Kenis: Maria, what about your fears?
Me: I have no fears. (Although this is a total lie...bees, ladybugs, buses tipping over, sharks, being unemployed forever alone with my arts degree, etc.)
Kenis: Okay...
The next day:
Kenis: Maria, but why don't you have any fears?
Me: What is there to be afraid of? Do you have any fears?
Kenis: No, you see...me? I have one wife. Tiba.
Me (laughing): You're afraid of Tiba? You fear your wife?
Kenis: I have just one wife. No fears, no girlfriend. Why don't you have fears?
Me: Wait a second...what do you mean by fears?
Kenis: Fears....like boyfriends.
Me: Um...Finacé?
Kenis: Yes, Feans.
Me: Fiancé! Ahhhh, well that's a whole different conversation!
Yay miscommunications in Zanzibar!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
harusi [wedding]
Apparently in Zanzibar, it only takes three days of knowing someone until they invite you to their uncle's wedding.
Friday morning, bright and early, we were off to Jambiani! I didn't really know what to expect, though I'd been told that Zanzibarian weddings are full of singing and dancing -- a full day of celebration.
After waiting for Mwana and Tiba (Mwana's sister-in-law) to get all decked out with their fancy outfits and make-up, we were on our way by daladala. Mwana said had told me that Jambiani was only 30 minutes away, but it was actually a three-hour ride. There were 30 people in the daladala and we kept stopping along the way for people to load things onto the lorry: giant sacks of rice, boxes of biscuits, etc... things to bring to from the urban area to the rural areas.
When we arrived (at 11:00AM), we were served breakfast (some of which we had brought ourselves). Cassava, bread, mandazi, beans, fish, stew, and potato hashbrown-ish thingies. Quite a feast!
Then I accompanied Mwana to the kitchen, where we were going to help prepare food. I took an onion to chop, but I don't think she was satisfied with my cutting skills because after one she told me to just sit back and relax.
Then Mwana's brother, Kenis, took me for a tour around Jambiani. This basically meant we went for a walk down the beach. It was a touristy area, but all the resorts and restaurants are closed because it's low season.
At 12:30PM, we were passing the house of Kenis's half-sister, who didn't speak English. This is when Kenis said he was leaving me to go pray. I pleaded for him not to leave me alone with people who didn't speak "kizungu" (white-person language), but he left anyways. Luckily, Mudhakir (my 11-year-old homestay brother) had joined us for the walk. So I pulled out my "Swahili Made Easy" book (sadly, it's not easy...) and began to read with Mudhakir. Soon enough, Kenis's half-sister's husband joined us. Being a guard at one of the nearby resorts, he spoke English well enough. So he helped me as I practiced the exercises in the book.
When Kenis came back, we went back to where the wedding was supposed to be. By now it was around 2PM. I found Mwana, and she told me it was time to see the wedding. She led me into a room where a young woman was sitting on a bed, surrounded by a dozen people taking photos. The woman was wearing a bright yellow dress, with lots of lace and LOTS of sparkles. Her arms, legs, and chest were covered with henna. She was not smiling.
Mwana told me that this was the bride, and that I should take pictures too...so of course I did! A few minutes later, they put a kanga (piece of cloth) over her head and a few men came in. The older man put his hand on her head and said a prayer, as a younger man in a red scarf (the groom) stood by.
Then they removed the kanga from the bride's head, and the groom sat next to her.
We continued to take pictures. Neither of them smiled until a woman next to me said something in sing-songy Swahili, and they laughed a bit, smiled sheepishly, and went back to not smiling.
Then Mwana led me outside to eat lunch. By 3PM, we had finished and Mwana told me it was time to leave. Leave? Already? I didn't realize that was the wedding that I was watching before! No singing, no dancing? Just a bunch of cooking, eating, and taking pictures around a very small ceremony. I would have taken more pictures had I known it would be over so soon!! Regardless, it was a very interesting day, full of feasting and family and glitter galore. I'm glad to have gotten a chance to experience it!
(And this is a duck on a tire!)
Friday morning, bright and early, we were off to Jambiani! I didn't really know what to expect, though I'd been told that Zanzibarian weddings are full of singing and dancing -- a full day of celebration.
After waiting for Mwana and Tiba (Mwana's sister-in-law) to get all decked out with their fancy outfits and make-up, we were on our way by daladala. Mwana said had told me that Jambiani was only 30 minutes away, but it was actually a three-hour ride. There were 30 people in the daladala and we kept stopping along the way for people to load things onto the lorry: giant sacks of rice, boxes of biscuits, etc... things to bring to from the urban area to the rural areas.
When we arrived (at 11:00AM), we were served breakfast (some of which we had brought ourselves). Cassava, bread, mandazi, beans, fish, stew, and potato hashbrown-ish thingies. Quite a feast!
Then I accompanied Mwana to the kitchen, where we were going to help prepare food. I took an onion to chop, but I don't think she was satisfied with my cutting skills because after one she told me to just sit back and relax.
Then Mwana's brother, Kenis, took me for a tour around Jambiani. This basically meant we went for a walk down the beach. It was a touristy area, but all the resorts and restaurants are closed because it's low season.
At 12:30PM, we were passing the house of Kenis's half-sister, who didn't speak English. This is when Kenis said he was leaving me to go pray. I pleaded for him not to leave me alone with people who didn't speak "kizungu" (white-person language), but he left anyways. Luckily, Mudhakir (my 11-year-old homestay brother) had joined us for the walk. So I pulled out my "Swahili Made Easy" book (sadly, it's not easy...) and began to read with Mudhakir. Soon enough, Kenis's half-sister's husband joined us. Being a guard at one of the nearby resorts, he spoke English well enough. So he helped me as I practiced the exercises in the book.
When Kenis came back, we went back to where the wedding was supposed to be. By now it was around 2PM. I found Mwana, and she told me it was time to see the wedding. She led me into a room where a young woman was sitting on a bed, surrounded by a dozen people taking photos. The woman was wearing a bright yellow dress, with lots of lace and LOTS of sparkles. Her arms, legs, and chest were covered with henna. She was not smiling.
Mwana told me that this was the bride, and that I should take pictures too...so of course I did! A few minutes later, they put a kanga (piece of cloth) over her head and a few men came in. The older man put his hand on her head and said a prayer, as a younger man in a red scarf (the groom) stood by.
Then they removed the kanga from the bride's head, and the groom sat next to her.
We continued to take pictures. Neither of them smiled until a woman next to me said something in sing-songy Swahili, and they laughed a bit, smiled sheepishly, and went back to not smiling.
Then Mwana led me outside to eat lunch. By 3PM, we had finished and Mwana told me it was time to leave. Leave? Already? I didn't realize that was the wedding that I was watching before! No singing, no dancing? Just a bunch of cooking, eating, and taking pictures around a very small ceremony. I would have taken more pictures had I known it would be over so soon!! Regardless, it was a very interesting day, full of feasting and family and glitter galore. I'm glad to have gotten a chance to experience it!
(And this is a duck on a tire!)
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
chakula nzuri [good food]
Woooooow. I feel like I just started a brand new life! Where to start, where to start...
Yesterday I arrived in Zanzibar (for the second time) and was greeted at the airport by MYDO, the organization that I'll be volunteering with. Mikuguni Youth Development Organzation (MYDO) aims to encourage youth in the area to participate in economic, social, and political development. Over the next six weeks, I'll be helping them update their organizational structure, volunteer policies, communications, and fundraising strategies. I'll also be trying to organize some sort of environmental and waste management workshop for the community. A big issue here is that the municipality only has the capacity to collect 25% of the waste to bring to the dump, so there is trash all over the place. Definitely not something that I can solve in six weeks, but perhaps I can try to make some sort of impact!
I'm living with a local family in an apartment just outside of Stone Town. It's a third floor apartment near not too far from the hospital, the dala dala station (public transportation), and the Zanzibar Weightlifting Association -- all essential amenities. My first goal in this town is to not get lost.
The mother of my homestay family, Mwana, is a local artist. She has four children: Muhammad (age 4), Mudhakir (age 11), Fatuma (age 16), and Msomething-I-can't-pronounce-or-spell-but-should-probably-learn-soon (age 19). The children all go to school in the morning, but are home by 12:30 or 1:00 each day. In order to increase enrollment, schools in the area have two shifts -- 7AM-12:30PM, and 12:30PM-6PM. This way all the children can have a chance to go to school. Even still, in most primary schools a single class might have up to 100 students. I haven't met Mwana's husband yet because he is away for work until Friday. There is a nice old woman who comes in and out of the apartment to help out. I call her Bibi (grandmother), but other than greetings, so far we are having difficulties breaking the language barrier.
It's going to be a challenge living with a Swahili-speaking family! Mwana speaks English quite well, so long as I speak polepole. Msomething also speaks English really well, but as he is 19 years old and has friends and such, he hasn't been home much. Everyone else mostly just speaks Swahili. I'll have to learn quickly!
Mwana is an amaaaazing cook. I've only had two meals cooked by her so far, but wow! I am so glad to be living on the spice islands! Everything is packed full of flavor. This is something that I didn't experience the last time I was in Zanzibar because I was so excited to have access to pizza and brownies again after three months. Mwana makes fantastic tea as well. Green tea in the morning and for lunch, black tea at dinnertime. The green tea is picked fresh from Mwana's garden, and then she prepares it with fresh ginger, cardamom, and whatever other spices can possibly be delicious with tea. Mmmm. And the juice! Fresh mango and passion fruit juice! Okay, enough about food -- I'm getting fatter just typing!
I have my own room with a nice big bed. The bathroom is something to get used to though... The toilet has neither a toilet seat nor a flusher... Lucky for me that girls don't poop!
I'll try to put up some pictures of the apartment soon! Maybe this weekend.
I hope all of you are fine and dandy! Send me some love in the comments or by email! Sometimes it's nice to hear from the outside world.
Yesterday I arrived in Zanzibar (for the second time) and was greeted at the airport by MYDO, the organization that I'll be volunteering with. Mikuguni Youth Development Organzation (MYDO) aims to encourage youth in the area to participate in economic, social, and political development. Over the next six weeks, I'll be helping them update their organizational structure, volunteer policies, communications, and fundraising strategies. I'll also be trying to organize some sort of environmental and waste management workshop for the community. A big issue here is that the municipality only has the capacity to collect 25% of the waste to bring to the dump, so there is trash all over the place. Definitely not something that I can solve in six weeks, but perhaps I can try to make some sort of impact!
I'm living with a local family in an apartment just outside of Stone Town. It's a third floor apartment near not too far from the hospital, the dala dala station (public transportation), and the Zanzibar Weightlifting Association -- all essential amenities. My first goal in this town is to not get lost.
The mother of my homestay family, Mwana, is a local artist. She has four children: Muhammad (age 4), Mudhakir (age 11), Fatuma (age 16), and Msomething-I-can't-pronounce-or-spell-but-should-probably-learn-soon (age 19). The children all go to school in the morning, but are home by 12:30 or 1:00 each day. In order to increase enrollment, schools in the area have two shifts -- 7AM-12:30PM, and 12:30PM-6PM. This way all the children can have a chance to go to school. Even still, in most primary schools a single class might have up to 100 students. I haven't met Mwana's husband yet because he is away for work until Friday. There is a nice old woman who comes in and out of the apartment to help out. I call her Bibi (grandmother), but other than greetings, so far we are having difficulties breaking the language barrier.
It's going to be a challenge living with a Swahili-speaking family! Mwana speaks English quite well, so long as I speak polepole. Msomething also speaks English really well, but as he is 19 years old and has friends and such, he hasn't been home much. Everyone else mostly just speaks Swahili. I'll have to learn quickly!
Mwana is an amaaaazing cook. I've only had two meals cooked by her so far, but wow! I am so glad to be living on the spice islands! Everything is packed full of flavor. This is something that I didn't experience the last time I was in Zanzibar because I was so excited to have access to pizza and brownies again after three months. Mwana makes fantastic tea as well. Green tea in the morning and for lunch, black tea at dinnertime. The green tea is picked fresh from Mwana's garden, and then she prepares it with fresh ginger, cardamom, and whatever other spices can possibly be delicious with tea. Mmmm. And the juice! Fresh mango and passion fruit juice! Okay, enough about food -- I'm getting fatter just typing!
I have my own room with a nice big bed. The bathroom is something to get used to though... The toilet has neither a toilet seat nor a flusher... Lucky for me that girls don't poop!
I'll try to put up some pictures of the apartment soon! Maybe this weekend.
I hope all of you are fine and dandy! Send me some love in the comments or by email! Sometimes it's nice to hear from the outside world.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Curious George Goes to the City
There is a monkey in my back yard. In Nairobi.
What is he doing here? I don't know.
What is he doing here? I don't know.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Sipendi jam [I don't like traffic]
Welp, after climbing Kili, I moved to Nairobi. It's been a fun two weeks....naaaaht!
I've been living in a two bedroom apartment with four other girls. One in the twin bed, three in the queen bed, and one on the couch. Despite the cozy living quarters, the apartment is quite nice! We have a pool, laundry, wifi, and someone who comes in and cleans everyday! It's quite a luxurious lifestyle after being in tents for the past few months!
I was supposed to start an internship when I arrived, but after living here for two days they informed me that the internship had been cancelled. So I've spent the past week and a half trying to find an alternative solution, while volunteering with a women's group in Kibera. I've also had plenty of time for reading, napping, and exploring the several gigantic malls in the area (most of which are nicer than any mall I'v ever been to in the U.S.).
While it's been nice having a kitchen to cook for ourselves, we've also been taking advantage of the delicious cuisines that Nairobi has to offer -- today I had a veggie burger and a milkshake for lunch. There is a frozen yogurt shop not to far from us, and a great little microbrewery next door to that.
Anyways, despite the comforts that Nairobi has to offer, I'm simply not satisfied hanging out and napping by the pool all day. So what's next? I'm moving back to Zanzibar on Monday! I'll spend these next few days checking all the Nairobi "must-sees" off my list and continuing to eat delicious yet expensive food, but then I'll fly back to Stone Town where I'll be staying with a local family, learning Swahili, and volunteering at a youth development organization. I'll fill you in on more details when I figure them out for myself!
Also, as promised, hujambo Bibi! (Hi Gramma!)
I've been living in a two bedroom apartment with four other girls. One in the twin bed, three in the queen bed, and one on the couch. Despite the cozy living quarters, the apartment is quite nice! We have a pool, laundry, wifi, and someone who comes in and cleans everyday! It's quite a luxurious lifestyle after being in tents for the past few months!
I was supposed to start an internship when I arrived, but after living here for two days they informed me that the internship had been cancelled. So I've spent the past week and a half trying to find an alternative solution, while volunteering with a women's group in Kibera. I've also had plenty of time for reading, napping, and exploring the several gigantic malls in the area (most of which are nicer than any mall I'v ever been to in the U.S.).
While it's been nice having a kitchen to cook for ourselves, we've also been taking advantage of the delicious cuisines that Nairobi has to offer -- today I had a veggie burger and a milkshake for lunch. There is a frozen yogurt shop not to far from us, and a great little microbrewery next door to that.
Anyways, despite the comforts that Nairobi has to offer, I'm simply not satisfied hanging out and napping by the pool all day. So what's next? I'm moving back to Zanzibar on Monday! I'll spend these next few days checking all the Nairobi "must-sees" off my list and continuing to eat delicious yet expensive food, but then I'll fly back to Stone Town where I'll be staying with a local family, learning Swahili, and volunteering at a youth development organization. I'll fill you in on more details when I figure them out for myself!
Also, as promised, hujambo Bibi! (Hi Gramma!)
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Pole pole [slowly]
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
We laughed, we cried.
No pain, no gain.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
But really...enough with the cliches. On April 3rd, I set out to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro -- the tallest point in Africa at 5895 meters above sea level -- and on April 7th at about 7:00AM, I reached the summit.
The itinerary that I posted last week was pretty spot on, but I figured I'd give you my own personal account of what really went down.
Day 1 (8.1 km): We left the hotel at 9:30AM but after driving to the gates and settling all of our park fees and gear rentals, we didn't start hiking until 2:00PM. It took 3.5 hours to make it to Mandara Huts (2720m), where we ate dinner and slept for the night. We had amazing weather, and were able to hike comfortably in shorts and t-shirts. The pace started out really slow -- "pole pole" (pronounced pol-ay pol-ay).
This first day we spent walking through the rain forest. At times, it looked magical and I felt that there should be little fairies flying around. There were also a lot of really neat trees that looked like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book.
At night, we stayed in little 4 to 6 person huts like this one:
From these huts, the summit didn't look all too intimidating... I guess that might be because we were already 3720m up. It's just a little lump of snow, right?
I've never hiked under the stars before! It was really neat, though I think I would've appreciated it more had I not been so exhausted. A lot of people were struggling hard with altitude sickness. Many of my group mates had pounding headaches, many were nauseous, and many found it incredibly difficult to breathe. As for myself, I was just trying my best to keep my cookies down! One step per breath was the the general guideline, but sometimes I forgot to breathe because I was so focused on not falling off the mountain -- this was a problem.
There were a solid few hours where all I could think was "what the heck am I doing this for?" But getting to the top made it so incredibly worth it.
It only took about seven hours to the top. It was a tough seven hours, but so, so, soooo worth it. I must admit, I teared up in the moments before reaching the summit. I was about to be standing on the tallest point in Africa, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, a mountain that I have wanted to climb for years. We made it to the summit just after sunrise, and the scenery was absolutely stunning. Unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Below is a picture of the view on the way down. This is what we were climbing up in the middle of the night. On the way down, I realized that the reason we climbed in the dark was probably not because it's cute to hike under the stars or nice to see the sunrise, but rather because if we were able to see the massive mound of snow that we had to walk up, we would've marched right back down and crawled back into our sleeping bags.
We laughed, we cried.
No pain, no gain.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
But really...enough with the cliches. On April 3rd, I set out to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro -- the tallest point in Africa at 5895 meters above sea level -- and on April 7th at about 7:00AM, I reached the summit.
The itinerary that I posted last week was pretty spot on, but I figured I'd give you my own personal account of what really went down.
Day 1 (8.1 km): We left the hotel at 9:30AM but after driving to the gates and settling all of our park fees and gear rentals, we didn't start hiking until 2:00PM. It took 3.5 hours to make it to Mandara Huts (2720m), where we ate dinner and slept for the night. We had amazing weather, and were able to hike comfortably in shorts and t-shirts. The pace started out really slow -- "pole pole" (pronounced pol-ay pol-ay).
This first day we spent walking through the rain forest. At times, it looked magical and I felt that there should be little fairies flying around. There were also a lot of really neat trees that looked like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book.
At night, we stayed in little 4 to 6 person huts like this one:
Day 2 (11.6 km): We continued our ascent up to Horombo Huts. This hike took quite a bit longer -- 6.5 hours -- but I was feelin' good and we had great weather again! By the time we got to Horombo, we were all pretty exhausted (I was asleep by 8:30PM!).
From these huts, the summit didn't look all too intimidating... I guess that might be because we were already 3720m up. It's just a little lump of snow, right?
The view down was pretty nice, too!
Day 3 (7 km): Acclimatization day! An easy-peasy hike to Zebra Rocks. Yes, these are rocks that look like zebras. It was a nice short walk -- only 3.5 hours. Still feeling mighty energetic at this point!
We had a great view of Mawenzi Peak, which looks like somewhere that a wicked witch should live.
Day 4 (9.6 km): Hiking through the desert to Kibo. This hike took 5 hours, still going pole pole. We were getting to the altitude where vegetation no longer likes to grow, so basically it looked like we were walking on Mars. It started raining about an hour from Horombo, which made us want to go a little less pole pole. Lunch on this day was particularly delicious and nutritious: a deep-fried butter sandwich (white bread, of course!) and a Snickers bar for protein. Mmmm. When we got to Horombo at about 3:30PM, we crawled right into bed to warm up and take a nap, knowing that tomorrow was doomsday. We were woken up at 5:00PM for dinner, which I promptly threw up due to the altitude. Once again, mmmm. After dinner and puking, it was time for bed again!
Day 5 (a gazillion km): This is the day that matters most. After waking up at 11:00PM the night before, we were ready to start our final ascent at about 12:15AM. Thankfully we had rented the proper gear at base camp... down jackets, snow pants, balaclavas, hiking poles, etc. In case you can't tell, I'm the one all bundled up in the middle.
There were a solid few hours where all I could think was "what the heck am I doing this for?" But getting to the top made it so incredibly worth it.
It only took about seven hours to the top. It was a tough seven hours, but so, so, soooo worth it. I must admit, I teared up in the moments before reaching the summit. I was about to be standing on the tallest point in Africa, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, a mountain that I have wanted to climb for years. We made it to the summit just after sunrise, and the scenery was absolutely stunning. Unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Below is a picture of the view on the way down. This is what we were climbing up in the middle of the night. On the way down, I realized that the reason we climbed in the dark was probably not because it's cute to hike under the stars or nice to see the sunrise, but rather because if we were able to see the massive mound of snow that we had to walk up, we would've marched right back down and crawled back into our sleeping bags.
I got back down to Kibo Huts at about 10:20AM, crawled into bed with a big smile on my face, and fell sound asleep.
At noon, I was woken up for lunch, and then we all packed up our bags and started a 2.5 hour hike back down to Horombo. After such a long day, I was sound asleep by 8PM.
Day 6 (19.7km): Our final descent! We bounded down the mountain today, conquering so much ground in only 5 hours! It was nice to not have to go pole pole this time! We celebrated our conquest with wine and a nice big Italian dinner!
And that just about sums up my trek up (and down) Mount Kilimanjaro! I definitely don't feel like I was really able to give a sense of how it felt each day, especially summit day, or how it felt to make it to the top... I guess it's just something that I cannot put into words. If you're really curious, well, then you might want to try climbing to the top to see for yourself!
All in all, it was the most incredible experience of my life. Then again, I'm only 22. There's plenty of time for many more amazing experiences like this one!
All in all, it was the most incredible experience of my life. Then again, I'm only 22. There's plenty of time for many more amazing experiences like this one!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Kilimanjaro!
Hello folks! After a nice relaxing week on the beach in Zanzibar, I've arrived in Moshi, Tanzania and am preparing to start climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro tomorrow morning!
We are a group of 18, all climbing the Marangu Route (also known as the Coca Cola Route). Here's an idea of what my itinerary will be like for the next 6 days so that you can keep track of my trek:
http://www.climbingkilimanjaro.com/marangu-route-kilimanjaro.php
Not much else to say about it yet until I actually climb it!
We'll be back down to base camp on April 8th, and then I'm moving to Nairobi on the 9th! Time is really flying!
We are a group of 18, all climbing the Marangu Route (also known as the Coca Cola Route). Here's an idea of what my itinerary will be like for the next 6 days so that you can keep track of my trek:
http://www.climbingkilimanjaro.com/marangu-route-kilimanjaro.php
Not much else to say about it yet until I actually climb it!
We'll be back down to base camp on April 8th, and then I'm moving to Nairobi on the 9th! Time is really flying!
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