Zanzibar Trip

This weekend I spent lying in a lounge chair on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. We went to the island of Zanzibar, just off the coast of Tanzania, and spent time at Kendwa beach. There is only one flight a day to Zanzibar and it leaves at 11 am so we skipped our placement Friday so that we could go. The whole flight there was clear skies and then as soon as we began to land it was pouring outside but fortunately it only lasted about 20 minutes. We meet three girls in the airport, from Denver, that were spending the week in Zanzibar and shared a taxi with them to Stone Town. They were traveling in Tanzania for three weeks. Week one they climbed Kili, then took a safari and were now relaxing in Zanzibar. Little did we know that by asking them to share a taxi we had just gotten travel buddies for the whole weekend. Stone Town is on the water but not known for its beach. It is the primary city and is known as the location of the slave trade and for its intricate doors. We spent some time walking around looking at all the carved doors. The amount of detail on your door was a sign of how wealthy you were. But all of the doors had these large brass knobs spaced evenly around them. The most famous door was said to be on the home of Tipu Tip so we had to see it. When we arrived at the house we were surprised to see that the door was decorated with graffiti and inside the once famous house now lived locals. By locals, I mean each room of the house was now occupied by a family. As we walked up a slightly drunk man that lived in the house saw us and offered to give us a tour. I walked inside the door where he knocked on the marble floor in the entry to show us it was hollow below. At once point there was a tunnel below where they could ship in illegal products like elephant’s tusks as well as trade slaves. Also in the entry way there was a large staircase to the right, which at one point was probably very nice, and straight in front there was a mean looking chain link gate with a padlock on it. On the other side of the gate there was a man and our tour guide, if you could call him that, asked if he could unlock it. The man didn't follow his orders and so the guide just broke into the gate. This was the point where I decided that I had seen enough and proceeded back outside. I was surprised to see that the once so famous house was no over populated by locals and not well kept at all. From there we proceeded to the church which was the location of the slave trade. Most of the time we just spent wandering around seeing what we could find. The buildings were all white washed many with blue shutters, kind of like Greece, but it was way too dirty and not well kept enough to be intriguing and pretty. As the sun started to set we went to the Africa House hotel which has a patio that overlooks the water where all the fishing boats come in and has a prefect view of the sunset. Down below you could see young boys playing in the water, small fishing boats coming in for the day, and women sitting in the little park area just up from the sand. At night this little park area becomes full of vendors selling drinks and dinners. We decided to try the local bar-b-que for dinner that night. They had fresh skewers of fish, Zanzibar pizza, sugar cane juice, and sodas. I ordered an octopus, and white shark. Both were absolutely amazing and I spent a total of 4000 Tsh which is about $3 for my whole meal. The next day we got on the 8 am. shuttle to head to the beach. Our hotel room was a little thatched roof bungalow that was right on the beach. The front had a patio with a couple of chairs and on the side was a hammock. The best part was that it had air conditioning, something I haven't had in six weeks. Then right near the water were more little thatched roof umbrellas and some chairs for people to enjoy. We spent most of the afternoon just lying around on the beach. Our friends that we shared the taxi with ended up hanging out with us in stone town and were then going to head to our hotel Saturday night and spend the rest of the week there. So we meet up for them for dinner and for the all night beach party that our hotel was hosting. After dinner we just knew the party was about to begin because more and more local guys, but no girls, kept showing up. Let me tell you those people can dance like I have never seen before. At one point they had a circle made and were each taking their turn in the middle to show off their moves. One of the guys taught me a dance and then took me into the middle of the circle so that I could have my moment of fame. They probably all just laughed at me but whatever I had a good time. About 2:30 we decided that we weren't going to make it all night and that it was time to head to bed. We left the beach and walked about 100 yards to our room and called it quits for the night, but we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Sunday I woke up about 6:30 and went to the beach to make sure I got enough lounge chairs for all five of us and just enjoyed the peacefulness of the ocean. There were very few people out but the sun was up and the sound of the waves gliding over the sand was very calming so much so that I fell back to sleep. When I woke up I went to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast with a man who was there visiting and thought he needed to get the party started early so he was buying shots of tequila for everyone. I guess he thought the beach party was still going. We were going to do a three hours snorkel trip on Sunday but just ran out of time. Overall the whole time in Zanzibar was very peaceful but our journey back to Moshi was interesting. The man that worked in our hotel bar offered us a cheap ride to the airport so we took him up on it. But along the way we stopped to pick up his brother and also managed to hit a chicken that was crossing that street. On a positive note, he was the first person I have ridden with in all of Tanzania that used a blinker so I figured it would be fine. Our flight from Zanzibar went first to Dar and was about a 15 minute flight. There we had to get off the plane, go inside, get a new boarding pass, go through security and get on the exact same plane. Why we couldn't just get one boarding pass in Zanzibar and stay on the plane the whole way through is beyond me. From the Kilimanjaro airport we had to take the airlines shuttle back towards Moshi but we asked the driver if he could drop us off on the way. As you head from the airport to Moshi you pass our house and we wanted to just walk from the highway to a restaurant near by and then home. When we finally arrived at home we were exhausted from the six hours of traveling it took us that day to get home. Even though it took a while, it was all worth it. The sand was so white and so soft and the prettiest sand I have ever seen. The water was this aqua teal blue color and you could see everything in it. You could look out from the beach and see darker spots in the water and then blue areas that were so clear. I am sure nobody is surprised, but one of my favorite parts of the trip was the unlimited fresh seafood to order which I ordered at every meal. In the process of three days I was able to have calamari, white shark, octopus, red snapper and jack fish. The trip was a success and now I have just a couple days of teaching before I head home.

Accepting Donations

This Sunday Kandice and I did a day Kilimanjaro hike and I am now accepting donations to pay the fee to climb to the top. We started at the gate where all hikers that take Marangu, the route with the highest success rate, begin their trek and we continued to the first hut. The first hut is the stopping point on the first day for hikers that are going to the top. The vegetation around us was like a rain forest and there were even monkeys in the trees. But the part that really makes me want to climb to the top was the glow on the faces of people coming down. As we were going up we were passing hikers that we coming down from the summit and they all had such a look of achievement on their faces. At the first hut, 9000 ft in elevation, we stopped to eat lunch. Sitting at the picnic table next to us were some hikers that were just coming down so we asked them how it went. They all said grueling but completely worth it. When you climb kili you carry a pack that has your first aid kit, clothes, and water for the day. The rest of your stuff is carried by porters which I had a lot of questions about. Per hiker there is on average three porters and they carry everything. They carry the food, water, tents, cooking supplies, dishes, sleeping bags, their clothes, and everything else that you need. The weight limit on what a porter carries is suppose to be 25 kg. But the guides can pay the men at the base of the mountain to not weight the bags and porters are frequently carrying 50 kg. Not only do they have a pack on their back but they all had large baskets or sacks on top of their head containing a lot more equipment. Given that they are doing such physical work I was interested in what they were paid so I asked our guide. A porters salary is anywhere from $5 to 10 a day. You can do the math but that means they make $30 to 60 each time they climb kili carrying 50 kg of stuff on top of their head. During high season many of them climb the mountain continuously. They finish one trip up, sleep a night, and then start another trip up. Even though they are carrying all the food and water that doesn't necessarily mean that they are getting much of it on the mountain. The guides on the other hand just carry a pack containing their personal belongings, expect their food and water, and hike along with the tourists. Some guides are fair to their porters, feed them properly, split tips evenly, and treat them with respect but this seems to not be the case most of the time. The whole way up the mountain I had a million questions for John, our guide, about climbing Kili. John is my friend that lives down the street and offered to take us on a day kili hike. I personally thought he would be an awesome guide, and he was, because he had been a porter for 6 years and knew everything about the mountain. He said if I want to climb to the top next time to just give him a call. So once I have enough donations to pay the $1200 climbing fee plus about $500 in tips I will be ready for my climb. Checks can be made payable to Laura Peter.

Health care in Moshi

We toured a local hospital this week and oh goodness if I get sick here please just put me on a plane home. One of the other volunteers here right now is working at the hospital so she walked us around and gave us a quick tour the other morning. The operating room has dirt all over the floor, the limited number of tools did not look sterile and the operating table looked awful. It was a short table hardly long enough for a whole body with a mat about two inches thick on top. There was a sheet falling off the side that was used the cover the mat but I am not certain of how often it is changed. Laura, the volunteer giving us the tour, during the day said that they just line people up on the tables and they go in one after the other for surgery. She did walk us past some of the wards that house the patients and they looked like old Vietnam war hospitals. The patients were sleeping on what looked more like a cot than a bed, there was an old mosquito net tied up above each bed, the rooms were really packed with people, they smelled bad, and there were bugs flying around everywhere. Can you imagine feeling sick and not being in comfortable quarters. We complain at home if we are in a room with one other person and here they are with at least a hundred. We concluded our tour by walking past the psychiatric wards where one gentleman kindly proposed to all of the women in our group. Fourtunately, none of us accepted his heart felt offer.

Another volunteer, also Laura who is now my new roommate, is working at the dispensary and came home with a great story the other day. Quite a few of the dispensary patients are there to get tested for AIDS and pregnancy so she was asking the nurse about the education process for things of this nature. The nurse told her that within the city of Moshi people are well informed about AIDS, pregancy, and the use of condoms but outside in the villages they really don't know much. She even mentioned that in the villages they know of condoms but they don't know the proper use of them. It is not uncommon for someone to use a condom, wash it out, hang it on their clothes line to dry, and then have a neighbor ask to borrow it.

Friday the 13th Disasters

Oh what I day yesterday was, you can only imagine. To keep it short I will just give you some bulleted highlights.

1. When I arrived at school one of the little girls was carrying a water bottle that had this dark brown liquid in it and a thick layer of foam on top since she was shaking it up. When I asked the teacher what it was she said that it was Malta Guinness which is an energy drink. If sounds more like beer to me but if it is energy drink who gives a four year old child an energy drink at 7:30 in the morning.
2. One little boy who has never had a notebook of his own, most the little kids do, showed up with his own notebook today. But at the end of the day I was helping him to understand the assignment in his notebook and he started to cry as it was time for me to leave.
3. In the middle of class I looked out the window to see four cows just grazing in the school yard which is probably part of the reason why none of them were paying attention.
4. One of the mean girls, Aisha, decided that she was too good to pee in the hole in the ground in the bathroom so instead she just peed in the middle of the floor.
5. A young boy in the class sat and ate chalk most of the day.
6. I spent an hour and a half doing laundry and hanging it on the line so that they could then burn the trash 25 feet away so now my clothes smell like burned trash.

Overall you could never guess what to expect of the day. But there were some good highlights of the week too.

1. On thursday afternoon I was able to go and see Aura one of my roommates from when I first got here at her hotel. She left the house on Saturday to go to Zanzibar for a couple of days but then returned here Wednesday before flying home on Thursday. It was nice to see her, catch up, and share a bottle of wine before she left.
2. Laying out under the stars at night and just feeling like there is a blanket of them above you. Since there are no street lights anywhere and very few homes have electricity at night you can see millions of stars and it is really beautiful.
3. At a local bar, which is always full of volunteers and tourists, on thursday nights they show movies so we went and enjoyed the outdoor movie. This week they were playing Slumdog Millionaire. They have a large patio area where they set up chairs and a large screen to project the movie on. Sitting there under the stars with the occasional bat swooping infront of the movie screen was a cool experience.

The Guards

Here at the house we have three guards at all times. There are three day shift guards and then three night shift guards. During the day they also function as the gardeners, we have the most beautiful green gardens here, but the night guards are just guards. One of the night guards is Joseph Peter, kinda ironic, and he seems to really care about us. Every time we leave the compound after six pm. we play 20 questions. He wants to know where we are going, who is going, how we are getting there, what time we plan on being back, and what the purpose of the trip is. He always ends the question session with an okay and reminds us of our curfew that we supposedly have for safety reasons. Our first weekend here we went to a bar near by, it is run by American volunteers for a source of income, and were ten minutes late for curfew. Upon our arrival we got a nice lecture about being late and how it is unsafe. So don't worry mom and dad there is someone watching out for me and he happens to have the same name as dad.

People are going home!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while it didn't seem like a lot was going on. But I came up with a couple of things so I will add some blogs this week (but just one at a time so that I don't share all the entertainment at once).

This week we lost a total of 8 people and there was only 19, including myself, to start with so the house is starting to feel empty. Six people left because they were only here for three weeks. Two of them are headed to Egypt for a week, two are spending some time in Arusha a larger town just east of us, one is in Zanzibar, and one went straight home. The girl that went to Zanzibar, Aura, was one of my roommates and I am going to miss her greatly. She was a wonderful person to share a room with and hang out with ever night. We could sit and talk for hours each night which we pretty much did. But she is back in Machame (a village nearby) tomorrow night before she flies out so I am going to go have dinner and spend the night with her. Then on Monday we lost two more people. One girl, Tracy, who was the my other roommate just finished her 12 weeks here. She is still in the area hanging out with her boyfriend who came to see her. They are spending four days in Moshi and then are climbing Kili (I wish I could join them). The other person that we lost was DJ and he left unexpectedly Monday night. Sunday he called his family to say hi and they begged him to come home saying they really missed him and wanted him there. So monday he didn't go to his school and instead changed his flight to leave on the flight that night. There is only one flight a day that leaves Kilimanjaro so he was on the 9:40 flight to Amsterdam and then home from there. He really didn't want to leave but he felt that he needed to. We all secretly hope that he returns. Of the six people that went on safari last weekend there are only three of us left. This weekend six more volunteers are leaving, fortunately there is a new group of four volunteers that are arriving on Saturday. We will have a total of nine volunteers here for the end of my time which is not that many at all. Our house can accommodate 32 people so nine is going to make it seem really empty. Have all these people leave really makes you think about what you are doing here and what your role is. At first we all had each other but now you really have to reach out more to the community to feel at home. This is not an easy trip but I really do hope that I am learning and growing in some way. I am not sure how much of an effect I am having in the school but I really am trying. Most of the time the children just look at me like I am crazy and have no idea what I am saying. But I challenge any of you to a game of Charades when I get home because I think I will be able to act out anything after this language barrier.

Half Way Highlights

So I can hardly believe that I have already been here for almost three weeks, time has flown by. Not too much has happened this week but I have a couple of highlights to share.

Week Three Highlights:
1. Seeing a lady remove the medical mask covering her mouth to smoke her cigarette.
2. Walking home from school today with a cow walking next to me on the sidewalk. I use the term sidewalk loosely because it is more like a dirt trail.
3. The children during play time on Monday were playing in the fire that was burning the schools trash. They don't really have garbage disposal here instead they just burn everything and they decided to do it during the time the kids were at break, pretty sure that it was not a safe situation.
4. The little girl in my class that called me Muzungo, white person, and then cried will now come close to me and stare at me. We don't talk but at least she isn't crying anymore.
5. One of my kids wet his pants today during break time so that was great.
6. Playing with butterflies at school. My children ripped up a poster board and poked holes it in with a stick. They then attached them to a piece of string from a potato sack and ran around with them. They looked more like kites to me but some reason they call them butterflies. One little girl wanted to attach the string of hers to a stick that was twice her size so that was kinda cute to see.
7. We attended a cultural dinner and dance in town the other night and those people can shake their hips and butt like you have never seen. Once they were done performing they invited us to join them and I should have known better than to sit in the first row. They grabbed our hands and pulled us in and to say the least I could dance nothing like them.
8. We visited an orphanage for children, under the age of three, Tuesday afternoon. The children has very few toys, really only a small play ground area. The babies each had their own cribs and then some of the older kids would sleep two or three to a twin size bed. When we arrived they all wanted to be held but as soon as you put them down they would scream and cry. They just wanted to be held and loved.
9. Today we went to Arusha, a town about an hour away, to listen to the Rwanda Tribunals. Unfortunately we didn't get to stay very long but it was quite interesting.

Well that is about all that has happened this week. It is crazy to think that people are going home this weekend. Right now we have 19 volunteers in the house and this weekend six will be leaving including my two roommates. I feel like we just got here and now people are leaving, time really goes by fast. Anyways I am heading to bed. Miss you all.