***Continuation of last posting: Maddening Malady - see below***
If you know me, you know I love NPR. One of my favorite radio shows is Intelligence squared, which is an oxford style debate series that chooses a topic and has scholars and experts professionally debate (as compared to the unprofessional shows, such as Bill O'Reily or Rush Limbaugh, that mainly feature yelling and name calling). One debate I hadn't listened to yet was titled "Is aid to Africa doing more harm then good?" This seemed extremely applicable so I started to listen. Before I listened to the debate I thought the answer was obvious- NO, of course not, aid to Africa is a very good thing, we need to do all we can to help impoverished people, right? But I soon changed my mind.
The main debater who thought that aid to Africa was doing more harm then good was George Ayittey. George Ayittey is a native African, President of the Free Africa foundation, and one of the greatest African scholars on earth. I think he was recently voted among the top ten intellectuals of 2008 by TIME magazine. This took me by surprise- why was one of the biggest advocates for social justice saying that the aid to Africa is doing more harm then good? I soon found out.
Here are some facts that I either knew ahead of time, learned from the debate, or found out (and verified) after brief research:
Africa receives about $25 billion/year in aid from all sources combined.
Even though that seems like a large number, the estimated cost for money lost in Africa due to corruption, theft, destruction, war, etc. is $148 billion!
80% of American aid to Africa is spent IN AMERICA. 90% of Chinese aid to Africa is spent in China and only Chinese resources and workers are used.
______
So often we believe that the money we donate from abroad goes to the people who need it. I'm as guilty as the next guy, I was living in the fantasy that my money automatically helps lift people out of poverty. But it doesn't. And some organizations don't actually fix the real problem. For example...One activity Wartburg is doing again this year is Feed My Starving Children. This organization brings in massive amounts of rice, vegetables, vitamin powder, etc. and volunteers raise money for the ingredients and come in shifts to package individual meals. Last year we had thousands of volunteers and packages something like 100,000 meals. While this is a great program and is desperately needed for some parts of Africa, it is essentially (in my opinion) just putting a band aid on the problem. It is a temporary fix that only gets the starving people from one pre-packaged meal to the next.
Only 16 of the 54 African countries are democratic. So if you donate through an African government program, or a charity that gives the money to a government program, there is no promise that the dictator or aristocracy won't absorb the money and use it to fuel violence or their own sinful greed. Also, many American charities only donate about 50% of the funds they receive. The rest goes toward 'administrative' and 'managerial' fees. Does that make you as sick as it makes me?!
Overall our aid to Africa system is a bust and needs to be revised. It feels good to just throw money in the offering plate and continue one with our lives. But make sure you know where your money is going. The three most important areas to donate to are, in the professional's opinions, - health, education, and infrastructure.
Health - this is more then mosquito nets and condoms. With 1 in 5 African's infected AIDS/HIV the need for anti-retrovirals is overwhelming. This also includes things like modern machines and technology for doctors to use.
Education- People can't help themselves if they don't have an education. As a Lutheran, my religion has a strong heritage of promoting education. Martin Luther believed that everyone should be able to read and write, so at the very least they could study the Bible. Every major study done by reputable organizations shows that when literacy rates go up, every other positive aspect of life improves with it.
Infrastructure- As mentioned early, only 16 of 54 African countries are democratic. Every civics class teaches us that our most important right as American citizens is our right to choose our leaders in a democratic fashion. If people can't vote, they can't do much else. We need to seek out peaceful diplomatic solutions to establish democracy.
Overall, this is a lot of big talk on my part. But I just became so enraged when I realized how far down in the crapper our charitable organizations are. Just one more thought:
I believe the number one killer in the world is not famine, hunger, aids, heart disease, or cancer. I think it is ignorance. We abuse our bodies, our souls, each other, and the earth when we disregard the truth and choose to sit in ignorance inside Plato's cave. People who were born white and in America often choose ignorance daily by believing everyone is given the same opportunities as them. Some even act under this false belief by not helping those in need while defending their greed by explaining that hardworking people can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Christians- Jesus calls us to be servants to our neighbor. Give thanks for what you have by giving to those who have not.
Okay... I'm getting off my soap box... wow, I've been up here a while...
On a personal note -
Low: Even though my stomach is settled, I'm still physically weak from not eating and I am pretty tired.
High: Had another Swahili test today, did pretty well.
Have a great day! The first step toward change is knowledge and advocacy. Take this information with you and pass it on to friends, family, that strange guy in the coffee shoppe that smells like fish... whoever, just do it.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A Maddening Malady
For the past two days I have been pretty sick. I'm not sure what I had but it wasn't pretty. I know it wasn't malaria or cholera because (a) I was tested and it came back negative and (b) I'm feeling fine now! I actually just had my first meal in two days. I'm glad I was able to keep it down because I was getting a little loopy from lack of sustenance. My lips hurt pretty bad though, they are all chapped and bleeding because I couldn't even keep down water. Actually, I couldn't even keep down chewable pepto, it was awful. But I don't know if it was worse for me or Kim... apparently Kim (who hopes to be a DOCTOR some day) almost throws up whenever you talk about puking. I think she might have died if she actually saw me throw up.
It all started yesterday at breakfast; I had just sat down with piece of bread with jam and two hard boiled eggs when I started feeling a little weird. I thought nothing of it and went through the laborious process of de-shelling my hard boiled eggs. For some reason the eggs here have super sticky shells and that strange little white skin between the shell and the egg is really thick. Needless to say I was really looking forward to savoring the fruits of my labor, even though they were, in fact, eggs. I took one bite and had to run out of the dinning hall. I didn't even make it to my room before I puked.
*power outage... 24 hours later*
Well there was another power outage so I was unable to journal. It is now Thursday. But back to being sick... After getting sick after breakfast I felt a little better so I decided I was ok to go to Swahili class. Turns out that was a mistake, about 15 minutes into class I needed to find a bucket, and quick. I said to my teacher, Omega, "I am going to be sick, where is the bathroom?". I don't think he understood what I was saying and somehow in my ailing disposition I remembered, "Najisikia mgonjwa" (I feel sick in Swahili). He then understood me and asked one of the teachers something in Swahili. "I AM GOING TO BE SICK, WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?" I insisted, but Omega was still unaware of the urgency of the situation. He continued asking the other teacher something, I think they were determining which bathroom I should go to. Kim, not wanting to see me throw up, yelled, "AUDRY, WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?" Audry is one of the Canadian students in the cabana right next to us. I got up and walked in the direction Audry pointed. At seeing me move, Omega then realized that I meant I was going to be sick RIGHT NOW! He then proceeded to lead me to the bathroom, which was a very, very, long distance away in a sort of an office area. I somehow made it to the bathroom before I threw up. Looking back it was quite comical, but at the time it was very miserable situation. After giving my vomit sacrifice to the porcelain goddess I took a quick malaria test and went back to my room to lie down.
I spent the first half of my sick day on one side of my bed, pressed against the wall in the fetal position, listening to my ipod. Then my ipod ran out of battery. I was so angry that my ipod, my only source of comfort on this God forsaken continent, gave out on me. I felt like Jonah, cursing God for destroying my happy little vine, wishing I could die.
But after I threw up a few more times I started to feel significantly better. My mood improved dramatically, I was no longer cursing God or Africa, and I was able to release myself from the fetal position. I summoned the energy to walk across my 10' room to plug in my ipod and I got some reading done. At noon Audry came back with my malaria results, thank God they were negative! By that time my ipod was fully charged and I listened to some NPR shows I downloaded.
It all started yesterday at breakfast; I had just sat down with piece of bread with jam and two hard boiled eggs when I started feeling a little weird. I thought nothing of it and went through the laborious process of de-shelling my hard boiled eggs. For some reason the eggs here have super sticky shells and that strange little white skin between the shell and the egg is really thick. Needless to say I was really looking forward to savoring the fruits of my labor, even though they were, in fact, eggs. I took one bite and had to run out of the dinning hall. I didn't even make it to my room before I puked.
*power outage... 24 hours later*
Well there was another power outage so I was unable to journal. It is now Thursday. But back to being sick... After getting sick after breakfast I felt a little better so I decided I was ok to go to Swahili class. Turns out that was a mistake, about 15 minutes into class I needed to find a bucket, and quick. I said to my teacher, Omega, "I am going to be sick, where is the bathroom?". I don't think he understood what I was saying and somehow in my ailing disposition I remembered, "Najisikia mgonjwa" (I feel sick in Swahili). He then understood me and asked one of the teachers something in Swahili. "I AM GOING TO BE SICK, WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?" I insisted, but Omega was still unaware of the urgency of the situation. He continued asking the other teacher something, I think they were determining which bathroom I should go to. Kim, not wanting to see me throw up, yelled, "AUDRY, WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?" Audry is one of the Canadian students in the cabana right next to us. I got up and walked in the direction Audry pointed. At seeing me move, Omega then realized that I meant I was going to be sick RIGHT NOW! He then proceeded to lead me to the bathroom, which was a very, very, long distance away in a sort of an office area. I somehow made it to the bathroom before I threw up. Looking back it was quite comical, but at the time it was very miserable situation. After giving my vomit sacrifice to the porcelain goddess I took a quick malaria test and went back to my room to lie down.
I spent the first half of my sick day on one side of my bed, pressed against the wall in the fetal position, listening to my ipod. Then my ipod ran out of battery. I was so angry that my ipod, my only source of comfort on this God forsaken continent, gave out on me. I felt like Jonah, cursing God for destroying my happy little vine, wishing I could die.
But after I threw up a few more times I started to feel significantly better. My mood improved dramatically, I was no longer cursing God or Africa, and I was able to release myself from the fetal position. I summoned the energy to walk across my 10' room to plug in my ipod and I got some reading done. At noon Audry came back with my malaria results, thank God they were negative! By that time my ipod was fully charged and I listened to some NPR shows I downloaded.
Monday, January 26, 2009
I Bless The Rains Down In Africa...
The rainy season is upon us!
Yesterday there was a short rain while we visited a village called Parakuyo Mgudeni (I'll talk more about Parakuyo later). I thought it was just a fluke, but it rained all morning today. The natives assure me it was no fluke and it will probably rain every day until I leave! And let me tell you... when it rains, IT RAINS! Huge giant mutant water wads that come crashing down physically killing the giant mutant bugs. I found 10 dead millipedes today, death by liquid impact. And the water already broke my Blue Cross Blue Shield Umbrella! But that's OK, the rain is also a blessing because it really cools the earth down. It is like my perfect summer temperature. Meanwhile everyone else is shivering in their long sleeves and sweaters. Sister Meredith was actually so cold she moved from her study cabana to the inside classrooms. It is roughly 75/80 degrees. If this is too cold for them now, I would hate to see them in June during their winter. It probably gets down to 65 degrees... geeze, I hope they don't get hypothermia. (yes I'm being snarky)
But yesterday we visited the village Parakuyo Mgudeni. It started off like any other village visit. Arrival - gawking children - SIT DOWN - tea and fried dough - waiting around - start service. But during one of the choir performance a women had an evil spirit posses her! She started screaming and hitting the people around her. She then flopped on the floor and started writhing in pain. It took 6 people to pin her down and carry her out of the church. After that the service resumed, but from my seat by the window I was able to see the exorcism. She went on screaming, hitting, and writhing for a good 15 minutes. The people around her tried to control her and started to pray over her. And then... it was gone. Mid-flail she just stopped, got up, looked around confused, and asked what was going on. She honestly didn't know what had happened. They explained to her that she had been possessed and brought her back into the church. After that she was fine- she sang in the choir, had communion, and bought some soap at the auction. Now I was very skeptical of things like possessions before I came but this looked REALLY REALLY GENUINE! All I can say is that the mind is a very powerful thing and the spirit is a very powerful force. The image of her crying, screaming, and hitting her children and friends around her will stay with me for the rest of my life.
After the service the auction went great. I bought a gift for my friend Michelle (you'll have to wait 3 months to find out what it is Michelle... sorry). The meal was really good. We, once again, had to eat with our hands. I'm getting pretty good at it, and I only dropped about half my meal this time. The first time I ate with my hands, in Choza, I barely got any food into my mouth.
Well that's about all that has happened the past few days. I had a great Swahili lesson this afternoon and I'm looking forward to tomorrow!
Low: After the morning rain it heats up and the humidity increases. By about 4:00 I die a slow, painful, moist death. Ironically, all the African's take off their sweaters and enjoy the weather.
High: Even though I have passed the "honeymoon" phase of my trip (where absolutely EVERYTHING seems magical and wonderful with unicorns and rainbows and kitten kisses and lollipops... etc) and I sort of fell into the depressive reality phase, I'm still doing pretty well. I'm able to focus on Swahili and keep a pretty positive attitude. But I honestly couldn't do it without all your support. Thank you so much for the e-mails, blog comments, facebook chats, letters, everything! Keep em coming! Love ya!
Yesterday there was a short rain while we visited a village called Parakuyo Mgudeni (I'll talk more about Parakuyo later). I thought it was just a fluke, but it rained all morning today. The natives assure me it was no fluke and it will probably rain every day until I leave! And let me tell you... when it rains, IT RAINS! Huge giant mutant water wads that come crashing down physically killing the giant mutant bugs. I found 10 dead millipedes today, death by liquid impact. And the water already broke my Blue Cross Blue Shield Umbrella! But that's OK, the rain is also a blessing because it really cools the earth down. It is like my perfect summer temperature. Meanwhile everyone else is shivering in their long sleeves and sweaters. Sister Meredith was actually so cold she moved from her study cabana to the inside classrooms. It is roughly 75/80 degrees. If this is too cold for them now, I would hate to see them in June during their winter. It probably gets down to 65 degrees... geeze, I hope they don't get hypothermia. (yes I'm being snarky)
But yesterday we visited the village Parakuyo Mgudeni. It started off like any other village visit. Arrival - gawking children - SIT DOWN - tea and fried dough - waiting around - start service. But during one of the choir performance a women had an evil spirit posses her! She started screaming and hitting the people around her. She then flopped on the floor and started writhing in pain. It took 6 people to pin her down and carry her out of the church. After that the service resumed, but from my seat by the window I was able to see the exorcism. She went on screaming, hitting, and writhing for a good 15 minutes. The people around her tried to control her and started to pray over her. And then... it was gone. Mid-flail she just stopped, got up, looked around confused, and asked what was going on. She honestly didn't know what had happened. They explained to her that she had been possessed and brought her back into the church. After that she was fine- she sang in the choir, had communion, and bought some soap at the auction. Now I was very skeptical of things like possessions before I came but this looked REALLY REALLY GENUINE! All I can say is that the mind is a very powerful thing and the spirit is a very powerful force. The image of her crying, screaming, and hitting her children and friends around her will stay with me for the rest of my life.
After the service the auction went great. I bought a gift for my friend Michelle (you'll have to wait 3 months to find out what it is Michelle... sorry). The meal was really good. We, once again, had to eat with our hands. I'm getting pretty good at it, and I only dropped about half my meal this time. The first time I ate with my hands, in Choza, I barely got any food into my mouth.
Well that's about all that has happened the past few days. I had a great Swahili lesson this afternoon and I'm looking forward to tomorrow!
Low: After the morning rain it heats up and the humidity increases. By about 4:00 I die a slow, painful, moist death. Ironically, all the African's take off their sweaters and enjoy the weather.
High: Even though I have passed the "honeymoon" phase of my trip (where absolutely EVERYTHING seems magical and wonderful with unicorns and rainbows and kitten kisses and lollipops... etc) and I sort of fell into the depressive reality phase, I'm still doing pretty well. I'm able to focus on Swahili and keep a pretty positive attitude. But I honestly couldn't do it without all your support. Thank you so much for the e-mails, blog comments, facebook chats, letters, everything! Keep em coming! Love ya!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Climbing the Figurative Mountain
Quitting the mountain hike was the best decision I made this trip. Omega and I wandered the streets and chatted about our two cultures. Our topics included weather, appropriate etiquette, and worldview based on culture. But after all, above culture, age, and political views, we were two guys so the conversation turned rather quickly to women. :) Omega found the concept of pick-up lines extremely hilarious. His favorite cheesy pick up lines were "I'm going to have to call the police on you, because you just stole my heart" and "if I had a dime for every time I saw someone as beautiful as you, I would have ten cents". Then we stopped at a little restaurant and had a soda.
By the way... I don't know if you know this, but I'm white. I mean I always knew that, but it never really hit me until today. I felt like I was walking through the streets of Morogoro ringing a bell and wearing a sandwich board that said "HEY LOOK AT ME!". It was very unsettling, I don't think I could have handled the streets of Morogoro by myself. Thank God Omega was with me. We had a great conversation and I think I have the strongest connection to him then anyone else here in Tanzania.
That is ironic since I came here expecting to build great friendships with PH and Kim. Kim is extremely competitive and, quite frankly, I do not enjoy her company. She is highly critical of everything I say and is constantly comparing our experience to John's experiences. Now I don't know John (Kim's boyfriend) but I'm sure he's a great guy. I have heard wonderful things about him from Kim, PH, Audry, and other Wartburg Students. He came to Tanzania last year and had a great time. But Kim is ALWAYS saying stuff like, "Well John did this, I want to do that", "John bought something like that, I want to buy that too", or an example from today, "John climbed the mountain, but I love to hike and I'm sure I'll be faster then him". She just needs to experience the beauty that is Tanzania for herself. Its not right to constantly compare yourself to other people, our differences are what makes us special! Kim also has the amazing habit of putting her ever growing foot into her even larger mouth, and she is the first to admit that for some reason. I'm not saying she is offensive to the native people here, she is very culturally sensitive. But she is highly critical of me and the other Americans here. She often will say something rude or offensive to me, then feel bad for saying it, and then instead of apologizing will go through point by point of why what she said wasn't rude. She need to learn to quit while she's ahead. ... I just realized I have spent a lot of time talking about my disappointments with Kim. I guess I just needed to vent. But overall we get along fine, we make a great Swahili team, and we both enjoy scholarly discussion about topics we both enjoy.
As for PH, well he is an extraordinary man. He is very kind and friendly and extremely knowledgeable. He is unlike any person I have ever met before. But he is very busy and I don't foresee any sort of non-professor-student friendship coming out of this. But that fine, it just happens to leave me high and dry without an American confidant.
But back to the story, Omega and I had a great time. I really enjoyed our conversations. I don't think I've ever talked to an American I didn't know very well the way Omega and I talked. Its nice to find someone who is genuinely interested in your opinion and when I ask him questions he is genuine in his answers as well. So often in American our conversations consist of one person speaking and the next person just waiting to speak next.
Once we decided we were going to head back, we walked to the taxi station. Then, we changed our minds and decided a dala-dala would be more fun and culturally interesting. These dala-dalas (also mentioned in my 3rd blog entry) were just crammed with people. After my row filled up the dala-dala guy started loading cargo into the isle, then people sat on it, then people sat on other people. Overall, in a large van built to comfortably hold 10 people,there was about 20. Next to me was a one armed man who knew a little English and asked me about Barack Obama. And across from me/ontop of me was a mother and her little girl. I was able to ask the little girl how she was doing and what her name was, but she was too shy. But after Omega bought her a lollipop she started to open up and talk. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand her... she had a lollipop in her mouth.
After we got back, I showered, read, studied Swahili, and spent some alone time. It was great because normally you are just surrounded by people here. I am very happy Omega and I turned around on the mountain. The girls who went on the full hike came back cranky, sore, and sunburnt. Later that night, we watched the Lion King. It was really fun watching it with Africans because they could tell us if any of the words meant anything (i.e. simba = lion, rafiki= friend, etc.). Overall, it was a very good day.
By the way... I don't know if you know this, but I'm white. I mean I always knew that, but it never really hit me until today. I felt like I was walking through the streets of Morogoro ringing a bell and wearing a sandwich board that said "HEY LOOK AT ME!". It was very unsettling, I don't think I could have handled the streets of Morogoro by myself. Thank God Omega was with me. We had a great conversation and I think I have the strongest connection to him then anyone else here in Tanzania.
That is ironic since I came here expecting to build great friendships with PH and Kim. Kim is extremely competitive and, quite frankly, I do not enjoy her company. She is highly critical of everything I say and is constantly comparing our experience to John's experiences. Now I don't know John (Kim's boyfriend) but I'm sure he's a great guy. I have heard wonderful things about him from Kim, PH, Audry, and other Wartburg Students. He came to Tanzania last year and had a great time. But Kim is ALWAYS saying stuff like, "Well John did this, I want to do that", "John bought something like that, I want to buy that too", or an example from today, "John climbed the mountain, but I love to hike and I'm sure I'll be faster then him". She just needs to experience the beauty that is Tanzania for herself. Its not right to constantly compare yourself to other people, our differences are what makes us special! Kim also has the amazing habit of putting her ever growing foot into her even larger mouth, and she is the first to admit that for some reason. I'm not saying she is offensive to the native people here, she is very culturally sensitive. But she is highly critical of me and the other Americans here. She often will say something rude or offensive to me, then feel bad for saying it, and then instead of apologizing will go through point by point of why what she said wasn't rude. She need to learn to quit while she's ahead. ... I just realized I have spent a lot of time talking about my disappointments with Kim. I guess I just needed to vent. But overall we get along fine, we make a great Swahili team, and we both enjoy scholarly discussion about topics we both enjoy.
As for PH, well he is an extraordinary man. He is very kind and friendly and extremely knowledgeable. He is unlike any person I have ever met before. But he is very busy and I don't foresee any sort of non-professor-student friendship coming out of this. But that fine, it just happens to leave me high and dry without an American confidant.
But back to the story, Omega and I had a great time. I really enjoyed our conversations. I don't think I've ever talked to an American I didn't know very well the way Omega and I talked. Its nice to find someone who is genuinely interested in your opinion and when I ask him questions he is genuine in his answers as well. So often in American our conversations consist of one person speaking and the next person just waiting to speak next.
Once we decided we were going to head back, we walked to the taxi station. Then, we changed our minds and decided a dala-dala would be more fun and culturally interesting. These dala-dalas (also mentioned in my 3rd blog entry) were just crammed with people. After my row filled up the dala-dala guy started loading cargo into the isle, then people sat on it, then people sat on other people. Overall, in a large van built to comfortably hold 10 people,there was about 20. Next to me was a one armed man who knew a little English and asked me about Barack Obama. And across from me/ontop of me was a mother and her little girl. I was able to ask the little girl how she was doing and what her name was, but she was too shy. But after Omega bought her a lollipop she started to open up and talk. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand her... she had a lollipop in her mouth.
After we got back, I showered, read, studied Swahili, and spent some alone time. It was great because normally you are just surrounded by people here. I am very happy Omega and I turned around on the mountain. The girls who went on the full hike came back cranky, sore, and sunburnt. Later that night, we watched the Lion King. It was really fun watching it with Africans because they could tell us if any of the words meant anything (i.e. simba = lion, rafiki= friend, etc.). Overall, it was a very good day.
Climbing the Literal Mountain
Thursday I had another great day of Swahili lessons. We had our fist test this afternoon and I think I did pretty well. I'm really starting to love the language. One great thing about Swahili is that even if you don't understand it you can still read it. This is because consonant pronunciation almost never changes and vowels absolutely never do. This comes in especially handy when we are visiting villages, like I did on Friday.
The village was called Choza and the people were very nice. It wasn't very big, people wise, but it was huge land wise. It took us about 20 minutes to hike from the Church area to the nearest home area. We were able to go inside a house, for the first time. Maasai live very humbly. There houses are quite small, but there is plenty of room. The walls are made of mud bricks, or manure, and are reinforced with wooden branches. In the house we visited, there was a kitchen, a sitting room, and the bedroom. The kitchen had many pots and pans, a water basin, and a fire pit. The sitting room had, I think, a few chairs. It was hard to see because there were no windows except for a very small (probably 2"x2") window in the bedroom looking out over the cow pasture. I don't know what the bed was made out of, but on top there was a wooden mat of some sort, and it was very comfortable. Once we got out of the house we all sat on mats outside for a while, while PH talked to the elders. As we sat there, a flock of chickens went by and one unlucky chick walked within reaching distance of Luka. Luka grabbed it and was about to hand it to Kim when the mother hen saw what was going on and freaked out! She spread out her wings, puffed up her feathers, and charged Luka. And poor Luka, who was sitting in a very awkward position, could only roll over in defense. He let go of the chick (and by let go I mean he threw it 10 feet) and the hen backed away. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and quite surprising. I would have never expected a chicken to be so hostile.
The service was nice but the church was PACKED! The building was a large hut with a thatched palm frond roof. The bench we (Joel, Jesse, JoAnna, Kim, and myself) had to sit on was the single most uncomfortable bench I have ever sat on in my life! It was very small and hard. I had to sort of straddle Kim while a Masai boy sort of straddled me, and an elder had his legs smashed up against mine... it was awkward to say the least. We were very relieved when the service ended and we had a chance to walk around during the service auction. The after service supper consisted of rice, beans, and goat.
After the meal I went and played with the village children. Joel, JoAnna, and Jesse were too full to come and play. And Kim... well Kim doesn't like children. Whenever a child comes near she looks at them as if she is staring at an alien. She turns very cold and sort of ignores the child. Its very sad, and quite frankly a shame because most of these children already have a fear of white people and I don't think acting like she does is going to help anything. I just don't understand how someone doesn't like children. But I played with the children and had a great time! Bubbles are just an insane amount of fun. And the stickers were a hit. At first they weren't sure what the stickers were. But once they figured it out, they snatched the sheets away from me and sprinted off into the distance. By the time I finally caught one of the little girls who had taken a whole sheet, half of them were gone. Each child had, roughly, 20 stickers on them. They had stickers everywhere. On their forehead, cheeks, hands, clothes, shoes, trees, chickens... whatever.
On the way home we stopped and picked up a few mangoes and papayas for a snack later that night while we watched movies and played checkers.
This morning, we decided we were all going to go and climb the mountain behind LJS. PH drove us into town and by 9:00 we were on our way. Now I enjoy exercise, I play racquetball a few times I week, I love tennis, weightlifting is okay, blah blah blah... but if you've met me you know I'm not built for long distances. I have a body structure reminiscent of a 2008 Honda Element. Needless to say, the four hour trek up the mountain was going to be a challenge. Of course the second we got in the car Kim started complaining that we were going to slow her down. She does this a lot, and it is really starting to get on my nerves. And whenever she messes up, or slows me down, (like in Swahili lessons... cough cough) she makes some lame excuse. But back to the story... So the second we got out of the car Kim just takes off at a break neck speed. Joel, JoAnna, Jesse, Omega, Kidege, and myself look at each other like, "whoa what is she doing?". So Kidege catches up and walks (and by walks I mean sprints) with her. Meanwhile, the rest of us stay behind and have a very lovely hike. But the challenge of the mountain proved to be too great for me. After about an hour and a half I had to call it quits. I felt bad for turning around, but I didn't want to slow the girls down, they were going just a little to fast for me (at this point Kim and poor Kidege were way ahead, we couldn't even see them). Omega said he was fine with leaving so we walked back down the mountain. The walk back down was, as expected, much easier. At first we thought we were going to just wait for the bus to show up but we decided to walk into Morogoro instead.
The village was called Choza and the people were very nice. It wasn't very big, people wise, but it was huge land wise. It took us about 20 minutes to hike from the Church area to the nearest home area. We were able to go inside a house, for the first time. Maasai live very humbly. There houses are quite small, but there is plenty of room. The walls are made of mud bricks, or manure, and are reinforced with wooden branches. In the house we visited, there was a kitchen, a sitting room, and the bedroom. The kitchen had many pots and pans, a water basin, and a fire pit. The sitting room had, I think, a few chairs. It was hard to see because there were no windows except for a very small (probably 2"x2") window in the bedroom looking out over the cow pasture. I don't know what the bed was made out of, but on top there was a wooden mat of some sort, and it was very comfortable. Once we got out of the house we all sat on mats outside for a while, while PH talked to the elders. As we sat there, a flock of chickens went by and one unlucky chick walked within reaching distance of Luka. Luka grabbed it and was about to hand it to Kim when the mother hen saw what was going on and freaked out! She spread out her wings, puffed up her feathers, and charged Luka. And poor Luka, who was sitting in a very awkward position, could only roll over in defense. He let go of the chick (and by let go I mean he threw it 10 feet) and the hen backed away. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and quite surprising. I would have never expected a chicken to be so hostile.
The service was nice but the church was PACKED! The building was a large hut with a thatched palm frond roof. The bench we (Joel, Jesse, JoAnna, Kim, and myself) had to sit on was the single most uncomfortable bench I have ever sat on in my life! It was very small and hard. I had to sort of straddle Kim while a Masai boy sort of straddled me, and an elder had his legs smashed up against mine... it was awkward to say the least. We were very relieved when the service ended and we had a chance to walk around during the service auction. The after service supper consisted of rice, beans, and goat.
After the meal I went and played with the village children. Joel, JoAnna, and Jesse were too full to come and play. And Kim... well Kim doesn't like children. Whenever a child comes near she looks at them as if she is staring at an alien. She turns very cold and sort of ignores the child. Its very sad, and quite frankly a shame because most of these children already have a fear of white people and I don't think acting like she does is going to help anything. I just don't understand how someone doesn't like children. But I played with the children and had a great time! Bubbles are just an insane amount of fun. And the stickers were a hit. At first they weren't sure what the stickers were. But once they figured it out, they snatched the sheets away from me and sprinted off into the distance. By the time I finally caught one of the little girls who had taken a whole sheet, half of them were gone. Each child had, roughly, 20 stickers on them. They had stickers everywhere. On their forehead, cheeks, hands, clothes, shoes, trees, chickens... whatever.
On the way home we stopped and picked up a few mangoes and papayas for a snack later that night while we watched movies and played checkers.
This morning, we decided we were all going to go and climb the mountain behind LJS. PH drove us into town and by 9:00 we were on our way. Now I enjoy exercise, I play racquetball a few times I week, I love tennis, weightlifting is okay, blah blah blah... but if you've met me you know I'm not built for long distances. I have a body structure reminiscent of a 2008 Honda Element. Needless to say, the four hour trek up the mountain was going to be a challenge. Of course the second we got in the car Kim started complaining that we were going to slow her down. She does this a lot, and it is really starting to get on my nerves. And whenever she messes up, or slows me down, (like in Swahili lessons... cough cough) she makes some lame excuse. But back to the story... So the second we got out of the car Kim just takes off at a break neck speed. Joel, JoAnna, Jesse, Omega, Kidege, and myself look at each other like, "whoa what is she doing?". So Kidege catches up and walks (and by walks I mean sprints) with her. Meanwhile, the rest of us stay behind and have a very lovely hike. But the challenge of the mountain proved to be too great for me. After about an hour and a half I had to call it quits. I felt bad for turning around, but I didn't want to slow the girls down, they were going just a little to fast for me (at this point Kim and poor Kidege were way ahead, we couldn't even see them). Omega said he was fine with leaving so we walked back down the mountain. The walk back down was, as expected, much easier. At first we thought we were going to just wait for the bus to show up but we decided to walk into Morogoro instead.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me
It turns out my link to my pictures doesn't work for everyone. So if you do not have facebook, and the link doesn't work for you, and you would like to see some of the pictures... e-mail me @ : joshuastibb@yahoo.com., or you can respond to this posting in the comments section, or you can harass my brother until he forwards you the pictures from facebook. Have fun Derek!
Low: Super hot today and a few stomach troubles.
Hight: took my first Swahili test today and I think I did pretty well. Also, I bought some Maasai knife paintings and the ebony wood carver comes today! WOO HOO!
Low: Super hot today and a few stomach troubles.
Hight: took my first Swahili test today and I think I did pretty well. Also, I bought some Maasai knife paintings and the ebony wood carver comes today! WOO HOO!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Preaching till the cows come home...
For the past few days we have been able to visit different villages around Tanzania. On Sunday we visted a village called Luvaya. Monday we had Swahili lessons. Tuesday we visited Kivuga and we just came back from Misela.
These vists are such amazing experience for many reasons and that fact that very few outsiders are able to experience it makes my time here that much more special.
When we enter a village they greet us like Kings. The Maasai and other Tanzanians have a degree of hospitality that is completely lost in the west. We aren't a burden, they are genuinely happy to see us. Not because we bring money and gifts, that doesn't matter to them, but because we come as friends interested to see their wonderful homes and families and to worship together.
Luvaya is located just north of Dar. It is one of PH's 124 congregations... did you hear that?! 124! He tries to stop by each at least 2 times a year... you do the math. We took the main road 3/4 to dar then turned onto a secondary (dirt) road north to save time. As we rolled through the bush people had many reactions to us. Those that knew PH greeted us with warm smiles and waved. Some gawked at the site of a truck, in the bush, filled with white people. Some hid their faces. And yet some children ran away screaming, we were the first white people some of them had ever seen. Moreto, one of the Maasai teachers who came with us, told us that the first time he saw a white man he was 12. A car rolled by and he thought ghosts were inside. He went and hid under a rock, literally.
When we left we were in a rush, PH thought we were going to be late. But when we rolled into town.... there wasn't a soul in sight. We got out and soon a crowd of people came to greet us. They immediately insisted that we sit down. It was very important that we sit down. Above all else we were to come inside and sit in the tiny little Kitis (chairs)... I'm not sure why they have this obsession with making us sit down. What do they think we've been doing in the car for the past hour and a half? exercising?
We were each givin a HUGE glass of tea. It was made from milk that was purified in a gord with charcoal. It had a rich smokey flavor and they added ginseng to give it a kick. Along with the tea they always serve small pieces of fried dough. They are like doughnuts without the sugar and are DELICIOUS!
Soon after (and by soon I mean 2 hours) we started the church service. Instead of church bells, the choirs sing to summon the villagers to service. It is amazing music that is sung with such soul and vibrancy. I know there is no written music, and the harmonies are not set either. But Tanzanians just know how to harmonize! Once everyone had arrived we entered the church. They gave us, the guests, the best seats in the house and 2 of the 4 hymnals. The literacy rate is about 25% so they couldn't have used them, but I still felt like they were doing way too much for us. As PH and Luka (his assistant and trained evangelist) went through the service, which was in Swahili, they would whisper the page number so we could follow along and attempt to sing the hymns. It didn't help much, they speak way faster then our teachers do in lessons. But I was able to catch the occasional word or two.
Offering was very exciting. In the states we very placidly pass plates around, sing a short hymn, and in a matter of seconds, its over. But in Tanzania, the choir gets up and dances. The people bring their offering up to the altar. And I am always surprised as to what goes up to the offering bin. Many people chip in a few coins, maybe some bills, but money is hard to come by sometimes. So the people offer what they have. Bars of soap, gourds, melons, clothing etc. And it was really exciting to see CHICKENS... IN THE OFFERING PLATE! If I brought a live chicken (or frozen chicken for that matter) to Grace Lutheran Church back home in Ripon Wisconsin for offering I'm sure a few member of the congregation would have a heart attack.
After the service, all of the non-monetary items are auctioned off and the money is given to the church. In Luvaya, Kim bought a chicken for 3 dollars and donated it back to the church so a family could it eat. She also bought a few kitenges (skirts).
Each village worship/visit follows roughly the same schedule. So to save time I'll give you the schedule and just give the highlights of the trips.
Arrival- SIT DOWN
Tea time
Wait two hours
Service starts
..... 3 or 4 hours later
service ends
Offering Auction
Meal
Play with the children
Goodbyes
Departure
From the time we get there to the time we leave 5-8 hours have gone by. While the service was finishing up today, the Maasai shepherds were coming home from herding, along with all the cattle.
Luvaya (Sunday): It was my first visit, I was able to practice swahili. Food was delicious. Moreto and Kidege (maasai teachers) came with us and were able to lead us through the service
Kivuga (Tuesday): all maasai congregation. AMAZING choirs with the most interesting dances (will expand more in future blogs). Knew a little bit more swahili. I was able to tell them my name, where I came from, and the fact that Holland is a small country.
Misela (Wednesday): Misela is located in the middle of nowhere, Tanzania. We offroaded, literally, for about and hour before we stumbled across the village. While there, I was given much more respect then the girls. They always shook my hand first (if they even shook the girls hands), I was greeted with Shickamo (a very formal and respectful greating by the children usually only given to elders), and during the service I got to sit right next to a very prominent Masaai elder. He personally invited me to sit by him. The girls had to sit on the other side of the... well... church area? (There was no church, we were outdoors). I was also able to receive communion with the men and elders. The women had to wait till the third time around. After the tea and before the service we formed a circle with our chairs and tried to communicate with each other. PH was off with the elders catching up on recent events and touring the village. Luka did some translating, but we were mainly on our own. It was great. I got to know one guy about my age pretty well, his name was Paulo. I also was basically the only one the men would talk to. The village women were preparing meals and getting the children ready.
At the offering auction I bought a goat and donated it to the village. His name was Alfredo. Alfredo was supper jumpy and very strong. I was able to get few steady pictures of him.
Also, bubbles and stickers are a big hit with the kids. We have a lot of fun anyways, because we are generally the only white people they have had close contact with. But the bubbles are just an insane amount of fun.
Overall it has been an exciting few days. I'll expand more on my thought and feelings in my next post. But its pretty late here and I need to go to bed. But lastly... highs and lows.
Low: The bugs. Bugs here are either super small, annoying, and travel in the thousands (aka mosquito and ants) or they are disgusting, should-be-classified-as-poodles, beasts of burden (aka giant millipede, 8 inch snail, huge praying mantis with horns and smalls blades for arms).
High: I truly felt the presence of God in worship and in each of the villagers. I may not have understood what they were saying... but I defiantly knew what they were saying.
also: I think I was able to post some pictures to my facebook page. Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2025994&id=123702240&ref=mf
It takes me about 45 to add 5 photos, so be patient :) and if the link doesn't work, you should be able to navigate through the face book website. I have an open profile
These vists are such amazing experience for many reasons and that fact that very few outsiders are able to experience it makes my time here that much more special.
When we enter a village they greet us like Kings. The Maasai and other Tanzanians have a degree of hospitality that is completely lost in the west. We aren't a burden, they are genuinely happy to see us. Not because we bring money and gifts, that doesn't matter to them, but because we come as friends interested to see their wonderful homes and families and to worship together.
Luvaya is located just north of Dar. It is one of PH's 124 congregations... did you hear that?! 124! He tries to stop by each at least 2 times a year... you do the math. We took the main road 3/4 to dar then turned onto a secondary (dirt) road north to save time. As we rolled through the bush people had many reactions to us. Those that knew PH greeted us with warm smiles and waved. Some gawked at the site of a truck, in the bush, filled with white people. Some hid their faces. And yet some children ran away screaming, we were the first white people some of them had ever seen. Moreto, one of the Maasai teachers who came with us, told us that the first time he saw a white man he was 12. A car rolled by and he thought ghosts were inside. He went and hid under a rock, literally.
When we left we were in a rush, PH thought we were going to be late. But when we rolled into town.... there wasn't a soul in sight. We got out and soon a crowd of people came to greet us. They immediately insisted that we sit down. It was very important that we sit down. Above all else we were to come inside and sit in the tiny little Kitis (chairs)... I'm not sure why they have this obsession with making us sit down. What do they think we've been doing in the car for the past hour and a half? exercising?
We were each givin a HUGE glass of tea. It was made from milk that was purified in a gord with charcoal. It had a rich smokey flavor and they added ginseng to give it a kick. Along with the tea they always serve small pieces of fried dough. They are like doughnuts without the sugar and are DELICIOUS!
Soon after (and by soon I mean 2 hours) we started the church service. Instead of church bells, the choirs sing to summon the villagers to service. It is amazing music that is sung with such soul and vibrancy. I know there is no written music, and the harmonies are not set either. But Tanzanians just know how to harmonize! Once everyone had arrived we entered the church. They gave us, the guests, the best seats in the house and 2 of the 4 hymnals. The literacy rate is about 25% so they couldn't have used them, but I still felt like they were doing way too much for us. As PH and Luka (his assistant and trained evangelist) went through the service, which was in Swahili, they would whisper the page number so we could follow along and attempt to sing the hymns. It didn't help much, they speak way faster then our teachers do in lessons. But I was able to catch the occasional word or two.
Offering was very exciting. In the states we very placidly pass plates around, sing a short hymn, and in a matter of seconds, its over. But in Tanzania, the choir gets up and dances. The people bring their offering up to the altar. And I am always surprised as to what goes up to the offering bin. Many people chip in a few coins, maybe some bills, but money is hard to come by sometimes. So the people offer what they have. Bars of soap, gourds, melons, clothing etc. And it was really exciting to see CHICKENS... IN THE OFFERING PLATE! If I brought a live chicken (or frozen chicken for that matter) to Grace Lutheran Church back home in Ripon Wisconsin for offering I'm sure a few member of the congregation would have a heart attack.
After the service, all of the non-monetary items are auctioned off and the money is given to the church. In Luvaya, Kim bought a chicken for 3 dollars and donated it back to the church so a family could it eat. She also bought a few kitenges (skirts).
Each village worship/visit follows roughly the same schedule. So to save time I'll give you the schedule and just give the highlights of the trips.
Arrival- SIT DOWN
Tea time
Wait two hours
Service starts
..... 3 or 4 hours later
service ends
Offering Auction
Meal
Play with the children
Goodbyes
Departure
From the time we get there to the time we leave 5-8 hours have gone by. While the service was finishing up today, the Maasai shepherds were coming home from herding, along with all the cattle.
Luvaya (Sunday): It was my first visit, I was able to practice swahili. Food was delicious. Moreto and Kidege (maasai teachers) came with us and were able to lead us through the service
Kivuga (Tuesday): all maasai congregation. AMAZING choirs with the most interesting dances (will expand more in future blogs). Knew a little bit more swahili. I was able to tell them my name, where I came from, and the fact that Holland is a small country.
Misela (Wednesday): Misela is located in the middle of nowhere, Tanzania. We offroaded, literally, for about and hour before we stumbled across the village. While there, I was given much more respect then the girls. They always shook my hand first (if they even shook the girls hands), I was greeted with Shickamo (a very formal and respectful greating by the children usually only given to elders), and during the service I got to sit right next to a very prominent Masaai elder. He personally invited me to sit by him. The girls had to sit on the other side of the... well... church area? (There was no church, we were outdoors). I was also able to receive communion with the men and elders. The women had to wait till the third time around. After the tea and before the service we formed a circle with our chairs and tried to communicate with each other. PH was off with the elders catching up on recent events and touring the village. Luka did some translating, but we were mainly on our own. It was great. I got to know one guy about my age pretty well, his name was Paulo. I also was basically the only one the men would talk to. The village women were preparing meals and getting the children ready.
At the offering auction I bought a goat and donated it to the village. His name was Alfredo. Alfredo was supper jumpy and very strong. I was able to get few steady pictures of him.
Also, bubbles and stickers are a big hit with the kids. We have a lot of fun anyways, because we are generally the only white people they have had close contact with. But the bubbles are just an insane amount of fun.
Overall it has been an exciting few days. I'll expand more on my thought and feelings in my next post. But its pretty late here and I need to go to bed. But lastly... highs and lows.
Low: The bugs. Bugs here are either super small, annoying, and travel in the thousands (aka mosquito and ants) or they are disgusting, should-be-classified-as-poodles, beasts of burden (aka giant millipede, 8 inch snail, huge praying mantis with horns and smalls blades for arms).
High: I truly felt the presence of God in worship and in each of the villagers. I may not have understood what they were saying... but I defiantly knew what they were saying.
also: I think I was able to post some pictures to my facebook page. Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2025994&id=123702240&ref=mf
It takes me about 45 to add 5 photos, so be patient :) and if the link doesn't work, you should be able to navigate through the face book website. I have an open profile
Monday, January 19, 2009
Swahili, hippies, and a meatastick Saturday
Before I start my blog toady, I just wanted to say I hope you are all keeping warm. I mean that in all sincerity. Seriously... I won't rub the beautiful warm weather of Tanzania in your face. I won't talk about the clear blue sky, the 80 degrees of average, or the warm African breeze. And I definatley won't tell you that I can't even remember what snow looks like. :)
So Friday morning we started Swahili lessons! For those of you who don't know we have a lesson, 10:00 tea time, another lesson, 12:00 lunch, break until 2:30, and one more short lesson for the day. For the first two lessons my teacher was Mariki. We sit out in these open cabanas next to the school. It is a little hard to concentrate because everything around you is so beautiful. To the south of the compound is one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I have ever seen (I'll include pictures later). Birds also frequent the cabana as well as some of Toby's friends (Toby is the lizard that lives in my room, who I have still not gotten a picture of f.y.i.). My third and final lesson for the day was taught by Franke. I think Franke was a little tired, he seemed out of it, and didn't give it much heart. But I have to give him credit, it can not be easy watching two American's come in and butcher your language. Overall, I really enjoyed the lessons and was sad when I realized I would have to wait until Monday for the next one.
At supper I got to chat with some of the other people here at LJS. When I first arrived I thought it was a convent because there were nuns EVERYWHERE. Turns out there are only three of them. I don't know what they are doing, but they sure get around fast. I've gotten to know Sister Judith pretty well. She comes from a war torn are of Nigeria. She fled for safety but still wanted to continue ministering, so she came to LJS to learn Swahili. There are also two Canadians here, Paulette and Audry. Paulette is a part of a Catholic lay missionary that works to dig wells and get adequate sanitary conditions for village across Tanzania. Audry is the mother of all hippies. She constantly travels the world wither her boyfriend Paul and she thinks she is going to "settle down" in Tanzania. She is learning Swahili so she can join Paul at some windmill project. Despite the fact that she is not technically divorced from her husband and has "relations" with Paul, she works for a very conservative Catholic mission. They must really be desperate for help. Audry and I talk about out travels a lot. We chatted a while about Germany (we've both traveled there) and the differences between cultures. Another common dinner topic is Barack Obama. I'm sad I won't be back home for his inauguration, but it will be interesting to see if anything has changed once I come back and he has had a few months in office. Who knows? Guantanamo will hopefully be closed and some of our troops might be home!
Overall its really interesting to talk with all these different people. I knew I would learn about Tanzania, but but I had no idea LJS was so diverse.
After breakfast, Saturday, we went to the Maasai cattle market about thirty minutes outside of Morogoro. It was nothing like I expected. I thought there would be a few herds of cattle, some food stands, and a clothing stand or two. But there were HUNDREDS of people. PH tells me some travel almost hundred miles just to come to the cattle market. There were dozens of butcher stands (mainly serving goat), rows and rows of clothing stands, many jewlery vendors, and few stands that covered everything else. At the far end of the market was the cattle yards. There were hundred and hundreds of cows.
We had a very long day, not because the market was necessarily that big, but every 15 seconds (literally) PH would have to stop and say hello to someone coming up to shake his hand. He must have known 1/3 massai there. Eventually he fled the market and went and hid in the car. Kim and I were escorted around by two of the maasai teachers from LJS. We both bought Maasai clubs, and Kim bought a few kitenges (wraps/skirts that the women wear - you'll see them in pictures). We ate lunch with the Bishop. I'm not sure what area he is the Bishop of, but he was a really nice guy.
But they way we ate was very interesting. We sat in a circle on benches. In the middle was an upturned bucket. A maasai stood up and cut a few branched of leaves from a nearby tree and put it on the bucket. Then someone came over and put a big hunk of beef on the branches. One of the men was chosen to cut the meat. He took out his knife and would cut little one inch cubes of meat off and hand it around. As soon as you ate your meat chunk he would give you a new one. While most of the meat was good... you were supposed to eat the fat. The elders actually fought over who got the really big chunks of fat. It was kinda gross for me, but I sucked it up. I'm sure my mom is puking right now, she hates to eat fat- if you gave her a 8 inch stake, by the time she got done cutting off the parts she didn't want there would be about 3 inches left... she would never make it here. After lunch we wandered through he market a little more. Then, to Kim's and my surprise we got together again to eat, but this time it was goat. This was my first time eating goat and, I guess, i kind of liked it. Altogether that day I probably ate around 3 pounds of meat... and that was it!
We left the market and I went almost immediately to bed so I could digest for a while.
Low: Got meat has a very pungent aroma. Ok, that is putting it too delicately - goat stinks, IT REAKS. Other people aren't bothered by the smell, but for some reason it really ... gets my goat (pun intended). My hands reaked of goat, my shirt reaked of goat, and even after brushing my teeth 4 TIMES I still had goat breath! Another Low, everything is in the metric system. KM/hour, distances, lengths. I hate the metric system. I can't reason properly. I think its because the metric system never really caught on in the U.S. - unless you count the increasing popularity of the 9mm bullet.
High: I had a chance to practice Swahili. I was able to effectively greet people, ask them how they were doing, and tell them where I was from. Other then that, I could have only told people that bananas were small, Tanzania is a country, and a book is not food.
So Friday morning we started Swahili lessons! For those of you who don't know we have a lesson, 10:00 tea time, another lesson, 12:00 lunch, break until 2:30, and one more short lesson for the day. For the first two lessons my teacher was Mariki. We sit out in these open cabanas next to the school. It is a little hard to concentrate because everything around you is so beautiful. To the south of the compound is one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I have ever seen (I'll include pictures later). Birds also frequent the cabana as well as some of Toby's friends (Toby is the lizard that lives in my room, who I have still not gotten a picture of f.y.i.). My third and final lesson for the day was taught by Franke. I think Franke was a little tired, he seemed out of it, and didn't give it much heart. But I have to give him credit, it can not be easy watching two American's come in and butcher your language. Overall, I really enjoyed the lessons and was sad when I realized I would have to wait until Monday for the next one.
At supper I got to chat with some of the other people here at LJS. When I first arrived I thought it was a convent because there were nuns EVERYWHERE. Turns out there are only three of them. I don't know what they are doing, but they sure get around fast. I've gotten to know Sister Judith pretty well. She comes from a war torn are of Nigeria. She fled for safety but still wanted to continue ministering, so she came to LJS to learn Swahili. There are also two Canadians here, Paulette and Audry. Paulette is a part of a Catholic lay missionary that works to dig wells and get adequate sanitary conditions for village across Tanzania. Audry is the mother of all hippies. She constantly travels the world wither her boyfriend Paul and she thinks she is going to "settle down" in Tanzania. She is learning Swahili so she can join Paul at some windmill project. Despite the fact that she is not technically divorced from her husband and has "relations" with Paul, she works for a very conservative Catholic mission. They must really be desperate for help. Audry and I talk about out travels a lot. We chatted a while about Germany (we've both traveled there) and the differences between cultures. Another common dinner topic is Barack Obama. I'm sad I won't be back home for his inauguration, but it will be interesting to see if anything has changed once I come back and he has had a few months in office. Who knows? Guantanamo will hopefully be closed and some of our troops might be home!
Overall its really interesting to talk with all these different people. I knew I would learn about Tanzania, but but I had no idea LJS was so diverse.
After breakfast, Saturday, we went to the Maasai cattle market about thirty minutes outside of Morogoro. It was nothing like I expected. I thought there would be a few herds of cattle, some food stands, and a clothing stand or two. But there were HUNDREDS of people. PH tells me some travel almost hundred miles just to come to the cattle market. There were dozens of butcher stands (mainly serving goat), rows and rows of clothing stands, many jewlery vendors, and few stands that covered everything else. At the far end of the market was the cattle yards. There were hundred and hundreds of cows.
We had a very long day, not because the market was necessarily that big, but every 15 seconds (literally) PH would have to stop and say hello to someone coming up to shake his hand. He must have known 1/3 massai there. Eventually he fled the market and went and hid in the car. Kim and I were escorted around by two of the maasai teachers from LJS. We both bought Maasai clubs, and Kim bought a few kitenges (wraps/skirts that the women wear - you'll see them in pictures). We ate lunch with the Bishop. I'm not sure what area he is the Bishop of, but he was a really nice guy.
But they way we ate was very interesting. We sat in a circle on benches. In the middle was an upturned bucket. A maasai stood up and cut a few branched of leaves from a nearby tree and put it on the bucket. Then someone came over and put a big hunk of beef on the branches. One of the men was chosen to cut the meat. He took out his knife and would cut little one inch cubes of meat off and hand it around. As soon as you ate your meat chunk he would give you a new one. While most of the meat was good... you were supposed to eat the fat. The elders actually fought over who got the really big chunks of fat. It was kinda gross for me, but I sucked it up. I'm sure my mom is puking right now, she hates to eat fat- if you gave her a 8 inch stake, by the time she got done cutting off the parts she didn't want there would be about 3 inches left... she would never make it here. After lunch we wandered through he market a little more. Then, to Kim's and my surprise we got together again to eat, but this time it was goat. This was my first time eating goat and, I guess, i kind of liked it. Altogether that day I probably ate around 3 pounds of meat... and that was it!
We left the market and I went almost immediately to bed so I could digest for a while.
Low: Got meat has a very pungent aroma. Ok, that is putting it too delicately - goat stinks, IT REAKS. Other people aren't bothered by the smell, but for some reason it really ... gets my goat (pun intended). My hands reaked of goat, my shirt reaked of goat, and even after brushing my teeth 4 TIMES I still had goat breath! Another Low, everything is in the metric system. KM/hour, distances, lengths. I hate the metric system. I can't reason properly. I think its because the metric system never really caught on in the U.S. - unless you count the increasing popularity of the 9mm bullet.
High: I had a chance to practice Swahili. I was able to effectively greet people, ask them how they were doing, and tell them where I was from. Other then that, I could have only told people that bananas were small, Tanzania is a country, and a book is not food.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Planes, Danes, and Automobiles
After 20 hours of flying, 8 hours of layovers, 3 hours of driving... I AM FINALLY IN MOROGORO! And it feels great!
My First flight was from Milwaukee to Minneapolis - 45 mins. no biggie. There I met up with PH (Pastor Hafermann) and Kim. Unfortunatley, we all had different seats on each flight. The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam took 6.5 hours, gate to gate. On this flight I was wedged between a large Latvian woman with a severe chest cold and a tall danish man named Frank. Frank the Dane was very nice and we discussed Barack Obama, our hatred of airplane bathrooms, and the weather. But Sneezy McCoughsalot to my right was very snippy and kept yelling at me for having my reading light on. Or at least that is what I think she was yelling about. She didn't speak English and as shee babbled she leered menacingly at my book. Oh well, I was off that flight soon enough.
There was a four hour layover in Amsterdam. While there we (PH, Kim, and myself) got to know a guy from Phoenix who was on his way to Tanzania as well. He was going to attend the International school in Dar (Dar es Salaam-Capital city of Tanzania). I also took advantage of a great art museum in the airport... I couldn't tell you the artists, or any of the famous paintings-probably because I don't know anything about art, but there was a really funny picture of a chicken! The flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro was like 12 hours bit it went by really fast. I was really lucky and got a whole row, 3 seats, to myself. I took my shoes off, sprawled out, watched two movies, took a few sedatives, and woke up 9 hours later when a stewardess woke me up so I could put my seatbelt on before landing. We waited an hour on the tarmac as we dropped off a few passengers then took a quick 42 minute flight to Dar.
It was about 11:00 p.m. by the time we got through customs and I was too tired to take in the beauty of Africa... but I did notice the heat! the thermometer by a money exchange place said it was 28 Degrees Celsius which is... roughly... 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Okay, so I don't actually know how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. But I can tell you it was super hot, especially after being acclimated to the freezing plane!
We made our way to the Hostel and I unpacked in my room. It was roughly the size of my closet @ home but, hey, all I needed was a bed. The bed was great, the sheets were cool, and the pillow was super soft. The mosquito net, on the other hand, was super scratchy and kept sticking to my sweaty feet, pleasant image huh? I hope you enjoyed that. I fell asleep by 1:00 a.m. and slept like a rock.
I woke up around 6:00 a.m., took a much needed shower, and went downstairs. I had been so tired that night I really didn't take time to internalize where I was, and what I was doing. As I sat down on a couch in the loung I realized... HEY! I'M IN FREAKIN' TANZANIA!
It was overwhelming. Would I be able to learn the language? Would people be nice? Will I make friends? And exactly how fast am I going to make a cultural buffoon of myself? AHHH!
But all my fears went away when a tiny little nun came up to me, greeted me with a warm smile, and handed me an English newspaper. I said, "Asante" (thank you in Swahili, the only Swahili I knew) and she scampered away. She did more for me then she will ever know. I was on the verge of breaking down and with one simple act of kindness she mad me feel welcome and secure. That feeling still hasn't left me, I hope it doesn't leave me for the rest of the trip.
After I read a few sections of The Gaurdian (Dar's newspaper) Kim came to the lounge and we chatted for a while. Once PH and Luka arrived we went to breakfast. A simple breakfast- instant coffee, toast, fried egg. I'm glad it was simple, I'm hoping I can ease my stomach through this tough transition. Then we were off, on our way to Morogoro. Even thought he driver's seat was on the right hand side, I forgot they drove on the other side of the road as well. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Luka pulled into traffic. To get out of the city we drove through the industrial area of Dar. It was so different from anything I had ever seen before. It was a rustic metropolis. We were on a busy highway crammed with semi-trucks carrying all sorts of cargo. The Dala-dalas (passenger vans) went by packed with people. The Dala-dalas looke like they were built to transport 8, maybe 10, passengers. But people were hanging out of windows, on the roof, gripping to the side, wherever they could fit. I tried to count the number of people in one particularly well packed Dala-dala, I got 17 before it zoomed off.
Some people were wearing shorts and muscle shirts, some men were in business suits. Some were in the beautiful garb native to the area, some were in Budweiser shirts. It was so interesting. As we drove I could see all sorts of shops and stands on the side of the road - Pineapples, papayas, coconuts, dried fish, clothing, medicine, everything. Whenever the traffic stopped vendors would run up to your window trying to get you to buy stuff. One boy who was peddling cell phone cards ran next to my window, in rush our traffic, for about a block before he finally gave up! Some signs were in English, some in what looked like Arabic, but most were in Swahili. Overall, it was a very exciting ride. We stopped about three-quarters of the way for a snack of samosas and an orange soda at a quaint little diner.
Finally, after all the flying and driving, we arrived at the Lutheran Junior Seminary! WOO HOO! From what I understand it's a grade school, secondary school, and a foreign language/cultural orientation school. There are also nuns everywhere. I'll tell you more in my future blogs as I learn more, I haven't really had a chance to ask questions yet.
We all split up and went to our individual rooms. Mine is C2. Its a great room. There is a big window looking out on the entrance to LJS (Lutheran Junior Seminary) in from of my extra large desk. The closets are perfect, the bed is big, and the mosquito net is super soft! YAY! I won't talk any more about what my room looks like, I'll be posting pictures to the internet soon.
The weather is warm, but bearable. I'm sure I'll be acclimated in no time. After unpacking, Kim and I ran into one of the matrons here. She escorted us to the dining hall where we had a great lunch of rice, pork, cabbage, and papaya. (For my parents: the food is great, stop worrying, I'm not starving). After lunch we decided to take a break. PH is napping, Luka is probably on his cell phone talking to a construction worker (he is currently in charge of building a few churches if I'm not mistaken), Kim is probably reading or journaling, and I'm just sitting here reflecting and recording (aren't you lucky)! :) I'm so content and relaxed. Tanzania is nothing like I expected, it is WAY better. I will conclude this blog posting, as I hope to conclude all future blog postings, with a high and low.
Low: i don't know Swahili. I fell a little out of it sometimes, especially when Luka and PH are talking to each other. Kim is already worried that I won't learn Swahili as fast as her and that I will slow down the student study group. I don't know why she thinks this, or why she assumes she'll be better then me, she'll just have to wait and see. She is kind of a worry wart but that's ok, she's allowed to be worried, we are both totally out of our element.
High: I haven't seen one mosquito yet, but a tiny little gecko just scampered across my stack of books. His name is Toby. Toby ran off before I could snap a picture of him, but I'll get him next time!
I hope your past few days have been as good as mine!
***This was posted late because the internet and power went out all last night****
My First flight was from Milwaukee to Minneapolis - 45 mins. no biggie. There I met up with PH (Pastor Hafermann) and Kim. Unfortunatley, we all had different seats on each flight. The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam took 6.5 hours, gate to gate. On this flight I was wedged between a large Latvian woman with a severe chest cold and a tall danish man named Frank. Frank the Dane was very nice and we discussed Barack Obama, our hatred of airplane bathrooms, and the weather. But Sneezy McCoughsalot to my right was very snippy and kept yelling at me for having my reading light on. Or at least that is what I think she was yelling about. She didn't speak English and as shee babbled she leered menacingly at my book. Oh well, I was off that flight soon enough.
There was a four hour layover in Amsterdam. While there we (PH, Kim, and myself) got to know a guy from Phoenix who was on his way to Tanzania as well. He was going to attend the International school in Dar (Dar es Salaam-Capital city of Tanzania). I also took advantage of a great art museum in the airport... I couldn't tell you the artists, or any of the famous paintings-probably because I don't know anything about art, but there was a really funny picture of a chicken! The flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro was like 12 hours bit it went by really fast. I was really lucky and got a whole row, 3 seats, to myself. I took my shoes off, sprawled out, watched two movies, took a few sedatives, and woke up 9 hours later when a stewardess woke me up so I could put my seatbelt on before landing. We waited an hour on the tarmac as we dropped off a few passengers then took a quick 42 minute flight to Dar.
It was about 11:00 p.m. by the time we got through customs and I was too tired to take in the beauty of Africa... but I did notice the heat! the thermometer by a money exchange place said it was 28 Degrees Celsius which is... roughly... 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Okay, so I don't actually know how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. But I can tell you it was super hot, especially after being acclimated to the freezing plane!
We made our way to the Hostel and I unpacked in my room. It was roughly the size of my closet @ home but, hey, all I needed was a bed. The bed was great, the sheets were cool, and the pillow was super soft. The mosquito net, on the other hand, was super scratchy and kept sticking to my sweaty feet, pleasant image huh? I hope you enjoyed that. I fell asleep by 1:00 a.m. and slept like a rock.
I woke up around 6:00 a.m., took a much needed shower, and went downstairs. I had been so tired that night I really didn't take time to internalize where I was, and what I was doing. As I sat down on a couch in the loung I realized... HEY! I'M IN FREAKIN' TANZANIA!
It was overwhelming. Would I be able to learn the language? Would people be nice? Will I make friends? And exactly how fast am I going to make a cultural buffoon of myself? AHHH!
But all my fears went away when a tiny little nun came up to me, greeted me with a warm smile, and handed me an English newspaper. I said, "Asante" (thank you in Swahili, the only Swahili I knew) and she scampered away. She did more for me then she will ever know. I was on the verge of breaking down and with one simple act of kindness she mad me feel welcome and secure. That feeling still hasn't left me, I hope it doesn't leave me for the rest of the trip.
After I read a few sections of The Gaurdian (Dar's newspaper) Kim came to the lounge and we chatted for a while. Once PH and Luka arrived we went to breakfast. A simple breakfast- instant coffee, toast, fried egg. I'm glad it was simple, I'm hoping I can ease my stomach through this tough transition. Then we were off, on our way to Morogoro. Even thought he driver's seat was on the right hand side, I forgot they drove on the other side of the road as well. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Luka pulled into traffic. To get out of the city we drove through the industrial area of Dar. It was so different from anything I had ever seen before. It was a rustic metropolis. We were on a busy highway crammed with semi-trucks carrying all sorts of cargo. The Dala-dalas (passenger vans) went by packed with people. The Dala-dalas looke like they were built to transport 8, maybe 10, passengers. But people were hanging out of windows, on the roof, gripping to the side, wherever they could fit. I tried to count the number of people in one particularly well packed Dala-dala, I got 17 before it zoomed off.
Some people were wearing shorts and muscle shirts, some men were in business suits. Some were in the beautiful garb native to the area, some were in Budweiser shirts. It was so interesting. As we drove I could see all sorts of shops and stands on the side of the road - Pineapples, papayas, coconuts, dried fish, clothing, medicine, everything. Whenever the traffic stopped vendors would run up to your window trying to get you to buy stuff. One boy who was peddling cell phone cards ran next to my window, in rush our traffic, for about a block before he finally gave up! Some signs were in English, some in what looked like Arabic, but most were in Swahili. Overall, it was a very exciting ride. We stopped about three-quarters of the way for a snack of samosas and an orange soda at a quaint little diner.
Finally, after all the flying and driving, we arrived at the Lutheran Junior Seminary! WOO HOO! From what I understand it's a grade school, secondary school, and a foreign language/cultural orientation school. There are also nuns everywhere. I'll tell you more in my future blogs as I learn more, I haven't really had a chance to ask questions yet.
We all split up and went to our individual rooms. Mine is C2. Its a great room. There is a big window looking out on the entrance to LJS (Lutheran Junior Seminary) in from of my extra large desk. The closets are perfect, the bed is big, and the mosquito net is super soft! YAY! I won't talk any more about what my room looks like, I'll be posting pictures to the internet soon.
The weather is warm, but bearable. I'm sure I'll be acclimated in no time. After unpacking, Kim and I ran into one of the matrons here. She escorted us to the dining hall where we had a great lunch of rice, pork, cabbage, and papaya. (For my parents: the food is great, stop worrying, I'm not starving). After lunch we decided to take a break. PH is napping, Luka is probably on his cell phone talking to a construction worker (he is currently in charge of building a few churches if I'm not mistaken), Kim is probably reading or journaling, and I'm just sitting here reflecting and recording (aren't you lucky)! :) I'm so content and relaxed. Tanzania is nothing like I expected, it is WAY better. I will conclude this blog posting, as I hope to conclude all future blog postings, with a high and low.
Low: i don't know Swahili. I fell a little out of it sometimes, especially when Luka and PH are talking to each other. Kim is already worried that I won't learn Swahili as fast as her and that I will slow down the student study group. I don't know why she thinks this, or why she assumes she'll be better then me, she'll just have to wait and see. She is kind of a worry wart but that's ok, she's allowed to be worried, we are both totally out of our element.
High: I haven't seen one mosquito yet, but a tiny little gecko just scampered across my stack of books. His name is Toby. Toby ran off before I could snap a picture of him, but I'll get him next time!
I hope your past few days have been as good as mine!
***This was posted late because the internet and power went out all last night****
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Its the Final Countdown...
Well its 4:30 in the morning... I've been up for 2 hours... I just can't wait to see what Tanzania is like. Although, I won't be there for quite a while! My plane doesn't arrive until 10pm their time tomorrow. All together I have about 20 hours of flying and 8 hours of layover.
My mind is just spinning, I have no idea what to expect?!
Hopefully you will hear from me soon, I'll give a short blog spot letting y'all know when I arrive.
My mind is just spinning, I have no idea what to expect?!
Hopefully you will hear from me soon, I'll give a short blog spot letting y'all know when I arrive.
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