After our second week in Engikaret, I spent the weekend with Kelsey treading all over town by day and hustlin' the night life after dark. One of our weekend tasks was to replace my camera, which had gotten stolen a couple weeks prior after I left it in my bag at a hostel over night. Most hostels ask you to leave your room key at reception while you're out, so while I was out at a club one night someone snuck into the room and took my camera and some money. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing how much of a non-issue it was, as I didn't even think to write about the theft in the previous blogs. You have to half expect occasional losses and learn how to roll with it around here... so I'm pleased to say that even though it was a drag to lose the camera, it wasn't a big deal as I am still safe and sound! Well, it wasn't a big deal to me anyway. Some friends of mine were livid to hear what happened and wouldn't stand to let the guy get away so easy. It's quite common for people to take matters like theft into their own hands, as the police are notoriously corrupt and cannot be relied upon. I heard news one afternoon that some of my friends took the kid who had been working the reception desk that night and gave him a very firm "talking to"... that is, the kind of talking you do with your fists... for hours. It was hard to hear the story of what happened as I never intended for the kid to be punished so brutally, but the reality is that this is how the people handle matters here! Something I'm afraid I will never get used to. So, after stalling for a couple weeks, I finally bought a new camera at Arusha's downsized version of something like Best Buy, called Benson's, which worked out beautifully. I've since heard that the kid never returned to work at the hostel.
The week of July 18th I was scheduled to remain in town with another volunteer and a local intern to help with maintenance of our demo plot in Tengeru, and to help make preparations for an upcoming festival called Nane Nane. Nane Nane means Eight Eight, because it takes place on Aug. 8 every year, celebrating agriculture workers by showcasing new and innovative ag styles at a big outdoor fairgrounds. (They have a similar holiday called Saba Saba, meaning Seven Seven, on July 7 to celebrate business industry) GSC had an area at Nane Nane to demonstrate double-dug beds, sack gardens, water trenches called hafirs, and other related technologies we employ in our trainings. My good friend Dan from San Francisco was scheduled to fly in on Wednesday that week for a visit/holiday, so I was glad to be in town and be able to meet with him right away! He had a fun time helping us weed, water, and make compost tea during the week before his friend Jess arrived on Saturday to join us.
On Sunday, Dan, Jess, and I took off for a three-day safari to Tarangire, followed by the Ngorongoro Crater. We had an incredible time, enjoyed perfect weather, and saw more animals I ever imagined we'd see with the help of our eagle-eyed driver Sifuni. The highlight of the safari took place one afternoon just before lunch, we were near a pond in Ngorongoro watching a lion creep down low in some tall grasses. The lion, meanwhile, was watching a herd of zebra grazing and drinking water from the pond. Before long, BOOM-- the lion bolted out from her hiding place and struck one of the zebras! A huge cloud of dust arose and the zebra quickly scattered. When the dust settled, we found the lion walking slowly away from the scene, empty handed and seemingly slightly embarrassed by the debacle. All of our hearts were racing to witness such drama, and yet it was just another day in the crater for those guys.
The next few days I spent playing tour guide in Arusha with Jess and Dan. We spent lots of nice time with my family, shopped for souvenirs at the markets, took a nice walk around Lake Duluti with my friend Okul before checking out his family's coffee shamba, hiked Mt. Meru with Rogers, and had plenty of nights dancing up a storm-- both in the clubs, and at home! Karen had a field day with all the wazungu around and loved cranking up the sound system when she found us all at the house to instigate an impromptu dance party. Everyone loves to shake it! Mama, baba, cousins, and even grandma got in on the action, it was a hell of a time. Baba Karen is big on nick names when it comes to wazungu, which are usually just comparisons to celebrities, and after Dan and Jess left my family continued to talk about how much they miss Michael Owen and Lady Gaga... not to mention Princess Diana (Kelsey) who also left that week!
After taking the week off I had heard that the GSC crew had a town week that following Monday, which meant we would still work in a village but return to town each afternoon. Well, being out of the loop bit me in the ass when I arrived in Monduli town with some fellow crewmembers only to hear, "We better find our accommodations before we meet the participants." I glanced down at my tiny day-bag and realized we had a problem! Being unprepared for a week away, I took a daladala all the way back to Arusha at the end of the day and ended up staying in town for the week to help maintain the gardens around the GSC office. It was great being in town because I was finally able to catch up with some friends I had previously only seen on the weekends at Empire. The Warriors from the East play music there every Saturday, and I eventually learned that they also run a community center for local youth during the week, not far from my homestay, called Africelt. I was so impressed when I finally came by to check it out. They have a large compound with classrooms-- both indoor and outdoor-- where they teach students English, computer skills, gardening, and music, as well as a small football pitch where they have sports in the afternoons. What a great day-job! I fell in love with everyone there and ended up spending most of my afternoons that week playing football with the kids. Have a look at their website if you're interested to check out the great work they're doing over at Africelt, they even take volunteers! http://africelt.org/
The GSC volunteer numbers began to dwindle as folks started going home, and I was glad to have my homies over at Africelt to hang out with so close to home. Magere is the band leader of the Warriors, as well as the director of Africelt, and welcomed me so warmly. He lives there on the compound with Lucy, fellow band-mate/cousin Odek, and Maasai warrior/compound guard Saitoti who also sings with the band. Odek and Magere are Luo tribe from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, and I have been doing my best to learn the art of cooking omena in the evenings-- small fried fish, called dagaa in Tanzania, eaten whole with ugali-- their staple! In fact, the guys there are big on the importance of good nutrition and health, and view food as medicine by eating strictly ital/vegan food (with the exception of omena of course). They are actually quite forward thinking when you consider how uncommon it is to find a raw salads anywhere in Tanzania, and yet if you come by the compound during lunch time on any day, you will be met with a heaping plate of greens, carrots, beets, onions, peppers, avocado, tomatoes, etc. It's a thing of beauty! I told the guys about salad bars in the US like Souplantation or Fresh Choice, and they were about floored by the idea. Y'all don't know how good you have it!
After a fun weekend hanging out with my family, helping Karyn set up her very own email address, and a really nice house party with friends, we were off to Karangai on August 9th for a week of building grain storage tanks. I had an excellent week with volunteers Candace and Nora who always keep me laughing when we're scheduled to work together. The three of us created a week of such exciting events as a watermelon seed spitting contest, jump roping using vines with local kids, and late night group search parties for safe places to pee so as to avoid the roach infested loo, which becomes a closet-o-horror after dark when the insects come out to socialize. That Saturday I spent most of the day with Karyn, goofing around the neighborhood and practicing our lyrical flow to whatever songs are currently popular. Right now she's particularly into "Man Down" by Rihanna and "Letting Go" by Sean Kingston. She loves to blast the songs on our rather sophisticated stereo system at the house (over and over and over), practically screaming to the tune of the song but improvising her own lyrics-- or just messing them up outright. Finally I said, "Karyn, if you always scream so loud over the song, you'll never learn the words, because you can't hear them..." She responded, "I know!!" and continued singing. It didn't even occur to me that she couldn't care less. I love that.
Around that weekend I started going to Empire on my own Saturday nights. I finally realized that it didn't matter if I showed up with friends or not-- I had been going there for so long at that point that I'm guaranteed to find friends there who are happy to have me join their groups. It's a really nice feeling, a la Cheers, to have a place to go... where everybody knows your name! (Haha, I had to do it) I have a great time chatting with folks from around town, and whatever fellow mzungu sisters I find there are always down to chat or cheer me on if I play pool. At first the only apparent drawback was the onslaught of male creepers delighted to find a mzungu girl gettin' down without a partner on the dance floor. So at first, I forced myself to avoid dancing in order to save myself some hassle and unwanted attention. After some time though, I realized I was so NOT alone! Whether it's our Maasai brother Saitoti, homies from the Warriors community center, or other friends, there's always someone around to call me onto the dance floor and take care of me if any random dudes try to step in. As Odek said one night as he and Saitoti walked me home, "Between a Maasai warrior and a Rasta, my dear, no one is going to mess with you!"
The following week was spent doing BIA follow-ups in Mzimuni, as well as more building grain storage tanks. It was another town week and pretty low-key, so I enjoyed spending my afternoons either playing football with the kids at the center or playing pool with homies. The next week, however, was painful. The week of August 22nd was supposed to be my very last week working in the village with GSC, but the fates had something else in store for me. I woke up in the wee hours of Sunday night and felt a strange and sudden need to bolt out of bed to vomit. I got up and ran out of my bedroom-- and that's about where my memory fades. I passed out in the hallway, and the sound of me crashing to the ground apparently woke everyone up. I vaguely remember Baba Karen trying to wake me up, and wondering why I was on the floor. I slipped back unconscious, and woke up again a minute later to find myself puking all over the place. Scary! I later heard I drove Mama Karen's blood pressure through the roof, I scared everyone so bad. I spent the rest of the night, as well as the next morning, throwing up. I call that 24-hour period "Tanzania Tummy Bug, Strike II." Fortunately though, the all-too expensive medical clinic I went to meant a short wait and medicine fast-- at the expense of a super creepy lab technician hitting on me far too aggressively in my already nauseated state. I'm glad to say that while the rest of the week was less-than comfortable, I began to feel better once I got medicine, shukuru mungu (thank god!). It was sad to miss my last week of volunteering, but it's nice that I'm still around Arusha for the time being, so no teary-eyed goodbyes were necessary.
I spent the weekend packing up my things in preparation to move out of my homestay. Another process made easier by the fact that I'm not yet leaving the area! Karyn very sweetly gave me a very special gift. She told me that, as I will be her sister forever, she wanted me to have the kanga that was given to her on her first communion-- the very same one that was given to her mama on her first communion. A beautiful fabric with pink and red roses on it with such sentimental value, I was touched to say the least. That Sunday I moved out of my homestay and into the complex over at Africelt. I feel so blessed to have great friends over there that are happy to host me! Better yet, it's only a few minutes walk to my old homestay so I can stop by to greet Mama and the family just about every day. Karyn even came by the center to play soccer and decided she wants to volunteer there! I'm so proud of her.
Now my friends, we have finally reached present day. I am still staying at de rasta complex and spending my days making preparations for my next moves to Kenya. In a little over a week, I plan to head to Nairobi and spend some time checking out Kenya before settling in Machakos for 2 months to teach BIA at an orphanage. Keep an eye out for more posts soon. Lots of love!
