The last week has been quite surreal. To begin our epic journey to Kili, we managed to almost miss our bus to Marangu. The morning of our 5:45am bus ride, the taxi never showed and of course we had all had returned our phones to Bereket, the day before. So Katie had no way of letting us know what was going on, us all being at different host families. Fortunately, she managed to bum a ride from Maria, another from our ACM group, to Kelzee’s house. From there, Kelzee and Katie finally found a taxi (@ 5:15) and at this time I was just waking up because I didn’t set my alarm correctly. So they were arrived at my house as I was frantically getting my stuff together -luckily I had packed the night before. Tried in our best Swahili to hurry the taxi drivers- if I haven’t mentioned this before- there is no hurry in Africa (very popular motto). Some how we managed to get to the Ubungo station, so crazy with taxis and buses all trying to get in and out of one gate, people running around trying to board buses, all the while Tanzanians are trying to get us to take their bus even going to the extent of grabbing us into their bus office, telling us we were our bus company, trying to charge us for our bags. But of course they were not our bus company so we grabbed our ticket ran out and into the bus terminal, through spinning metal doors that we didn’t fit through with all our bags. In the terminal the buses are everywhere and facing every direction. Some how we managed to find our bus. Having just woken up ten minutes ago, the morning felt like a volcanic explosion- as Kelzee eloquently put it.

            We should have anticipated this ridiculousness- TIA. But we finally did make it to Marangu Hotel- a very quaint hotel with large rooms, steamy hot water, cold nights, beds with heavy covers, three course dinners, a picturesque court yard, and a breathtaking view of Kilimanjaro. Our first evening we went to a briefing on the climb with another group- Intrepid Adventure. The next day we went on a short guided tour of Marangu with a hike to a small waterfall- just a warm-up for Kili. That night before our climb, we tried our best to sleep and were then woken up at 7:00 for chai asubuhi (morning tea).

            I could probably write a book of my whole Kili climbing experience, so I’m going to try my best to condense. 

Day 1: To Madera Huts from Marangu Hotel

            We left the Marangu hotel after meeting our crew of nine- George (55 years old), head guide; Joseph, assistant guide; John (these 3 guides climb Kili every month), assistant guide; Emmanuel, cook/Kelzee’s porter; Prosper, my porter; Augustino (64 years old- quite a character), Katie’s porter; Elraihaimo, Amanda’s porter, and two other assistants. All Tanzanians, which we were happy about, since the outfitter we were working with is owned by an English family. The porters would carry everything that we wouldn’t need for that day of hiking- which they put in a large canvas bag and balanced on their heads.  We drove about 6km to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gates. From there we signed and began our hike with George leading the way, the porters took another route and would always beat us to our huts. From the gate to Madera Huts @ 2,720 meters altitude (malt), was rainforest. It was a great day for hiking, we walked about 8km in about 3 hours- motto of the mlima (mountain) is pole pole (slowly slowly). By going pole pole, it is supposed to help you acclimatize. The hut at Mandera was a cozy wooden triangular building, just enough room to be comfortable for four but small enough so that we were able to heat it up with our body heat. The hike there was not hard, not steep, we saw some monkeys, and talking was easy on the way up. After putting our stuff away and after chai, cakei (biscuits), and popcorn (some how the cook whips this up before we get there), we walked higher to a crater rim with a great view of Kenya. Climbed back down, dinner (three courses – soup, a meat dish & pasta, and a fruit desert. We met Nicky at Mandera, a Scottish guy that was also doing the five day Marangu hike. It was very easy to met people on the kilima, as we were all anticipating what was to come but nobody really knew what it was ahead. Went to bed around 8, trying to get as much sleep as possible, since we had heard sleeping at higher altitudes was difficult.

Day 2: To Horombo Hut from Mandera Hut

            Today we walked out of the rainforest into the alpine desert. The Alpine desert was my favorite environment; the ground was covered in tall light-green grass, with a light moss covering most rocks and trees. The ambiance reminded me of many scenes from Lord of the Rings (the elves forest). The hike was longer, very sloping, took about 6 hours. A comfortable hike to 3,780 malt. We had lunch surrounded in mist at a picnic site on a hill in the alpine desert with Nicky and Tim (an Australian, also doing the same hike as us). Horombo was gorgeous, located near a cliff, you couldn’t see off because of the mist though, it was as if we were in a cloud- which could’ve been entirely possible. Our hut was same as Mandera. The night was colder, slept with a hat on, had some difficulty falling asleep, possibly due to altitude.  

Day 3: To Kibo from Horombo Hut

            We anticipated a harder hike today, the altitude was going to go over 14,000 ft (which is supposed the point when altitude starts to affect you). We decided to take Diamox to minimize the symptoms of altitude sickness (headache and nausea very similar to a hangover). But a little after 4,000 m I started to get a small headache, wasn’t awful. I just drank a ton of water, which helped some. We were told a head of time that there was two routes to take to Kibo- lower and upper route. We decided to take the path less traveled- Upper Route. This lead us towards Mawenzi peak (a smaller but ominous looking peak to the east of Uhuru peak- the highest). Then we went start across the Saddle, separating Mawenzi and Uhuru. The Saddle is very flat and barren. There are lava bombs scattered throughout (large boulders). The upper route is about 11km (1km longer than lower route). We got an amazing view of Mawenzi and had lunch near its base. We then trudged across the Saddle, we could see Kibo in the distance. Very deceivingly close, it took about 3 hours of pole pole hiking to get to Kibo, as the base of Uhuru. As we were coming closer to Kibo we got a glimpse of the hike up to Uhuru- no words to describe it. All I could exclaim was “That looks vertical!” The girls kept telling me, don’t look at it. Luckily the clouds quickly rolled in so that it was no longer visible. At this point, I was definitely feeling the altitude, a headache and deep breathes were very difficult. Kibo Hut was much different from the others, it was more like dorms. There were ten bunk beds smashed in a room with a large table. It was very eerie with daunting carvings on the walls, such as: “Lost my nuts here, if found call the Dutch Embassy” “Whoever sleeps in this bed will become mentally retarded” “You don’t want to know what I did in this bed” “Hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life- best of luck” & “*$%@ YOU KILI!” We were giving chai and cakei time to nap before dinner, then we were supposed to go straight to sleep. We were going to be woken at 11:00pm to chai, then start the 14 hour hike at 11:30. We shared the room with another group of four, 3 from S. Africa, and 1 from Kenya. We tried to sleep but the altitude made breathing labored and the glimpse I saw was still haunting me. I probably got about three hours before we were awoken. Tried to swallow some chai, covered my blisters, dressed in three pairs of pants, six layers on my torso, two mittens, a balaclava, hat, and headlamp. Water canteen stuffed in my parka, side pocket, and backpack. Camera zipped close to my body to keep warm. We needed help getting everything on- Joseph, George, and John helped us get our mittens on and zip us up- we felt like first graders again. From there we started our pole pole hike up the scree.

Day 4: From Kibo to Uhuru back to Kibo then to Horombo

So day four was started by climbing the steep scree- consisting of loose gravel and rocks. It was pitch black, I didn’t appreciate it until later, but I couldn’t see five feet in front of me. Joseph lead us followed by Kelzee, Katie, Amanda, me, then George and John. I got well acquainted with Amanda’s gaiters (water proofs). I could only stare at the endless rocks that Amanda was stepping on. Looking around, I did get a glimpse at the stars, SO MANY AND INCREDIBLE. But sadly I needed to concentrate on where I was stepping so I only got glimpses. I would everyonce in awhile look down towards what we had left behind. You could see Moshi (city near Kili) in the distance, way below. Very scary. The climb was so steep, and the dark left you guessing what would happen if you accidentally slipped. As we progressed up the scree so did my headache and along came the nausea. The maji (water) breaks weren’t quite ridding me of my aches, my back was hurting from my pack, my stomach was feeling worse. By the time we reached Hans Meyer’s Cave (about 5,100malt) I wanted to take some Tylenol, but of course I had my large mittens on so that was a challenge. So Joseph opened the bottle and allowed me to suck the pills off his hand, got my water our, opened the bottle, screwed the cap back on, and put it back. Pretty much all I needed to will myself to do was swallow. All maji breaks consisted of one of the guides getting my water our, unscrewing the cap, and putting it back. I was just helpless, I really wonder what I would’ve been like had I not taken diamox. I wasn’t the only one suffering or even the worse of the altitude sickness. Kelzee was also feeling the headache and nausea. Then there were those, such as Tim, that were affected my altitude sickness like no other. When we were leaving Han Meyer’s cave, Tim had just made it and curled up in the fetal position on the ground. It was quite frightening to see a grown man so crippled like that, when we had just seen him a little ago just fine. But I haven’t learned that it is a complete crap shot who, how, and to what degree someone is affected by altitude. It doesn’t matter at all your fitness, age, gender, weight, anyone can get it. I’m not sure all what Tim was feeling but I’ve heard that people can feel the weight of the world on their shoulders, splitting headache, and uncontrollable vomiting. And of course there is also the deadly cases of altitude sicknesses- pulmonary edema and cerebral edema (Fluid build up in lungs or brain) The only way to combat these is to descend as FAST AS YOU CAN. As much as diamox helps ease the minor aches of altitude sickness, I have also heard that it can cover up the serious signs of these two illnesses. Luckily there are major signs that distinguish these problems. If you are coughing up blood, most likely pulmonary edema. If you have a splitting headache, become uncoordinated, and have lost your sanity, most likely cerebral edema. No worries, I’m pretty sure I didn’t have either. Katie and Amanda were fairing well with the altitude, their main concern was the cold. HA kelzee and I had already forgotten it was cold, neither of us could think straight. It was like we were on drugs, I couldn’t pin point the pain, maybe due to the Tylenol but I was NOT feeling good. The second half up the scree only got worse. The last quarter was a boulder field, with no path, Joseph had to lead us up. All I could do was concentrate on where I was putting my foot next. Several moments, when the boulders were particulary challenging to climb, the adrenaline brought me to the brink of vomiting and my heart was pounding in my head, by I managed some how to keep it down. I almost wish I had allowed myself to vomit, I think I would have felt better. The only things that pulled me through this part of the climb was the fact that I was directly behind the girls and they weren’t stopping. So all I knew to do was to keep stepping. The last half Joseph also started to sing, “Panda mlima panda” (Climb the mountain, climb) It’s strange how the little things get you through. After what felt like an entirety (turned out to be 5 hours) we arrived at Gilman’s point (about 5,700m). This was the top of the scree. Here we met up with Nicky, they served us chai (the guides had carried up a thermos). Joseph gave us each hugs and then cookies for us to eat. I though I wanted the cookie, but that first bite was a bad idea. My stomach didn’t appreciate that, but I miraculously didn’t vomit, just felt miserable. We rested for about 5 minutes here and then continued. The climb now became much less physically challenging. At this point my memory becomes foggy, I was in my own world, all I could do was follow Amanda, I couldn’t even drink during the maji breaks, the sun was rising at this point and the view was spectacular but I couldn’t stop to appreciate it. I knew that we were almost there, just 300malt to go. We got our first glimpse of the glaciers in the distance- INCREDIBLE AGAIN, really indescribable. This also could be due to the fact that I wasn’t really comprehending what I was seeing at the time. While on the way to Uhuru Peak, we had to climb over some rocks. In one such stretch, Amanda stuck her pole in a hole between rocks and fell forward and broke her pole. It was quite a ridiculous scene, she was perfectly fine, and all she could say was “oh shot! Am I going to have to pay for that?” (of course with a Minnesotan accent) Her pole was now shorter but still useable- she just thought she would add some comic relief for Kelzee and I, who were in trances. Thanks Amanda. Then after about 2 or so hours of starring at Amanda’s gaiters, we reached Uhuru peak with about 20 other people (officially the tallest point in all of Africa 5,895 m, the fifth tallest mountain in the world, and tallest free-standing Mountain). It was surprisingly crowded. I snapped partially out of my trance somehow, just enough to get my camera out and take some pictures and pose by the sign. The colors flowed together making the view breathtaking (also an effect of the altitude). There was no snow on the ground but the dirt was this reddish orange that fading into the sunrise, the glaciers were a purplish gray that blending in with the sky. This point in my memory is like a dream, I was still out of it but trying to soak in all in. I only wish I could’ve been more coherent. I was able to tape a short video of the peak with a 360 view and an appearance of Kelzee, Amanda, Katie, and I, as proof. Joseph was trying to get us to leave, I think he was worried about Kelzee and I. Another side effect of the altitude is uncontrollable emotions. As I was standing next to Katie at Uhuru Peak, I started tearing up. It was really an incredible feat that this girl made it this far. A month ago, she was in a hospital hardly able to sit up, sick with a stubborn string of malaria, giardia, and a UTI. We were both losing it, until Kelzee, who was already crying, told us we couldn’t cry otherwise we wouldn’t be able to breathe. So I had to concentrate all my energy on not crying. We probably spent less then ten minutes at the top but all worth it. 

Will finish this up later. Got to go to bed. Tomorrow-my last full day in Africa. I’m going to miss it very much. As much as I miss home right now, I’ll miss Africa that much when I’m back in America.

The end is becoming tangible to me in more than one way. The past couple of days have been stressful as I try to cram in studying for ecology and human evolution test, as well as finishing up with my research project. These last three weeks have flown by. I have finally finished with my research project, so I know I’m willing to talk about it.

The three weeks we were in Tarangire, I would go into the park around 8 in the morning, we would pick up two rangers, and Jublet or Raimon would drive us to a site that had lots of elephant poop (mavi wa tembo) and footprints, most sites were next to the drying up Tarangire river. Most of the time, I shared drivers with Ben, who was doing his project on footprints our sites were easy to overlap so it wasn’t an issue. By the end of the time in Tarangire not only could I tell you the average volume of elephant dung and were you are most likely to find the highest concentrations, I could identify most of the footprints in the park. The elephants’ tracks were massive- my favorite. You could see the wrinkles of their feet in the track. Cat prints were always exciting to find. My research entitled me to take dimensions of elephant dung to calculate volume, measure the ground coverage of the dung pile, and make any other observation that was pertinent to the interaction of elephant dung and Tarangire’s ecosystem. One lucky day, I gathered fresh samples of elephant dung in plastic bags (with latex gloves- don’t worry). However, elephant dung is not as awful as it sounds. I think dung gets a bad wrap, just because humans’ is so toxic. But the elephants’ digestive systems are so inefficient that the grasses, bark, and seeds they consume comes out almost hole just a different color. The smell wasn’t bad, I’d say the only down side were all the bugs around the dung. The day I had to get fresh dung, Jubelet, my ranger, and I sat watching a herd of elephants, waiting for them to poop. When we got impatient, my ranger and I got out of the land cruiser and walked around the herd to where they had come from and found plenty of fresh stools lying around. It was crazy to be on the ground with nothing to separating me and the elephants. It was exhilarating watching them eat, swish their tails, waddle over to another patch of grass, and hear them sigh, while I was standing of the same ground, both of us aware of the other’s presence.

            The next day that I had to collect fresh dung, Jubelet and I went off-roading (technically not allowed in the national park) to get closer to a herd. He then had to rev his engine to get the herd to back up far enough away so that I could safely get out of the car and obtain the newly deposited feces. Jubelet loved to pull up to the dung so that it was next to his window and laugh at me while I scooped the juicy dung into a bag. This day was one of the most memorable days because while gathering this sample I looked around me and realized that we were completely surrounded by zebra, wildebeest, and elephants- and they didn’t seem to mind us.

            Another memorable experience in the park was a herd of unhappy elephants. This day Ben, Kelsey, and I were collecting our data within the Tarangire riverbed, when a herd of, ten or so, elephants comes along the side of the river. They were on the higher ground of the river bank and we were below. They began to descend, and we kept backing up but they were decreasing the distance at a faster pace than seemingly possibly. Even though they are so big and heavy they cover a lot of distance in one slow stride. So Ben, Kelsey, and I ran down the river and up a bank, while our ranger made noise at the elephants to scare them. The herd didn’t like this and picked up speed, so our ranger then took the safety off his gun, not only to shot in the air to scare them away (at last resort) but to frighten them away by the sound of the safety being taken off. This luckily worked and the herd ran it to the other side of the river, just as scared as we were of them. 

            I was feeling the adrenaline of that for the rest of the day. But the day wasn’t over. We returned to the park after lunch, and started work at another site. This time it was Ben, Sarah, and I, we were working in another dry riverbed. While Sarah was helping me with some measurements, Ben was head down crouched over a section of tracks. Sarah and I didn’t notice anything until we heard our ranger taking the safety off again. This time a lone male Cape buffalo was starring Ben down, he was a good 25 meters away but still 23 meters too close. Again we were lucky and he pranced away. But it really can’t get anymore dangerous than a lone male Cape buffalo, probably defending his territory. They are the most dangerous animals in Tanzania. They are about the size of a large bull, but with massive thick horns. During this same outing to the park, I also happened to step on a aardvark den and it growled at me, but didn’t come out. We decided to finish early during this session of research since I was lacking the ability to look at the ground in fear of what ever was next. So we explored the area, climbing up escarpments, getting a great view of the park and the riverbed, climbing trees and termite mounds. It was really a treat to be able to do see and be free on the ground opposed to driving around in a car. To be on the ground and walking around was thrilling- not knowing what the park was going to reveal that day. Tarangire National Park will always be very special to me and I miss now while I’m still in Tanzania.

            Now with just three days left of the program, all that is left are the presentations and goodbyes. Tomorrow is Thursday, and most people are through with their papers and will be finishing up their posters, so that we can all go to the beach to relax. Friday we will be having a poster presentation and a party at our director’s house afterwards. Then Saturday I pack and prepare to leave for Moshi on Sunday. In Moshi we will stay at a hotel where we await our climb to the top of the roof of Africa. Monday is the day before the start and we are hoping to do some hikes to see some waterfalls. Then Tuesday we begin our ascent up kili, Thursday night around midnight we will be summiting to see the sunrise on the top of kili (about 5,900 m above sea level). Then it will take us another two to get down the mountain. Right now, this doesn’t seem real and I don’t know exactly what I’m getting myself into since I’ve before climbed a mountain.

            But as of right now, I’m savoring the time I have with the friends that are leaving on sat. it will be hard saying goodbye, not know when or if I’ll ever see them again. This trip has gone so fast and I’m still trying to grasp its reality. This only makes returning home more difficult. As much as I am looking forward to being home again, I’m nervous about not being with the people I’ve grown so close to because their presence here is so real and their absence when I’m home will be so foreign. But I’m glad to have Amanda at olaf with me J we unknowingly registered for two of four of the same classes for second semester. How could we not when the courses were: Conservation Biology and Issues with Conservation in Developing Countries. I’m excited to be able to bring knowledge from this trip to those classes, especially with Amanda.  

The other day while I was at the swimming pool, I met several people on the UDSM (University of Dar es Salaam) swim team. They invited me to a swim meet on Sat. At first I was thinking yeah right. But I got to thinking about it and decided why the hell not. I convinced Kirsten, another girl from my program, to join me. So today, I swam with their team at their national swim meet. The majority of swimmers were under the age of 15 and weren’t actually africans. They seemed to come from everywhere. It was a great experience. It was strange to see these small kids at the swim meet just like that of America. And was neat to see how things can be so different yet so similar at the same time. There were four girls of the UDSM team. Two of the girls were TZ, Josephine and Azia. It was really fun to swim with them, even though they were clearly not competitive swimmers but became competitive when it came down to the relays. There were no starting blocks and to start the race the official would slam to slabs of wood together. It worked quite efficiently. The timing system was stop watches. The timer for our team (I had met at practice the other day) told me that he had decided to time, instead of swim, so that he could cheat when giving the times to the official so we wouldn’t win TOO handedly. It turns out the officials didn’t need any help with adjusting the times/points (got to love TZ bureaucracy). Our team ended up in third; and my three wins turned into third places, but really I wasn’t there to win. However some of the guys on the team made a fuss. Afterwards, Kirsten and I got a ride back with Iman (a dad on the swim team that had brought his kid along, very nice guy) with Azia and Josephine. We stopped to grab a bite to eat. The rest of the team showed up and gave me a gold medal that they had somehow managed to get for me.

At the meet, I meet a TZ Olympic swimmer. He had been training for awhile and had a good stroke but clearly not NEAR American Olympian swimming standards. He was really nice and wanted to know what I thought of his swims. It was really cool to be able to connect with people here that have the same passion as me. I miss swimming like nothing else.

            HAHAHA!! As I’m writing this, I received a text from Kirsten saying she saw me on TV swimming. It turns out that there was a TV station at the meet and I ended up on a Tanzanian new broadcast! WOW it’s absolutely ridiculous, HILARIOUS. This seems to be my 15 minutes of fame, better it soak in ;)

What a great Tanzanian day.

Soap vs. Dirt

            This morning while washing clothes, I kept adding more and more soap. My clothes do smell a little better, but I really wonder if this method of washing really works. I’m have a new appreciation for the clean clothes on the backs of the university students. They are all dressed very formally and very clean. It has become clear to me that I’m just not as skilled as those that live here and that being out in the field for a month has take a toll on my clothes. I also find it difficult to wash my clothes in buckets that have holes in them- all but one. I’m not sure how they do it at my house. No matter the number of rinses, the clothes still manages to turn the water a creamy brown, a mix of a lot of dirt and a lot of soap. In the end neither wins and I end up smelling neutral. The task of hang drying your clothes in the rainy season is a tricky one. A friend of mine had her clothes drying for over 48 hours and still hadn’t dried. It was a combination between the constant heavy humidity and her host brother who thought it would be funny to douse her clothes in water. I’m thankful that I don’t have that issue. Although with my luck I manage to wash my clothes the day it rains, so drying takes extra long. 

            Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m going to miss about Tanzania since my time here is almost up. I’ve been very bipolar about this whole going home situation. There are times when I want to go home so badly. For instance, after seeing that my swim team beat the gusties (girls by only 2 points, even without a diving team!!!! while the boys frankly slaughtered them) But then I get all sentimental walking around campus. I’m going to miss the way the world is so intertwined with the environment here. It’s more like nature guides the organization of the human world here. It’s true this comes with down falls- no air conditioning but being in this climate with the amazing trees and flowers is heaven on earth. I have even come to enjoy the dar campus much more peaceful than downtown dar. I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this topic when it comes closer to my time to leave. that’s all for now.

We’re all getting very psyched about climbing kili. Just nine days now and we’ll be on the mt. On thanksgiving day, instead of stuffing my turkey this year, I’ll be struggling to summit the tallest mt in Africa!!! Very excited

Miss you all!

About a month ago our break was ending, and we had meet up with everyone else in Arusha at the giraffe motel (doesn’t deserve capitalization). The room Amanda and I stayed in was supposed to me a triple. A triple, by their standard, was to make a full size bed the other way, so you would sleep perpendicular to the normal position and either your feet or head would hang off. The bathroom door couldn’t open all the way because the toilet was in the way. Amanda and I started a new system of rating hotel rooms- how far the bathroom door could open, you would be surprised. But from the giraffe, we went to karatu- a dusty red town. Our hostel was my favorite (although the bathroom didn’t close), all the rooms were named after some fruit and were painted bright colors, the water was hot, and the beds were big enough. The next day (my bierthday) we went on a day safari in Lake Manyara National Park. This park is located right next to the escarpment, which is part of the African Rift Valley. Having a geology professor as the director is amazing- as we drive along the country within and around the East African Rift Valley, He would explain to us about the amazing geology of the area (which is a lot)

Within the park, the first animals we saw were a herd of elephants on the side of the road eating and completely ignoring our gawking. We saw many more of them throughout the day. We also saw many impala, cape buffalo, and zebra. We were able to get out and take pictures of the hippo pool. The hippos were all standing around in the mud, with only their faces above the surface with flocks of pelicans all around. I never imagined that the animals were live so integrated as they seem to do. They all congregate together, especially the wildebeest and zebra. If you see a herd of one you’ll most likely see a herd of the other. They follow each other and intermingle. This way the two are able to detect the presence of a predator faster, I’m guessing. It is also common to see warthogs somewhere nearby as well.

This day was our first experience in a land cruiser and NOT the last. We have spent hours upon hours in those land cruisers- I’m very grateful that I don’t get motion sickness. The roads in the national parks are all dirt and VERY BUMPY (I’ve come to appreciate the roads in America-even the bad ones). But I really enjoyed all the rides, I remember one night as we were all trying to sleep in the dry heat of Tarangire, and I still felt like I was in the car. After a four hour drive- especially the car ride to Oldupai Gorge and Laetoli- you would be exhausted because you were constantly trying to balance yourself. We called it “active sitting”. I was very impressed with the cars and couldn’t believe we got through the month without getting stuck anywhere. There was one time that the safari vehicle over heated in Tarangire Park but I was already where I needed to be to do research, so Jubelet (one of our drivers, very intimidating figure because he used to be in the Tanzanian Army but his personality very mellow and friendly) and a park ranger walked to get water to cool the engine. Jubelet would always joke about going to the safari lodge nearby to go swimming instead of doing research in the park on the hot days, one time we even drove an hour out of the way to find out how much it would cost to swim. But we never got around to it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. After Lake Manyara, we drove to the Serengeti via a road on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, this meant that we had to stop at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate and pay to drive inside and to pay for all the days we would be staying there. Everything cost something. The national parks and conservation areas suck all the money out of you. Each person is a fee, each car, each driver, each day, each pass through the gate. It’s quite an ordeal. We spent lots of time waiting in parking lots while Bereket and our TZ professors tried to figure out everything. This year was especially ridiculous because the rules were changing, we had to pay for a lot more than they had expected. I really think that this program won’t last much longer because it is getting to be so expensive to do all this traveling and camping in touristy areas. Tourism is a huge aspect of their economy so they get whatever they can and will charge you crazy if you aren’t a TZ citizen. But all the money is supposedly going to helping conservation within the National Parks, at least I hope so.

            The rode from Ngorongoro crater to Serengeti National Park was not really a road and the dust was awful. It was necessary to hold a handkerchief to your nose and mouth. We spent three days in Serengeti National Park. The park is just part of the widely known Serengeti district of TZ. We saw lions, one leopard (rare to see during the day, he was just hanging out in a tree), a cheetah and cub, more hippos, MANY giraffes (my favorite), warthogs, hyenas, some sweet birds of prey, vultures, topi (a large gazelle), hartebeest (another large gazelle-hilarious to see run, it looked like they were on pogo sticks), MANY zebra, wildebeest, and cape buffalo. Even more Grant’s gazelle and Thompson’s gazelle. And of course more elephants. One evening we stop to watch a pride of eight lions, three cubs, play. It took self restraint to not jump down from the car and play with them. Each day in the Serengeti we would eat breakfast (all meals were at a small restaurant within the park) go on a morning safari, return for lunch, return to camp for a couple hours- I napped, it’s amazing how tiring riding in the cars are, then back out for another safari at around 4 when most animals were feeding. Serengeti national park is massive and very flat. The plains are relatively lush (compared to Tarangire); it rained each day around four. There were out croppings of rocks called kopjes, we were able to get out, climb around, get an amazing view, and look for Maasai rock paintings. The Serengeti is where the Maasai had been living until the government kicked them out and gave them the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. However the NCA is a completely different terrain from the flat Serengeti plains, so they have become dependent on agriculture as a means of livelihood. Agriculture became important as their lands were taking away and a nomadic lifestyle was no longer feasible. Several of my fellow ACMers, did projects concerning the Maasai and the controversy concerning their allowed areas of habitation.

            My favorite part of the Serengeti safari’s was the drive around 8, when driving is not technically allowed in the park, but we were heading back to our campsite after dinner. We encountered four giraffe running across the road, a pack of hyena, a hippo crossing the road, and the stars- unbelievable. One night on the way back to camp we came across a cape buffalo just about 50m away from our campsite. They are the most dangerous animals in TZ, we were all very jumpy that night. We weren’t allowed to go wandering at night and we had to keep a look out for snakes. There were several nights that we saw eyes looking at us. Quite creepy. We would also find large fresh piles of dung near our tent in the morning. After three days of safari’s we split 7 to Tarangire and 15 to malaria-infested Endulen- little did they know what wait from them there.

There is much to write about but i don't really have the time because i have no idea when the internet will cut out again. so i'll tell you what is going on right now:
i'm an staying an a campsite about 7km outside of tarangire national park. the past couple of weeks i've gone into the park and collected data on my project (more of that later, frankly i don't want to have to think about it since i do a lot of that when working on my research paper) as of right now i am finished collecting data and now am just writing my paper, as long as my laptop has battery. there are seven of us at the tarangire campsite (amanda, kelzee, sarah, kelsey, ben and david) we spend lots of time playing cards and sitting around and talking. i've become really close with the others here at tarangire and will be sad to part with the home we have made for ourselves. bereket and his family have made several trips to the other campsite (endulen about three and half hour drive) or to arusha (for the fam to stay in a hotel- the little ones are kind of getting sick of the camping lifestyle) so we have had a lot of independence. we do have supervision by a tanzanian guy that is supposed to be helping us but he's extremely lazy, and mainly hangs out with the cooks and drivers. so we have a lot of time together alone. all of us get along really well.
last week one of the tarangire crew , ben, was supposed to switch to the endulen campsite to do research at the laetoli site near there. but two days later he returned because all the people there were getting sick so they thought it would be best if he returned to tarangire. we were all very happy to see him return. all except for 2 of the 15 at endulen have contracted malaria and many have also gotten giardia (wikipedia it), worms, and/or a UTI. one of the two that didn't get malaria got worms. they think they got the worms from living behind a hospital next to where they keep their spetic tank. their toilet is a hole dug in the ground with a board and a hole cut in it. they don't have showers and the nights are freezing. we are very lucky at tarangire. we have running water all the time. even hot showers. only one of us has gotten sick with malaria, and there isn't supposed to be malaria here (david got malaria before he got here but it just revealed itself here- consisted of two days of nausea, due to the meds he was on, and aches, then another two more days of exhaustion, aches and pains). the endulen are surprisingly in good spirits, says ben.  i'm glad they don't know what it's like here at tarangire. we are clearly living it up with amazing food, hot showers, and established squatty pottys.

because all the students at endulen are getting sick, they think there is an outbreak of malaria there, even some of the tanzanian cooks are getting malaria. actually some of the students are on their second round of malaria. malaria is easy enough to treat when you are living right next to the hospital. they get themselve checked so that they can catch it early enough. then it's just taking a round of medication. you are mainly just tired and achy. other's weren't as fortunate, four of the 15 are on IVs at the hospital probably a combination between dehydration, malaria, and whatever else they got there.
again we are all very happy ben came back to tarangire. we call ourselves The Secret Seven (a childrens book david picked up in dar that he read aloud to us) it was ridiculously translated. we all find it quite funny how easy it is to entertain us now. euchre, nerts, soltaire, hearts, and cribbage comsume our spare time- i'm hoping the cards survive the next two weeks.

the first few weeks we felt ver helpless and lazy because the cooks wouldn't let us help them. no they allow us to wash the dishes although.

i'm happy and healthy here at tarangire, i can't really complain about the hot days. even though i've never sweat this much before, from 10 30 to 6 at night it's hard to do anything other than sit, but then you get so tired of sitting we all go stir crazy. but we are all having a great time so the weeks go fast even though the days go slow.

the other day we all watched the stars together. amanda had a program on her computer that revealed the star constellations, all you need to know is the longitude and latitude. the stars are so bright. the next morning i woke up early enough and peaked outside to see an amazing sunrise so i got kelzee and amanda up (sarah was already up- she's always up to see the sunrise ) it was incredible how fast the sky changes even though you can't see it move. the sun popped up so fast. it was really nice just to sit and watch the sunrise with those girls. things are going really well and i think the last three weeks in dar will go fast. after seeing so much more of tz i have realized how much i hate dar. dirty and crowded and noisy. the campus is better but nothing compared to out here. i'll for sure miss it.

i'm getting more and more pumped to climb kili. amanda and kelzee, the girls i share a tent with, are really climbing kili with me, as well as katie (she is in endulen, sadly on an IV with malaria and a UTI) hopefully she'll still be up to it. i'm really glad that i'm climbing kili with amanda and kelzee i've gotten to know them really well and enjoy them.

things are really going well. we do often think of home and miss it but talking and laughing about all the stupid little things we miss makes things better (such as a coach to sit on, toilet with tp, salads, veggies, apples, soymilk, the fall leaves, cold nights with heavy blankets, clean feet) but it's hard not to appreciate the nature we are in right now.

before coming on this trip, i was told that humor helps to adjusting to life in a different culture. that couldn't be more true. the tarangire crew has come up with the acronym T.I.A. it stands for This is Africa to explain any ridiculous situation.

p.s. the other day we saw a bus company with the logo of a child with grey hair bottle feeding a baby bunny. then over it said "solidarity forver"
that's just a small example of the strange/ridiculous/hilarious things i have seen. TIA
 

Making our way to Arusha

Our one week break has been amazing- Amanda and I left on Friday morning for pangani. We first took a bus leaving dar and headed towards tanga, we got off at muheza, a small scrappy junction town on the way to Tanga. It was really sketchy getting dropped off on a dirt road with one small bus stand. When we had initially asked if there was a bus going to Pangani, the guy told us just to wait. We finally found out that no there was no bus going to pangani today, but tomorrow yes. We were not planning on spending a night in this town, luckily we asked around and found a daladala going to pangani. Afte traveling for awhile in the back of this opened seated truck, we figured that it was most likely transported cargo. They unloaded rice and other goods, as we made our way on a dirt road, checking the front right tire every once in awhile to make sure it was still there. After three hours (only supposed to be one and a half), we were in Pangani. A twon was really small but our resort was very nice. It was owned by a couple from South Africa, both were white and have lived in Africa all their lives-Gail and Carl. They had been in the safari hunting business, as well as, running lodges in different national parks. They were quite the pair, with lots of stories. We heard lots about how the tourism business is run in Tanzania and a lot about trophy hunting. On sat, Gail, Amanda and I took a boat ten km off the coast to a Maziwe Marine Reserve island. The island was all sand- no trees, no rocks. We snorkeled off the boat very close to the island and saw tons of large, colorful fish, big coral, and TWO SEA TURTLES!!!! The island used to be a sea turtle breeding ground. We also saw two eels- creepy. That night we ate at the resorts restaurant, Amanda and I being the only two guests at the resort, our waiter had dinner with us. Amazing food! I have definitely learned to love Indian food. We talked more with carl and gail, they showed us pictures of their lodge in katavi national park.

Power just went out. Lost a lot of my writing. Don’t have a lot of time left to write and the power is running on a generator. It’s funny how things like this don’t phase me anymore. Oh well…it’s Tanzania. We’ve gotten used to it by now. My patience has really been pushed to its limits. I’m hoping I’ll come back with a lot more. I bet my mother will b happy for that :)

Alright back to where I left off… they were quite the pair. Amanda and I took a daladala, with twenty other people squashed in like no other for hour and a half. Got to tanga, hassled by the guys there that tried to give us taxi or bus rides. Finally got on another four hour bus ride to mombo, righ below the usambara mts. Another bus ride up the mts. I had never seen mts before so these were incredible. Lush, and HUGE. We both lovd lushoto, certainly my favorite place in TZ. The people were calmer, the food deicious (banana shakes) the hostel was adorable, and we had hot water. We hiked up to irente viewpoint, breathtaking. On the way up I managed to trip and fall into the shoulder of the road and cover myself in red dirt- very inconspicuous. There were several children watching, they all felt very sorry for me and decided to walk the rest of the way with us. Whenever people passed they pointed at me and asked if I had fallen, it was quite hilarious. They were all very sorry.

Well I for sure broke in my hiking boots J

The hike up the mt was gorgeous, fog was everywhere and the plants so green. For lord of the rings fans- I reminded me very much of some of the forests in the movie.

We stopped at Irente farm and had a picnic lunch, delicious homemade cheese, milk, jam, juice, and bread. As we were eating a flock of silvery cheeked hornbills flew in and perched on a near by tree. Really crazy looking things. We also saw a chameleon- got a great picture I know you’ll like mom.

So much more to write about but little time, it’s starting to get dark and we have to find a place to eat, then get back to our motel before.  

Hope all is well at home and I’ll be thinking of you all while out in Tarangire.

Jamie

I seem to be making up for my lack of writing in the past with all my entrys now. But come Sept 18th I probably won't get internet until i return around November 1st.  So here goes another long stream of consciousness:

In the past couple of days I’ve thought a lot about what I really want to get out of this experience and how I will change. This has caused me to reflect a lot on the differences between life here and life in America. I notice even small things such as the pace of people walking here. While hurrying back to my dorm because my roommate was locked out, I was stopped in my tracks by a group of women moving at literally snail pace up a hill. They were spread across the entire sidewalk as they inched made their way up. They seemed not too even notice the people behind them or that they were taking up the whole sidewalk. I had to step off the path and walk around them. I’m sure they thought I was rude because I rushed past without saying any type of greeting. This walking pace would not be tolerated on St. Olaf campus; I know I’m not the only one that hates getting stuck behind a slow poke on the way to class or the cafe. The slower pace here could be due to the fact that classes haven’t started here, so they assume there is no where you need to be at a specified time. Another factor I know is the heat. The campus is really hilly and walking up the big hill always causes me to work up a sweat and I’m usually the fastest moving person, passing just about everyone. Africans don’t like to move too fast- why sweat when you can just walk slower. An integral virtue that I find very useful here, that I happen to lack, is patience. We have learned to not to go certain places for breakfast because you won’t make it to class on time. Class is the one that you can’t be late to. It’s a difficult to fit in with the culture when they don’t work together. While trying to sit patiently waiting for breakfast at the Kiswahili department restaurant, you know the Kiswahili professor is upset that you aren’t in class on time. It’s not an issue of getting to the restaurant too late either, we get their when it opens but you sometimes wait twenty minutes before you order. So it just has to be avoided even though it serves the best and most filling chapati. But really it's more than just breakfast, it's classes (always seem to go over), going to places (walking slower and stopping to talk to everyone), the lack of organization in adminstration of classes/entire university. You can't really count on anything- ATMs and internet are unreliable. i keep that saying that which seems to contradict the fact that i update this blog, but when you are trying to find time to do research you never seem to have enough time.
 

            As i sit trying to not to be upset with my roommate, whom made me rush back (from a lunch with a prof) to give her the key, I was compelled to write this entry.  . Yes- we were only given one of the two keys. It can be a hassle at times. The warden doesn’t understand that we find it an extreme inconvenience to only have one key. My American roommate has her own agenda and gets upset when she gets locked out. While I know I too get annoyed when I’m locked out, we have to deal with the fact that we have different schedules and we will need to cooperate. These situations make me appreciate the African way of just going and doing something else or waiting patiently. Instead, I had to pass up the opportunity to go to Mwenge (local market) and bar with a visiting Professor that specializes in my research topic.

            Again I'm reminded of patience as I wait for a professor to return my research proposal, taking him about a week. Still haven’t gotten it and it was due Sunday night- it’s Monday afternoon. Luckily, Bereket (our director) understands the African way of life and is very flexible about due dates- they much more like guidelines.

     We just had a lecture by a professor from Carleton College (the one I had lucnch with). He will be returning in November with eight other students to collect as much information on the growing tourism industry and to find out exactly where all the tourism money is going. He was here for just a couple days and was able to divulge information about the trophy hunting industry. Trophy hunting, also called safari hunting, is the wealthy paying big money to kill the big game and bring home the skins, tusks, or head of their kill. For a lion it’s around $50,000. Not only are lions hunted but elephants, rhinos, etc. This allotted money is given to a safari outfitter, none of which are Tanzanian, and then the company pays the Tanzanian government for a license (only around $2,000). The privileged person is given three weeks to track their animal and kill it. During the hunt, if the animal is successfully killed, some of the money goes to the Tanzanian government, but if not the money stays with the safari outfitter. I had no previous knowledge of this practice and was completely appalled. Not only are these animals scarse to begin with, there is a complete lack of reasoning behind these killings other than for sport. I thought that it was illegal to hunt big game carnivores like lions and especially the soon to be endangered elephant. The Carleton professor predicts that within twenty years we will no longer have viable populations of carnivores. Just about all of us wanted to change our project to help him with his research. I was very fortunate to be able to talk with him over lunch and discuss my project on the human and elephant conflict. This was a great help to me, since the African professors here (at least the ones I’ve met) don’t give you the time of day. I’ve been having issues with what exactly I want to be quantifying and researching. He helped me to narrow my research down to just investigating one village and their history of elephant conflict. I will be taking in about all the information I can learn about their life: farming techniques, family size, home size, methods of income, population density, crops, and dealings with elephants. I will be doing more like a case study to figure out this villages vulnerabilities to elephants. Tomorrow Amanda and I will hopefully talk with him more. 

I have been making plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, this means i'll be staying until dec. 3rd or so. A group of four of us have found a cheap outfitter to do the Marangu Hut route. We had intially didn't want to do the hut route, we wanted to stay in tents- but for $300 cheaper it's a better idea. It will be a six day climb, we will summit of the 4th day. Kili is the tallest mountain on the continent and is known as the roof of Africa. That sounds ominous for an inexperienced climber, like myself (haven't even seen mountains) but many people of a range of abilities climb and reach the Uhuru Peak (the top about 19,000  ft) The guide books claim you really only need to be in somewhat good of shape, and this is good motivation for me to stay in shape for swimming as well.
Speaking of swimming, the pool here is really hopeless. Today a few of the people in my group went to swim. Something broke in the pumps and it's more like a pond. oh well i've been running in the morning. the sun is up at six along with most people so i find myself waking up then anyways so i just run down to the dirt track that surrounds a futbol field (soccer). school kids walk past and stare as well as the other people up running mainly younger men. None really know what to think when they see younger women running (there are several of us that go in the morning). 
Getting up early to run also makes the showers much more enjoyable- i've actually have been enjoying the cold showers.
I'm sad to be missing the US open.... I'll be cheering for Federer from here all the same! Wish i could see him dominate, GO FEDERER!
Jamie

I seem to be making up for my lack of writing in the past with all my entrys now. But come Sept 18th I probably won't get internet until i return around November 1st.  So here goes another long stream of consciousness:

In the past couple of days I’ve thought a lot about what I really want to get out of this experience and how I will change. This has caused me to reflect a lot on the differences between life here and life in America. I notice even small things such as the pace of people walking here. While hurrying back to my dorm because my roommate was locked out, I was stopped in my tracks by a group of women moving at literally snail pace up a hill. They were spread across the entire sidewalk as they inched made their way up. They seemed not too even notice the people behind them or that they were taking up the whole sidewalk. I had to step off the path and walk around them. I’m sure they thought I was rude because I rushed past without saying any type of greeting. This walking pace would not be tolerated on St. Olaf campus; I know I’m not the only one that hates getting stuck behind a slow poke on the way to class or the cafe. The slower pace here could be due to the fact that classes haven’t started here, so they assume there is no where you need to be at a specified time. Another factor I know is the heat. The campus is really hilly and walking up the big hill always causes me to work up a sweat and I’m usually the fastest moving person, passing just about everyone. Africans don’t like to move too fast- why sweat when you can just walk slower. An integral virtue that I find very useful here, that I happen to lack, is patience. We have learned to not to go certain places for breakfast because you won’t make it to class on time. Class is the one that you can’t be late to. It’s a difficult to fit in with the culture when they don’t work together. While trying to sit patiently waiting for breakfast at the Kiswahili department restaurant, you know the Kiswahili professor is upset that you aren’t in class on time. It’s not an issue of getting to the restaurant too late either, we get their when it opens but you sometimes wait twenty minutes before you order. So it just has to be avoided even though it serves the best and most filling chapati. But really it's more than just breakfast, it's classes (always seem to go over), going to places (walking slower and stopping to talk to everyone), the lack of organization in adminstration of classes/entire university. You can't really count on anything- ATMs and internet are unreliable. i keep that saying that which seems to contradict the fact that i update this blog, but when you are trying to find time to do research you never seem to have enough time.
 

            As i sit trying to not to be upset with my roommate, whom made me rush back (from a lunch with a prof) to give her the key, I was compelled to write this entry.  . Yes- we were only given one of the two keys. It can be a hassle at times. The warden doesn’t understand that we find it an extreme inconvenience to only have one key. My American roommate has her own agenda and gets upset when she gets locked out. While I know I too get annoyed when I’m locked out, we have to deal with the fact that we have different schedules and we will need to cooperate. These situations make me appreciate the African way of just going and doing something else or waiting patiently. Instead, I had to pass up the opportunity to go to Mwenge (local market) and bar with a visiting Professor that specializes in my research topic.

            Again I'm reminded of patience as I wait for a professor to return my research proposal, taking him about a week. Still haven’t gotten it and it was due Sunday night- it’s Monday afternoon. Luckily, Bereket (our director) understands the African way of life and is very flexible about due dates- they much more like guidelines.

     We just had a lecture by a professor from Carleton College (the one I had lucnch with). He will be returning in November with eight other students to collect as much information on the growing tourism industry and to find out exactly where all the tourism money is going. He was here for just a couple days and was able to divulge information about the trophy hunting industry. Trophy hunting, also called safari hunting, is the wealthy paying big money to kill the big game and bring home the skins, tusks, or head of their kill. For a lion it’s around $50,000. Not only are lions hunted but elephants, rhinos, etc. This allotted money is given to a safari outfitter, none of which are Tanzanian, and then the company pays the Tanzanian government for a license (only around $2,000). The privileged person is given three weeks to track their animal and kill it. During the hunt, if the animal is successfully killed, some of the money goes to the Tanzanian government, but if not the money stays with the safari outfitter. I had no previous knowledge of this practice and was completely appalled. Not only are these animals scarse to begin with, there is a complete lack of reasoning behind these killings other than for sport. I thought that it was illegal to hunt big game carnivores like lions and especially the soon to be endangered elephant. The Carleton professor predicts that within twenty years we will no longer have viable populations of carnivores. Just about all of us wanted to change our project to help him with his research. I was very fortunate to be able to talk with him over lunch and discuss my project on the human and elephant conflict. This was a great help to me, since the African professors here (at least the ones I’ve met) don’t give you the time of day. I’ve been having issues with what exactly I want to be quantifying and researching. He helped me to narrow my research down to just investigating one village and their history of elephant conflict. I will be taking in about all the information I can learn about their life: farming techniques, family size, home size, methods of income, population density, crops, and dealings with elephants. I will be doing more like a case study to figure out this villages vulnerabilities to elephants. Tomorrow Amanda and I will hopefully talk with him more. 

I have been making plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, this means i'll be staying until dec. 3rd or so. A group of four of us have found a cheap outfitter to do the Marangu Hut route. We had intially didn't want to do the hut route, we wanted to stay in tents- but for $300 cheaper it's a better idea. It will be a six day climb, we will summit of the 4th day. Kili is the tallest mountain on the continent and is known as the roof of Africa. That sounds ominous for an inexperienced climber, like myself (haven't even seen mountains) but many people of a range of abilities climb and reach the Uhuru Peak (the top about 19,000  ft) The guide books claim you really only need to be in somewhat good of shape, and this is good motivation for me to stay in shape for swimming as well.
Speaking of swimming, the pool here is really hopeless. Today a few of the people in my group went to swim. Something broke in the pumps and it's more like a pond. oh well i've been running in the morning. the sun is up at six along with most people so i find myself waking up then anyways so i just run down to the dirt track that surrounds a futbol field (soccer). school kids walk past and stare as well as the other people up running mainly younger men. None really know what to think when they see younger women running (there are several of us that go in the morning). 
Getting up early to run also makes the showers much more enjoyable- i've actually have been enjoying the cold showers.
I'm sad to be missing the US open.... I'll be cheering for Federer from here all the same! Wish i could see him dominate, GO FEDERER!
Jamie

Greetings from TZ!

            We have a Kiswahili test every two weeks that includes an essay. This past essay was to write 150 words about our class. And I chose to write about (or more like tried) our small groups. But writing group I misspelled groups (makundi) and wrote “mikundu” which means “anuses” My teacher sure got a laugh out of that. HAHAHAHA kind of important distinction.

            Other than small language mishaps things have been going smoothly. I have settled in well at the dormitory at the University of Dar. We have now entered the short rainy season, this has been apparent with the random down pouring about twice or three times a day. The nights have also gotten cooler while the days hotter. I’m sitting right now in front of the administration building under an umbrella listening to Paul Simon’s Under African Skies. The stray cats are dashing under tables as the rain starts coming down harder.

The campus is now much smaller than I initially thought. It’s strange how areas shrink over time as you become more and more familiar. Everyday for classes, we trek across campus a fifteen minute walk to class up and down hills. It usually isn’t that hot at eight in the morning but when climbing the hills with a backpack it’s hard not to work up a sweat- good training for Kilimanjaro. Breakfast is normally chapati (thin fried bread- like a pancake but not as sweet, usually dipped in chai as well as sugar if you’re a mzungu) with a samosa (meat wrapped in bread fried). It was difficult to get used to such fried foods so early in the morning but my stomach is slowly adjusting. I’ve been one of the luckier ones. There are just a few things that I avoid, such as the fruit juice in the cafe. Kiswahili class starts at 8:30 and is now only two hours (one hr of lecture by Shani and one hr tutor) We all really like our Kiswahili teacher, Shani. She shocks our class by all that she divulges from her personal life and the Kiswahili language/culture. We also have tutors: Futuma, Peter, Bernadette, and Jackson. So far I’ve had all but Jackson and I have enjoyed all. It’s great to really get to know these tutors since they can teach you the “proper” way of doing things; as well as what, where, and when to do things around Dar. Shani has offered to teach us how to make batiks (special fabric for clothing).

            Our human evolution class was taught by Prof. Mabulla- my (and most others) favorite teacher here so far. He is a small, soft spoken man with small dark eyes. He speaks very good English, which is a must when teaching evolution. It’s amazing how much I have learned from his class. We had it for a two week two hours a day because he will be out of the country on some sort of business. He seems to be a very knowledgeable and respected man within the archeology world. We have finished all our lectures here at the university but we will get lectures in the field in the Serengeti, Laetoli, Olvodai Gorge, and other places. Laetoli is the site of the footprints of two bipedal beings possible three discovered by Mary Leakey. Although the footprints are covered to keep preserved Mabulla is on a committee trying to recover the footprints to better preserve them as well as uncover a small part for researching and tourist reasons. Olvodai Gorge has layers of the aged world with many stone tools that help to distinguish between the eras of time and the speciation of the Homo genus. We are all really excited to get out into the field to see all that he has been teaching us.

            In ecology, it’s another story. I been very frustrated with the professor, Jonathan Kabigulma. I was most looking forward to this course and I saw so much potential in a course titled Ecology of the Maasai Steppe. But so far he has only taught general ecology principles such as population control, intra- and interspecific competition-which most if not all people have been taught in previous courses. He goes extremely slow and gives examples of these principles from humans or animals not in Tanzania. He also likes to go on tangents about past experiences within our program that seem slightly sexist. I came here knowing that this could be issues concerning women’s role but I thought I would be able to just ignore it. I have been able to mainly but it’s very difficult when he compares girlfriends to grass- “Anybody can have a piece.” His view of women is that a seductress. His view of marriage (a common topic in class, mainly referred to as wedlock) is of constricting bond that men only want to break. I’m not a diehard feminist but it’s hard not to get annoyed when this theme incorporates itself in most principles he explains. His English doesn’t really help the situation. He uses the phrase “Isn’t it?” after about two thirds of his sentences, most of the time not grammatically correct. But we will just have too deal with it because the relationship between professor and student is not the same as it is in the US. They are at a higher unapproachable level. But hopefully things get better. He will have to get used to the women being a little more assertive than he likes out in the field since there are 16 of us.

            But really this is just a very small part of my time here and the other professors do make up for my annoyances. Amanda and I were talking about how finally we think that we have gotten passed the culture shock low and have started to really enjoy life here. We are excited for our break, our host family stay, and the field instruction. Not too much longer.

            I love hearing from you all so send emails of updates! Best of luck to all getting starting school again and hope all is going well at home!

Karibu Zanzibar!

Internet has been unreliable, so I’m sorry the updates come in large chunks. Not only is internet sporadic, the power frequently goes off. Nobody seems too rushed to fix it either. But that is just the pace here.

This past weekend our group went to Zanizibar, TZ. Zanzibar is an island off the coast, only a two hour ferry ride from Dar. Stone town, Zanzibar is the most tourist area within TZ but keeps its strong sense of culture and community. 95% are muslim, 3% Christian, and 2% Hindu. Women wearing buibui (long black dresses with veils) and men in white robes with cylindrical hats walk the narrow alleys. The majority of the buildings were made of coral, they are tall white structures situated tightly together. The alleyways are stone paved with room for a pikipiki (motorcycle) or bicycle to zoom past you as you cling to the wall while they honk their horn or ring their bell. The people are very friendly, which is really convenient since getting lost within the alleyways is inevitable, but most, if they speak English, are more that willing to tell you the way to go before you even ask; it’s not hard for them to tell that we don’t know where we are going. The first day we got there we went on a tour Stone Town. The guide led us throughout the city winding through the alleyways. We saw different mosques, the former slave trade market and holding cells, Hindu temple, and the House of Wonders (the first building on the island). It was built by the Germans as the headquarters of their colonial government. That night a few of us went to the night market next to the House of wonders and bought Zanzibar Pizza (Beef, egg, tomato, onion, mayo, chili, and lettuce wrapped in a fried chapati- delicious!!!) I also tried the lobster kabob, bread fruit, coconut bread, and chewed on sugar cane. The next day we went snorkeling (saw some great coral but the marine wildlife wasn’t the same as Mbudya island) this also could’ve been because I didn’t get as much of a chance to look closely because my goggles leaked. Then we went on a tour of Jozani Forest and saw the endangered monkeys Red Colobus Monkeys. After that we went on a spice tour, which meant we walked around a spice farm and got to see the different trees/plants that are used too make the spices. We chewed on the bark of a cinnamon tree (tasted just like Big Red), sucked on chocolate beans (surprisingly sweet), and smelt all sorts of other spices. That evening we returned to the night market too get more Zanzibar pizza, as well as their Zanzibar dessert pizza (bananas fried in a chapati with chocolate sauce drizzled on top). That night we found a club, Starhe, playing reggae music. The crowd was half foreigners and half local Rastafarians- long dreadlocks, Bob Marley shirts, stoned out of their minds. The next day we had to ourselves. Amanda and I managed to get lost within Stone Town (not hard to do) but the locals helped us back to where we needed. While we were looking in one small shop, the owner asked if we wanted henna. So we ended up chatted with this lady and got henna done on our hands and one foot by the end of the day by several different people. It seemed as if the next person who asked just wanted to prove that she could do a better job. At around three we boarded the ferry back to the mainland. Getting on and off the ferry was almost like going to a different country. We needed our passports and had to fill a sheet of info about how long we were staying. They had what looked like security checks but ended up being more like a gate with guards glancing at your passport and shooing you along. The ferry back to Dar was pretty rough. I had no problem with the choppy water but Chelsea (roommate) didn’t fair as well. I surprisingly enjoyed Zanzibar way more than I thought I was going to. I was initially worried that it was going to be tourist and expensive. But I was pleasantly surprised how much of their strong culture I experienced within one weekend, and I would really like a chance to go back and explore more of the island. Stone Town was really only a small part of the island. I really hope to return one day. But now we are back on campus frantically trying to finish our project proposals. Only a few more weeks in Dar. I’m getting tired of the dorms, food, and campus. It is definitely a necessity to get out over the weekend.

Hope all is well at home, I missing the news but we do hear a lot about our presidential race. Obama is CLEARLY a favorite here. Obama stickers everywhere- cars, shirts,   graffiti. People are very eager to know your political views and who you are supporting. Others pass by ask where you are from, and then in response to hearing America, yell OBAMA! I’ll have to work out a voting ballot sometime soon online. Again hope all is well! I’m missing home only when I think about it. I’ll be quite appreciative of the better quality facilities and faster pace of life at home when I return. Baadaye! (Later!)