Last couple of days in Africa

After hanging out with my friend Rose and her husband Paul on Saturday, Paul invited me to go to Arusha with him on Monday and attend one of the UN court trials for the Rwanda Genocide. Paul is a very well educated teacher, and very interested in scholarly things like the courts. So, I woke up very early monday morning, and met Paul at the dala dala stand (bus station) in Moshi at 6:30AM, and we rode the cramped dala dala all the way to Arusha. We arrived in town around 8:30, and went right over to the Arusha International Convention Center, where the UN has a wing for their war tribunal court. The security was very high, at least by African standards, but we did get very lucky, as there were two cases going on that day. The court is not trying low level murderers from the Rwandan Conflict, only the high ranking people that ordered the mass killings, torture, and rapes. So the two cases on our day were both men charged with at least 6 counts of genocide each. The proceedings were really amazing. Each court room was set up in a very formal way, there were three judges, and several attorneys on each side. Everyone in the court, with the exception of the defendant, wore a long black robe with a ruffly white tie. The judges' robes were red. Everyone in the court room also had on headsets, as there are so many different languages being spoken, no one is really listening to anyone actually talking, they are listening to the interpreter in the headset. So the proceedings were really interesting, one of the attorneys would ask a question, and then there would be a pause, as the witness waited for the translation, and then another pause, as everyone waited for the translation of the testimony, and so on. The audience was in the court, but separated by plate glass, so without the headset, I couldn't hear anything. On the headset, there were 6 language options, French, English, Swahili, Kinarwanda, Hutu, Tutsi, and then you could also just listen to the live testimony without translation. This was pretty interesting, because in both courts, all three judges were speaking different languages, the witnesses were all speaking Rwandan dialects, and the attorneys were speaking English and French. It was truly an international court. The testimony was difficult to listen to, as is any details surrounding the conflict that took place in 1994. There was a piece of me that was really nervous about actually seeing the men that were charged with these crimes, and in some way expecting that I would be face to face with a monster. But at one point in the proceedings, one of the defendants looked right at me, and we made eye contact, and all I saw was the face of a man, not some two-headed monster, looking back at me, well dressed, in a suit. And to hear the details of what happened there, it's so unfathomable to think what human beings are capable of doing to one another. There was also some irony, for me, of sitting in this very formal UN court proceeding, trying to deal with the mess that was made in Rwanda, all these years later, when the UN was the very organization that could have stopped the genocide from happening, but got too mixed up in politics and faltered. After about four hours of testimony, there was a young woman that testified in a very detailed way about some of the horrors she experienced during those years, and while it was interesting, when she finished, I had had enough. So we spent the rest of the day wandering around Arusha, grabbing lunch, getting some TShirts, and then walking around the Arusha Market, which was the busiest, most crowded chaotic marketplace I have ever seen in my life. We arrived back in Moshi around 6, and after quickly going home, Father Antipas, Father Innocent, one of the teachers from Moshi Airport School, and I headed out to dinner. I had invited to take the two priests that had become such good friends of mine out to a 'high end' restaurant as a thank you to them. There's a place called the Salzburger Inn that we went to, as it was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide. Most 'restaurants' in Tanzania don't use menus, the food is already made, so when you do order off a menu, it takes a VERY long time. It was okay though, the hour and a half that it took for our food to arrive was really fun. The two priests enjoy a few beers every now and then, and it was fun to just sit with them, tell jokes, laugh, and enjoy spending time together. As I've said before, these guys have truly become friends. The food was really good, definitely on the high end for Africa, and the bill was 38,000 shillings, or about 28 US dollars, for four people, and the three of them each had a couple of beers! The next day was my final day, and Father Antipas and I had a pretty full day planned. There was a Maasai boy that was interested in going to school that I had met with a couple of weeks ago, and we needed to meet with him again. So we drove to Boma Ng'ombe, and met the young man and his entourage (the Maasai always travel around in groups). The first time we interviewed this boy, he wasn't sure how old he was, somewhere between 16 and 20. He had completed primary school, and done VERY well, but wasn't able to go to secondary school because his father died and he had to work. A few years had passed, and his mother wanted him to go to secondary school, as did he. The problem is that all secondary schools in Tanzania are English medium schools, meaning all the lessons, outside of Kiswahili, are taught in English. This young man does not speak any English at all so I had come up with an alternative. There are several vocational training centers (VTCs) in Tanzania where young men and women can go and learn a trade. Father Antipas loved the idea, so this was why we were meeting with the young man, to present it. Unfortunately, the young man didn't like the idea at all. He is dead set on going to secondary school. So we spent a few hours running around looking at different programs, trying to find a pre-secondary school program for him to study and learn some English so he'll be able to pass the exam to get into secondary school. This whole situation really illustrated for me the complexity of the problems in East Africa. It's easy to think that all that is needed is money, but I have found a sponsor for this young man. The reality is that he will not be able to go to secondary school, money or no money, until he is able to pass the exam. There are a bunch of people looking into solutions, Father Antipas included, so just because I have left the continent doesn't mean I won't continue to try and find this kid a way into school. In the afternoon, the group of us went to look at a school that I had heard about called the O'brien School for the Maasai. It was started a few years ago by a woman from the Chicago suburbs, and I had really wanted to take a look at it. I was impressed, and I always love to see primary school kids. After touring the school, and speaking with one of the administrators about the young man we were trying to assist, we headed back to Moshi. On our drive back, the weather took a turn, and the sky just started dumping water on us. The rain in Africa is different from anything I've ever seen - the droplets of water are HUGE, so it makes the rain very heavy. By the time we got back to Soweto, the rain was intense, and I sat outside and watched it for a little while. I was really surprised when hail started coming down, and took a bunch of pictures of all the ice on the ground, IN AFRICA! My friend Paul came by to say goodbye, as did my buddy Eli. Eli is a guide on Mt. Kilimanjaro, so I was really excited to give to him a lot of the adventure gear that I had brought with me, and didn't really need anymore. I packed my bags and was pretty much ready to go, when Frs. Antipas and Innocent pulled me aside. They sat me down at a table, and each made a nice speech that really touched my heart about how I always have a place to stay in Africa, and friends waiting for me there. Afterwards they blessed me through a song, resting their hands on my head at the end, a custom here in Africa that I have really come to appreciate deeply. Father Antipas drove me to the airport, and I was off. The flight was very long, making a stop in Dar Es Salaam, but thanks to my buddy Rob who works for KLM, I was very comfortable on the plane. I flew all night, and landed this morning here in Amsterdam. It goes without saying that it's all been a little jarring, the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city, all the white faces, the cars and on and on. I'm sure it will take me a few days to readjust to the western world. I was really happy to see Rob waiting for me outside of the baggage area, and he gave me the keys to his place, and instructions on how to get back, unfortunately he's gotta work today. So, I can say now that Africa was 100% a success. I achieved the goals I had there, both personal and otherwise, and walked away without any incidents, no malaria, no stomach problems to speak of, no theft, nothing, just a purely amazing, life altering experience, for which I am so grateful. I'll be in Amsterdam with Rob for the next few days, and Monday morning will take the long flight home, from Amsterdam to San Francisco!

48 Hours Remaining

It is now Monday night, and in 48 hours I will be on an airplane to Amsterdam. I have very mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, I must admit, I will be happy to eat something other than banana soup, ugali, and overcooked goat meat. I will be happy to have regular computer access with reliable internet, happy to have a shower that works, air that is not thick with dust and mosquitos, roads that are paved, and all of the other luxuries of the developed world. But more than that, I will be happy to see my friends that I miss so much, and share these experiences that I have had here in Tanzania through stories and photos. At the same time, I am deeply saddened. When I had started planning this trip, I had envisioned volunteering during the day, and socializing with other American and European volunteers in the evenings and on weekends. I was also very ambivalent to go and work for and with devout Catholics, as I had many of my own preconceived ideas about religious people. My time here has been very different than I had feared and planned. The religious community has embraced me with open arms, and brought out a spirituality in me that was not there before. Also, other than the first two weeks that I was here, and the time on my safari, I have spent my time exclusively with local African people. And of these, I have many people that I have developed a deep friendly affection for. Three months ago, if you had told me that my best friend in Africa would be a Catholic priest, I would have thought you were crazy. But, that has turned out to be the case. Father Antipas, one of the Holy Spirit Fathers, has turned out to be a great friend, with whom I love to spend time. We laugh, and joke, and he is incredibly smart, so we talk about cultural differences, and learn from one another. He, and the other priests, have gone out of their way to make me feel comfortable and at home here, and to help me experience Tanzania as fully as possible, taking me deep into Maasai Lands, touring different schools, eating local foods, and teaching me Kiswahili. I will remember these men for a very long time.
The last couple of days, I have started my rounds of saying goodbye. When I returned from Pangani, I made a list of several people that I wanted to see before I left. So, yesterday, with the help of Frs. Innocent and Antipas, I started traveling around the Kilimanjaro region, ticking people off the list. We set out yesterday for Sabuko, the priest house that I spent my first two weeks at with THE Mission. Everything in Tanzania is about hospitality, so when we arrived, Father Beatus had lunch waiting for us. It was nice to be back there, although I missed Sarah, Jehane and Pam a lot. The place just wasn't the same without them. We had lunch, and shared some good conversation, with Father Anitpas, myself, Father Beatus, and a very nice German visitor named Monica. After lunch, I said my goodbyes, and Father Antipas and I made our way to Karansi, which is on the edge of the Maasai community of Lekremuni. There, I met some of the Maasai that I have befriended here in Tanzania, and we each said our thank you's and goodbyes. After Kiransi, we drove back toward Sabuko, and greeted the Sisters of Charlotte. These nuns are incredible, such fun spirited women, doing amazing work. They are not at all what I would ever picture nuns to be, not at all uptight or strict. They laugh and joke with me in the most affectionate way. After also being served a second lunch by them, they became very serious, and Sister Josefa, the nun in charge, stood up and made a speech to me. She talked about how grateful they were for what THE Mission has done for them, and how grateful the people of Tanzania are for men and women like me that come over to provide service to them. The talk that she gave clearly came from her heart, and stirred me at the core. With each thank you that is given to me, I want to explain that I am the one that should be doing the thanking, for the small amount that I have brought to Tanzania, I am bringing home a man that has been forever changed, a heart that has been softened, and a deeper understanding and love for other people. But, I am happy to sit and appreciate the gesture of grattitude. I was really surprised when my favorite nun, the 6 foot tall Sister Lucianna, came from the kitchen with a wrapped gift. They had me open it, and they had bought a beautiful African style men's shirt for me. It is a gift that I will honestly treasure, and remember them by! At this point we were leaving, and right before I got in the car, the nuns told me to wait. They all gathered around me, with outstretched hands over my head, they blessed me through a song. In the past, this is something that probably would have made me very uncomfortable, but it had quite the opposite effect. While I do not share the same faith as these women, I felt the gesture of love that they were bestowing upon me, and started to well up. My spirit was moved, and I did feel blessed! When they lifted their heads, I noticed that Sister Lucianna was crying, and she took my hands and made me promise that I would not forget them, and that I would return to Tanzania soon - and I made that promise. As I'm writing this, I notice that I am struggling to find the words to describe the emotions of these experiences, and I will tell you this, there are no words. I can only do my best to describe what took place, but I know that if I had read some one else writing about these kinds of things a few months ago, I probably would have scoffed. They are the type of experiences that only can be EXPERIENCED! (I'm also tired, so writing is tough for me when I'm exhausted). From there, Father Antipas and I returned to Soweto. Father Antipas and I have spent a lot of time together. As I write about each event, I see that I write we went there, and then there, and then there. But this is Africa, and from here to there is always very far, so we have spent hours upon hours in the car together. It's been amazing, as I have said, getting to know eachother, and developing a friendship. Back at Soweto House, I had made a plan to meet up with my friends Rose and her husband Paul. Rose is the sister of my friend Tino from America, and I had met her once before a couple of weeks back. I really enjoyed her and her husbands company, so I went out of my way to make sure that we met up again. We sat down and talked at length about my time here in Tanzania and my trip to Rwanda. Both Rose and her husband are very well educated, and very interested in hearing about different places, especially Rwanda, and seeing pictures. Midway through our conversation, Paul asked me if I had been to the war tribunal court in Arusha, and I told him I had not. So he invited me to go with him tomorrow! That should be really interesting. The UN has an international court set up in Arusha, where they are trying the genocidaires from the conflict in Rwanda (that the world stood by and watched, doing nothing), and the proceedings are open to the public. So that is tomorrow's activity. It should take all day. Today has been a bit of hits and misses. The morning went very well. Today was my last day teaching, as there is just so much to do over the next couple of days, and not enough time. After talking things over with my friend Erin at home, and a couple of people here, it became apparent that trying to prepare a bunch of third graders to have a debate in a foreign language (for them) was just too much, especially in three days. But the day started out on a more serious note. The two young orphan boys that I have been working with went with me to the hospital to get an HIV test. I was really nervous about it. One of the boys' parents died of AIDS, so I was not optomistic about the outcome. We got the boys into the hospital where the test is performed, and my heart almost melted when one of the boys became completely terrified when he saw the little needle to prick his finger. But, after seeing the other little boy do it with no problem, he calmed down. The HIV tests here in Tanzania are provided by the US government (thanks taxpayers), and are the ones in which they get the results right away. I stood anxiously over the two test strips, praying that only one line would appear, not two. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see one line materialize on each strip. Here in Africa, it is not okay for a man to cry, and this was yet another situation where I had to really focus on keeping my composure (when I got back to my room and was alone, I let go). We returned the boys to school, after I bought them each a lolipop. Monica, the visitor from Germany that I had met at Sabuko, turned up that morning wanting to see me teach at the Moshi Airport School. So the two of us headed to class. I decided that todays lesson would be a fun one on sounds. I spent the class asking each student to tell me the name of an animal, and then I asked the entire class to make the sound. It was great. I also linked some other vocabulary words to it through baby names, i.e. the name of a baby cow is a....calf. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and best of all, Monica sat in the back with my camera and got some great photos of me teaching! After my lessons, Father Antipas was supposed to meet me at 1 PM. There is a saying here in Tanzania that translates to say that time is not measured by hours, but by events. I have seen this, and it can be very frustrating! So, finally at 3:30, Antipas was at Soweto, and ready to go. There is a school for the Maasai that I saw on my way from the airport called The O'brien School For The Maasai, and I contacted the woman from Chicago that started the school a few days ago. She invited me to tour the school while I am here in Africa, so we were supposed to be there today at 2. Nevertheless, we drove there, but lo and behold, the school children had left for the day. But, as I mentioned before, I have so much fun with Father Antipas, I really didn't mind. As we were driving back with the windows open, the insurance sticker blew off the inside windshield and outside the car, so we had to pull over and spend about a half of an hour searching for it. The roads in Tanzania are pretty frightening, with huge trucks roaring down, at any speed they choose. After about a half an hour, we found it, tattered and run over, but salvageable. A new sticker would have cost 5,000 T Shillings, about 3 US dollars, or the average day's pay here for a worker, thus the reason we took so long to look for it. We have a plan to go and see the Maasai school on Wednesday, so hopefully that will work out. I had a really nice dinner tonight with 6 of the priests, where we sat and discussed the history of Tanzania. I learn so much through each interaction here. So, it is Monday night. I will wake up very early tomorrow morning, and meet Paul at the bus station at 6:30 AM, and we will take the dala dala to Arusha and watch the UN proceedings. In the evening, I have invited my friends, the priests, to have dinner with me at a restaurant in town to show my appreciation. Wednesday, Father Antipas and I will go to Boma Ng'ombe to meet some of our Maasai friends, and discuss the different schooling opportunities for them, and then try to visit the O'Brien Maasai school again. I will return to Soweto, pack, and say my final goodbyes, and head to the airport. My plane leaves Kilimanjaro at 10:30 PM on Wednesday night, stops briefly in Dar Es Salaam, and lands in Amsterdam on Thursday morning at 8:30.

Pangani and Soweto

I arrived back in Soweto on the morning of the 8th. Rwanda was amazing, as I had described, and my first day back in Tanzania was a little tough. As much as I love it here in Tanzania, life is not easy. After being in the more modernized Rwanda, it was difficult to return to Tanzania, the heat, the mosquitos, the chaos, the showers that don't work, etc. I spent the first day feeling pretty homesick. But that evening, at dinner, I spent time with the priests, who have now become my friends, and they made me feel so welcome, that I was happy to be here again. The next day, Father Antipas and I were supposed to travel to Pangani. Pangani is a small village on the coast of Tanzania between the cities of Tanga and Dar Es Salaam. The country has a long coastal area, with beautiful Indian Ocean beaches, and I really wanted to see the coast before I left. The island of Zanzibar is a popular travel destination here in Tanzania, but when I was planning my 'sidetrips,' I could really only do one, either east to Zanzibar, or west to Rwanda. Zanzibar is also very expensive. So i was really lucky when one of the priests told me that The Holy Spirit Fathers, the order of priests I am staying with, own a retreat in Pangani, and that they would love to have me as a guest. So, we were supposed to travel there on the 9th, but we were not able to do so, because one of the guests already staying there extended their stay an extra day. I went to school to teach instead. I am loving teaching, and really loving the kids, but I feel that the next time I come to Tanzania, it should be for a longer block of time, and one that isn't interrupted by many sidetrips. I love teaching these kids, and they love having me, but it's really hard for me to get any consistency with them when I am running off every few days. So, class with the kids went really well, we spent a few minutes reviewing jobs, and I think they really learned something! For the review, I had them close their excercise books that had all the class notes in them, and then I asked them questions about things we went over, like what is a mechanic, and where does he work, what is a nurse and where does he work, etc. They got them all right from memory! The last half of the class I spent working with them on this debate that we are going to have on Wednesday. I'm a little ambivalent about this debate, but the school administration really wants me to do it. The topic is, what is more important, money or education? - it is the topic that the administration gave to me. Of course all the kids said education, but I split them in half, so half will have to argue for the money side. I think that it may be a little advanced for their english abilities, but we'll see. My friend Erin at home, who is a teacher by profession (and a good one!), is helping me to prepare some structured lesson plans for the next two classes and for the debate itself. We'll see how it goes. After school that day, Father Innocent pulled me aside, and told me that he had gotten a call a few days prior from the Minister of Education about two young students, both five years old, that were complete orphans. One was found wandering the streets, as is very common here in Africa, and the other was brought to the minister by his grandmother, as she just couldn't afford to look after the boy anymore. The priests here try and keep a good relationship with the government, so they accepted the two boys in their school a day or two prior, on the condition that they would be able to find a sponsor for the two of them, and they, of course, were having a difficult time finding sponsorship. I agreed to meet the boys, and read their paperwork. The two boys are not related, but are both 5 years old, and are now attending the kindergarten at Moshi Airport School. They are the two youngest kids boarding, because they have nowhere else to live. They were pretty funny kids, totally different personalities. One was completely terrified of me, Father Innocent thinks I was the first white person he'd ever seen in real life, and he didn't say a word the whole time we were there. The other boy was very chatty and active, and spoke to me in a mixture of Kiswahili and English. Adorable! I read over their paperwork, and it's pretty hard not be affected emotionally. Both of their Ministry of Education paperwork had the death certificates of their parents stapled to the back. One's parents had died in an automobile accident, and the fathers occupation was listed as peasant, and the other, both parents died of 'TB' but Father Innocent explained to me that here in Africa, no one dies of AIDS, it's always listed as TB. Stigma. So, of course I took a photo of the two boys, and went to work, sending out emails, begging, and pleading. And withing 24 hours, we had sponsorship for both of them! YAY! For me, it was a huge success, and I felt a real charge from it! Fundraising is really natural for me, and I think I have found my future profession! Anyways, the following day, we loaded up the car, and set out for Pangani. I had been warned that the coastal part of Tanzania was really, really hot, but I had no idea what I was in for. We arrived after about a 6 hour drive, and it was even more beautiful than I had imagined. The Indian Ocean is stunning, and Pangani has not been developed as a resort town, it's pretty quiet and deserted. So, when we parked the car, got situated, and I walked out to the beach, there were absolutely no people for as far as I could see in either direction. The first afternoon in Pangani was very relaxing. Father Antipas had administrative work to take care of, so I walked along the beach for a while. At one point in the afternoon, about 200 high school kids showed up at the beach, stripped down to their underwear, and ran around and played in the water. It turns out that they were on a school trip to Pangani, and their teacher agreed to allow them to take a one hour swim on the way home. It was really nice to watch them run around, playing, having so much fun! As quickly as they all came, they left, and the beach was mine again. I walked the entire length of the beach, which took about an hour, until i arrived at a rocky area and couldn't really go any further. I can't explain what the beach was like, I've never been on a beach, all by myself, for as far as I could see in any direction. It is such a peaceful feeling! On the way back, the sun started to set, and I decided to strip my clothes off and take a sunset swim in the warm water of the Indian Ocean. It was pretty dreamy, swimming naked, in warm water, all alone, at sunset. Ahhhhhh. The following day was to be my only full day in Pangani, and in The Lonely Planet guide, the one thing that was listed was a place called The Maziwe Marine Reserve. I organized a trip to go and see it. Maziwe is a natural sandbar about 10 kilometers offshore. All around the sandbar is a coral reef, and supposedly there are sometimes dolphins there. I convinced Father Antipas to go with me, as he had never really been in a boat, and never been snorkeling, and I had already paid for the boat, so I figured it would be a good experience for him, and I really enjoy his company. I was kind of surprised when we arrived at the boat that morning, it was literally a few raw timbers, held together with a few rusty nails, four sticks holding up a tattered tarp overhead, and a motor that looked like it came off of a lawnmower. There were two guys there, one to captain the boat's motor, and the other to scoop out buckets of water as we went along, which there was plenty! The boat ride took a little over an hour, and I won't say that I wasn't a little nervous, watching land get further and further away, picturing the boat I was in coming apart at any minute. Also, the water was very choppy, and I didn't have any dramamine with me for the motion sickness, but I held it together. The sandbar was beautiful, just a big island of sand in the middle of the ocean. The snorkeling was really cool. It was like being in the most exotic fishtank in the world, with brightly colored fish, yellow, and purple and pink, etc.! We saw one octopus as well, very cool, and several manta rays. Unfortunately, no dolphins though. After about 3 hours of snorkeling, we ate lunch on the sandbar, and headed back to shore. The boatride home wasn't really fun. The water was even rougher, and we had just eaten lunch. I didn't lose it, but felt awfully close, and was very happy to be on firm land when we got back. It was early afternoon when we returned, so I walked halfway down the beach, stripped down, and just laid out in the sun, swam, and laid out some more, back and forth, until it was dark. The days in Pangani were really nice, the heat was tolerable, even though it was intense, because I could get into the water if I got too hot. The nights on the otherhand were another matter entirely. First of all, when the sun goes down is when the mosquitos come out, and if I thought they were bad in Soweto, they are a million times worse on the coast. Secondly, it doesn't really get any cooler at night than during the day, so sleeping was really difficult. The first night I did ok, but the second night I didn't sleep well at all. At around 5 am, I got out of bed and walked down to the ocean. The water was cool and peaceful, so that was really nice. But by the mid morning we were already heading back to Soweto. After a stop at the Joyland Secondary School in Same, we arrived back in Soweto (Moshi) in time for dinner. Today, Saturday, I met with Father Antipas to get some final business taken care of with the 6 students that I am trying to get sponsored before I leave. I also got to talk to Sarah Jones, YAY! The later part of the morning, Father Antipas and I traveled into town to run some errands. We went to the bank to check on the status of a wire transfer that THE Mission had sent more than two weeks prior, and all I will say is this: if I have learned one thing here in Tanzania, it's patience. If I lost my temper everytime something didn't work properly, I'd be a crazy person by now. No systems work here as we expect them to in the West, and banking, apparently, is no exception. About 2 weeks ago, the bank decided to do a software update, they have no idea how long it will take, but in the interim, no account information can be pulled up for any of their customers, no statements, nothing. I can't even imagine something like this happening in the US. I guess the next time I order a drink at Starbucks and the barrista puts three sugars in it, instead of two, I'll think twice about my response! It's now Saturday afternoon, March 13th, and I have 96 hours left in Africa. I have a list of several things to do before I leave, including three days of teaching, visiting and saying goodbye to my Maasai Friends in Lekremuni, my friends from the Sisters of Charlotte, saying goodbye to my friend Furaha, and saying goodbye to some of the priests at Sabuko. And I'm sure several other things will come up. I am really looking forward to spending some time in Amsterdam with Rob, and readjusting to the developed world, but very sad to be leaving this amazing place. My date of arrival in San Francisco: March 22nd, for sure!

Volcanoes National Park

I'm kind of getting tired of saying 'It was the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life,' but every experience seems to top the last! I left Kigali on the 4th. Isabelle, my tour operator, set everything up, so my 'driver' came and picked me up in the morning, and we started the drive to Kinigi. Kinige is in the western part of Rwanda, and is the town that the Volcanoes National Park (VNP) headquarters is in. VNP is a network of five dormant volcanoes that run between Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo. It is the major tourist attraction in Rwanda, as it is home to the famous mountain gorillas. The drive took about 2 hours, and was just beautiful. The call Rwanda the Land of 1,000 Hills (they say it in french though, something like milles colones), and it is aptly named. The topography of the country just rolls from one huge hill to the next. There is absolutely no flat land in the country. Nevertheless, they have cultivated most of the land, so driving along, up and down the hills, I had some amazing view of huge hills, covered in tiered rice patties, corn fields, potatoes, etc. Even the rural parts of Rwanda are very different than Tanzania. The country, in general, is just much cleaner. It is also much cooler, at times almost chilly! Also, there is a lot more rain, so the country is very lush, just GREEN everywhere. I am also here during their rainy season, and they aren't kidding! It rains everyday, sometime pouring down in sheets! I arrived at the Gorilla Mountain View Lodge in Kinigi, and was kind of surprised. It was total luxury, which I wasn't really expecting. I certainly didn't complain, but after being around such poverty in Tanzania, it's a little uncomfortable to have some guy carrying my bags to my room (I carried them myself). A year ago, I would have been right at home, but I guess I've changed, because the extravagance made me a little uncomfortable. I did get a treat though - two of my mothers friends are on a huge trip around the world, and were staying at that same lodge for five nights. Their last night was my first night, so it was really nice to sit and talk with them about their trip, and see all of their pictures. There's nothing like familiar faces. We had dinner together, and then said goodbye. The next morning, I woke up pretty early, and Crement (the driver) and I headed to VNP headquarters. I had planned on seeing the gorillas for two visits, the 6th and the 7th, so I needed to find another activity for the 5th. The park is also home to a huge group of the rare and endangered golden monkeys, so I signed up to go and track them. It was a great way to start the trip. We drove to a different part of the park, and me and a Scottish couple started the hike toward the forest. No matter what you are going to see in VNP, it's tough. There is never parking right on the forests edge, so you have to park, and then start hiking up the side of the volcano, through village farms. The hike is steep, and the elevation makes it tough! The forest entrance is pretty surreal - there's a big stone wall, and then DENSE vegetation. The golden monkeys weren't far from the forests edge, only about thirty minutes. And the hiking was pretty beautiful. The animals don't adhere to trails, so very little of the tracking was on any kind of a trail, just a guy with a machete in front, trying to make a bit of a path. The monkeys were pretty neat, although they were kind of difficult to see for any length of time. They move very quickly from branch to branch. But it was a cool experience. There were a couple of times I got within about 6 feet of monkeys. After the monkeys, I headed back to the lodge, and laid low for the rest of the day, excited for the main event the next day - gorillas! Now anyone that knows me well, knows that I have dreamed of going and seeing the mountain gorillas in the wild for as long as I can remember, so when I woke up on the morning of the 6th, I could barely contain myself. The reality of the fact that I was in Rwanda, and going to see the gorillas had set in, and I couldn't believe it (I still can't believe it!). We drove to the park headquarters, where everyone that is going to see the gorillas shows up for a briefing, and to be assigned groups. There are 7 habituated groups that tourists visit, and each group can take 8 visitors. There are groups like the Susa Group, and Group 13 that EVERYONE wants to go and see because they are the groups with the most gorillas, so the headquarters can be quite a scene. I asked the warden to go and see Group 13, but he said the he couldn't accommodate that, but he promised that he would take care of me the following day (and he sure did!). I was assigned to the Amahoro Group, a group of 12 gorillas. One of the males, called a silverback, had grabbed a few females from another group, and started this group a couple of years ago. I was fine with this, I mean, I was going to see gorillas, and that was all I cared about. So, back in the car, and driving about 45 minutes this time. Once we parked, I made sure I had all my rain gear in my back, because the sky's weren't looking promising. We got to the forests edge in about 30 minutes, and then it got tough! The terrain went at a very steep incline, and it was pretty muddy. But after an hour of HIKING, we got to the group of trackers. With them, you leave everything you carried up, i.e. backpack, food, water, walking stick, etc. So, I threw on my rain gear, just in case, grabbed my camera, and followed the guide. I was first in the line, and he grabbed my arm and said 'Look!' and about 6 feet away from me under a bunch of trees were 6 mountain gorillas. It was a pretty amazing moment for me - THERE THEY WERE! Just big, beautiful, human-like, peaceful animals, doing their thing in the forest! (I'm sitting here trying to put into words how it felt, or looked like, and it's almost impossible). For the next half hour, we just sat with them, the adults didn't really take notice of us, but the juveniles did. One of them ran by us at one point, not 6 inches away! After thirty minutes, the rain started! And it rained HARD! I'm not gonna say it was fun, because the rain was tough. It was a soaking rain, but I was with my gorillas, so it wasn't that bad. At one point, it started raining so hard, we found a little area where there were some fallen branches and leaves on top, so we got underneath and took shelter. Then something cool happened - the gorillas came into the shelter too! So here we were, huddled inside this shelter, 8 humans on one side crouching, and 7 gorillas about 4 feet away on the other side staring right at us. At one point, the female gorilla sitting right across from me locked eyes with me, and I just sat, gazing into her eyes for about 10 minutes. All I can say is, I totally lost consciousness of everything happening around me, I forgot it was pouring, I forgot that I was with other people, I just had my few minutes with this gorilla. Neither of us looked away, it was amazing. Unfortunately, the shelter was just too dark and wet to take pictures, but I'll carry it in my mind forever. The hike down was a bit of a nightmare - a combination of whitewater rafting, skiing, and slip and slide. The mud was intense, and I have never been so dirty in my life, but it was so great. I was completely buzzing from the gorillas, so I didn't really care. The next day, (today), Crement and I made our way to the park headquarters at 7am for our morning briefing. As soon as I arrived, the warden came up to me and told me I would be going to see the Susa group today. The group has 29+ gorillas, and is the group that Diann Fossey did her research on. The hike to get to these gorillas was even more brutal than the previous. It was an hour and a half drive to get there, and then an hour hike up to the forests edge, and another hour + of hiking through dense vegetation in the jungle. But, it turned out to be so worth it. If the first days viewing was amazing, this was amazing times a million. Once we left all of our stuff, we walked into a clearing and there were at least 20 gorillas right in front of us, some only a few feet away. They were taking a break from eating, so the young ones were playing, and at one point, one juvenile ran right by me and grabbed my leg! The older gorillas were grooming each other. The weather was amazing, and I got some GREAT photos. The internet cafe that I am in is closing now, so I can't finish this, but I'll just say that seeing the gorillas today was PERFECT, a lifelong dream fulfilled. I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity, and I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. There was some other interesting stuff that went on in Kinigi, seeing some local tribal dancing, eating, etc. But what I'll remember about Rwanda will be the gorillas. Tomorrow morning, I'm heading back to Tanzania...

Maasai festival and Rwanda!

My lifelong dream of coming to Rwanda has been realized. I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Kigali, and it is pouring rain outside! But let me start with yesterday. After visiting the Maasai on Sunday, Father Antipas and I were invited to a big Maasai festival, an opportunity I could only dream of. After another day of teaching on Monday, Father Antipas and I set off for one of the bomas in Lekremuni, a huge Maasai village. I had no idea what to expect, I only knew that one of the local Maasai warriors was being welcomed into the class of elders, thus the celebration was an initiation of sorts. These festivals don't happen very often, and tourists are never invited, so I was really honored to be attending. Father Antipas allowed me to drive which was an experience in and of itself. Sitting on the right side of the car, and driving on the left side of the road is tricky, especially considering that there is really no speed limit, and very little organization to the way people drive. Every time I would pass one of the dala dalas, whizzing by me at a reckless rate of speed, I shuddered, not used to having an oncoming car pass on the right. Once we were on the dirt road, the driving is really fun! Offroading! We arrived at the village around 11, and things hadn't really gotten started yet. The men and women of the Maasai are kept very separate, and I knew something very special was going on, because a big cooking area was set up off to the side, and it was the men that were cooking! Apparently, only the men are allowed to slaughter the meat and cook it for festivals. We spent a while hanging out with the young men, or warriors as they call themselves. Most had on the tradition blue, red, and purple fabrics draped over their bodies, and the signature tire tread shoes. They were a mixture of impressed and amused at the fact that I, too, was wearing a pair of authentic Maasai shoes! The cow was slaughtered, dismembered, and the blood was saved in a pot, that's all I'll say about that! Huge pieces of the cow were skewered on sticks, and set up in a circle around the big fire. Gigantic pots of rice were also being cooked over smaller bonfires, and there were a few children that were eating the scraps from a couple of pots that had already finished cooking. The men were in high spirits, and luckily, very excited to be photographed. After hanging out in the cooking area for a while, we made our way over to the boma of the man whose ceremony was that day. The mud hut was decorated on the outside, many patterns and words were written. They explained that they use burnt ashes and a little water to make a black decorative paint. Once the food was ready, we all sat on the ground, and I was brought a bowl of meat in a thick brown sauce. After they explained to me that it was just meat cooked in blood, nothing else, I was a little hesitant, but surprisingly the taste was really good! I was impressed. There was no silverware used, and each bowl was communal, so there were many hands in the bowl I was holding. As weird as it sounds, sharing my food with the men made me feel very welcome. After we ate, we started to hear the distinctive singing and screaming of various Maasai groups in the distance. When I looked around, there were large groups of people coming from several different directions, each headed by some one with a goat or a sheep on a rope lead. These animals serve as an offering from different bomas to the man who was becoming an elder. It was really amazing to watch them each arrive, one at a time - each group comprised of about 50 - 200 people, all singing and dancing, slowly moving toward the boma, and presenting the man and his wives with the animals. Once about 10 different groups arrived, a choir approached. It was made up of about 30 people, apparently the best singers of the community. There were drummers, and everyone was dancing when they arrived - at this point there were at least 1000 people there (I was the only white person!). The songs continued with lots of dancing, and I was in absolute heaven. After about an hour of this, it was around 4 PM, and Father Antipas had to get back to Soweto for a meeting. So we didn't get to see the Maasai men doing their traditional jumping, but they told me that the next time I am in Africa, that I am most welcome if they are having a festival! It was a truly spectacular experience, of which I took tons of photos and video! It was a little depressing on the way out, while I was talking with one of the girls we are trying to sponsor for school about female genital cutting. She explained to me that it is so much a part of the Maasai tradition, and actually, as part of the festival earlier that day, one of the daughters of the man was cut. It just made me think that it is just one more reason to get these young girls educated, and hopefully they will stop that practice altogether! The rest of the night was spent in anticipation of my travel to Rwanda. As I had written about earlier, I was feeling pretty nervous about coming here, not sure what to expect from the woman that was helping me organize my tour (there is only 1 review of her on tripadvisor.com, and it's not a good one!). I checked into the flight this morning around 8 am, and by 10 am, I was off the ground, and on my way to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. I could write a lot more about the check in process at Kilimanjaro airport, and the 'security,' but I'll just say that I basically just walked right onto the flight. Crazy. The flight itself was pretty amazing. When I came in to Tanzania, it was during the, and had been really difficult to see anything on the ground. This morning the view from the plane was beautiful. We flew right by the peak of Kilimanjaro, poking through the clouds, and then over top of Mt. Meru and finally Lake Victoria, before coming into Rwanda. The topography of Rwanda is very different from Tanzania, and this is why they call Rwanda the Land of 1,000 Hills. It's also a lot wetter, and is now in it's rainy season, which hasn't arrived yet for Tanzania. Immediately, when I got to the airport, I knew that Rwanda was very different from Tanzania in every way. The airport is very clean and modern, as is the entire city of Kigali. I was really pleased and surprised that Isabelle, my tour operator, was standing at the gate, holding a sign with my name on it. After five minutes of talking to her, she completely set me at ease. She is so nice, and completely professional, and seems to be very organized and interested in insuring that I have a good experience. We talked about the review on tripadvisor, and she explained the situation. I promised her that I would write a review after my trip, especially because the problem with peer reviewed sites is that most people only write when they have a bad experience. I hadn't made a hotel reservation, and had planned on just showing up at one of the mid range hotels listed in Lonely Planet. But when we got there, it was all booked. I made a split second decision that I would pamper myself for a night, and stay at the more expensive, famous Hotel Rwanda (the original hotel that the movie was about), for a little more than I wanted to spend. Isabelle really came through though when she walked me into the hotel and got me the room for half the price, so it ended up costing what I had expected to pay in the first place! Rwanda feels like a totally different Africa than Tanzania, I can't say that enough. The entire city of Kigali is clean and modern. The roads are paved, and being that Rwanda doesn't allow any plastic bags in the country at all, there is not trash, anywhere. The people are all in western dress, and moving around in an organized way. I really have to keep reminding myself that I am in Africa, it feels like Europe! The hotel is amazing, it's a real treat to be in a luxury hotel room, for less than 100 dollars a night! It is also very strange, considering what took place there! It does also feel a little weird, I've gotten used to no water pressure, suffocating mosquito nets, and uncomfortable beds, no TV, and no air conditioning, but the room I am in has all those things. Tourism has gotten Rwanda back on its feet after the '94 genocide, and they take it very seriously, and it shows! Also, I feel 100% safe here, which is not the case in Tanzania, as much as I love it there! The people all speak french, so it's tough for me to communicate, but I haven't felt unsafe or unwelcome at all. It is impossible to come to Rwanda and not think and talk about the horrible things that took place here in 1994, so before I got all caught up in being a tourist, I went to the Kigali Memorial Centre, which is a museum built around a mass grave. The museum is pretty well known for being really thorough and informative. Not the most fun way to spend the afternoon, but the museum was important for me to experience. I didn't know a lot about the genocide, and I was finally able to understand what lead up to the genocide, and what took place here as the world stood by and did nothing(!!!). It was really difficult, as I moved around the museum, listening to the audio tour, watching short videos, and looking at all the displays. The last stop on the tour were these big cement surfaces, hard to describe. They were a mass grave, where more than 280,000 people are buried. It's hard to really imagine that many bodies, and that many lives lost. But to think that 1,000,000 people were killed in the span of 3 months, in the most gruesome and violent ways imaginable. It was also really difficult to learn about all the turns in which the world community could have gotten involved, and didn't, it just enrages and baffles me. As clean and pristine as Rwanda is, there is still evidence of what happened here. Walking down the street, the only people in Rwanda (in Africa for that matter) that are homeless and begging are children, referred to here as street children. The genocide left hundreds of thousands of children orphaned, and the country still doesn't have the means to help them all. Another fact that I learned that really bothered me - during the genocide, the Inerahamwe (sp?) army used rape as a weapon, especially by men that they knew to be HIV+. So, in the aftermath of the genocide, there is a huge number of women living here in Rwanda that are positive. Unfortunately, being that the country is still recovering, there isn't enough money to provide the necessary medicines to most of them. At the same time, most of the Hutu perpetrators that haven't escaped to The Democratic Republic of Congo, are being held in Arusha, Tanzania, at the war tribunal. The ones that are HIV positive are being given free medication. How does that make any sense? The perpetrators are being treated, and the victims are left to suffer yet again. In addition to seeing many children that are 'street children' here in Kigali, there are many people with limbs missing, and or huge scars on their faces. So while the country looks to be healed, there are still many wounds that remain, both literally and figuratively. After spending a few hours at the museum, reflecting, crying, thinking, getting angry at the world, being frustrated, I stood outside and looked out at the city. The city is set over several rolling hills, and from where I was standing I could see much of it. I started thinking about how, only 15 years later, these people are thriving, or at least living in peace. What a living message of hope, forgiveness and healing! After the museum, I took care of some business, like getting a new SIM card for my phone, a little grocery shopping, and now I'm here at the internet cafe. I'm so excited to head to Kinigi tomorrow, which is at the base of Volcanoes National Park. If the rest of the trip that Isabelle has put together for me is anything like what today has been, I'm in for a real treat! I have decided that after tomorrow's travel, I will probably go to see the golden monkeys on Thursday, a hike that is a lot less expensive than the gorillas, but in the same general area. The following day, I'm up the mountain to realize my dream, and see the mountain gorillas (I saw the permit today!). I'm really toying with the idea of going to see them the following day as well, but we'll see. I have also decided to extend my stay in Tanzania a little longer, so that I can have one more full week with my students. I will be home in San Francisco on March 22nd, for sure. But here I am in Rwanda! I can't believe I'm here!

Adventures in Maasai land

Yesterday was an amazing day! After all of my experiences here in Tanzania, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what has been the most powerful. As much fun as the safari was, meeting the people has really had the most impact. I have been so excited to bring this experience home and to share it with people, and have been thinking about ways to do that. I have taken a million pictures, and as the saying goes, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but I got to thinking about how I could introduce my friends and family to the people that I have met here, and their experiences. That is when I got the idea to shoot some video. I would love to introduce people to the amazing individuals that I have met here, and while I know that most of the people in my life will probably never travel to Africa, video would be the most effective way to bring these people and their stories home with me. So I chatted with some people here about my idea, and happily was met with support. The people that have been the most intriguing to me are the Maasai, one could say I'm borderline obsessed. They are truly tribal people live like something out of National Geographic. There is a priest in the community where I am staying, Father Antipas, who has a good relationship with a community of Maasai, and he set up a visit for us yesterday. So we hopped in the four wheel drive, and headed to Lekremuni. It was the same village that I had attended mass with the women of THE mission, but I had no idea what I was in for. As we passed the church where we attended the mass, I thought we had arrived. But we picked up a Maasai elder, and he directed us further. As we proceeded, the 'roads' turned into rocky trails, and then to footpaths, and after a while, we were just driving on grassy fields. People were running outside of their bomas to get a look, apparently the area that we were in doesn't get car visitors, ever! So, we finally arrived at the boma that we were meeting several of the young people at. Being a novice videographer, there were several things that I didn't account for. First, the entire 'neighborhood' was fascinated by the white man with a camera, so people were coming from far and wide to watch and listen. This didn't provide for a very 'safe' space for people to talk freely. Secondly, I had intended to shoot the video indoors, but I didn't account for the fact that Maasai houses have no windows, and no electricity, so shooting video indoors was out of the question, even during the day it was too dark. We settled for shooting outside, which was kind of unfortunate, because it was very windy, so much of my interviews are disturbed with significant wind noise. But, I did learn a lot, and there were several amazing moments. The first boy that I interviewed really interested me, he thought he was maybe twenty years old, maybe sixteen, he really wasn't sure. Maasai don't keep records at all. The last girl that I interviewed was amazing. Her English was good enough that she was the only one I was able to speak to directly out of the four I spoke to, without an interpreter. She really fascinated me when I asked her why she wanted to go to school. She launched into a very bright monologue about womens rights, or the lack there of, in the Maasai community. She really understood, she explained, that the only way for women to gain rights with the Maasai was through education. She said that she knew if she got educated, that she in turn could not only educate her children, but come back to her village and help to change the ideas of her community. (Women are extremely marginalized in the Maasai community, thought of as little more than child bearers and raisers). I was really impressed by her courage to talk so freely about this topic, especially in front of several village elders. We were invited to a boma for a feast, and were also invited to a huge Maasai festival tomorrow (for which I am VERY excited). We left, and the drive back was so bad, we broke a shock on the car. But fear not, having the car worked on only cost 7 dollars. The guy wanted 8, but Father Antipas bargained him down to 7. 7 dollars to replace a shock! I don't have much more time to write. My next blog post will probably be from Rwanda. My flight leaves at 10 AM on Wednesday morning! YESSSS!

Settling into teaching....

The last week of teaching in Moshi has been really great. After a fairly awkward first day, I got much more comfortable with instructing. My lesson this week has been all around vocab words about professions. I had intended to teach this lesson in a day or two and move on, but it has really turned into an opportunity to expand. The first day, I taught them about ten words that were in their books, words like mechanic, tailor, butcher, grocer, etc., and gave them the definition of each. For homework that night, I told them to each try and think of a job or two that we didn't discuss, and the English definition. It's really fun teaching two classes, and seeing the differences in the things the kids come up with. The third class, we expanded on the jobs, and talked about where each person would work, so for example, we defined 'mechanic' as a person who fixes you car or lorry. So I asked the kids where I would go to find a mechanic, or a pilot, and so on, and this way they learned words like garage and airplane, and linked them to the jobs. For my last class, I thought I would get a little tricky, and I listed all of the jobs on the board, and told them that we were going to go through the jobs, one at a time, and I wanted them to tell me which jobs were for girls, and which jobs were for boys. For the last 15 minutes of class, once we got through the entire list, and all their answers were on the chalkboard, I explained to them that it had been a trick question. I told tham that ALL of the jobs were for boys AND girls. This started a very interesting discussion in which some of the old world customs of African sexism became apparent, and I hope that I helped the students see differently. Many of the girls seemed very excited to hear that they could be carpenters or pilots, and the boys seemed a bit puzzled to think of themselves as nurses. But I think that they were thinking. Another highlight of my week came on Thursday. Thanks, in part, to THE Mission, a water pump was purchased for the girl's school in Same that was without water, and I asked to come along to deliver and install it. We left very early in the morning to travel around Moshi to pick up the engineer and his team of laborers. At one point, we were way on the outskirts of town, and driving on a horribly bumpy dirt road by an old, broken down Pepsi plant. The plant was surrounded by a huge wall made of cinderblock-like bricks, like most properties are here in Africa. But these bricks were different, upon closer inspection, I noticed that every brick had the imprint of a swastika on it. Turns out that this plant, like much of the industry here in Tanzania, used to be owned by the Germans. I have never really seen swastikas so blatantly displayed before, and I was even more surprised to find out that no one in the car knew what they meant! The trip to Same was very long, they had planned on a two hour installation. Luckily, I brought a book, because after eight hours, the end was in sight, and we all stood around the well, anxiously waiting. Loud cheers were let out at hour 9, when water GUSHED out of the top of the pipe from the well. It was a pretty exciting moment, you would think that we had struck oil! I also had fun walking around the campus that day, meeting all of the students. The teenage girls in Tanzania love me, go figure :-). Another scene that stood out this week was when I was walking to work one day, I noticed about 8 kids kneeling outside of their classroom with their hands in the air. Come to find out, this is a form of corporal punishment. Although physical punishments are routine here in Africa, I have never actually witnessed anything like it, and it was pretty disturbing to see children forced to kneel on cement to induce pain. I found it interesting, when the teacher was explaining to me what was going on, he informed me where the stick for hitting the kids was kept, and encouraged me to use it. No thanks! Other than that, the week has been fairly quiet. I'm settling into a routine here, as I'm pretty much on my own. Teaching only takes up a few hours every day, so I've gotten pretty comfortable riding the dala dala into town. Being that there is so much down time, I've also finally gotten back into reading. I finished the book, Half The Sky, and would recommend that everyone go out and get a copy and read it. I was really inspired by what I read, and I know that coupled with the experience that I am having here in Africa, that this is just the beginning for me. I'm interested in exploring doing work fundraising when I get home, or maybe even starting my own NGO. Also, after much stress and aggravation, it looks as though my trip to Rwanda has come together, thanks in large part to help from my mother. It is very difficult to coordinate a trip in a country that has unreliable internet, and doesn't accept credit cards. I'm a little nervous about the legitimacy of the tour operator that I found in Kigali, but at this point, I'm just trying to have faith. As far as I know, I am booked on a flight from Kilimanjaro Airport to Kigali on Tuesday morning. Then, after a couple of days in the capital, I will be brought to Volcanoes National Park, where I will get to spend an hour with the mountain gorillas. I REALLY hope it all works out, as this has been a lifelong dream. I just couldn't go home without doing it. Oh, almost forgot. When I stayed in Old Moshi with my friend Tino's family, I met his sister Rose. She is a student at KCMC, a big government hospital here. Wednesday afternoon, I met her at KCMC, and we spent the early evening at her house with her son, and her husband's sister. Her English is very good, so it was a lot of fun to sit with her, eat a traditional ugali meal, and talk about the differences between Tanzania and the United States. It still amuses me so much that things that are so routine to us are shocking to people here in Tanzania. She couldn't believe that buses in America have enough room on the seats that you aren't touching the person next to you. She was even more shocked that people would have a problem with it if you did touch them! She was also in disbelief that we have had problems with kids and guns, especially in the schools. After a long chat and dinner, we headed into town with Paul, her 2 year old, and met her husband. It was a nice afternoon and evening. As time goes on, I feel more and more comfortable here. I can't believe that I'll be leaving Africa in two weeks....