My very cute and very smart niece turns three today! I hope good fun is had by all at Chuck -e -Cheese (or however you spell it).
Today in Swahili lessons, we spent tons of time using the word kali. As an adjective it means sharp, fierce, or intense. We had to use it in relation to different illnesses and injuries, so that was lovely. As a verb, however, it means the barking of a dog, so that is even better. People always give a big "ahhhh" when they hear my name because it at least means something to them.
This afternoon we are meeting with a local doctor who will tell us about AIDS issues in the area. This evening we are watching The Lion King with Allen, our language teacher. He's borrowing it from his aunt.
One of the babies from the orphanage has died since yesterday. Malaria.
Could anyone give me a Stanley Cup update? A central division standings report? Please?
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
Angels From the Realm of Glory!
Anyone like to share with me why I have that one in my head?
Today was back to the orphanage. I slipped into the younger baby area and spent most of my time with one little boy named Petro. He is two months old and about the size of a scrawny newborn. Maybe. He was premature and isn't growing. I went over to him right away because of his little newborn cry, and for the rest of the time I was there I held him and sort of rocked (I was sitting on a stool with uneven legs, so it was close enough) and sang Les Miserables since I don't know any lullabies. By the end he was turning his head on his little bird-like neck to look me in the eye.
A touch of diarrhea or a little cold and this baby is gone. He has what is knonw in orphanage speak as failure to thrive. Due to lack of one on one attention and stimulation (and premies need a lot to catch up) he isn't progressing and will have an uphill battle to get to the age where his immune system is a little tougher, where he might actually have a chance.
He sure is handsome with his oversized ears and bright pink hat though.
It started pouring on our way back from the orphanage and we are all soaked to our underwear. We all ate this way since our house is a 10-minute walk from the dining hall and we would have gotten just as bad if we'd stopped to change.
We've come to discover a very interesting aspect of our home. We only have two toilets, and one will only flush about every half hour, so if one person is throwing up in one, it puts the seven other people in quite a predicament. I've already visited the cornfield next to our house and don't expect it to be the last time.
Until tomorrow...
Today was back to the orphanage. I slipped into the younger baby area and spent most of my time with one little boy named Petro. He is two months old and about the size of a scrawny newborn. Maybe. He was premature and isn't growing. I went over to him right away because of his little newborn cry, and for the rest of the time I was there I held him and sort of rocked (I was sitting on a stool with uneven legs, so it was close enough) and sang Les Miserables since I don't know any lullabies. By the end he was turning his head on his little bird-like neck to look me in the eye.
A touch of diarrhea or a little cold and this baby is gone. He has what is knonw in orphanage speak as failure to thrive. Due to lack of one on one attention and stimulation (and premies need a lot to catch up) he isn't progressing and will have an uphill battle to get to the age where his immune system is a little tougher, where he might actually have a chance.
He sure is handsome with his oversized ears and bright pink hat though.
It started pouring on our way back from the orphanage and we are all soaked to our underwear. We all ate this way since our house is a 10-minute walk from the dining hall and we would have gotten just as bad if we'd stopped to change.
We've come to discover a very interesting aspect of our home. We only have two toilets, and one will only flush about every half hour, so if one person is throwing up in one, it puts the seven other people in quite a predicament. I've already visited the cornfield next to our house and don't expect it to be the last time.
Until tomorrow...
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Church
One of the orphans baptized during the service
The auctioning of traditional khanga cloth after church as a fundraiser
Well, we didn't go to a Masaai village. Instead we went to the youth prison and had church with them. These guys are in prison for stealing a loaf of bread like Jean Valjean. It is complete minimum security with no fences or shackles, and the guys learn trades while they are serving their time. The prisoners, guards and their families, and Masaai who walk in from thier local village all worship there. They all sit together and the prisoners even have a choir. They just put red shirts over their bright orange jumpsuits.
Three hours of church while drowning in my own sweat is enough to make a person appreciate being Minnesota Lutheran. I'm pretty sure I've reached my threshold for church for the next three months I am here.
There was a little girl there dressed in what looked like one of my niece's princess dresses she plays dress-up in, only ever so much prettier (if you get my drift). I took a picture to show the princess and her mother back at home. What my niece wears to the grocery store this little girl wears as her best dress to church. It kept me smiling all day. Ella was my special friend all day and never left my side and was beyond thrilled that I wanted a picture of her and just her. The adults around were pretty excited for her too. I'm guessing it will be one of those things she remembers for a very long time - when the white people came and the really sweaty looking one took her picture.
Ella
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Side Note
As a side note to what I just posted, I was talking to our gude all about the wildlife we have where I come from. He was very interested and asked lots of questions and got really excited about the moose. The part about where I live being near to Canada apprently didn't mean anything to him though, because his greatest burning question was whether or not we had alligators : )
The Safari
***Click on the photos to see a larger version***
Anyone contemplating a trip to Africa needs to plan for a safari. Anyone mildly interested in animals needs to plan a trip to Africa to go on a safari.
I really did not care one bit that we were planning on this trip to Mikumi when we were doing our trip preparation last semster. It just seemed so ungodly touristy, and I was going to see people, not animals (and I love animals more than anyone I know). Well, I am now very glad that I was not in charge of planning our trip.
The pictures above are a smattering of the animals we saw, and one of a gigantic hippo footprint in the dried mud next to the hippo pond. We only saw their noses sticking out of the surface of the water since they only come out at night. Apparently Africa's most deadly animal gets sunburned!
We got to the park and once we checked in, we got back in the bus and drove around for another three hours with a guide. It might as well have been 10 minutes to me. There were hundreds of giraffes, everywhere. We would drive right up to where they were standing by the road, and most would just stare at us rather than walk away. We were close enough to see their long, long eyelashes and the birds that ride on their backs. Sometimes we would see 25-30 at a time. There were thousands of impala, lots of elephants, and enough crazy birds that people go on safari there just for that. The Lion King has nothing on Mikumi. After the sun set we ate our four-course meal outside on their patio by latern light and a few million stars.
In the morning, I woke up to find an entire herd of impala about 10 paces away from our back porch, with water buffalo not too far out behind them, just having their breakfast, as calm as could be. We headed out again for another four hours and this time saw lots of zebra, whole tribes of monkeys and baboons, and three lions sleeping by the side of the road. This was a very big deal as some people have been going to Mikumi for years and have never seen a lion because they blend into the tall grasses. We turned off the bus and sat there with our heads hanging out the window for a half hour, just staring at them. And the Swahili word for lion is simba, if anyone was wondering.
We went back and ate lunch at their outdoor porch and watched the impala, baboons, giraffes, and water buffalo meander by. It was just crazy. Giraffes are the most majestic things I have ever seen. And I would really like to see one born because I really can't figure out how that would work!
My roommate is quite sick and we had to pull over for her on the way back, so I'm staying out of the room to give her some space.
Kar, do you think Hunter's teachers would like some very ornate hand-carved door hangings that say loin instead of lion? I feel so bad for the guy here selling them because so much work went into them that I'm looking for an excuse to buy them all!
We're off to a Masaai village in the bush tomorrow for church. It should be an interesting tale to tell (especially for this vegetarian who has already seen the pictures of the decapitated goats served for lunch during the trip last year).
Anyone contemplating a trip to Africa needs to plan for a safari. Anyone mildly interested in animals needs to plan a trip to Africa to go on a safari.
I really did not care one bit that we were planning on this trip to Mikumi when we were doing our trip preparation last semster. It just seemed so ungodly touristy, and I was going to see people, not animals (and I love animals more than anyone I know). Well, I am now very glad that I was not in charge of planning our trip.
The pictures above are a smattering of the animals we saw, and one of a gigantic hippo footprint in the dried mud next to the hippo pond. We only saw their noses sticking out of the surface of the water since they only come out at night. Apparently Africa's most deadly animal gets sunburned!
We got to the park and once we checked in, we got back in the bus and drove around for another three hours with a guide. It might as well have been 10 minutes to me. There were hundreds of giraffes, everywhere. We would drive right up to where they were standing by the road, and most would just stare at us rather than walk away. We were close enough to see their long, long eyelashes and the birds that ride on their backs. Sometimes we would see 25-30 at a time. There were thousands of impala, lots of elephants, and enough crazy birds that people go on safari there just for that. The Lion King has nothing on Mikumi. After the sun set we ate our four-course meal outside on their patio by latern light and a few million stars.
In the morning, I woke up to find an entire herd of impala about 10 paces away from our back porch, with water buffalo not too far out behind them, just having their breakfast, as calm as could be. We headed out again for another four hours and this time saw lots of zebra, whole tribes of monkeys and baboons, and three lions sleeping by the side of the road. This was a very big deal as some people have been going to Mikumi for years and have never seen a lion because they blend into the tall grasses. We turned off the bus and sat there with our heads hanging out the window for a half hour, just staring at them. And the Swahili word for lion is simba, if anyone was wondering.
We went back and ate lunch at their outdoor porch and watched the impala, baboons, giraffes, and water buffalo meander by. It was just crazy. Giraffes are the most majestic things I have ever seen. And I would really like to see one born because I really can't figure out how that would work!
My roommate is quite sick and we had to pull over for her on the way back, so I'm staying out of the room to give her some space.
Kar, do you think Hunter's teachers would like some very ornate hand-carved door hangings that say loin instead of lion? I feel so bad for the guy here selling them because so much work went into them that I'm looking for an excuse to buy them all!
We're off to a Masaai village in the bush tomorrow for church. It should be an interesting tale to tell (especially for this vegetarian who has already seen the pictures of the decapitated goats served for lunch during the trip last year).
Friday, May 05, 2006
The Orphanage
After we FINALLY finished our language training for the day, we embarked on a half-hour hike to the orphanage. It was a single-file footpath leadking out from the seminary farm toward the mountains. On the way we had to jump over streams, saw a monkey on a cocanut tree (and a man climbing one on the way back), walked on railroad tracks while naked children bathed in the streams on either side of us, cut through cornfields, and walked through a couple herds of goats and cows. The entire walk is absolutely beautiful from beginning to end, with palm trees here and there and the green mountains before you.
We eventually ended up at this huge nunnery that just popped up out of nowhere. I don't know how they built so many two story brick buildings so far away from the main road. There were only about 20 children, three and under, all with runny noses and skin rashes (scabies?). Everyone just stared at them when we walked in so I went and sat down and had one in my lap immediately. She never let me set her down, even when we went in to look at the babies. When we left, nearly every one of them was screaming to be picked back up again. Dr. Strickert said that we can go as often as we want as soon as we finish our language class hours.
We will be leaving for our safari at Mikumi in a few hours. Josh, the four-year-old here, assures us that we will see lots of wildabeasts!
We eventually ended up at this huge nunnery that just popped up out of nowhere. I don't know how they built so many two story brick buildings so far away from the main road. There were only about 20 children, three and under, all with runny noses and skin rashes (scabies?). Everyone just stared at them when we walked in so I went and sat down and had one in my lap immediately. She never let me set her down, even when we went in to look at the babies. When we left, nearly every one of them was screaming to be picked back up again. Dr. Strickert said that we can go as often as we want as soon as we finish our language class hours.
We will be leaving for our safari at Mikumi in a few hours. Josh, the four-year-old here, assures us that we will see lots of wildabeasts!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
And Tanzania sounds like the cabin, with the important addition of about three dozen roosters.
We found out yesterday why we feel like we are walking through a jungle around the seminary campus. Several decades ago, a massive tree-planting campaign was started by Pastor Haffermann, not for any environmental reasons, but rather to grow firewood for the future. After a few decades, some of the trees are nearly ready. Cutting their own firewood will save a great deal of money. They even planted some trees that will make high-priced mahogany furniture in about 30 more years. Pastor Hafferman, who is now retired and spends a few months a year here, hopes that those now in charge will allow it to grow to maturity. This example for planning for the future, a future you may not even be a part of, amazes me.
So far I have seen:
1. A baboon running across the road in front of our bus
2. The skinniest cows I have ever seen (they are small and humpbacked, not like the balck and white spotties at home)
3. A million and one creepy crawlies that are just fasckinating to me. There are bugs of all sorts all over the place. The coolest ones are the centipedes(?) that have a million and one legs that shimmer when they walk.
4. About three seconds of the Wallace and Gromit movie at the spring birthdays birthday party last night before I fell asleep sitting up on the couch. There are four kids here who are really little, so that's fun. Two of them only speak German.
I've also found out that the malarial mosquitos only come out from dusk to dawn. Good news, since that is when I am not out!
I have to use my break wisely before I have to go back for the last two hours of our six hours of Swahili today, so more later.
We found out yesterday why we feel like we are walking through a jungle around the seminary campus. Several decades ago, a massive tree-planting campaign was started by Pastor Haffermann, not for any environmental reasons, but rather to grow firewood for the future. After a few decades, some of the trees are nearly ready. Cutting their own firewood will save a great deal of money. They even planted some trees that will make high-priced mahogany furniture in about 30 more years. Pastor Hafferman, who is now retired and spends a few months a year here, hopes that those now in charge will allow it to grow to maturity. This example for planning for the future, a future you may not even be a part of, amazes me.
So far I have seen:
1. A baboon running across the road in front of our bus
2. The skinniest cows I have ever seen (they are small and humpbacked, not like the balck and white spotties at home)
3. A million and one creepy crawlies that are just fasckinating to me. There are bugs of all sorts all over the place. The coolest ones are the centipedes(?) that have a million and one legs that shimmer when they walk.
4. About three seconds of the Wallace and Gromit movie at the spring birthdays birthday party last night before I fell asleep sitting up on the couch. There are four kids here who are really little, so that's fun. Two of them only speak German.
I've also found out that the malarial mosquitos only come out from dusk to dawn. Good news, since that is when I am not out!
I have to use my break wisely before I have to go back for the last two hours of our six hours of Swahili today, so more later.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Tanzania Smells Like Summer
Quite different from Amesterdam, which smelled like Marijuana.
I have arrived in Morogoro and am doing quite well. I survived the Northwest flight, despite it being the crappiest plane I've ever seen in my life and the overhead compartments flying open as soon as we started our takeoff. No problem, I've only got a 25lb box of hardcover books up there, ready to come down on someones head!
We went into Amersterdam during our four-hour layover. It was 7 in the morning when we left so we beat the worst of the morning rush hour. Last night we stayed in a guest house in Dar (my very first mosquito nets) and then got up at 6 to leave for Morogoro. No one was up in Amsterdam at 7, yet the entire city of Dar was up and cracking at 6!
The Junior seminary where we are staying is quite nice and us girls all have a house to stay in. A really big house.
It's not as hot as I thought it would be, only in the high 70s probably, but it's as humid as it gets.
Here are a couple photos of Dr. Strickert (aka Deep Pockets)passing out the Tanzanian shillings and one of the cute little room I share with Shireen. Gotta love the matching home made bedspreads. There are 1,200 Tanzanian shillings to the dollar, so Dr. Strickert did not actually hold up a bank. I think it provides an interesting visual of what not a lot of U.S. money translates to in another country.
We get to go to the orphanage tomorrow, that's pretty much all I can think about...
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Well, this is me on the night before my departure, trying to figure out how to post pictures on the blog. I am tired and in my pajamas (which are of course very comfortable and highly unatractive), but I am also suddenly and surprisingly calm for a person embarking on a three month adventure of a lifetime. Maybe because the people around me are not so calm and the whole social worky caretaker thing is kicking in. Who knows. At any rate, it's much better than being in a panic at this point.
I made one of the skirts I will be wearing for the next three months during the past few days. I hate to say it, but I just may have used up a lifetime of domestic energy on that one piece of fabric. I guess only time will tell on that one. I feel bad for my future children already. Let's just say I hope they like burned grilled cheese and doritos.
But I digress. While in Tanzania and Kenya, I will be sporting ankle length cotton skirts with loose-fitting tshirts because this is what is seen as culturally acceptable in the areas in which I will be spending the majority of my time. I'm not thrilled about this as I would much rather be in something cooler (as in heat, not fashion show - I'm going to be by the equator) and I am of the opinion that I look like a vicitm of a concentration camp when I have to wear such loose-fitting items. Ah well, I've got years of experience in dressing like I just rolled out of bed five minutes ago (because I usually have) so what are a few months of ankle-length skirts? At least my mom put pretty trim and pockets on the ones she made.
My next post will be from Morogoro. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Packing
I began my African adventure in a sense today by attempting to pack what I think I can survive on for three months in East Africa. My mother raised an eyebrow at the three separate journals I can't live without, but I assured her that I would sooner leave my underwear behind.
I had a lot of room in the bag still and most of what I packed I intend to leave behind (old tshirts and items Nsia is sending home to her family via me) so there is still plenty of space to be filled by all of the clothing and art I plan to pick up. The Goblirsch family will do very well at Christmas this year.
The Madre also made it official today that she will be going to Kenya through Youth Encounter in July. She will not be at the same site as me, so it is quite possible that we will not see one another, but at least she will be nearby if I am sick or miserable. It will be nice to have someone else experience the environment I will be living in so intensely for these upcoming months. I'm sure it will help me a lot with processing once I am back.
More later...
I had a lot of room in the bag still and most of what I packed I intend to leave behind (old tshirts and items Nsia is sending home to her family via me) so there is still plenty of space to be filled by all of the clothing and art I plan to pick up. The Goblirsch family will do very well at Christmas this year.
The Madre also made it official today that she will be going to Kenya through Youth Encounter in July. She will not be at the same site as me, so it is quite possible that we will not see one another, but at least she will be nearby if I am sick or miserable. It will be nice to have someone else experience the environment I will be living in so intensely for these upcoming months. I'm sure it will help me a lot with processing once I am back.
More later...
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