Actually, I just left my Chaco sandals, which is nearly as sad. You ever notice how much fun it is to say Zanzibar? However, I think this will be the last time I use it as the title of a blog post -- no more trips to Zanzibar on the horizon.
We are all home safely (just barely!) and looking forward to a very short week of classes here since we had Monday off to travel, will be going to downtown Arusha on Thursday to tour the Rwandan tribunal, and Friday is a hospital work day == two days of normal classes, and only one week left after that. It's going so quickly!!
Here's the quick rundown of the weekend. Basically, we got to be pure tourists for a weekend. I think the group has sort of hit the collective end of the 'bliss' phase and will possibly be hitting depression. (This according to the stages of emotions while you travel - though I feel pretty good still, maybe just on to the adjusted stage?) We spoke very little Swahili compared to being in Arusha, and we were not shy about being the loud Americans.
Saturday morning we caught what was supposed to be an early flight to Zanzibar from Kilimanjaro Int'l Airport, but it was delayed a good 1.5 hours. We flew Precision Air, but I wasn't suprised at the wait b/c my host mother had told me that Air Tanzania is often referred to as Air Maybe. Directly upon arriving in Zanzibar, we were picked up by a prearranged bus and our tour guides for the week and whisked off to do the Spice Tour. This was an incredible walk through the government-run spice farm on Zanzibar, showing us where everything from Bananas, Coconut, Cocoa, Coffee, Ginger, Tumeric, Nutmeg, Cloves, Vanilla, Pineapple, Cinnamon, Starfruit, Mango, Guava and Jackfruit grow. I'm also pretty sure that's not a complete list. The tour is run very well, guiding us through lush forest and farm land, where the guides stop, show us the plant, let us look, feel, smell the leaves, and guess at what we might be seeing. Then they tell us and we ooh and ahh, taste, enjoy, and enjoy each others' company along the way. One particular plant had us guessing apricots, at which point I guessed nutmeg from the pit I saw. The response? "Apricot trees don't grow nutmeg!"
As we went along, some young local guys followed, making baskets, necklaces, rings, and little woven frogs out of various plant leaves. One of them scaled an enourmous coconut tree using his hands and a twisted rope around his feet - incredible and a little nerve wracking. The tour ended with samples of jasmine, ginger, and vanilla teas and all of the incredible fruits we had seen. It was the best fruit I have ever tasted - by far. No question.
Immediately after the Spice Tour, we ended up in Stonetown, the historic port city. I honestly didn't really understand the tour guide one bit because of the noise and his accent, but the streets were fascinating and definitely very old. We visited an Anglican church that was built on the site of one of the major holding/auction sites for the slave trade. The center of the altar sits directly over the tree that slaves were tied to one by one as they were auctioned off. Zanzibar, incidentally, was one of the last places to abolish the slave trade. To get more philosophical for a moment - this was a very clear illustration for me as to why it may not always be right to defer to local traditions as is becoming increasingly popular to do. How many times have we (as rich Americans, as an educated society, or just as individuals) said 'it's not my business,' when perhaps the victims need it to be our business?
In stonetown, we all found food at the street vendors in the Night Market that was specially there for some sort of celebration - lots and lots of grilled fish, shrimp, octopus, and calamari were the main fare for the weekend.
We stayed in an adorable little place called 'Romantic Bungalows' in a town called Nungwi, at the northern tip of the island. The owner, Eddie, asked that I come back next time I'm in Zanzibar. I think you should go, too. It's walking distance to the cleanest beach on the island, not too touristy, has an incredible free breakfast with fresh squeezed juice from the trees right there, and a great owner with low prices - what more could you ask?
And now I'm being kicked out of the internet room -- so more later...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
...to Zanzibar by motorcar...??
When I mentioned our weekend outing to a certain old roommate of mine (boo?) she cited this song line... which I had never recalled hearing in an actual song. So - I have some learning to do.
By the way, if you didn't get it, we're leaving tomorrow morning (saturday) for Zanzibar. And no, it won't be by motorcar, or else we'd get there and have to turn around right away. Not to mention the problem of the Indian Ocean. We return Monday night, resuming classes and the general (not so boring) routine on Tuesday. To my parents and other responsible parties: I'll try to send an email, but count this as your official notice of my whereabouts this weekend. ;)
I don't think I ever finished the story I started about our previous weekend outing, but all in all it was tremendous. We did some hiking and running back down the large hill, enjoyed the children, and I even learned a new meaning of my name. According to the Chagas tribe, who live at the base of Kilimanjaro, lora means 'something sweet.' That was largely why I said I was staying. :)
Today was our second work day at Mt. Meru hospital - this time all day and much more productive since we had a better idea of what needed to be done. Merete and I ended up working primarily on light fixtures the entire time. We had an interesting experience as one of the student nurses took us from ward to ward, barging right in on a pelvic exam, walking past a basket full of 6 tiny newborns wrapped in colorful kangas (traditional patterned cloths), and handing us much more than we could feasibly fix in one day. I think it was definitely an experience in different opinions and misconceptions about what we are able to do. At this point, if anyone asks me if I am able to fix something, I will tell them I can try my best, but never will I ever say, "Oh sure, that should be easy," until I am absolutely certain it is finished, in which case I can say "it was easy," but that's rather unlikely, too. To give you an example, today we ended up working on four long fluorescent units that had rechargable batteries, but could also be run on AC power. Two of them turned right on, so we returned them to the floor after a quick wipe down. Later, we discovered on the other two that the missing fuse we hadn't really been able to justify was in order to allow the battery to charge so it could actually run without being plugged in. In the US, this might not be a big deal - just leave it plugged in - but here, we are left in the dark for at least 10 minutes every 2 days or so, and that's on a compound with people monitoring the power and ready to turn on generators as needed. As we worked on those four lights, we also ended up with a total of 6 lantern-type lamps with three fluoresecent bulbs each, none of which turned on. You'd think this was a simple problem of needing 18 new bulbs (expensive!!), but it turned out to be a variety of problems from broken plugs (put on a whole new one), to toasted resistors, to blown fuses, and some unidentified problem that allows it to charge while plugged in, but would only run on battery power - you had to unplug them to get them to work! Combine this with a half hour walk each way to get to the parts stores, find the right parts if they have them, and then come back to find that someone had unplugged all the units you'd left charging - small picture of what technicians in the developing world have to overcome, and that just for lights to see what the doctors and nurses are doing.
Let me skip to this evening and a very different topic. We arrived home just in time for afternoon tea (beautiful), and I ended up in a conversation with one of the young men doing a development studies program here at TCDC while watching ping-pong out in the lawn. He was full of questions about America, life, and my opinions. It got to politics, then religion, and then his question of 'what kind of Christian are you?' Not denomination, but wanting to know radical, moderate, or as he called it, 'social christian.' I had a little bit of trouble answering that, but I think I explained myself alright - then he follwed with 'are you saved?' My immediate answer was 'yes.' which I was almost even surprised to hear come out of my mouth so quickly, because I do tend to gaurd how much I share, though I'm not proud of it. The best part was that he stopped his ping pong game, reached for a handshake and then asked if he could share it with someone. A quick interlude of swahili and I was embraced by one of the men sitting nearby chatting. They expressed their joy to hear a white American respond with the answer I did, since they don't hear that too often. I don't know if they realized how much that meant to me - perhaps because I didn't realize how much it meant until I was there and letting God hold me close in this circle of Tanzanians who love and cherish the same God and the same teachings I do.
For those who didn't get my slightly homesick notes, this was an answer to prayer. While I've figured out how to live far from my family and still feel very close to them most of the time, I missed my church home and the community that provided the most. The American students with us are great, but the vast majority don't believe as I do, and it makes deep discussions difficult, as well as general perceptions of things different. Being able to sit and continue talking about America, Tanzania, and the world that I am sharing with these Tanzanians, and know that we all hold a very similar worldview even as it is hugely different, was incredible.
Caroline, our coordinator, was just asking today if any of us could see ourselves staying here long term, and at the time, I said I would definitely consider it. At the time, I was thinking that I would much more likely consider it if I had a family to bring and share the experience with. Now I know that that family is very alive and well here, too. Perhaps I should be more guarded, but I'm excited to see what long term does look like. For now - enjoying the sweet conversation and the chance to do what I can in the time I've got.
P.S. Geckos are pretty cool on a white wall when they think they're not being watched. :)
By the way, if you didn't get it, we're leaving tomorrow morning (saturday) for Zanzibar. And no, it won't be by motorcar, or else we'd get there and have to turn around right away. Not to mention the problem of the Indian Ocean. We return Monday night, resuming classes and the general (not so boring) routine on Tuesday. To my parents and other responsible parties: I'll try to send an email, but count this as your official notice of my whereabouts this weekend. ;)
I don't think I ever finished the story I started about our previous weekend outing, but all in all it was tremendous. We did some hiking and running back down the large hill, enjoyed the children, and I even learned a new meaning of my name. According to the Chagas tribe, who live at the base of Kilimanjaro, lora means 'something sweet.' That was largely why I said I was staying. :)
Today was our second work day at Mt. Meru hospital - this time all day and much more productive since we had a better idea of what needed to be done. Merete and I ended up working primarily on light fixtures the entire time. We had an interesting experience as one of the student nurses took us from ward to ward, barging right in on a pelvic exam, walking past a basket full of 6 tiny newborns wrapped in colorful kangas (traditional patterned cloths), and handing us much more than we could feasibly fix in one day. I think it was definitely an experience in different opinions and misconceptions about what we are able to do. At this point, if anyone asks me if I am able to fix something, I will tell them I can try my best, but never will I ever say, "Oh sure, that should be easy," until I am absolutely certain it is finished, in which case I can say "it was easy," but that's rather unlikely, too. To give you an example, today we ended up working on four long fluorescent units that had rechargable batteries, but could also be run on AC power. Two of them turned right on, so we returned them to the floor after a quick wipe down. Later, we discovered on the other two that the missing fuse we hadn't really been able to justify was in order to allow the battery to charge so it could actually run without being plugged in. In the US, this might not be a big deal - just leave it plugged in - but here, we are left in the dark for at least 10 minutes every 2 days or so, and that's on a compound with people monitoring the power and ready to turn on generators as needed. As we worked on those four lights, we also ended up with a total of 6 lantern-type lamps with three fluoresecent bulbs each, none of which turned on. You'd think this was a simple problem of needing 18 new bulbs (expensive!!), but it turned out to be a variety of problems from broken plugs (put on a whole new one), to toasted resistors, to blown fuses, and some unidentified problem that allows it to charge while plugged in, but would only run on battery power - you had to unplug them to get them to work! Combine this with a half hour walk each way to get to the parts stores, find the right parts if they have them, and then come back to find that someone had unplugged all the units you'd left charging - small picture of what technicians in the developing world have to overcome, and that just for lights to see what the doctors and nurses are doing.
Let me skip to this evening and a very different topic. We arrived home just in time for afternoon tea (beautiful), and I ended up in a conversation with one of the young men doing a development studies program here at TCDC while watching ping-pong out in the lawn. He was full of questions about America, life, and my opinions. It got to politics, then religion, and then his question of 'what kind of Christian are you?' Not denomination, but wanting to know radical, moderate, or as he called it, 'social christian.' I had a little bit of trouble answering that, but I think I explained myself alright - then he follwed with 'are you saved?' My immediate answer was 'yes.' which I was almost even surprised to hear come out of my mouth so quickly, because I do tend to gaurd how much I share, though I'm not proud of it. The best part was that he stopped his ping pong game, reached for a handshake and then asked if he could share it with someone. A quick interlude of swahili and I was embraced by one of the men sitting nearby chatting. They expressed their joy to hear a white American respond with the answer I did, since they don't hear that too often. I don't know if they realized how much that meant to me - perhaps because I didn't realize how much it meant until I was there and letting God hold me close in this circle of Tanzanians who love and cherish the same God and the same teachings I do.
For those who didn't get my slightly homesick notes, this was an answer to prayer. While I've figured out how to live far from my family and still feel very close to them most of the time, I missed my church home and the community that provided the most. The American students with us are great, but the vast majority don't believe as I do, and it makes deep discussions difficult, as well as general perceptions of things different. Being able to sit and continue talking about America, Tanzania, and the world that I am sharing with these Tanzanians, and know that we all hold a very similar worldview even as it is hugely different, was incredible.
Caroline, our coordinator, was just asking today if any of us could see ourselves staying here long term, and at the time, I said I would definitely consider it. At the time, I was thinking that I would much more likely consider it if I had a family to bring and share the experience with. Now I know that that family is very alive and well here, too. Perhaps I should be more guarded, but I'm excited to see what long term does look like. For now - enjoying the sweet conversation and the chance to do what I can in the time I've got.
P.S. Geckos are pretty cool on a white wall when they think they're not being watched. :)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
More Pictures and a Thought....
How can you not absolutely love those faces? It was so fun when we had time to stop, take pictures, and let the little ones see themselves on the camera. You can barely see her, but Alex is behind the curious children.
Fascination and joy on both ends - I think at this point, one was trying to figure out the time on my watch as I attempted not to trip over them all.
The one on the right is Kisanji, the head Swahili teacher at TCDC. He's throwing a water bottle in this picture with local children and cow. I think we had stopped to say hi and watch Gynter do a pushup contest with the 8 year old who then showed us his skills with headstands and lots of cartwheels down the road until he could no longer stand up straight.
Katie (my homestay roommate this month and photographer of this batch) and I pose near the traditional Masai huts we got to see. Just outside of the picture are two round huts with the traditional subdivision of kitchen, room for mom and girls, room for dad and young boys, and room for the cows to create heat and keep them safe.
On a separate note -- I'm in the beginning of filling out the AMCAS general med school application. The original plan was to wait until next summer, start the application, and have 2 years of not being in school before starting again, provided I get in. If I start the application now, I could possibly start med school next August. I want feedback (and prayer?). I think part of it is my frustration at not being able to treat people along with equipment. On the other hand, I know that fixing equipment and tools may be more useful than treating just a few people. On the other other hand, if I was a trained physician, I could come back and teach in a setting like this... Ideas churning.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Proof that I'm alive, well, and thoroughly enjoying Tanzania
Posing by the waterfall -- if I hadn't been warned to stay out of freshwater, and if this hadn't been the beginning of our hike, I very well may have gotten in the water.
With my little friend (didn't actually catch his name...) The children at this particular village greeted us with flowers in hand and joined us on the walk for quite a while. I had a couple of three little ones attached to my hands as we walked - pure bliss.
That settles it...
...I'm staying. Or at least coming back... more than once.
Today was absolutely incredible -- I think I may have said that about yesterday, but it really was. This was our group outing to a traditional Masai farm and the surrounding countryside where we were surrounded by beautiful forests, lush farm land, and an endless stream of small children and locals who were enthralled by the wazungu (plural of mzungu = white person).
From the compound, we took three jeeps toward Arusha, and soon found ourselves off the highway on deeply rutted dirt roads. The main road quickly gave way to a bustling market area with chickens and children and merchandise everywhere. The people were suddenly much more real and less of the insistent tour guides. Up the mountain we went as it got cooler and cooler, till we stopped just short of driving into the clouds. Here we met our two guides and were told that our drivers would meet us at lunch.
Once we began to walk, the cool morning opened up to us and we marveled at the lush greenery, the high hills still shrouded in mist, and even the huts around us with shy faces peeking out, looking at the wazungu. It was thrilling to be able to speak to the old women walking slowly, to greet the wide-eyed children, and respond to greetings of "habari" (what's the news) from the young people. I don't exactly know how to describe the incredible richness of the earth, except through pictures.
We quickly left the main road and ended up on single track dirt paths among the fields. Throughout the day we passed corn, bananas, yams, peas, red beans, lots of cabbage, and even some lettuce. The forest and farms are all somewhat on top of each other - we ventured our way down a very steep muddy trail to a beautiful waterfall, where a cow was enjoying himself entirely, only slightly perturbed by our photo antics and tourism.
And since I'm not so talented with manipulating a shoddy internet connection, I'm going to have to stop here and post a couple pictures in the next post. Thanks to Steve S for helping me find a way to upload pictures pretty easily. The photos include of a preview of what followed.
Today was absolutely incredible -- I think I may have said that about yesterday, but it really was. This was our group outing to a traditional Masai farm and the surrounding countryside where we were surrounded by beautiful forests, lush farm land, and an endless stream of small children and locals who were enthralled by the wazungu (plural of mzungu = white person).
From the compound, we took three jeeps toward Arusha, and soon found ourselves off the highway on deeply rutted dirt roads. The main road quickly gave way to a bustling market area with chickens and children and merchandise everywhere. The people were suddenly much more real and less of the insistent tour guides. Up the mountain we went as it got cooler and cooler, till we stopped just short of driving into the clouds. Here we met our two guides and were told that our drivers would meet us at lunch.
Once we began to walk, the cool morning opened up to us and we marveled at the lush greenery, the high hills still shrouded in mist, and even the huts around us with shy faces peeking out, looking at the wazungu. It was thrilling to be able to speak to the old women walking slowly, to greet the wide-eyed children, and respond to greetings of "habari" (what's the news) from the young people. I don't exactly know how to describe the incredible richness of the earth, except through pictures.
We quickly left the main road and ended up on single track dirt paths among the fields. Throughout the day we passed corn, bananas, yams, peas, red beans, lots of cabbage, and even some lettuce. The forest and farms are all somewhat on top of each other - we ventured our way down a very steep muddy trail to a beautiful waterfall, where a cow was enjoying himself entirely, only slightly perturbed by our photo antics and tourism.
And since I'm not so talented with manipulating a shoddy internet connection, I'm going to have to stop here and post a couple pictures in the next post. Thanks to Steve S for helping me find a way to upload pictures pretty easily. The photos include of a preview of what followed.
Waterfall
An attempt to create the effect of the waterfall... there wasn't much room to back up - it was gorgeous.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Perspectives
I am incredibly exhausted, so ready for dinner, napping, and some time to decompress. Overall, it's been a great week and a great day.
We've officially finished one full week here at TCDC, the training center for Swahili, community development, and various other human rights programs. Every morning during the week has been Kiswahili lessons from 8:30-12:30, and the brain power it takes to learn a new language, especially when I've been doing science and engineering for 4 years, is incredibly demanding. On the plus side, I'm thrilled that I've been steadily understanding more and more each day. I'm getting faster at responding to greetings and can even compose complete sentences that make sense.
Afternoons have included short lectures on general electronics and equipment theory (everything from transformers to compressed gases), followed by lab exercises. I'm quickly getting more comfortable soldering, stripping wires, and building small circuits. Merete (my lab partner and hospital partner next month) and I are both trying things and learning all the skills, but we seem to have pretty complimentary skill sets that will serve us well in the hospitals next month. I could probably be studying the engineering and troubleshooting parts of my day much more, but it's very easy (and a little more fun) to focus primarily on the swahili and communicating with my host family and local people we meet.
Today (Friday) is our break from classes and a practice run at the hospitals. All 20 of us will spend the next month of Fridays at Mt. Meru hospital, working on broken equipment and trying to get things working. There was an entire room of stuff that had been brought down from variou sparts of the hospital, waiting for us. Apparently next week, we should expect various doctors and nurses bringing 'their' piece of equipment down and hoping we can do something about it. Today's grand endeavor was to tackle the various parts and pieces sitting around that needed some attention. Some people worked on what turned out to be an aspirator, others found some sort of vibrator - probably for test tubes and diagnostic stuff. One group got a piece of equipment working that heats water in a chamber and has what appear to be intake and output tubes - perhaps an old-fashioned nebulizer? My group spent the entire morning going through a box of stethescopes, blood pressure cuffs, and a few other assorted pieces of equipment that needed to be triaged. In the end, we managed to salvage a set of pediatric bp cuffs, a couple more complete cuffs, and various working air bladders and velcro casings, but a severe lack of pressure gauges made it impossible to get complete sets.
For those of you going into healthcare or charity donations, don't send incomplete products, please. Aside from the broken and assorted parts and pieces, we had an entire box of unopened disposable bp cuffs that had no pressure gauges or bulbs. Unfortunately, we couldn't just assemble the cuffs with existing parts because the connections were specific to the system those cuffs were intended for. I'm not so enchanted with donations that are done in the name of a tax deduction - just throw away your own trash.
After the morning in the hospital, we went back to town for lunch and to get a handle on where hardware/parts stores and general use stores are. I was very happy to find an ATM that took mastercard -- but I was incredibly annoyed by the guy who was trying to sell me something and actually waited around for me to come out of the ATM so I had cash. I'm generally okay with nicely turning down the millions of street vendors and 'tour guides' who easily identify a white girl, but this was entirely too much. I wasn't quite as nice that time - perhaps he won't bother me again.
It's interesting how the people who work the street for toursists are incredible with their marketing skills. They meet you once, are incredibly friendly, and learn your name as well as your friends' names. This was our second day in the city, and I had at least 5 people come up to me and ask if I remembered meeting them. At first I thought they may have just been making it up so that I would feel bad and stop and talk to them, but when they would remember assorted names of our group members, I had to admit that I was pretty impressed. Once again, I had one offer from a guy who described himself as 'just a charming guy,' to go home with him, or at least get ice cream alone so he could tell me the feelings of his heart. I hope I made it clear that I won't be found in the city alone, even if we should run into each other again. On the other hand, I enujoy parts of the hassling. People here are incredibly friendly, and especially since I've started to learn more Kiswahili, interactions with strangers on the streets are always interesting and can often lead to new discoveries.
I'm hopeful that since Merete and I will be working in or near Arusha (this same city), we may begin to gain a familiarity and possibly even long term recognition with the local shop owners and 'tour guides.' I know we will continue to stand out as Mzungu, but will a month or two be long enough to be accepted as familiar mzungu?
Dinner is likely ready, so I'll finish with one funny moment from the afternoon. It is incredible how much we get stared at in the city - especially with children it's rather adorable and incredible (perhaps I'll think differently later in the summer), but it's just plain funny with adults. After wandering the city for the afternoon, Merete and I were the first of our group to return to the hospital to meet the bus back to the center. As my very blonde, pink, blue-eyed partner walked in, another local man (perhaps a patient) walked by, obviously staring and very ungracefully tumbled his way into a pothole as he kept looking back. I guess the hazards of rubber-necking extend beyond driving past an accident on the highway...
We've officially finished one full week here at TCDC, the training center for Swahili, community development, and various other human rights programs. Every morning during the week has been Kiswahili lessons from 8:30-12:30, and the brain power it takes to learn a new language, especially when I've been doing science and engineering for 4 years, is incredibly demanding. On the plus side, I'm thrilled that I've been steadily understanding more and more each day. I'm getting faster at responding to greetings and can even compose complete sentences that make sense.
Afternoons have included short lectures on general electronics and equipment theory (everything from transformers to compressed gases), followed by lab exercises. I'm quickly getting more comfortable soldering, stripping wires, and building small circuits. Merete (my lab partner and hospital partner next month) and I are both trying things and learning all the skills, but we seem to have pretty complimentary skill sets that will serve us well in the hospitals next month. I could probably be studying the engineering and troubleshooting parts of my day much more, but it's very easy (and a little more fun) to focus primarily on the swahili and communicating with my host family and local people we meet.
Today (Friday) is our break from classes and a practice run at the hospitals. All 20 of us will spend the next month of Fridays at Mt. Meru hospital, working on broken equipment and trying to get things working. There was an entire room of stuff that had been brought down from variou sparts of the hospital, waiting for us. Apparently next week, we should expect various doctors and nurses bringing 'their' piece of equipment down and hoping we can do something about it. Today's grand endeavor was to tackle the various parts and pieces sitting around that needed some attention. Some people worked on what turned out to be an aspirator, others found some sort of vibrator - probably for test tubes and diagnostic stuff. One group got a piece of equipment working that heats water in a chamber and has what appear to be intake and output tubes - perhaps an old-fashioned nebulizer? My group spent the entire morning going through a box of stethescopes, blood pressure cuffs, and a few other assorted pieces of equipment that needed to be triaged. In the end, we managed to salvage a set of pediatric bp cuffs, a couple more complete cuffs, and various working air bladders and velcro casings, but a severe lack of pressure gauges made it impossible to get complete sets.
For those of you going into healthcare or charity donations, don't send incomplete products, please. Aside from the broken and assorted parts and pieces, we had an entire box of unopened disposable bp cuffs that had no pressure gauges or bulbs. Unfortunately, we couldn't just assemble the cuffs with existing parts because the connections were specific to the system those cuffs were intended for. I'm not so enchanted with donations that are done in the name of a tax deduction - just throw away your own trash.
After the morning in the hospital, we went back to town for lunch and to get a handle on where hardware/parts stores and general use stores are. I was very happy to find an ATM that took mastercard -- but I was incredibly annoyed by the guy who was trying to sell me something and actually waited around for me to come out of the ATM so I had cash. I'm generally okay with nicely turning down the millions of street vendors and 'tour guides' who easily identify a white girl, but this was entirely too much. I wasn't quite as nice that time - perhaps he won't bother me again.
It's interesting how the people who work the street for toursists are incredible with their marketing skills. They meet you once, are incredibly friendly, and learn your name as well as your friends' names. This was our second day in the city, and I had at least 5 people come up to me and ask if I remembered meeting them. At first I thought they may have just been making it up so that I would feel bad and stop and talk to them, but when they would remember assorted names of our group members, I had to admit that I was pretty impressed. Once again, I had one offer from a guy who described himself as 'just a charming guy,' to go home with him, or at least get ice cream alone so he could tell me the feelings of his heart. I hope I made it clear that I won't be found in the city alone, even if we should run into each other again. On the other hand, I enujoy parts of the hassling. People here are incredibly friendly, and especially since I've started to learn more Kiswahili, interactions with strangers on the streets are always interesting and can often lead to new discoveries.
I'm hopeful that since Merete and I will be working in or near Arusha (this same city), we may begin to gain a familiarity and possibly even long term recognition with the local shop owners and 'tour guides.' I know we will continue to stand out as Mzungu, but will a month or two be long enough to be accepted as familiar mzungu?
Dinner is likely ready, so I'll finish with one funny moment from the afternoon. It is incredible how much we get stared at in the city - especially with children it's rather adorable and incredible (perhaps I'll think differently later in the summer), but it's just plain funny with adults. After wandering the city for the afternoon, Merete and I were the first of our group to return to the hospital to meet the bus back to the center. As my very blonde, pink, blue-eyed partner walked in, another local man (perhaps a patient) walked by, obviously staring and very ungracefully tumbled his way into a pothole as he kept looking back. I guess the hazards of rubber-necking extend beyond driving past an accident on the highway...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Shaglabagla! (Just try saying it outloud - you'll love it too)
Blog posting has turned out to be more difficult than I had hoped. Over the last couple days, I've managed to take the time to upload 2 photos to flickr (see the link to your right), and I think I may have to start making sure to write and be VERY selective with my pictures. It's that or reduce the file size and post low resolution photos and fix them later. If you know how to do this, I'm open for suggestions.
The process of learning swahili has been so good and so challenging. I'm excited to understand more each day and get a better understanding of the culture. For instance, our first day was entirely spent learning greetings. We have a term of respect you say to elders, inquiries about how you are, how your day or sleeping was, and general hellos. It's not uncommon to go through a list of at least 3 different greetings before getting on to regular conversation. If someone asks how you are or how your day was, you always respond with 'nzuri' or 'salama' -- basically saying 'good' or 'peaceful.' Even if you didn't sleep a wink or your mother has died, you still give a positive response. It can then be followed with 'kidogo' (a little) that could maybe prompt someone to ask about what might not be so great. Politeness is paramount and modesty is very valued. The only thing that is starting to bother me is the fact that I really would like to wear sleeveless shirts when things get a little too warm... On the other hand, if that's my biggest problem, then I'm doing pretty well. Like I was telling daddy, it's idyllic here, weather-wise. It's just cool enough at night for a jacket, and the mornings can be rather cool when the sun isn't out. Once we reach midafternoon it is perfect for short sleeves, long skirt, and sandals. It might be nice if there was a tad more sun, but I'd really rather be on the cool side of things. We had a gorgeously sunny, sweaty day when we went to Arusha on Saturday.
Since I was so excited about them, let me share a few of my profound discoveries about Swahili.
The process of learning swahili has been so good and so challenging. I'm excited to understand more each day and get a better understanding of the culture. For instance, our first day was entirely spent learning greetings. We have a term of respect you say to elders, inquiries about how you are, how your day or sleeping was, and general hellos. It's not uncommon to go through a list of at least 3 different greetings before getting on to regular conversation. If someone asks how you are or how your day was, you always respond with 'nzuri' or 'salama' -- basically saying 'good' or 'peaceful.' Even if you didn't sleep a wink or your mother has died, you still give a positive response. It can then be followed with 'kidogo' (a little) that could maybe prompt someone to ask about what might not be so great. Politeness is paramount and modesty is very valued. The only thing that is starting to bother me is the fact that I really would like to wear sleeveless shirts when things get a little too warm... On the other hand, if that's my biggest problem, then I'm doing pretty well. Like I was telling daddy, it's idyllic here, weather-wise. It's just cool enough at night for a jacket, and the mornings can be rather cool when the sun isn't out. Once we reach midafternoon it is perfect for short sleeves, long skirt, and sandals. It might be nice if there was a tad more sun, but I'd really rather be on the cool side of things. We had a gorgeously sunny, sweaty day when we went to Arusha on Saturday.
Since I was so excited about them, let me share a few of my profound discoveries about Swahili.
- I've long been confused about when to use 'Swahili' and when to use 'Kiswahili' when refering to the language itself. Turns out, the language is called Swahili, but if you're actually speaking swahili, they refer to languages with the prefix ki-. Thus Japanese is Kijapani, Norwegian is Kinorwei, Arabic is Kiarabu, and English is Kiingereza.
- Reading swahili is really as easy as it sounds -- if you have no idea what a word is, read it outloud, flip your R's, and pronounce every single letter, separating vowels. The only vowel sounds are a (ah), e (eh), i (ee), o (oh), u (oo). This might help with reading the words above, too. English really does actually sound like 'English.'
- The note above also makes it pretty easy to communicate here. If you can't think of a word in Swahili, just say it with a bit of an accent. Like technical terms we ran into. Wire Cutters are called Waya Kata. Try it - it's fun. :)
- Swahili has a great set of vocabulary words that describe some things the way they really should be described. Like the word Shaglabagla. Just try it. I think I may try and coin it as a new term in the Perry family because it describes us perfectly: basically, it means mess, disorder, or craziness. This can describe things like the floor of my bedroom (or Daniel's or Helen's, for that matter), the state of Daddy's studio, or general craziness, like when Mamma is trying to coordinate us all getting to the right places at the right times, shower, and talk to her children overseas and over prairies.
- On another note, I've discovered one more way I am like my family. I used to make fun of them for taking pictures of plants all the time, but with the wealth of greenery here, it's all I can to do help from taking pictures of only plants and animals, and since the animals are rather hard to catch, it's mostly plants. If you look at my new profile picture, it's a picture of a flower that I'd seen somewhere (I think interfacelift.com) and loved. It was thrilling to discover that it is actually a real flower and is just lying on the ground here after falling off a tree.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Mzungu: White people
Here is the bulk of an email to my mother that sort of morphed into a blog post halfway through. Enjoy! (and please feel free to ask questions to clarify, since I haven't set the scene very well).
We just got back from a long day in Arusha, the main city nearby. I'm covered in dust, dirt, sunscreen, sweat, and probably a good deal of sun judging by the pink tinge I see on some of the other girls' faces across from me.
Friday classes were wonderful and full of lots of learning. So far we know the litany of greetings that are customary and polite to start with before beginning a conversation with anyone. Since we live in the compound (fondly known as 'Danish' by the locals b/c of its start as a Danish missionary training center), Katie and I got to go home for hot lunch and good conversations with the people who are really becoming family in such a short time.
The afternoon was orientation to lab, unpacking the equipment we'd brought, and labeling tools in English and Swahili. I feel like I'm at least competent to be fine with the lab content... hopefully this will translate into feeling comfortable in the hospitals next month. The whole group is fun, though there are obviously a few good chances for us to compare our respective educations and experiences in rather competitive ways. Mostly this is good for me since it keeps me wanted to work hard (but maybe not the best motivation?) ;)
That night a few of the other students who live on the compound invited us to watch a movie - once the very American, rather inane comedy was over, I had the same thought that another one vocalized: "I'm in Africa..." Part of the strangeness of it was that the compound is very protected, and though there are plenty of locals living here, it is very well off. We are among some of the groups that have warm showers and flush toilets (as opposed to glorified holes in the floor). Personally, I'm not complaining.
Today (Saturday) was a day full of exciting explorations and adventures... and I definitely feel like I'm in a very different place now.
At breakfast, I made a new friend. Freedom, age 7, was staying over for the night because his parents are traveling and his sister had locked him out. Though he was too shy to talk to me last night, the worldwide language of hot chocolate and breakfast opened him up. Inspired by Katie's desire to go for a run, I did some pajamas yoga in the bedroom, then took advantage of the stationary bike and my iPod in the reasonably furnished workout room on the compound. Toward the end, I found myself singing along to one of the Redeemer worship songs, only to discover that there had been a woman working in the next room... she didn't seem to mind. :)
After showers, we met Alex (also a cyclist and a Georgia girl) and Merete (my partner for next month) to go into town. We ventured outside the compound and hopped on the dala dala -- a glorified multipassenger van, filled to the hilt, and what I would call pretty unsafe (but incredibly fun). To Alex's chagrin, I think, I met a young man in dress shirt and slacks who said he was a tour guide and showed us where to get off to begin our tour of the city. Eventually, we did get him to leave us be, though I'm learning to not pick up those who profess to be guides unless I really need it. We wandered around a lot, getting a feel for the city, traffic and pedestrian patterns, and general layout. The cool morning turned into a rather hot midday, and we stopped for bottled water and samosas. The inital smell of the slowly rotting food market and semi-open sewage in the streets were perhaps some of the more difficult sensory experiences of the day. The Masai market, full of the touristy things you'd expect to see from Africa was pretty incredible, though I learned how to say "just looking" and "not buying anything today" lots and lots. I'll probably head back there when I'm on my way out of the country and load up on pretty paintings, scarves, cloth, jewelry, and knick knacks for gifts at home.
The remainder of our group arrived in town mid-afternoon, and we proceeded to be the big group of white people "Mzungu" walking down the street with at least one local per every two of us, trying to sell us something or be our tour guide. I met a very nice young guy named Max, who ended up hanging around for most of the rest of the day and teaching me lots of useful phrases in Swahili, like sorry, not today (hakuna leo), and how to count to 10, among other things. We found more intricacies of the real central market (the not touristy one), and a very nice bar/restaurant called Barcelona Gardens. The restuarant was set backa way from the street in a beautiful little gulley with outside tables staggered down the hill under the tall, shady trees. Dinner at a local place followed -- rice, ugali, beef, chicken, and goat were all eaten with our hands and enjoyed tremendously. I even got to speak french with one of the locals we had picked up -- Simba.
Finally, our adventurous group member, Chris, had arranged a van to drop us all off at home. Despite them getting lost, Katie and I were safely deposited back here at the compound. I'm curious to find out what happened after we left, since at that point there was some arguing going on about increasing price of the ride due to our brief period of being lost.
And that brings us back to tonight... That's all for now, and hopefully I'll be able to pick and choose what to share in a way that doesn't require quite so much typing. ;)
We just got back from a long day in Arusha, the main city nearby. I'm covered in dust, dirt, sunscreen, sweat, and probably a good deal of sun judging by the pink tinge I see on some of the other girls' faces across from me.
Friday classes were wonderful and full of lots of learning. So far we know the litany of greetings that are customary and polite to start with before beginning a conversation with anyone. Since we live in the compound (fondly known as 'Danish' by the locals b/c of its start as a Danish missionary training center), Katie and I got to go home for hot lunch and good conversations with the people who are really becoming family in such a short time.
The afternoon was orientation to lab, unpacking the equipment we'd brought, and labeling tools in English and Swahili. I feel like I'm at least competent to be fine with the lab content... hopefully this will translate into feeling comfortable in the hospitals next month. The whole group is fun, though there are obviously a few good chances for us to compare our respective educations and experiences in rather competitive ways. Mostly this is good for me since it keeps me wanted to work hard (but maybe not the best motivation?) ;)
That night a few of the other students who live on the compound invited us to watch a movie - once the very American, rather inane comedy was over, I had the same thought that another one vocalized: "I'm in Africa..." Part of the strangeness of it was that the compound is very protected, and though there are plenty of locals living here, it is very well off. We are among some of the groups that have warm showers and flush toilets (as opposed to glorified holes in the floor). Personally, I'm not complaining.
Today (Saturday) was a day full of exciting explorations and adventures... and I definitely feel like I'm in a very different place now.
At breakfast, I made a new friend. Freedom, age 7, was staying over for the night because his parents are traveling and his sister had locked him out. Though he was too shy to talk to me last night, the worldwide language of hot chocolate and breakfast opened him up. Inspired by Katie's desire to go for a run, I did some pajamas yoga in the bedroom, then took advantage of the stationary bike and my iPod in the reasonably furnished workout room on the compound. Toward the end, I found myself singing along to one of the Redeemer worship songs, only to discover that there had been a woman working in the next room... she didn't seem to mind. :)
After showers, we met Alex (also a cyclist and a Georgia girl) and Merete (my partner for next month) to go into town. We ventured outside the compound and hopped on the dala dala -- a glorified multipassenger van, filled to the hilt, and what I would call pretty unsafe (but incredibly fun). To Alex's chagrin, I think, I met a young man in dress shirt and slacks who said he was a tour guide and showed us where to get off to begin our tour of the city. Eventually, we did get him to leave us be, though I'm learning to not pick up those who profess to be guides unless I really need it. We wandered around a lot, getting a feel for the city, traffic and pedestrian patterns, and general layout. The cool morning turned into a rather hot midday, and we stopped for bottled water and samosas. The inital smell of the slowly rotting food market and semi-open sewage in the streets were perhaps some of the more difficult sensory experiences of the day. The Masai market, full of the touristy things you'd expect to see from Africa was pretty incredible, though I learned how to say "just looking" and "not buying anything today" lots and lots. I'll probably head back there when I'm on my way out of the country and load up on pretty paintings, scarves, cloth, jewelry, and knick knacks for gifts at home.
The remainder of our group arrived in town mid-afternoon, and we proceeded to be the big group of white people "Mzungu" walking down the street with at least one local per every two of us, trying to sell us something or be our tour guide. I met a very nice young guy named Max, who ended up hanging around for most of the rest of the day and teaching me lots of useful phrases in Swahili, like sorry, not today (hakuna leo), and how to count to 10, among other things. We found more intricacies of the real central market (the not touristy one), and a very nice bar/restaurant called Barcelona Gardens. The restuarant was set backa way from the street in a beautiful little gulley with outside tables staggered down the hill under the tall, shady trees. Dinner at a local place followed -- rice, ugali, beef, chicken, and goat were all eaten with our hands and enjoyed tremendously. I even got to speak french with one of the locals we had picked up -- Simba.
Finally, our adventurous group member, Chris, had arranged a van to drop us all off at home. Despite them getting lost, Katie and I were safely deposited back here at the compound. I'm curious to find out what happened after we left, since at that point there was some arguing going on about increasing price of the ride due to our brief period of being lost.
And that brings us back to tonight... That's all for now, and hopefully I'll be able to pick and choose what to share in a way that doesn't require quite so much typing. ;)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sound Memories
I love driving late at night, sitting in the darkness with the 4 and 5am news anchors telling me about the world with an accent that makes everything seem just a little more exciting, proper, and yet a little more close to home. Perhaps that's because the BBC includes so much of the world, all mixed in to create an assembly of sounds, translations, and stories that reminds me that we're all human and dealing with the same kinds of struggles, drama, and triumphs.
The last story I heard was one about a project called 'Save our Sounds' that aims to capture the sounds of life all over the world. The term they used was "Audio Ecologists." I was incredibly intrigued (and dryly amused at this time to also see that police had stopped someone who had tried to go the wrong way on the one way street I was driving). The theory behind audio ecologists is that just as we try to save our natural environments, the sounds of our world are rapidly changing. The two components of the project are 1)the Save our Sounds collection where people record the sounds of life around them and submit to the collection, and 2) the Desperately Seeking Sounds of people who may want to hear a sound they no longer have access to. One example of this was a man from Kansas now living in Brussels who wanted to hear the sound of cicadas on a summer night.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/saveoursounds.shtml
The story got me thinking of what kinds of things I'll miss hearing, either this summer or in the next few years if I'm no longer in Indianapolis. I'll start my list here and maybe I'll make a point of recording them and sending them in...
The last story I heard was one about a project called 'Save our Sounds' that aims to capture the sounds of life all over the world. The term they used was "Audio Ecologists." I was incredibly intrigued (and dryly amused at this time to also see that police had stopped someone who had tried to go the wrong way on the one way street I was driving). The theory behind audio ecologists is that just as we try to save our natural environments, the sounds of our world are rapidly changing. The two components of the project are 1)the Save our Sounds collection where people record the sounds of life around them and submit to the collection, and 2) the Desperately Seeking Sounds of people who may want to hear a sound they no longer have access to. One example of this was a man from Kansas now living in Brussels who wanted to hear the sound of cicadas on a summer night.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/saveoursounds.shtml
The story got me thinking of what kinds of things I'll miss hearing, either this summer or in the next few years if I'm no longer in Indianapolis. I'll start my list here and maybe I'll make a point of recording them and sending them in...
- Daddy practicing trumpet in the next room - sometimes on mouthpiece, sometimes with different horns. Many times this sound is a tune I've grown up hearing, sometimes it's a tune I recognize, always it's someone great playing.
- Pots and pans rattling in the kitchen as I wake up - this one just makes me feel cared for and pampered. Sometimes it's Mamma, sometimes Granddaddy, other times it's a friend.
- Sirens passing in the night. This may sound odd, but after 4 years of living nestled between 4 major hospitals, two of which have level 1 trauma centers, the sirens have become familiar and a normal part of life.
- Children thumping and crashing above our heads while we study the Word at the Berends'. Although this is a direct result of leaving out insulation between the first and second floors, it's good to hear the play and even the mess of life going on when you know and love so dearly those involved.
- Box fans in the window, sometimes accompanied by crickets or cicadas - this is the last one as I think of my lovely bed with the small fan in the window blowing across my legs.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Just Dance
I've stolen this from Ben, so thanks for finding it! Just a fun little tidbit that has me wanting to dance the night away... one of those things that I don't do often enough, and yet it's so incredibly fun when I do get a chance to have a great dance. My favorites are 1)getting spun around the floor with a partner who really knows what he's doing and 2)pulling out all the stops of ballet, jazz, salsa, and whatever else I've picked up since the age of 4 and dancing in the kitchen with Elli.
Picture credit: Michelle Wafford - Summer 2008, Downtown Indy on the Canal with Zach W
Monday, June 1, 2009
Beth and the CPR kid
This is my first attempt posting directly from Flickr... basically to say that I have new photos, though most of them are of Daniel at the Baccalaureate ceremony. It's just a 10 day wait until I'll have pictures of my travels!!
In the meantime, my main goal for this week is to finish the EMT class that is now meeting every night of the week. Friday I take a written exam, and Saturday we all spend the morning trying to pass the various skills stations for the practical exam. When it is all said and done, provided things go well, I should be certified as an Emergency Medical Technician in the state of Indiana. And no, this does not mean I can put IVs or cut someone's throat open; that's just for the Paramedics.
In the meantime, my main goal for this week is to finish the EMT class that is now meeting every night of the week. Friday I take a written exam, and Saturday we all spend the morning trying to pass the various skills stations for the practical exam. When it is all said and done, provided things go well, I should be certified as an Emergency Medical Technician in the state of Indiana. And no, this does not mean I can put IVs or cut someone's throat open; that's just for the Paramedics.
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