Zanzibar

Today we got back from a five day trip to Zanzibar!! It was so nice taking a break from the busy city of Arusha and getting to spend some time near the water, exploring a new place.

Getting to Zanzibar proved to be more interesting than we thought it was going to be. We decided to fly, and avoid the dangerous and long bus and ferry ride. We didn't know however, that our plane was going to be a 12-seater. It was a bit of an intimidating, bumpy ride, watching the land move slowly below us, and watching the pilot push all of his buttons as we flew, but we made it safely to Zanzibar in one piece.

The "airport"

On our first day in Zanzibar, we spent a lot of time walking around Stone Town, the main city on the island. Stone Town is a predominantly Muslim city, and it has a real European vibe to it. The streets are very narrow and windy, and there are a lot of beautiful doors, windows, and intricately carved details everywhere. I had a frenzy taking pictures...if you want to see more of them, I posted a lot on facebook.

The streets of Stone Town

For dinner in Stone Town, we went to the local square which turns into a fish market after dark. Scottie and I watched as our octopus and lobster were grilled in front of us, and then walked and ate our food on a paper plate. Although it wasn't glamorous, it was super delicious and one of my favorite things we went to (and ate!) in Zanzibar.

The nighttime fish market

The next morning, our group of five went on a Spice Tour in the area just outside of Stone Town. The tour was really cool--the guides picked and pulled spices off of plants and out of the ground and let us taste and smell them. We got to sample ginger, lemongrass, coriander, coconut, and all sorts of different spices. We then got to have a fabulous lunch that was made using some of the spices we tried on the tour.

Scottie drinking from a freshly-picked coconut.

Afterwards, Scottie and I went to the sight of the Old Slave Market and got a tour of the place where slaves were held and traded abroad. The guide showed us the monument that was built to commemorate the slaves as well as the church that was built in memory of the man who championed to set the slaves free. It was a thought-provoking and interesting tour, to say the least.

The memorial at the Old Slave Market

After a bit of window-shopping and wandering through Stone Town, we took a taxi to THE BEACH!

(The beach)

The beach we stayed at was named Kendwa and Scottie and I were fortunate enough to stay at one of the nice rooms that was just a few steps away from the beach. The beaches in Zanzibar are amazing. White sand, turquoise water--it was a beautiful and welcome contrast to the dirty, busy city of Arusha. We had an amazing time during the four days that we stayed there. We swam in the ocean (and promptly fried ourselves in the sun), took a "sunset cruise" one night, ate delicious food (chocolate peanut butter brownies!? Yes please!), I got a henna tattoo (not permanent mom!) and a pedicure, and we enjoyed our time reading and laying under the shady huts on the sand.

My henna-ed hands!

On our last full day in Zanzibar, we walked to Nungwi, the town next to Kendwa. We walked there along the beach, but had to take a cab back, because the tide comes in and makes it impossible to walk back the way we came. Our friend Kathryn was trying to find a specific painter that a family member had connected with in a past trip to Zanzibar, and it was kind of an adventure finding where this person could possibly be. The sun was very hot by the time we actually made it to Nungwi, but we were guided to an area where Humphries, the painter, was supposed to have his shop by a friendly local. This was super lucky because there was no way we would have been able to navigate the tiny local village, but almost immediately upon arriving, we found the shop and the painter that our friend was looking for! It was kind of a surreal experience, finding someone so specific in such a small place, in such a little corner of the world. But it was cool that we were able to do so!

Paintings being sold out of a cave in Nungwi

We were sad to say goodbye to the beach, but I think all of us are a little bit happy to be back in Arusha as well. Arusha is by no means beautiful, but it is nice to get back to school and the comforts of our temporary home.
Much love,
xo
Laura and Scottie

Valentine's Day

This past week was a short one in Arusha, but we managed to pack it full.

On Sunday morning, Scottie and I went on a hike with a few of the people from the house. The hike was just outside Arusha, and we took a guide with us to help us navigate our way. Most of the hike was through small villages, and it was really dusty. I've never seen such dust here, even on safari. I think the lack of rain is to blame. Either way, we had an enjoyable morning hiking up the side of Mount Meru. We stopped in a beautiful grassy area to have a picnic and take a break before making our way down. Although the hike was not spectacularly difficult, it was nice to get outside of the city and do something physical.

A pretty view from our mid-hike picnic.

Monday and Tuesday Scottie and I were alone at school because the other volunteers were on vacation. Inspired by our housemates (and excited to not have to worry about American public school rules), we decided to plan a Valentine's Day celebration for the kids. On Monday, we brought in supplies for making "mailboxes," which were really just envelopes. We showed the children how to cut out a folded heart, which proved to be way more difficult than we thought it would be. Even though the big class has pretty old children in it, most of them did not know how to cut. We had to help each of the children cut out their hearts, and show them how to decorate their envelopes. They got really into it and did a wonderful job writing "Love" and xs and os. We also showed them how to make a valentine--we wrote their names on hearts and had them draw pictures of animals on each of them. I then took them individually and had them deliver their valentines to whichever friends they chose. Scottie and I also made valentines for each of the kids, so everyone had a lot in their envelope on the actual day. By the end of the day, the classroom was covered in pink, white, and red scraps--just like Valentine's Day as a kid!

On Tuesday, we had the kids make flowers by folding crepe paper and attaching it to a pipe cleaner. When you unfold and fluff the paper it makes a flower. We then handed out the children's valentine envelopes. Some of the kids seemed a bit confused, even though we explained that Valentine's Day is a day when you remind your family and friends you love them by giving them small gifts. I also think some of the children were a bit embarrassed, because many of them are teenagers and probably felt shy about talking about love. Either way, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves or at least receiving lollipops :)

Paolo showing off his flower and valentines.

On Tuesday night we went to a "fancy" French dinner with a few friends to have crepes and wine. It was nice to share yummy food and good company for our Valentine's Day in Africa.

A Fun Week at School

This week was a great week at school. I've been trying really hard to focus on enjoying the kids and simply having fun at school, and this we were definitely able to do that.
Tuesday was Volunteer Clare's birthday, and she planned English party games for all the kids. It was awesome! First we played musical chairs with the older kids which was interesting--it didn't go exactly how it goes in the States, but the kids had fun and seemed to understand the rules. Next we played "pass the parcel," which is where you wrap a gift with layers and layers of paper, and each layer has a piece of candy in it. The children all stand in a circle and "pass the parcel" while music plays. Whoever is holding the parcel when the music stops gets to tear off a layer and gets to eat the candy from that layer. Whoever gets the parcel at the end gets to keep the candy/gift wrapped in the innermost layer. The kids really enjoyed playing the game, although we did have a minor choking scare with one of the little ones. Poor little Lucia was fine, but a little shaken up. Every time we greet her in the morning, she points at her throat now...yikes! Afterwards, we played pin the tail on simba, which was Clare's adorable creation. So much fun! We then fed the children tons of junk food--one similarity between American and British celebrations!

Scottie with the kids. Sooooo cute, right?

Little Lily. Love her.

Pin the tail on simba!

Thursday was SWIMMING DAY with kids. It was so fun. A bunch of volunteers from our house came along and helped, which was cool because they got to see what our school and kids are like. Our day started with a long walk from school to the pool with the children. It was a really scenic walk through this village alongside of Mount Meru. The pool was at a beautiful resort, and we immediately got the kids changed into their swimming costumes (mostly spare clothes and pajamas) and had them shower and took them into the pool. Pretty much none of the children or teachers could swim, so the volunteers had their work cut out for them, but luckily almost all the children loved the water. We only had two or three near drownings (including one almost drowned volunteer) so our day was pretty successful. After swimming we had a big picnic lunch with all the kids in a nice shady area and helped them change back into their uniforms and walk back to school. I think it's safe to say that both the children and the volunteers slept very well that night. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of swimming day because I took them all with my super heavy duty waterproof disposable camera.

On Friday Scottie and I visited our friend Kathryn at her school. It was great experience getting to see how different schools are run. Kathryn's school is very small and poor compared to ours. The "baby" class has 50 children crammed into one small, dirt-floor classroom. Aside from the conditions, the children were SO adorable and Kathryn did an amazing job singing with them and teaching them English. It was great to be able to compare Kathryn's school to ours, and we even got some good ideas for teaching our kids while we were there.
I've included some pictures of "town," to give you a feel for what Arusha looks like. Taking pictures is tricky here, because people don't like having their pictures taken and it can be dangerous to walk around with a camera; so these pictures are courtesy of the roof of our gym.

Note: daladalas, parked botabotas (motorcycle taxis), and rickshaws full of questionable fruit.

A view of Mount Meru.

Well, we are already one month down, two to go! Time is flying by quickly and I think Scottie and I are finally feeling a little more settled and confident with the way things are going, but we are still missing home a lot. Keep us posted on your lives and how you are all doing!

Much love,

Laura and Scottie



Shanga

Yesterday Scottie and I went to a place called Shanga, which is just on the outskirts of Arusha. Shanga was started by a woman to employ disabled, deaf, and blind people of Tanzania. The people that work there use recycled items like wine bottles, marbles, fabric, tires, and aluminum to create beautiful jewelry and works of art. All the items are for sale and benefit the people that work there. We may have spent an hour or two browsing and shopping. Shanga also has a "Riverhouse" where you can have a luxurious five-course meal, with a pretty view of the forest. The food was so delicious--we had spinach soup, samosas, beef, chicken, and fish with delicious side sauces and DESSERT! It was a nice little break from the craziness of Arusha. We wanted to share a few pictures and highlight some of the cool things we are fortunate enough to do while we're here:



Love,
Laura and Scottie

T.I.A.

T.I.A. is something a lot of the volunteers say when we are struggling with something that we would never struggle with at home. It stands for "This Is Africa," and sometimes, when we're really annoyed, we add an "F" in between the "I" and the "A".

This week, we had an excellent "TIFA" moment, that can now be seen as somewhat comical in retrospect...

On Tuesday, our school jeep/bus driver had a death in his family and was not able to pick up the kids that ride to school. Some of the volunteers decided that we should hire a daladala driver to pick up all the children and bring them to school for the days that the bus driver was unavailable. Trying to be supportive, I agreed to help and see how it went for the first day. Scottie wasn't feeling well Wednesday morning so I left with another volunteer at 6:50 a.m. to take a daladala into town to meet the dala driver we had hired for the day. This in itself was a complicated process, because we did not even know exactly where we our meeting place was. By 7:30 in the morning, we finally found our meeting spot, the rented dala, and four other volunteers. We set off with Baba, a man who works at our school, to pick up the children. The pick-ups took forever. I think because many of the parents didn't see the jeep picking up the kids at the normal time, many assumed that there was no school that day, so at most of the stops we had to go find the children, and then wait for them to get ready. One child was so upset when he saw a bus full of his peers on his supposed day off, that he started to scream and run away from his mom. On top of it all, the dala we rented (as recommended by our director) was old and crappy, and the bumpy ride up the hill was pretty scary. All in all, it took us two hours to get to school with the kids, who all arrived confused and disheveled from their unusual morning.

Because we arrived so late, we assumed the teachers would have started the morning as usual, with the children that walk to school (about half of the students). Unfortunately, no one had done this, and no one started to cook the morning porridge, so us volunteers had to start lessons immediately after getting off of the dala, and the children went without their morning snack. All of us were already exhausted at this point, and a little annoyed that the teachers hadn't started anything without us, but we tried to roll with it and make the best out of the day. Scottie, showed up right around lunch time, which was awesome, because we definitely needed his help.

We asked the daladala driver to come back to school at 2:00 to take the kids home, because we figured it would take another two hours to get all the children back home. I think maybe one of us jinxed everything by commenting on how quickly the first few drop-offs were going, because as we turned down a hill to drop off one of the children, the axel right underneath where I was sitting made the most horrifying noise, and our dala broke down in the middle of the road.

Now at home in the States, there probably would have been three or four ways to get ourselves out of this situation and get the rest of the children home quickly, but remember, This is Africa. At this point, we had five volunteers on the dala and six children with special needs. One of these children (who is actually 25 years old) has a form of dwarfism and can't walk or be reasonably carried, and one of the children has a fairly severe form of autism. Clare (another volunteer) and I, could not take the children off of the dala for fear that some of them might run, so we stayed on the dala with the children and tried to keep them occupied. Our driver said he was calling another dala to come pick us up, but actually, someone simply came with a tool to help fix our dala. I think there was a lack of communication occurring at this point, because all we really needed was to get the kids off the hot daladala and back to their houses, but no one was able to do this for us. All of the volunteers outside the bus were frantically calling people to come pick us up, while our dala driver continue to try and fix our dala.

Inside the dala, poor Samwely was sweating bullets he was so overheated, and Neemya, our little girl with autism, was starting to lose her patience. I guess it was pretty crazy to even have those children on the dala, because it is so outside of their normal routine, that no one could reasonably expect them to keep it together for the entire ride, let alone for something crazy like it breaking down. At about the 45 minute mark, little Neemya peed herself right next to me in her seat on the dala. On top of the awful, awful smell, she chose that following moment to need to be cuddled, and she sat herself right on Clare's lap.

This was about the time that Clare and I desperately looked at each other and tried to laugh about the situation, because I think we were both so close to crying we didn't know what to do with ourselves. It took another 30 minutes or so for the dala to get "fixed," which involved a lot of scary banging and dropping of the dala while we were inside of it with the children. We also ended up being harassed by the dala owner, because he felt we were wasting his money, and he insisted that he should not have to return any of our money (40,000 Tanzanian shillings) for the dala breaking down. I think we told him that if he could get us all safely back he could keep his money for the day, but we would never, ever call him again.

Eventually we got all the children back to their homes and managed to get ourselves off of that godforsaken dala. All of the volunteers literally stumbled to the closest establishment and ordered a round of drinks. I don't know if I've ever been so dirty or exhausted in my life; it was probably the craziest day of teaching that I'd ever encountered.

Obviously, the volunteers decided that four hours on a dala in one day was too much for the children and the adults to handle, so we decided to cancel school on Thursday. Because of a lack of communication, a few kids still showed up to school on Thursday, and only seven children showed up to school on Friday, even though the bus driver was supposed to be back by then. We are hoping by Monday that everything is sorted out and all of the children are back.

Besides our absolutely crazy Wednesday, we had a pretty good week. We've made friends with some of the volunteers from school and had a good time going out to dinner and dancing with them on Thursday night. Sometimes it feels like we spend a lot of time discussing our frustrations with the way things are going with placement, but mostly, we throw up our hands and remind ourselves that, "This is Africa".

Miss you all!
Love,
Laura and Scottie

Figuring it All Out

Another week has gone by and it has been a big one for us in terms of becoming more comfortable with our lives in Africa.

Monday was an especially difficult day for me at school. It is very common for the teachers at our school to leave the classroom for long periods of time, leaving us volunteers alone with the children. I'm not sure if this is typical in Africa or simply just our school, but sometimes it makes us volunteers feel somewhat taken advantage of, when the teachers tell us to run the lesson or watch the children while they disappear for the day. Additionally, when the teachers leave, communicating with the children is nearly impossible, and makes it difficult to manage the classroom. On Monday when I was left alone with the children, a few of the kids began to hit, pinch, and crawl all over me, and I had no real way to control them because I couldn't do anything besides yell "Acha" (stop) over and over again. The children also seem to know that the mzungu (white) teachers would never hit them, so I think they sometimes act out more with us than with their African teachers.

I left school that day in tears, exhausted and exasperated. I began to question whether we had made the right decision by coming to Africa and whether I would be able to continue being a special education teacher when I returned home. I think the hardest part of it all, is wondering what kind of difference we can really make in the lives of these young children. Initially, I thought that even the small activities I did with the children were beneficial to them because they are better than what they could be doing at home, but it's hard to know if those short-term solutions will make any difference in their long-term lives. I thought, if we don't know if it's possible to make a difference in their lives short or long-term, then what is the point of being here? And to be honest, I haven't really figured out an answer yet.

On Tuesday, I spent the morning in the little class, and the afternoon in the big class. Even though I felt like I was copping out and abandoning the little kids who are in need, I also realized that it doesn't help anyone for me to be completely burnt out. The rest of the week went much better. The young children are more focused in the morning, when I do activities with them, and I feel like we are making some improvements with the older kids through art projects and math assignments. I can't predict what the following 10 weeks will be like at placement, but I at least have started to feel better about my role, however little it may be.

Other things that have been going on this week:
I did laundry (by hand, of course) for the first time this week and it was quite an experience. I'm thankful that most of the clothes I brought are inexpensive and old, because they are already getting destroyed from all the wear and tear.

Scottie and I have been in workout mode--being on a diet in Africa sounds pretty strange but it is so necessary! Rice and beans and deep fried everything was not the weight-loss plan we were hoping for in Tanzania, but working out feels good and gives us something else to do during the afternoons. The walk to the gym also allows us to spend time in town every day, which is fun and good for us because it is important for us to know our way around.

Scottie and I went out to lunch at a westernized restaurant this week, because we were craving regular food. We figure taking a break from African fare once or twice a week will save us from going crazy, plus it's kind of fun to try pizza and sandwiches with an African flare. The place we got food is called "mzungu square" by the volunteers because it is an area where a lot of white people hang out. It's also a bit a of a joke, because we are so accustomed to being yelled "mzungu! mzungu! (white people, white people)" wherever we go. Annoying, but I guess it comes with the territory.

We are getting more used to using the daladalas everyday, although I can't say we are getting used to the way people drive. There are no real traffic rules in Tanzania, so bikes, dalas, and cars are constantly driving four wide on the two-way main street, Somehow, admist the beeping, swerving, yelling, and general craziness, we always seem to make it to our destination in one piece.

Thursday was Australia day and we had a big celebration at the volunteer house during "social night". The house can get a bit crazy at times, especially because many of the volunteers are somewhat young (there are a lot of 18-20 year olds) and have partying on their mind. It has been a bit difficult for us to get close to people because we're not willing to miss placement to stay up late with everyone else, but as people go away for the weekends and the groups get smaller and less crazy, we are meeting more people and doing a bit more.

This weekend was our first in Arusha and we had a ton of fun. We taught the few people at the house how to make our own Scategories (a la holidays at the Gramma's house), which was fun, and we also started watching True Blood (surprisingly good--what!?) On Saturday we went to the movie theater in town and saw Tin-Tin and then got some delicious cheeseburgers and milkshakes! It wasn't exactly the same experience as it would have been at home, but it was good to do something familiar. Today we went to the Massai Market and had a great time bargaining and buying some souvenirs. I think we might go back next week for even more. Next week we might be participating in a flash mob--stay tuned on that one--Scottie is definitely spending a lot more of his time in Africa dancing than he thought he would. I wonder how he'll feel about being on youtube at some point?!

Here are some pictures of the volunteer house...enjoy!

Australia day celebrations (with two Americans, a Canadian, and an Icelander)

The porch at the volunteer house

The other half of the front of the house

The lawn (where Scottie and I pepper with soccer balls) and the sitting space outside

The living room, part 1

 The "dining room" and more of the living room

More of the living room

Our bedroom (Scottie and I are now sharing a room!)--please note the classy mosquito nets

Shower, toilet, and sink. Modern amenities.

I hope all is well at home! We miss you! Keep the emails, phone calls, and text messages coming. We love hearing from you!

Much Love,
Laura and Scottie

Safari!!

We just returned from Safari and had an amazing time!  We left Friday morning with a group of 10, which we broke into five people per jeep. Our group consisted of a hodge podge of volunteers  from the house, but it turned out to be a perfect mix  of people.

Day 1: Lake Manyara

The first day we entered the park, we were surprised at how wooded the park was. It almost resembled a jungle. I think we were all a little worried  that we wouldn’t see any animals because the first part of the drive was getting a little boring until—BAM! Elephants! A whole group of them right in front of us on the road. The elephants were amazingly close, and even had little babies. They were pretty impressive walking through the woods, taking trees down with each step.

That day we also got to get up close with giraffes, impala, wildabeast, tons of baboons, and hippos. We were so pumped that our first day started off so well. The weather was a bit chilly that day, so luckily we weren’t too hot and we slept comfortably that night in our tent outside of the park.

Day 2: The Serengeti

The next morning we drove from Lake Manyara to the Serengeti. Along the way we saw more impala, gazelles, and ZEBRAS! So cool. We also got to see some amazingly diverse scenery: the Ngorongoro crater, green cliffs, and the vast plains of the Serengeti.

On our way, we stopped at a Massai village (conveniently we got a flat tire right outside their village...strange, hmm?) and were able to watch a traditional Massai dance as well as view their huts. It was pretty amazing seeing how differently the tribal people live.

The Massai people

Eventually we reached the Serengeti and almost immediately got to see LIONS! There was a pride of lions sitting on top of a grassy hill when we first drove in, which was pretty amazing because sometimes lions are hard to spot. They were pretty sleepy and didn’t do much but  we didn’t care too much.

That day we also got to see large groups of elephants walking across the plains as well as more impala, zebra, hippos, and birds.

Scottie the adventurer. 

It was a bit dusty on the ride...

That night we set up camp in a campsite in the Serengeti and were amazed at how many stars there were that night. Seriously, up north Wisconsin has nothing on the layers of stars we saw that night. So beautiful!

Day 3: More Serengeti

On Sunday morning we woke up very early to see the sunrise on the Serengeti. It was incredible. We were thinking it was maybe too cloudy to see, but all of a sudden as we were photographing some impala, the red sun popped up in the horizon. It rose super fast, but we got some amazing photos as it did.

Later that morning we saw something super unique—a leopard (pronounced leo-pard; our guide’s favorite animal) playing by himself in a giant tree. It was cool seeing the leopard paw at the “sausages” hanging from the sausage tree and we didn’t think it could get any cooler until the leopard called to a leopard (lady?) friend, ran over to meet her, and walked with her right in front of all the jeeps! We saw the two playing in the grass and got some great up-close photos of the two. It was so rare to see them so close; we felt so lucky.

Later that day, we got to see something even cooler (is it possible?!)…our guide Chui (the Swahili word for leopard) stopped abruptly as we were driving and stared at this tree in the middle of the Serengeti. We were all tired and half-asleep and figured it was nothing when all of a sudden he shouted SIMBA! and pointed at the tree. Sure enough, a lion (with a mane!!) got up and scratched and stretched against the tree. We were freaking out excited and were so disappointed when the lion laid back down. We asked Chui how he knew there was a lion there when he couldn’t see it and he said he noticed tire tracks going down to the tree (totally illegal) and figured there had to be something there. We teased Chui that we should get a closer look and figured he wouldn’t take us up on it because it is such a big fine if you get caught by the rangers going off the paths, but he took our jeep right off the road into the tall grass RIGHT up next to the two lions! We seriously could’ve touched them and got a few cool photos right next to them. Once Chui got our jeep back on the road we all seriously could not stop laughing out of excitement and surprise. He even revved his engine at the other jeeps to show them how cool we were. It was SO cool.

Later that day we also got to see a very hidden cheetah; another rare sighting. That night we arrived at our last campsite at the top of the Ngorogoro crater. It was by far our most beautiful campsite; right  under an amazing tree, but it also turned out to be the scariest. About 25 buffalo took over our campsite during dinner and continued to graze on the grass next to everyone’s tents. The park rangers tried to keep them at bay so people could walk around, but it was pretty intimidating. Additionally, right before bed, a pack of stray dogs began barking obnoxiously. When we couldn’t figure out why they were all freaking out, we shined our flashlights on them and screamed when we saw what they were barking at—hyenas! And a lot of them, in our campsite. Needless to say, no one got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The coolest tree ever, which we got to camp under.

Day 4: The Ngorongoro Crater

On our last day we got to see sunrise above the crater, and later drove into the crater, which was by far the most beautiful sight of our trip. Driving around we got to see two lions mating, rhinos from far away, a lion close enough to touch, and millions and millions of flamingos. It was maybe a less exciting day animals-wise, but the views completely made up for it.

The Ngongoro Crater

After lunch (where we had to avoid the eagles eyeing our food) we made our way back to Arusha. It is strange being back in such a croweded, noisy city after being around such clean air and wide open spaces, but in a way I think we’re happy to be back. We are excited to start another week of school and sleep in a real bed for the first night in awhile.

We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Miss you,

Love Laura and Scottie