 12th of September and then have two weeks off before we start class at the end of September. We'll see how entering the real classroom goes. I'm a bit apprehensive.
I'm off now to see how the twins are doing and to reply to fun e-mail from Bekah. I received a package today from my mom with supplies which should get me through the rest of the trip! The funniest thing was holding the newspaper. I didn't realize the papers here were so oversized until I held up the argus leader and felt like I wasn't holding anything! But more news later. In the meantime check Anna's site which has more details on the trip:
annaosterbur.blogspot.com
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