So today is a preparation day for our expedition. We will be taking a camp survival skills/risk management course after helping the staff pack food, water, and essential toiletries for all 28 of us. We have to bleach and clean 30 huge canteens of water, pack an obscene amount of food, and bring as much biodegradable soap, toilet paper, and sunscreen as possible. On our way to the Serengeti, we are stopping at the Olduvai Gorge archeological site (Anthro majors I am sure you know what I’m talking about). This site marks the hub of civilization and is commonly referred to as the “Cradle of Mankind.” It shows the evolution of the homo sapien species (almost every species leading up to us…such as homo erectus, australopithecus, and hilibis have a history of living here). Louis Leakey, developer of the “Out of Africa” theory (all mankind developed in Africa and then spread out), created this hypothesis here. Other australopithecines (e.g. Lucy, who was found in Ethiopia I believe) have been excavated here.

The market yesterday was so hectic. There were thousands among thousands of people  but I found two beautiful skirts  (two on the left) for $3,500 shillings…which is around $2.50 USD…we really dug deep (, literally) to get good, non-mzungu prices. I got a seamstress (our neighbor) to make my fabric into huge baggy/comfy pants (on the right), my favorite! …and even in Africa I could not stifle my love for flannels (yes I bought a flannel in Africa…what was I thinking, I know). They also sold livestock at the market. Cows were going for $50.00. You really did have to watch your back while shopping because they were getting into fights right and left

Not to bring up political issues again…but sorry I need to. So, Serengeti originates from a Maasai word meaning “the place where the land moves on forever.” However, a planned highway slicing through the park could cause endless problems for the park’s migratory wildlife. As you may or may not know, every year huge herds of wildebeests and zebra migrate through the Serengeti. The 260-mile highway, that is projected to cut through 31 miles of the park, would cause a collapse of one of the largest remaining migratory systems on Earth…in effect abolishing Tanzania’s tourism trade driven by wildlife. Although the stats are mind-boggling, they really do put the severity of this dilemma into perspective. So 1.3 million wildebeests and about 200,000 zebras follow the rains every year, migrating south in the fall and NW for the spring/summer rains. They estimate that the wildebeest population would plummet to 300,000. Another scary thought is that this infrastructure would provide easy access, to the dense center of the national park, for poachers…and if poaching becomes a problem, then fences will be put up…blocking the migratory patterns to and from Kenya’s Maasai-Mara national park completely. Construction is set to begin on 2012. Tanzanian’s current government, CCM (Kikwete, as you know since you’re all now politically educated!) has vowed to move forward with the assembly because they think it is a necessary step in connecting TZ’s west with commercial activity on the east coast. What frustrates me, along with many other conservationists, is that they haven’t considered building the road south of the park (not disturbing any migratory corridors). Yes this highway would be longer (and consequently more expensive) but it would forever preserve the income from the area’s 90,000 annual tourists…which would end up paying off the difference. Here are some pics of the crazy wildlife I hope to see at Serengeti (totally wish I could say I was the photographer to praise for these shots)      

I actually got invited to go to a neighbor’s wedding this afternoon! I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to take pictures at the wedding but I’m going to try…after searching for the wedding cake, TGIF!

☮Hannah

Wildlife Ecology down, two exams to go. In light of my next exam being Environmental Policy & Socioeconomics (and my dire need for procrastination), I decided to give you a little insight to the political controversy going on in Tanzania right now. We are lucky enough to be living here in Rhotia during one of the most monumental presidential campaigns/elections. Although there are countless parties involved (some with more precedence than others), the main three that we’ve been surrounded by are CCM (has been the single most influential party for as long as many staff members can remember), Chadema, and CUF. The current president of the “United Republic of Tanzania” is Kikwete (of the CCM party). Solely based off of my impressions, Chadema seems like the “young, new, and exciting party” while CUF appears to be the party that continually runs, and just can’t seem to leave a strong enough impact on the citizens to win. It’s estimated that 17 million voters have already registered for the impending October 31 election (trick-or-treating will not be an option this Halloween…many articles I have read are predicting much controversy & dissatisfaction…luckily we will have left for Kenya three days prior to the election). I am going to give you a brief background about each party. Note: I’ve read many articles, some of which may have had some rhetorical bias in the writing…I am simply presenting my findings…I feel like I am not yet knowledgeable enough to have my own personal opinion.

SO, shall we? Kikwete (CCM) is running for his second term. In the 2005 election, he won by a landslide. CCM has been the only ruling part for more than forty years now. This time around, CCM is striving for a more open and democratic environment here in TZ. It’s said that they base their foundation off of socialist ideas. Chadema’s Dr. Slaa is running against Kikwete. Their motto is “Hatudanganyiki” which translates to “We will not be cheated.” After reading a few articles about their beliefs and values, it seems they think that much corruption exists within the Tanzanian government (e.g. misuse of funds). Dr. Slaa promises to restore accountability, integrity, and trust within the government. He also assures that he will not tolerate misuse of natural resources [ 🙂 ].  Apparently (again I’m not sure how biased this article was) 11 trillion shillings have been “lost” since the election of 2005. The finding that I found most compelling was that Dr. Slaa is planning to trim his salary in order for free education to exist, from grade one to the university level. I think this is huge. After getting to know a ton of kids around here, I’ve found that it’s totally not that they lack motivation to learn, they lack opportunity… One Tanzanian woman I met said that unfortunately her husband used a lot (I think all) of their earned money for alcohol…to the point that her two kids couldn’t attend secondary school anymore… My policy teacher says that essentially Chadema is all about improving human rights. CUF’s presidential candidate is Lipumba. He has run 3 previous times and lost. If he wins, he states that he will be open to the idea of forming an alliance with other candidates that have lost because he believes if they work together, they could achieve a lot in many different areas. Lipumba is a strong advocate of human rights and has also been a policy professor around the Tanzania area for many years.

Obviously there’s much more to say about each party but I wanted to fill you in on the essentials. When walking into town you can just feel the excitement. The colors of each party are worn by almost every Tanzanian. The symbol for the Chadema party is a peace sign…a few guys gave my two girlfriends and me the peace sign when we were out shopping…naively we gave it back…and then received a few death glares from CCM advocates (whose symbol is the thumbs up)… we now walk around with a peace sign in our right hand and a thumbs up in our left. As already mentioned, when Kikwete won the previous election, he won by a complete landslide. Although many think he will win again, everyone knows it won’t be by much if he does…almost reminds me of our most recent election…we will see!

I have to get back to studying though. Last exam is tomorrow morning and then we get to go to the biggest market of the year in Karatu! I guess people come from all over Africa. Email me (hcanepa10@gmail.com everything is so cheap so don’t even worry…plus I’d be supporting the community) if you want me to pick you up anything [bracelets, jerseys, paintings, rings, Maasai jewelry, tapestries]. Then we leave for our 4-day Serengeti expedition on Saturday morning! I’ll try and post before I leave, letting you in on the cool wildebeest research we will be doing there…we get to go on night drives (aka when many large carnivores hunt)! Okay, longest post ever sorry, can you tell I don’t want to study? Wish me luck!

☮Hannah

I have now been to 3 national parks.  Do not ask me to rank them because I’ve tried & literally cannot; they’re all so different.  Friday morning (6:00 AM) we took a day trip to Ngorongoro Crater, the largest caldera in the world.  NC is so very unique because one, it’s a huge bowl filled with a hodgepodge of everything…from jungle-like vegetation, to wetlands, to savanna, to woodlands/bushlands/grasslands, you name it–they have it.  It was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit at the rim of the crater; however, I was applying SPF 65 religiously at the bottom of the bowl (thanks for the lotion mom!).  The extreme amount of microclimates was crazy!   Besides the range of vegetation/climate, this national park also contains a “conservation area” that is home to ~55,000 Maasai people.  They live on the outer rims of the crater.  Nowadays, it unfortunately is not very common to have tribes living amongst wildlife.  The Maasai are not allowed to hunt without a permit nor are they authorized to use the land for agricultural purposes.    We actually started our day off with a lecture about the Ngorongoro Conservation area. It was the first time we’ve sat in nice business chairs since September 4^th!!  After the lecture, we descended into the bowl, here are a few views from the top    we were in heaven  At the viewing site, Robbie (fellow student) made friends with a few Maasai men also  So then the journey began- we saw “the typical” (it’s so sad that we already use those words…as if some of these wildlife are average everyday occurrences… but they kind of are!) ostriches  (who apparently are not scared of moving vehicles) zebra  vervet monkeys  (note the egg shells on the ground.  This innocent looking monkey literally launched at my friend’s hand mid-bite so she had to surrender the snack) flamingos  (I counted 8-9 different colors in this picture-so crazy) and then we saw it   MUFASA! and the rest of his pride…which included  a pregnant female  a protective mother—followed closely by her son make that sons  I guess they needed some shade .  As we tried to inch our way closer, the cub did not look pleased  until he realized our huge land cruiser provided a more adequate cover for himself  he made his way under our very own vehicle  (photographed by another SFS student)! His mother tried not to watch  and dad  well they never care right?  Eventually the cubs needed water and retreated back to their pride.  We then saw a sign,   a vulture (scavengers…usually signify a kill) and then the source  the hyena really did look like it was laughing  can you guess whose hoof that is? We decided on wildebeest.  We eventually made our way back up the crater.  It was a long day but we made it out happily  (these are my bandamates Kat & Zarah) some of us dirtier than others  The dust is so brutal, but totally worth it . Travel lecture this morning on the summit of Manyara…I still can’t believe that I am actually getting credit for this! We have our final exams this week already and then on Friday we embark on our 4-day Serengeti expedition! Send any camping tips my way.

☮Hannah

Wednesday the 29^th, we had our non-program day or “one day weekend” in which we had the option to either stay on the campsite and rest, or go out & explore.  No matter the amount of work I have, I always find myself going into town because I honestly feel that’s where I learn the most…that or I love the excessive amounts of bracelets they have there!  We went back into Mto wambu and I thought dealing with the overly persistent vendors was the extent of my culture-dose for the day.  I met a man of the Maasai tribe and got an awesome ankle bracelet and the traditional Maasai women ring .  Not surprisingly, I had to buy an imitation Baobab tree to hang them on .  I even found a Tanzania jersey! (don’t worry Ian & Ev, I got you one, too).  Feeling great about my purchases (only $12.00 total!) I, along with a few other students, made our way back to the campsite…only to be informed that a goat roast was to be taken place at our home that night.  My initial thoughts: “Absolutely not.  There’s no way I can watch this.”  However, before I left the US for this trip, I made a promise to myself that I would immerse myself into this culture as much as I could and unfortunately, slaughtering cattle is a reality in the lives of many, if not all people here.  I debated posting these pictures but it’s an actuality in their lives here.  Honestly on my nightly runs, it’s not uncommon to see this happening in people’s yards…and I promised I’d give you all the best insight I could, so here we go….these were the goats this was 10 seconds in …the next few minutes I was hiding/plugging my ears with my back turned…I’m sorry, I tried.  Next they took the goat to a tree, hung it, and inevitably it was skinned.  Adam, another student (he’s a hunter back at home) joined in on this process .  Our Wildlife Ecology teacher then asked if we could put, essentially the digestive tract in a bowl so that we could all have a quick anatomy lesson, typical.  But we’re all nerds here so we didn’t hate it. A few hours later, the ribs, legs, neck, even reticulum (which apparently is a delicacy) were roasting out in our fire pit .   The staff was having a total “bro-fest” (yes, I taught them the meaning of this term).  The director of the SFS Kenya program even attended…he calls himself the carnivore and seems to be pretty proud of it.  Anyway, as you can imagine, this event was pretty controversial.  I am a vegetarian along with 6 others in our program.  Additionally, we have two vegans.  It was tough for those of us who did watch but it’s part of the culture here.  They have a complete different view on animals–the Maasai have actually been known to drink the blood of any cattle killed within their tribe. All in all, many struggle day by day just to get by…so unfortunately they don’t have too many other options. I can’t say I agree with this whole ritual/process but hey, at least I can say I’ve now been immersed.

☮Hannah

 I along with my 27 other classmates completed our homestay with various Iraqw families in the Rhotia area. Cool little fun fact, we are the 1st Americans to ever live with members of the Iraqw tribe in this area…ever. Brief background: the Iraqw, known as the Mbulu (in Swahili), are Cushitic people of the Arusha & Manyara regions of northern Tanzania (between the Rift Valley wall & south of Ngorongoro Crater). In 2001 the Iraqw population count was ~462,000.

Monday morning, Jackie (fellow student) and I walked about a mile, equipped with maize, drinking water, sugar, animal fat, and soap, to our assigned homestay. Halfway up a hill, we arrive at babu (grandfather) and bibi’s (grandmother) home. Their granddaughter, Johanna (age 20), skipped a day of secondary school to stay home with her grandparents and spend some time with the famous wazungus (white people) of Rhotia! …Johanna also spoke broken English so she helped immensely throughout the day.  This is Johanna. We had so much fun with her. She was quirky , brilliant, and hilarious.  This is where they prepare and cook every single meal. It was comparable to sitting in a box filled with smoke… Although Jackie and I repeatedly screamed, “Moto in the machos, moto in the machos!” all. day. long. (an attempt to say smoke in our eyes in Swahili) “bonfire” luckily is one of my favorite scents!  While cooking, Johanna would casually pick up these burning hot dishes with her bare hands, without one flinch. After meals, we used hot charcoal to scrub the dirty dishes.  This was our “choo” or toilet for the day.   This is the main component of every meal, Ugali.  It’s a common dish in TZ and Kenya, made from maize flour (cornmeal) and cooked with water to form porridge-like consistency…except it felt 1000x thicker  my arm is so sore this morning from stirring-so pathetic. Like many other families in the rural Rhotia, Babu and Bibi owned a few acres of farmland.  Because of the sole dependency on rainwater as a water source and complete lack of capital, farming/harvesting crops has become very difficult.  much of the livestock are suffering.  However, B&B were lucky enough to own a coffee tree  which is not very common within Rhotia.    This was the grave of Bibi’s mother…in their front yard.  As an ice breaker, I think at least, they first made me shovel cow poop  after awhile I got down & dirty with Bibi  (she taught me the right technique).  Although my efforts were, at times, laughed at I think she appreciated the help.  Even though Jackie ditched me when it came to shoveling cow poop, I found her out back  splitting wood with babu.  After this, Johanna gave me a quick tutorial on sarong tying  she said I tied like “watoto” (children). After learning so much, Jackie & I wanted to share something with them…although we didn’t have much to work with…they did have a lemon tree!  We attempted to pick some lemons  not surprisingly, Johanna had to help us out a little bit .  We cut  and squeezed  all 20 lemons (my thumbs were seriously so sore).  I made sure the sugar content was perfect   (Africans love sugar is an understatement).   It was time to walk the lemonade over to the sitting room, where everyone was waiting…  they made me try it first, just to prove it was “nzuri” (who knew lemons were so intimidating).  Bibi tried it  and literally spit it on the ground; however, Babu boosted our confidence  he wouldn’t even look at the camera, he was too busy loving the entire pitcher.   finally we got a smile out of him.  They also sincerely enjoyed learning some English words in my Swahili-English phrasebook.  After we fed the lemon rinds to the cows, bibi let us milk them  it was Jackie’s first time! Before supper, Johanna took us on a hike up to the summit of Moyo Hill.  She was not impressed with our endurance  but we had so much fun ! This homestay made me realize that a language barrier truly means nothing .  Babu & bibi strictly spoke Swahili and Johanna spoke English sparingly…at the top of Moyo hill I asked Johanna why she hated the lemonade and she told me “Hutbund”  Jackie took that as “husband” and I honestly thought she called me hot buns? After asking her if hot buns had some other meaning…and then realizing she said “heartburn”– we all had a great laugh and those moments, as cliché as it sounds, bring you closer.  It’s funny because growing up in America, we are shown these huts in depressed areas and have almost been trained to think down upon them, as if they deserve some sympathy, but this way of life is not even close to being sad, it is beautiful.  The level of genuine happiness is eye opening.  It made me really question what truly creates satisfaction and pleasure.  We feel pity for them because they don’t have microwaves or ovens to aid in cooking, but how are they supposed to desire more if they’ve never even been exposed to it? They are so content with what they have because that is enough…and we are the ones craving more.  I apologize for rambling, but it really does make you want to reevaluate your life. Anyway, we’re going out to an African bar for a student’s birthday tonight so I got to run! And then Ngorongoro Crater on Friday…aka the national park known for lions.  It’s the largest crater (due to volcanic activity) in the world…Rough life right?

☮Hannah

 Sara (Environmental Studies major)

• Hometown: Hillsborough, NC
• College: Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)
• Biggest culture shock: “The extreme weather patterns & microclimates…for example…it’s so wet in Mto wa-mbu, but then right up the escarpment it’s so dry & extremely hot.  It’s freezing in the AM and so hot in the PM…also, shillings are in the thousands and you think it’s a lot but then you realize 3,000 shillings=2 dollars…and lastly, I absolutely 100% have no clue about the plants here. Not the slightest comparison in vegetation…why is it so flat in mto wa-mbu and then an elevation of 4 miles right next to the town…nothing is familiar.”
• Most difficult to deal with:  The language barrier
• Shower count: 4 times (1 being a bucket shower)
• Flushing a toilet count: 20
• Jigger count: 2 ½ (the ½ meaning she smashed it before it entered her skin)
• How many times have you done laundry:  1
• Number of bug bites: 2
• Favorite national park and animal: “Lake Manyara because there are so many different habitats: forests, Acacia woodlands, the hippo pool, savannas, and grasslands. My favorite animal is the African elephant…when the mom and her baby were interacting, my heart fell out.”
• Biggest “wow” moment: “Every day when I realize again and again that I’m going to be here for 3 months and that this is my current life, my heart smiles. It’s so epic.”
• What do you miss the most: Cheese and salsa.  And having space to be alone
• How many times have you shaved your legs: zero
• Career plans: “Um a professional napper. Kidding. I want to do research….I think. Yeah I do. Okay wait no…Well I also want to teach. But most importantly, I want to somehow connect with the general public about science, what science means to me, and why I do what I do. The liaison. I want to create a bridge between the scientific world and general public in a way that’s supportive of both fractions. It may be through research or education outreach but that is definitely important to me.  I’m not really sure what I want to research but I’ve done forest and coral reef ecology research, both of which I’ve totally loved, so hopefully I will love wildlife management too.

 Carrie (Zoology major)

• Hometown: Fridley, MN
• College: University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
• Biggest culture shock: “The lack of hygiene.  I am always always dirty yet rarely bathe.  And doing your own laundry only a few times a semester is a tough adjustment.”
• Most difficult adjustment: “I am overwhelmed by the disparities I have seen…being hassled in the market…it’s not annoying, but you just see how desperate people are… (e.g. my friend Zarah was about to throw away her chewed gum & two little girls begged for it) downing prices just so we will buy something…anything.  Also there are close to no seeds for farmers and land is unrealistically expensive to buy.  It silences you. I’m just stunned. I think there are answers but along with that there is lack of government implementation & activism.  No one in town even knew about the water committee…and the fact that most farmers rely solely on rainfall for source of agricultural water is crazy.
• Flushing a toilet count: 11
• Shower count: 5 (1 being a bucket shower)
• Jigger count: None, but I’m washing my feet tonight so you never know…
• How many times have you done laundry: 2
• Bug bites: 10
• Favorite national park & animal: “Tarangire.  The African lion.  I got to see an African lioness stalking a warthog…unfortunately she wasn’t successful but it was still amazing. She moved so slowly…she just glided.”
• Biggest “wow” moment: “When our land cruiser turned the corner at Lake Manyara and there was a bull [male elephant] in the middle of the road.  There was also a group of females…the bull started moving towards our cruiser…I was not breathing the entire time…they’re just so huge & amazing…but then I realized he could kill us. Thankfully he didn’t end up charging.”
• What do you miss most: ice cream
• How many times have you shaved your legs: once
• Career plans: “Actually…I want to do something here…having been to Uganda before and now spending time in Tanzania…I’ve realized I want  come back here eventually…I want to maybe be involved in the safari industry. I don’t feel called to be a researcher or go back to school…so maybe something involving the tourist industry…possibly pairing visiting Americans with specific safari companies here.  I may start my own, I don’t know… But after I’ve done that, I want to move back to the states and open a coffee shop. I think the best atmosphere is a coffee shop during the day and a bar scene/music venue at night…and that is what my shop will consist of.”

 Jess (Economics major)

• Hometown: West Hampton, NY
• College: Fordham University
• Biggest Culture Shock: “Probably seeing the destitution of people here…and how you see our neighbors living in clay huts & they eat only what they farm…with six kids…and that’s considered normal.”
• Most difficult adjustment: “The highly regimented schedule and lack of freedom.”
• Flushing a toilet count: 20
• Shower count: 4
• Jigger count: none
• How many times have you done laundry: 1
• Bug bites: none
• Favorite national park and animal: “Tarangire because I felt like it was such a classic African bush setting…my favorite animal?  It’s hard to say, it was really exciting to see wild elephants for the first time, but then you get so used to seeing them and as bad as it sounds, it’s not as exciting anymore. So I guess I would say cheetahs.  It was so thrilling to see them.”
• Biggest “wow” moment:  “It’s so funny; I haven’t had that really profound moment yet. But my most favorite sight was looking out across the savanna at the Tarangire lodge…but I love our daily hikes up Moyo hill, too.”
• What do you miss most: “My baby of course, Trueson. Meaning my beautiful Australian shepherd Collie mix.”
• How many times have you shaved your legs: Twice…and I need to again
• Career plans: “That’s a hard question…but probably work for an economic development institution or agency.”

 Reggie (staff)

• Hometown: Arusha, Tanzania
• How long have you been with SFS: This is my first year, so about a month
• Schooling/education: Primary school, Secondary school, & institution (college) all in Arusha
• Age: 33
• Role at the campsite: Site coordinator
• What tribe do you belong to: Maasai
• Favorite part of your job?: The finance aspect.  I like the numbers…Also the experience of living with students from another nation…there are Kenyans, Tanzanians, and Americans all together.  I like that.”
• Favorite spot in Africa: Arusha.  I like the lifestyle there. You wake up, you see all the people you know, and I like that.”
• What did you do before working here: “Taught accounting to students.”
• How many brothers & sisters?: 2 sisters
• What do you think the biggest concern in Africa is?: “People are not independent.  They need more self-confidence. Some things they don’t get…they also don’t realize they have everything right here.”
• What could help the town of Rhotia the most? Arusha? Africa? : Education education education.
• Any last words: “I find great pleasure in working for SFS. I also like being able to see you every day. You are like my mom very much.  You are the same…having compassion & kindness. You impress me very much, mom.” [me=blushing so hard]

…Not so sure about being compared to a mom! But other than that, I hope these mini interviews have given you all a better idea of how awesome the people are that I am surrounded by every day. And thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of my blog.  I love that you are all following it…even if you never get the chance to venture to Africa, reading about  the realities, culture, issues, wildlife, & much more can teach you a whole lot about life.  I hope to provide that for you.  Tutaonana (Goodbye/talk to you later)

☮Hannah

Mambo! (More of a casual hey dude rather than a hello)

Tarangire was so so awesome.  You know when you think of “the bush” in Africa??  Well that’s Tarangire.  It’s not packed with tourists nor does it have perfectly paved roads for them to safari on.  At one point, it was just our land cruiser and we were driving through what must have been an area, home to many carnivores.  I will let the pictures do the talking.   Giraffe carcass.  Zebra carcass.  I know it’s sort of far away but that’s an elephant carcass.  This segment of the drive that lasted about 10 minutes was so eerie.  It was completely silent and all of these herds  of zebras and  wildebeests were extremely alert…as were we.  Once we got to the waterhole   we saw cheetahs and a lion! I only saw the lion for seriously 5 seconds or else I would post a picture because as you all can imagine, I was freaking out ….but I swear I saw it!  We did population counts for the first 3 hours of our drive which was pretty meticulous.  Each transect was 2 km.  At any sight of an African mammal, we had to stop, estimate the distance from our land cruiser in meters, count the number of species, and then continue.  However, if the vegetation changed within the 2 km transect, we had to start another transect.  We only dealt with 4 vegetations: woodland, grassland, riverine, and bushland.  After the 2 km we would drive 500 meters just so the data was consistent.  This “500 free-bee” (as we called it) was the best. Anyway, enough of that boring detail.  After our drive we got to go to the tourist safari lodge.  Oh my gosh, I wanted to live there forever.  We went swimming in a beautiful (chlorinated= we counted it as a shower) pool.  And the best part was the deep end, because once you reached it,  you got this little view!!  We could casually see wild elephants …here I experienced the, “Okay okay so this is why I went to Africa!” feeling…that I have about every day…x 5.   A few other characters also made their way up to this lodge  I can’t blame them. 

                Today our environmental policy class took a 4 hour “fieldtrip” to the town of Mto-wa-mbu (directly translates to mosquito river) but luckily I only got one bug bite when we were there (I’ve only gotten 5 total—how crazy!).  Mto-wa-mbu is one of the more established towns near us that offers cultural tourism.  We saw the very vast rice fields  (I know I’ve told a few of you about my good friends– Rachel, Allyson, Jess, & Rachel), we were taken through the surprisingly lush forest of banana trees ,and then even more shockingly we were given taste testers of banana beer!  It is made of millet  banana, and water.  It is tradition that you must lightly blow on the “millet-foam” before indulging  it was better than we thought it’d be .  Banana beer is viewed as something that brings people together, no matter the tribe. Then came my favorite part, the kids!  It’s crazy how much they just love the sense of touch.  Whether they’re just hanging  or swinging  they really never ever let go   It’s funny because most of these little kids have never seen  a white person before.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Ah mzungu!” (Ah a white person!).  When the kids come up to you, it is not uncommon for them to kind of feel your hand instead of just shaking it.  I honestly think that they may be skeptical that our skin feels different because the color is different, it’s kind of cute.  But more than anything, these kids loved my camera.  They were genuinely interested in how it worked, it was amazing.  Obviously I was showing everyone that would listen .  One was even learning how to zoom in on his own ! SUCCESS  

                Sorry for this insanely long wall post, I’m going to try and spread them out a little bit more…if the internet allows.  We’re actually hiking an escarpment of the Great Rift Valley tomorrow morning! Oh and PS we found 2 snakes in our “campus” this week! No one was hurt.  But three students did get “jiggers.”  They’re pretty nasty—you may research if you choose to, I will spare the details!  I’ll check up with ya later this weekend, be free.

☮Hannah

Today we visited an Iraqw boma.  The Iraqw are an East African tribe that used to be in rivalry with the Maasai tribe.  Nowadays, both tribes live among one another without any tension.  The Iraqi do live in modernity while the Maasai are strictly traditional.  I was lucky enough to be given an insight to traditions of the Iraqi tribe.  Anyone that knows me has probably heard me joke about how I am never getting married…well maybe that claim held true in America…but Africa seems to be a different story…how could I say no?

 they dressed me in beautiful garments (and headbands!)  I gave my vows  I was presented as a newlywed   everyone danced!  even the little ones were groovin’!

Lake Manyara (I would post more pictures but it takes so so long for them to upload! …unless I wake up at 6 AM…and that’s not happening until I am forced to wake up for breakfast crew)

  (African elephant…I am actually writing my first research paper on the Infrasound used as a mode of communication between several different bond groups…pretty crazy! They use sound that is inaudible to us!)  The giraffes are definitely not camera shy!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past few days.  I was experiencing the Tanzanian medical centers first hand!  I, along with four others students, woke up Monday morning feeling extremely lethargic and feverish.  The symptoms progressed pretty quickly…to the point that I almost passed out by the time we arrived at the medical center (15 minutes in “Tanzanian time” is equivalent to an hour….the bumpy ride to the hospital took about 35 minutes and when we arrived, there were many other people there who, I am sure, were in far more need).  They tested us for Malaria, Typhoid fever, and some other scary diseases and luckily they were all negative.  We all had acquired some sort of African flu that is basically like the normal achy flu in America but extremely intensified.  Fortunately, we were given medication and I literally fell asleep Monday afternoon and didn’t wake up until this morning.  I’m a little discombobulated and stressed because I am already behind in my assignments but I’ll survive. I will give you another update after I update myself!

Word of the day: mwuguzi (nurse)

☮Hannah