I am off to Zanzibar for the weekend, so I won't be in an internet location till Tuesday. When I get back I will post photos and description. Text me if you need me. Much love.
RQ
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
So Many Things!
Oh My,
It is particularly overwhelming to write a blog post after a while because I have lots to write and can't really remember it all. I guess just more motivation for me to write more consistently!
Everything is going really well. Last week was a pretty normal week except that Dan, a friend from my Swahili class at Stanford came to Dar and stayed with me for the week. Its nice to have guests and he was a totally easy addition to the family. We went to a really amazing pizza and Indian restaurant on Wednesday (Tanzanians don't tend to really understand the idea of segregating different food ethnicities). Otherwise the week was pretty normal -- went to the orphanage and the school.
On a more serious note, this week my friends (not me) saw something totally intense. In Tanzania, since the police aren't necessarily around all the time, if someone steals something, someone will yell "mwizi!" (thief) and basically everyone around will make a mob and beat the thief, sometimes to death. Often after a while a police man will take the thief to the police station, where he may be beaten there as well. We had a lot of interesting conversations after my friends saw one of these mobs because it seems so terrible, since we were not brought up to consider stealing equal in severity to death. Almost all Tanzanians really support this type of "mob justice." Just a bit of a culture shock I thought I would share.
On a less serious note, this weekend we went to a beach town called Bagamoyo. It is a notable historical site because it was a stop along the East African slave trade route. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel (with hot water!) and had two very overpriced but tasty meals. The beach was nice, we saw a zillion crabs and collected a few pretty sea shells. The museums were not so exciting but it was interesting to learn a bit about the missionaries, who are pretty much considered heros to the Tanzanians, which is opposite of what you would expect.
Yesterday I went to the orphanage and had a great chat with the women there about witch doctors and religion. It is really difficult to explain Judaism, but as long as I say I trust in God, they don't have too many concerns. Here it is much more of a concern that you HAVE a religion and less important which one you have.
This weekend we are going to Zanzibar! I am very excited. Today we are going to hear a talk by a UN woman...not sure if it will be interesting or not.
Sorry for the delay.
With Love,
Rachel
It is particularly overwhelming to write a blog post after a while because I have lots to write and can't really remember it all. I guess just more motivation for me to write more consistently!
Everything is going really well. Last week was a pretty normal week except that Dan, a friend from my Swahili class at Stanford came to Dar and stayed with me for the week. Its nice to have guests and he was a totally easy addition to the family. We went to a really amazing pizza and Indian restaurant on Wednesday (Tanzanians don't tend to really understand the idea of segregating different food ethnicities). Otherwise the week was pretty normal -- went to the orphanage and the school.
On a more serious note, this week my friends (not me) saw something totally intense. In Tanzania, since the police aren't necessarily around all the time, if someone steals something, someone will yell "mwizi!" (thief) and basically everyone around will make a mob and beat the thief, sometimes to death. Often after a while a police man will take the thief to the police station, where he may be beaten there as well. We had a lot of interesting conversations after my friends saw one of these mobs because it seems so terrible, since we were not brought up to consider stealing equal in severity to death. Almost all Tanzanians really support this type of "mob justice." Just a bit of a culture shock I thought I would share.
On a less serious note, this weekend we went to a beach town called Bagamoyo. It is a notable historical site because it was a stop along the East African slave trade route. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel (with hot water!) and had two very overpriced but tasty meals. The beach was nice, we saw a zillion crabs and collected a few pretty sea shells. The museums were not so exciting but it was interesting to learn a bit about the missionaries, who are pretty much considered heros to the Tanzanians, which is opposite of what you would expect.
Yesterday I went to the orphanage and had a great chat with the women there about witch doctors and religion. It is really difficult to explain Judaism, but as long as I say I trust in God, they don't have too many concerns. Here it is much more of a concern that you HAVE a religion and less important which one you have.
This weekend we are going to Zanzibar! I am very excited. Today we are going to hear a talk by a UN woman...not sure if it will be interesting or not.
Sorry for the delay.
With Love,
Rachel
Thursday, July 24, 2008
No Internet
Hey All,
I am just writing to say that I am alive and well, just haven't had much internet or electricity for the past few days. My friend Dan from Stanford is here from Arusha area and I got to see Annalise too. Lots of fun. We are working on getting internet again so I will hopefully write more soon. In the mean time, I can text you if you want, its not too spendy.
I am in the "computer center" now so I will try to come back to keep updating if we dont get more internet.
Love and miss,
RQ
I am just writing to say that I am alive and well, just haven't had much internet or electricity for the past few days. My friend Dan from Stanford is here from Arusha area and I got to see Annalise too. Lots of fun. We are working on getting internet again so I will hopefully write more soon. In the mean time, I can text you if you want, its not too spendy.
I am in the "computer center" now so I will try to come back to keep updating if we dont get more internet.
Love and miss,
RQ
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Why the title?
"Suck it up and smile" has become the motto of the group here.
Things don't always, go perfectly...food is gross, sometimes we can't understand people, sometimes no internet, sometimes no water, but part of "roughing it" is sucking it up, and most importantly SMILING.
We say it at least once a day here, and it helps...
Babies
I went to the orphanage today...you can see more pictures of the baby-carrying process in the photo section. I learned how to carry a baby on my back. I’m pretty sure this particular girl is HIV positive. :(
Nothing else new since yesterday :)
RQ
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Schools and Baboons
Where did I leave off?
Sunday I went to the University church which was supposed to be “non-denominational” but was very Presbyterian/Catholic-esque with communion and stuff. It was also in Swahili, so it got boring since I had no idea what was going on. Plus, people bring their own books, so I couldn’t even follow along. The singing was cool -- very Tanzanian with almost-tacky background electronic beats on the keyboard. The kids sang too, with hand motions. A cool 2.5 hour experience, but I am not running back every week. Sunday I also did my laundry, which took a while, but I am glad I have clean clothes!!
Yesterday we had class and then went to the orphanage again. We played Sherades (sp?), which was a HUGE hit. My hair (which I was wearing down and curly) was also a huge hit. Last night we went out to get some food variety (I eat rice, beans, peas, eggs, and fruit in some combination for EVERY meal), and I got pizza that had CILANTRO on it. Very upsetting. But, I discovered a cream-of-wheat type cereal for breakfast from South Africa called Pro-Nutro that I am super into. I wonder if they have it in the states?
Plus, the past 3 days I have seen baboons! They look kinda like huge monkeys, but since they are big, they seem really human. I haven’t had my camera lately when i see them, but I will take photos and send them. I can get pretty close without it running away.
Swahili class is going ok, but we have a guy in our class from China who really doesn’t speak English OR Swahili which slows down the process, and our teacher also doesn’t really speak English, which makes learning complicated grammar concepts really tricky. I am learning, though, which is what matters. Everyone is super motivated, so its fun. We actually ASKED the teacher to give us daily quizzes. Friday I am giving a presentation on animals, I’ll write about it later.
Today I went to a primary school where I will be teaching drama, sort of. It is not “community service” per say, but a very interesting cultural experience. I will be teaching for an hour of a 2nd grade class, probably once a week or so.
People here are great. Of course, there is rarely a group of people without some conflict or annoyances, but we have a fun, easy-going dynamic. The one guy (!) in our group plays guitar, so we frequently have Eric Clapton sing-alongs, including one during class today.
There are other groups of wazungu (white people/foreigners) here, some of which we hang out with and some of whom we don’t. I think we are the only group here now and also staying into the semester.
Mom, Dad, Megan -- I think about all of the fun things I can do with you and get so excited! I can’t wait for you to visit.
Wow, I am proud of my pretty long blog post. Posting these on the internet has been a bit of a nightmare, but I am doing my best.
Love, miss, etc.
RQ
Sunday I went to the University church which was supposed to be “non-denominational” but was very Presbyterian/Catholic-esque with communion and stuff. It was also in Swahili, so it got boring since I had no idea what was going on. Plus, people bring their own books, so I couldn’t even follow along. The singing was cool -- very Tanzanian with almost-tacky background electronic beats on the keyboard. The kids sang too, with hand motions. A cool 2.5 hour experience, but I am not running back every week. Sunday I also did my laundry, which took a while, but I am glad I have clean clothes!!
Yesterday we had class and then went to the orphanage again. We played Sherades (sp?), which was a HUGE hit. My hair (which I was wearing down and curly) was also a huge hit. Last night we went out to get some food variety (I eat rice, beans, peas, eggs, and fruit in some combination for EVERY meal), and I got pizza that had CILANTRO on it. Very upsetting. But, I discovered a cream-of-wheat type cereal for breakfast from South Africa called Pro-Nutro that I am super into. I wonder if they have it in the states?
Plus, the past 3 days I have seen baboons! They look kinda like huge monkeys, but since they are big, they seem really human. I haven’t had my camera lately when i see them, but I will take photos and send them. I can get pretty close without it running away.
Swahili class is going ok, but we have a guy in our class from China who really doesn’t speak English OR Swahili which slows down the process, and our teacher also doesn’t really speak English, which makes learning complicated grammar concepts really tricky. I am learning, though, which is what matters. Everyone is super motivated, so its fun. We actually ASKED the teacher to give us daily quizzes. Friday I am giving a presentation on animals, I’ll write about it later.
Today I went to a primary school where I will be teaching drama, sort of. It is not “community service” per say, but a very interesting cultural experience. I will be teaching for an hour of a 2nd grade class, probably once a week or so.
People here are great. Of course, there is rarely a group of people without some conflict or annoyances, but we have a fun, easy-going dynamic. The one guy (!) in our group plays guitar, so we frequently have Eric Clapton sing-alongs, including one during class today.
There are other groups of wazungu (white people/foreigners) here, some of which we hang out with and some of whom we don’t. I think we are the only group here now and also staying into the semester.
Mom, Dad, Megan -- I think about all of the fun things I can do with you and get so excited! I can’t wait for you to visit.
Wow, I am proud of my pretty long blog post. Posting these on the internet has been a bit of a nightmare, but I am doing my best.
Love, miss, etc.
RQ
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Orphans and Presidents
Hi everyone!
I will begin by answering the questions from my mother (who signed her comment JQ because she thought I would be embarrassed of her...which I am NOT!)
The woman sitting outside my window must live in this complex, and she is usually just chillin’. We greet her when we enter the dorm, and sometimes she talks to us when we wash out clothes on the porches. The mosquito net is fine, and usually I am so sleepy I don’t even notice it. I am working on more photos. :)
Yesterday I went to an orphanage to volunteer which was tons of fun. They have 60 kids (I met kids ages 1-15) there and they were so excited to have new people to play with. I spent about 2 hours just chatting and playing. It is a great place to practice Swahili because they don’t speak English but they also don’t care if you make grammar mistakes. I also set up a chance to teach Drama at an elementary school next week. Should be really fun (and the school is taught in English which makes it easier for me). Today we went into the center of town to shop for kangas and ketenges (special African cloths) but there were so many it was overwhelming. I bought one. A friend here also found us cloths with the face of the 1st president of Tanzania (a huge hero here) which is awesome and funny. I’ll include a photo of it when I can.
Swahili classes are going well. Our main teacher doesn’t really speak English which is frustrating for when we try to clarify things, but we have another teacher also who is great. I am learning, which is all hat counts. We have a test every Friday (tomorrow!) so I need to go study.
Miss you all.
RQ
I will begin by answering the questions from my mother (who signed her comment JQ because she thought I would be embarrassed of her...which I am NOT!)
The woman sitting outside my window must live in this complex, and she is usually just chillin’. We greet her when we enter the dorm, and sometimes she talks to us when we wash out clothes on the porches. The mosquito net is fine, and usually I am so sleepy I don’t even notice it. I am working on more photos. :)
Yesterday I went to an orphanage to volunteer which was tons of fun. They have 60 kids (I met kids ages 1-15) there and they were so excited to have new people to play with. I spent about 2 hours just chatting and playing. It is a great place to practice Swahili because they don’t speak English but they also don’t care if you make grammar mistakes. I also set up a chance to teach Drama at an elementary school next week. Should be really fun (and the school is taught in English which makes it easier for me). Today we went into the center of town to shop for kangas and ketenges (special African cloths) but there were so many it was overwhelming. I bought one. A friend here also found us cloths with the face of the 1st president of Tanzania (a huge hero here) which is awesome and funny. I’ll include a photo of it when I can.
Swahili classes are going well. Our main teacher doesn’t really speak English which is frustrating for when we try to clarify things, but we have another teacher also who is great. I am learning, which is all hat counts. We have a test every Friday (tomorrow!) so I need to go study.
Miss you all.
RQ
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
For LQ (except I am still trying to re-upload pics)
Good day. Hung out, did laundry, went up on the roof to do Swahili homework, etc. I can’t believe I’m actually BORED sometimes. That is a new feeling for me.
Yesterday we went to the Embassy which was interesting to see what kind of Americans are living in Tanzania. Lots of very cute families. I also got to see Annalise!
I included two fun pictures for your enjoyment.
I’ll write a longer note soon.
Miss you all!
RQ
Yesterday we went to the Embassy which was interesting to see what kind of Americans are living in Tanzania. Lots of very cute families. I also got to see Annalise!
I included two fun pictures for your enjoyment.
I’ll write a longer note soon.
Miss you all!
RQ
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Going Well
Its a three day weekend this weekend which is exciting -- there is a holiday for July 7th (Saba saba) but we aren’t totally sure what is being celebrated. I will ask around (or look it up on the internet). I will hopefully get a chance to see the city this weekend, because so far I have only been off campus for dinners in super up-scale parts of the city.
Today we are going to town to go to an alleged 4th of July party at the American Embassy, and then the 5 of us are going to have a little “party” here. Monday we are going to the beach. Probably tomorrow we will go into town to the market, but we aren’t sure yet. So many things to do!
I bought money for my cell phone and I will call you all when I can. You can also call me, but I think it might cost you a lot of money so check first. To call me, dial: 011-255-782-091-315. The time difference is 10 hours ahead of California and 7 ahead of the east coast.
I just went to the Duka (little shop) and had a long conversation in Swahili with a guy there. That is so much fun!
Let me know what else you want to know. I enabled comments so you should write some.
With Love,
Recho (I’ve just given in to that name)
Today we are going to town to go to an alleged 4th of July party at the American Embassy, and then the 5 of us are going to have a little “party” here. Monday we are going to the beach. Probably tomorrow we will go into town to the market, but we aren’t sure yet. So many things to do!
I bought money for my cell phone and I will call you all when I can. You can also call me, but I think it might cost you a lot of money so check first. To call me, dial: 011-255-782-091-315. The time difference is 10 hours ahead of California and 7 ahead of the east coast.
I just went to the Duka (little shop) and had a long conversation in Swahili with a guy there. That is so much fun!
Let me know what else you want to know. I enabled comments so you should write some.
With Love,
Recho (I’ve just given in to that name)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Made it to Dar
I made it to Dar last night at around 9:00 and all is well so far. I had a strange night of sleep, and was woken by all kinds of crazy sounds. I have a single room for the next few weeks (7 weeks of orientation) which is pretty nice. We have no running water now, but we do have wireless internet. I think it is hilarious -- so Tanzania!
The most exciting news (not really but still) is on the way to class we saw 5 wild monkeys! MONKEYS! It was really exciting. I must be in Africa of something.
The people on the program (6 here now) are all very friendly, and we are all in intermediate or advanced Swahili. We had class this morning (the second or third for most of them). My friend Michelle, from Swahili at Stanford is in my class which was so nice to see a familiar face. The next 7 weeks in Swahili class every morning for three hours and then a few structured activities, but more freedom as the weeks progress. I will definitely find a community service project (there are several good ones to choose from) soon.
I’m not sure what details to include -- I had beans and rice for lunch for 60 cents and a coke (sweetened with real sugar) and we are going to Indian food tonight. I took a lovely bucket bath this morning (hot hot water).
I’m feeling good -- nervous of course, but excited about what is to come.
Let me know if you have specific questions. I will be getting my cell phone tonight, so I’ll give out the number when I get it.
Love to all!
Rachel (Recho!)
The most exciting news (not really but still) is on the way to class we saw 5 wild monkeys! MONKEYS! It was really exciting. I must be in Africa of something.
The people on the program (6 here now) are all very friendly, and we are all in intermediate or advanced Swahili. We had class this morning (the second or third for most of them). My friend Michelle, from Swahili at Stanford is in my class which was so nice to see a familiar face. The next 7 weeks in Swahili class every morning for three hours and then a few structured activities, but more freedom as the weeks progress. I will definitely find a community service project (there are several good ones to choose from) soon.
I’m not sure what details to include -- I had beans and rice for lunch for 60 cents and a coke (sweetened with real sugar) and we are going to Indian food tonight. I took a lovely bucket bath this morning (hot hot water).
I’m feeling good -- nervous of course, but excited about what is to come.
Let me know if you have specific questions. I will be getting my cell phone tonight, so I’ll give out the number when I get it.
Love to all!
Rachel (Recho!)
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