So I'm home. Flights home were ok besides the fact that I lost a bag in the gong show that was the Nairobi airport. Probably wont get it back, but its ok.
My last days in Africa were pretty good, same old routine more or less.
The last weekend, we decided to do something big, so we made the big trip again to Dar es Salaam, but instead of going to a seder, we went and saw 50 Cent. It was absolutely insane. When he came on, a riot broke out; people were throwing chairs everywhere, people were all types of assaulted and violated. I saw many people leaving in tears. The show was cool and hilarious though as soon as I re-met up with the girls. They had to escape from the front row by punching and elbowing their way through the crowd.
The rest of the week was good. I said goodbye to my kids, which was sad, but it was definitely time to leave.
This year has been incredible. I'm really proud of the job Becky, Rachel, and I did with everything. I can honestly say everything worked out and that we all left this trip happy, if not pretty tired. That means a lot.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this. I'm glad I could keep people semi-informed. See you around.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
work
Working at Shaurimoyo is extremely frustrating for me. I have never worked with disabled children before, so I feel completely out of my element. Every day, me and my partner Vicky stand around, and check kids' work, and watch them play. We bring our own activities, but most of the time we end up standing around, especially because the first and last 45 minutes of the day are without kids.
The area where we really can help is when the kids work in their notebooks on simple math and spelling. But even this is tough, because my swahili is terrible and many of the students cannot understand simple body language and hand motions. All the same, we try our best, I guess thats all they can really ask for.
Back to the safari, it was insane. We went for the weekend. We were in jeeps, and just stood out the roof. At Ngorongoro crater, we saw so many animals in one place, it was pretty unbelievable. Gazelle, various birds, warthog, buffalo, wildebeast, flamingo, zebra, dik diks, elephants, giraffes, lions, hippos, rhinos, implala, hyenas. Pretty much everything, I'll try and upload some more photos when I can.
After all this, we went and visited a "traditional" massai village. It was one of the most awkward things I've done this whole trip. We roll up to this little circle of huts made from cow shit, and immediately all the women come out and start dancing. So we're standing in the sun watching these people hop up and down dancing, and they're taking volunteers to dance with them, and its just wierd. All this time, little half naked children are running around with flies all over them, crawling in their eyes and stuff.
Then, we got a speech about massai culture as all the massai women unrolled their mats of goods and trinkets to sell at ridiculous tourist prices. I'm really not sure who was exploiting who at this point. We left soon after this.
Despite all of this, the Massai tribe is a really cool one. They are the only tribe in tanzania that still practices and ilives in its traditional way. Villages consist of one chief and however many wives he has. Children do simple work, and when they are 15, they are sent out into the jungle with the chief to learn "everything they need to know." If another tribesman comes to the village, he can sleep with his friend's wife if he pleases, he just has to leave his spear by the door as a courtesy warning.
The massai also believe that all cattle belong to them, no matter what. They'll go and steal/raid other tribes and take their cattle because they believe it is their right. They also believe in female circumcision
That all for now I think.
The area where we really can help is when the kids work in their notebooks on simple math and spelling. But even this is tough, because my swahili is terrible and many of the students cannot understand simple body language and hand motions. All the same, we try our best, I guess thats all they can really ask for.
Back to the safari, it was insane. We went for the weekend. We were in jeeps, and just stood out the roof. At Ngorongoro crater, we saw so many animals in one place, it was pretty unbelievable. Gazelle, various birds, warthog, buffalo, wildebeast, flamingo, zebra, dik diks, elephants, giraffes, lions, hippos, rhinos, implala, hyenas. Pretty much everything, I'll try and upload some more photos when I can.
After all this, we went and visited a "traditional" massai village. It was one of the most awkward things I've done this whole trip. We roll up to this little circle of huts made from cow shit, and immediately all the women come out and start dancing. So we're standing in the sun watching these people hop up and down dancing, and they're taking volunteers to dance with them, and its just wierd. All this time, little half naked children are running around with flies all over them, crawling in their eyes and stuff.
Then, we got a speech about massai culture as all the massai women unrolled their mats of goods and trinkets to sell at ridiculous tourist prices. I'm really not sure who was exploiting who at this point. We left soon after this.
Despite all of this, the Massai tribe is a really cool one. They are the only tribe in tanzania that still practices and ilives in its traditional way. Villages consist of one chief and however many wives he has. Children do simple work, and when they are 15, they are sent out into the jungle with the chief to learn "everything they need to know." If another tribesman comes to the village, he can sleep with his friend's wife if he pleases, he just has to leave his spear by the door as a courtesy warning.
The massai also believe that all cattle belong to them, no matter what. They'll go and steal/raid other tribes and take their cattle because they believe it is their right. They also believe in female circumcision
That all for now I think.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Safari
This weekend we went on safari in the Ngorongoro crater and at lake manyara. It was really cool and we pretty much saw everything. Here are some pictures:
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
work and the weekend
This will be short, quick, and badly written because I dont really have time.
I work at a place called Shaurimoyo, a school. I work in the class for dissabled kids. Some have down's sybndrom, some palsy, ADHD, learning dissabilities, and autism. Ages range form 8 to 14, and I pretty much help them with their work and play sports with them. So far it has been really fun and rewarding.
Friday, they had sports day, where three different classes from different schools came together and had this carnival in a field. It was really cool and the regional head of education for disabled kids (or something like that) was there and gave a speech praising us volunteers extensively which was wierd because we'd been there three days and hadn't really done that much. It was kind of awkward but at the same time pretty cool.
The other day there was seriosuly a blizzard of flying termites. They are as big as dragonflies, and they litterally swarm everywhere. They eventually would fall to the ground, shed their wings and mate. The next day there were wings everywhere.
This past weekend we went to Dar es Salaam for some passover seder. We spent more time on the bus than we did in Dar. Eight hours both ways, and bumpy as hell.
That's it for now. We're going on a safari next weekend. Peace.
I work at a place called Shaurimoyo, a school. I work in the class for dissabled kids. Some have down's sybndrom, some palsy, ADHD, learning dissabilities, and autism. Ages range form 8 to 14, and I pretty much help them with their work and play sports with them. So far it has been really fun and rewarding.
Friday, they had sports day, where three different classes from different schools came together and had this carnival in a field. It was really cool and the regional head of education for disabled kids (or something like that) was there and gave a speech praising us volunteers extensively which was wierd because we'd been there three days and hadn't really done that much. It was kind of awkward but at the same time pretty cool.
The other day there was seriosuly a blizzard of flying termites. They are as big as dragonflies, and they litterally swarm everywhere. They eventually would fall to the ground, shed their wings and mate. The next day there were wings everywhere.
This past weekend we went to Dar es Salaam for some passover seder. We spent more time on the bus than we did in Dar. Eight hours both ways, and bumpy as hell.
That's it for now. We're going on a safari next weekend. Peace.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Africa
So I'm in Africa now. I'm pretty excited to be here. Israel was an incredible good time, and it's hard to express how much I will miss Kibbutz Revivim and the people from there. What made it so special was the cast of characters that made up life every day. That and the free time after work created a lifestyle that I fell in love with. Work for your food and then play, and I guess that's all you really need. It was an experience I won't forget for sure.
However, now there's a new place to live, Moshi, a small town in Tanzania at the foot of Mt. Kilomanjaro. Our flights here on Air Ethiopia were fine, and upon getting to the airport, we were picked up by Athumani, one of the many chill staff members. It was an hour drive to the house, and we drove through this huge valley, passing rural villages (as in huts), huge fields, and other small towns. Everything is really green, and it was beautiful. I haven't been able to see the mountain yet, the rainy season has just started so its been pretty cloudy.
Our house is nice. There are actually a few buildings within the CCS compound, each with rooms for volunteers. We are up this dirt road, maybe a 10 minute walk from downtown.
We walked downtown today, which was cool. I've kind of lost my perspective when it comes to describing things like this. I would call it a normal looking town, but compared to America, its like a dirtier, poorer, downtown swarthmore with one story buildings. On the street, everyone is really nice. It's in the culture to talk and shoot the shit with everyone, and even though there were tons of people trying to sell me stuff, people still just wanted to talk. One guy selling little paintings never even asked me about them, we talked about Barak Obama for 15 minutes.
There are some crazy animals/bugs here. Besides the obvious mosquito/malaria stuff, there are a bunch of other crawling stuff that you have to look out for, including a this small fly that pees on you and burns your skin off...or something like that.
That's pretty much it for now. I start work tuesday in a place called Shaurimoyo, and school for disabled kids, which I'm excited for. I guess I'll write more then.
However, now there's a new place to live, Moshi, a small town in Tanzania at the foot of Mt. Kilomanjaro. Our flights here on Air Ethiopia were fine, and upon getting to the airport, we were picked up by Athumani, one of the many chill staff members. It was an hour drive to the house, and we drove through this huge valley, passing rural villages (as in huts), huge fields, and other small towns. Everything is really green, and it was beautiful. I haven't been able to see the mountain yet, the rainy season has just started so its been pretty cloudy.
Our house is nice. There are actually a few buildings within the CCS compound, each with rooms for volunteers. We are up this dirt road, maybe a 10 minute walk from downtown.
We walked downtown today, which was cool. I've kind of lost my perspective when it comes to describing things like this. I would call it a normal looking town, but compared to America, its like a dirtier, poorer, downtown swarthmore with one story buildings. On the street, everyone is really nice. It's in the culture to talk and shoot the shit with everyone, and even though there were tons of people trying to sell me stuff, people still just wanted to talk. One guy selling little paintings never even asked me about them, we talked about Barak Obama for 15 minutes.
There are some crazy animals/bugs here. Besides the obvious mosquito/malaria stuff, there are a bunch of other crawling stuff that you have to look out for, including a this small fly that pees on you and burns your skin off...or something like that.
That's pretty much it for now. I start work tuesday in a place called Shaurimoyo, and school for disabled kids, which I'm excited for. I guess I'll write more then.
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