Why Not?!

I'm not even really sure how to start this post, because the events of the past weekend were hands down (you can't see me, but I actually put my hands down) some of the most amazing I've ever experienced.

After three straight weeks in our village, it was time for our 4 day travel weekend, which we used to go out to Uganda. This has sort of been an SIC tradition, and a notoriously cool trip. There's a little town in Uganda called Jinja, which just-so-happens to be the home of the source of Nile (y0u know, that pseudo-famous thing that flows NORTHWARD; think crocodile hunter (may he r.i.p.), papyrus, hippos, ummm...lots of water. We decided it would be a great idea to go white water rafting down this sucker.

In order to first get to Uganda, we had to take a bus from Arusha, which connects in Nairobi, Kenya, then goes through to Kampala, Uganda. We ended up spending about 24 hours on these buses, with little more than water, pringles and sandwich crackers, but managed to make it in one piece. We did have a little incident where our bus broke down in the middle of the night somewhere in Kenya, and we were a little frightened, mostly because our bus was being guarded by a dude wielding a machete...nothing really went amiss, and i ended up getting some decent sleep for a few hours, so we weren't that bothered in the end. in fact, the delay probably allowed me the best sleep i had all weekend. It was practically impossible to sleep on the bus with the tight arrangements and excruciatingly bumpy roads. All in all though, we made it safe, and were never happier to step foot on the ground after leaving the bus.

Our rafting trip started early Sunday morning when we drove to Jinja to begin the adventure. We were welcomed, suited up, given some directions, and before we knew it we were already rafting around the Nile. This river is nothing to sneeze at...it's absolutely gorgeous, and puts you in your place. I've been told the crocodiles and hippos live further downstream, but I don't know if they tell you that just to keep you from worrying or if it's actually true.

My raft guide is a Ugandan named Geoffrey. After a little inquiry, we found out he's the number one Kayaker in Uganda, and is amongst the best in the world. But despite his prestige in the world, he has an awesome sense of humor and was soooo much fun to raft with. He got stuck with a raft full of giggling girls who didn't know what the crap they were doing, but handled us well, and got an even bigger kick out of flipping our raft. Anytime we'd come upon some sort of choice or challenge, Geoff would respond to us with a resounding "why not?!" which usually meant we were about to get flipped again. On the second day, Geoff also introduced us to a few buddies of his that were on the banks downstream...no biggie, i thought...turns out that these two guys were the TOP 2 kayakers in the world!!! CRAZY!!

I'm not really sure what I had in mind when I decided to go rafting...and on the Nile of all places...turns out there are 5 raft-able classes of rapids, 1 being the most benign and 5 being the most dangerous and highest level for recreational rafting. We hit up class 3, 4 AND 5 rapids which were pretty intense!! In fact, some of the girls in our raft would get so scared that they wouldn't bother to jump into the water to relieve themselves, but just peed the raft mid-rapid. We got flipped a dozen times (no thanks to Geoff...he mostly instigated the flipping) and also made it over some pretty amazing rapids. It was thrilling, beautiful and something that I will remember forever. The first day was thrilling, exciting and full of laughter...we discovered that it's pretty much impossible to get back into your raft with any sort of grace...picture a beached whale trying to get anywhere, and you've got an idea of what it was like trying to get back in the boat.

But at the same time, it was such an amazing feeling to just float down the Nile, gaze up at the sky and surrounding beauty while you let the current pull you along. I can't even really describe it in words. It was almost something you could describe as a paradise, except for the fact that I was always mildly afraid that something was gonna bite my toes or that I'd swallow an amoeba. (btw, i'm probably going to bring home some gnarly sickness after all the nile water i swallowed...hamna cheetah)

The second day of rafting we went further down the river, hit some more rapids and had a great time. The last rapid is such that you can actually surf it with your raft...you get lodged into the water and can surf the rapid that's going down while the white from the wave pushes you back into the original rapid. It's freakin scary, but also AWESOME. We did this repeatedly, and somehow, without fail, I managed to be the only one thrown from the raft...every time. One time I did a sweet back flip into the water and was able to maintain my hold on the rope on the raft...if only I could say it was intentional. I also got to boogie board on that same rapid which was even more intense...I'm so glad I worked myself up to do it!! I can easily see how people get addicted to extreme sports.

Speaking of extreme...my trip didn't end with just the rafting. The company that we booked our trip with is also notorious for their Bungie Jump over the Nile. Although nervous, I just had to say, "why not?!" and worked myself up to do the darn thing. 45 meters above the water, OMG...it was ridiculous, awesome, scary and thrilling all at the same time. After jumping off the platform, I felt like I was flying over the river, only to head down, and touch the water with my fingers and the top of my head. WOW. I have a few pictures of the experience, but it doesn't quite capture the feeling.

So all in all, this weekend was absolutely incredible. You'll have to ask me more about it later so I can share more about it, but wow. I've never done anything like that before in my life!! The weekend was amazing, and even though I've now got a pretty gnar-gnar sunburn, the long bus rides, tired body and all were worth it!! Why not?!

this weekend, we headed out to Moshi, a little town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, where backpackers stay before they climb up the thing. I finally managed to see Kili this week, and it's pretty amazing. For some reason, I had it in my head that Kili is the world's 4th tallest mountain. I'm completely wrong. It is Africa's tallest, but it's also one of the easiest to climb. In fact, one of the three main routes is nick-named the "coke hike" because you can apparently buy cokes from little stores almost all the way up to the summit. I still think it's a pretty cool mountain, even if it is easy to climb.

Yesterday we went out to a little place outside of Moshi, and hiked to a waterfall further inland. Upon arriving at the waterfall, we bumped into a bunch of local teenagers who were "having their fun" while we were there...keep in mind that showing skin here is pretty risque in the first place, so we were kinda shocked to see these dudes running around in their nunders. but it was fun none-the-less. i'll post pics later.

teaching's been really good...it's been quite a different experience going from teaching secondary students to teaching primary school kids, but they are really something. incredibly smart, attentive and they take notes like i've never seen before. their classrooms are sparse (like almost every school here) with dirt floors, holes in the wall for windows, too many kids per desk, worn and tearing uniforms, but they're students when it comes down to it, and they are really great kids. we get to start doing some more community teaching in our village this week, and i'm very much looking forward to that.

you can also feel that summer's on its way. it's hot as heck out here, and i get drenched in sweat if i walk from my room to the choo. nights aren't much cooler, and i spend many hours trying to comfortably adjust myself under my mosquito net, so as to not touch the darn thing but be able to spread out as well. it's tricky, i tell ya!

i can't believe we're already winding down to our last three weeks in the program. not that we won't be busy...i think we're booked from now until that last friday, but that will only make the time fly that much faster. it's been really awesome here though, and i hope that the next three weeks will prove to be just as amazing as the first 7. I probably won't be too unhappy to leave the ugali behind (the flour-based-mush-type food that serves as a staple of tanzanian's diets) but the atmosphere and people will be hard to leave.

emabarrasing story of the week: so a few of us in the program decided to invest in some nailpolish as to look a little more "girly" (but really to cover up the dirt). i showed my mama, and she let me know that she was interested in also putting on some nail polish. so one afternoon, i was laying on my bed and she came to my door. i got up to open it, only to see my mama standing there with her shirt up, boobs fully in view. she quickly put her shirt down, but there was the passage of what seemed like an immense amount of time while i fetched the polish and was able to give it to her. we haven't ever talked about the event, but i'm still thouroughly confused as to why it happened. oh well i guess, hamna cheetah.

I'm really looking forward to next weekend: we're going to Uganda to the source of the nile to go on a rafting trip. I may even bungie jump over the nile river (sweet!!) so look forward to hearing about that.

That's all for now! Badaaye!

Ma-lu-la

We moved in to our new village last Sunday, and spent the last week getting accustomed to the new-ness, different people and spent many, many hours teaching. The differences between the two villages are great. Last time, we were in a lush, green almost jungle-like village up at the base of Mt. Meru, and this time, we're in a vast valley that goes on for miles and miles and miles. I've been told that we can see Kilimanjaro from our village, but it's been cloudy and raining every day, so I can't confirm the rumors yet.

November is the season of the "light rains", and boy, they were not kidding. Except, I'm not really sure how "light" rain was defined, because there have definitely been a few nights this past week where I was sure there was going to be a flash flood and I would have to pick up my stuff and climb on top of my house. Or maybe that was my malaria medication speaking.

I'm living with a family of three(ish)...Mama (joisi) and Baba (godlove) and their baby (fabi). My mama's little sister (happiness) also lives with us, but she almost seems like more of a housegirl than a sister. I found out that my Mama is only 24 (geez!!) and my Baba's 30. They already have a 2 1/2 year old boy who's adorable. I think he might be afraid of me though, because he's been pretty timid in getting to know me. They're a very sweet family though and have been very good to me. I'm learning to accept the awkward silences as a normal part of my experience, because my swahili only goes so far. But I have learned that I can get along pretty well with "oh's" and "ah's" and giggling and nodding my head. I just get myself in trouble when they ask me a question. I wish I could watch myself be so gloriously awkward with my family...it's really comical.

My new house also has no electricity, even though it was clearly designed to one day support it. The unfortunate part is that it is not set up to allow any sort of good light into the house at night from the moon, or even that much sun during the day, so it's a pretty dark arrangement. at night, my room is pitch black, so I have to tuck myself in carefully under my mosquito net so I can ease my paranoid fears of having a cockroach land on my face. which really isn't that irrational...we've got cockroaches and mice and who knows what other kind of bugs running around...I keep telling myself that the two cats we have (who are adorable) are taking care of business, but it's hard to believe that when I walk into my room only to find a huge cockroach perching atop my pillow.

My poor mama probably thinks i'm the biggest wimp in the world...I called her in one night to help me get a roach out of my room, and she just giggled at me then smushed the thing against the wall and threw it outside. I can barely squish a bug with my shoe, let alone be able to do it with my hand! oye...

But so far so good. We're teaching at two primary schools, one of which is about an hour walk away. I keep managing to time things perfectly and be outside walking from here to there just at the peak of the rain. But I kind of enjoy it. It's a quieter village though...no more kids swarming us in the road or Masai women carrying their loads on their heads. I can walk for a half an hour and not see another soul. But the view is breath-taking and the people I do come across are extremely friendly and inviting. I've eaten more food in the past week...I don't think they realize that I can't fit that much food into my stomach!! Even our schools will offer us snacks or chai in between classes...it's ridiculous.

I've got to run soon, but before I do, here's my embarrassing story of the week: The other night I was hanging out in our living room with my Baba...we were listening to the radio, but mostly sitting in silence for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for dinner. After awhile, I realized that I really needed to use the choo, but I've had night-time choo issues since I arrived at my homestay and discovered that the choo's the place where all the roaches hang out at night. So, I was trying to figure out what to do. It started raining again, and with the tin roof, it was impossible to think of anything else...except the sound of rain and how much I had to pee. I couldn't go somewhere outside my house, because my mama was in the kitchen cooking and would be able to see me drop-trou outside of the choo, and plus, it was raining, so I made a mad-dash for my room and ended up relieving myself in a zip-lock bag. Not one of my finest moments, but seriously, you have to make do. I never would have thought I would be using one of my zip-locks for that purpose when I purchased that pack back at Costco. Oh, fun times in africa. Hamna cheetah. :)

So that's all for now. I'll write more hopefully next weekend, but I might be heading out to Moshi, and don't know if I'll have Internet access. So we'll see. Bye for now!

Next stop: Malula

Just when I was starting to get the hang of my village, our five weeks is now up, and it's off to a new ward, a new family and a new village. I'm not going to lie...I don't know if my next family can live up to my Ilkiding'a family...they were pretty awesome and it was hard to leave. In fact, when the SIC truck came to pick us up, both Mama and Jaclin (one of the kids) stood up, grabbed us and started shouting, HAKUNA KWENDA! HAKUNA KWENDA! (they're not going!!) and they tried to convince the drivers to come back tomorrow to pick us up. In the end though, we caught a ride down to town with all of our stuff in tow, marking the end of the first half of the program. We did, however, have a pretty sweet photo-sesh right before I left, so here are a few pictures of the fam and the house:


From right to left: Baba, Emanuel, Jaclin, our house boy (i still never figured out his name), Mama above Jaclin, Elias, Olarivan (behind Elias) and Esuvat in the UCLA sweatshirt.



Me with the Fam



Chloe and I with our Mama

Ola and our house boy...they were wonderfully awkward teenaged boys. They thought it was funny to Shikamoo me (you say shikamoo as a respectful greeting to your elders...I'm not elder enough to be shikamoo'd yet)


Our kitchen...Mama set up the shot so it looks like she's teaching us how to cook...when really, all we were doing was taking pictures...



Our family (and lots of families, i've discovered) had a lot of these little posters around with pick-me-up slogans...the one I"m posing with here says, "A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks" The other wall has a picture of two of the whitest kids I've ever seen...who sells these things? (I also looked freakishly like the girl in the picture when I was younger.


This is the road I walked on to school everyday. I managed to sneak a picture of these three Masai women with their branches on their heads...I'm still amazed at the amount of things people can carry on their heads...I can't even carry my water bottle.



Our shower/choo. Pretty standard really.



The inside of the Choo...I'm not joking around here.



Some of the cutest kids ever: Beatrice (the next door neighbor) and Emanuel.



More cute kids (they're everywhere, i swear!)



My teaching group with one of my students. (his name is mike and he gave me a cool rasta bracelet as a gift)



Beatrice and Jaclin.


The boys; they were always up to something...



and...another shot with the kids. they were so cute, i really wanted to bring one home with me. (don't worry, i'm not)


Ilkiding'a really was a wonderful place...I don't know how my next family will be able to live up to my experience thus far, but I'm still excited for the adventure.

I leave this afternoon for Malula (my new village) in the King'ore Ward. It's about 2 hours outside of Arusha, so i don't know if I'll make it to town as often as I have here. I'm living by myself this time (yikes!), so hopefully my Swahili will take a turn for the better, or I'll just get even better at gesturing. Instead of teaching secondary school, we'll be teaching primary students at two different schools. We'll be about twice as busy with about twice as much ground to cover (this new ward is supposedly HUGE). I apparently have only one kid this time, but we also have a kitten (yay!). I'll write more about the village when I have more to say about it!

Other than that, it's been a relatively relaxing weekend in Arusha...as a celebration for the completion of the first half of our program, we had a BBQ...which ended up turning into a SWEET Burrito Bar...omg, the food was so good. Then we went to Tripple A club to see East Africa's finest bands...it was really fun, and I liked getting a chance to hear what music's all about around here.

That's all for now...I'll post more when I get a chance!

-Baadye!