September 7, 2015
We’ve now been in Tanzania for a week! After our long journey to Tanzania, we were all welcomed By Dorobo Safari group late last Monday night to a delicious dinner around the campfire. After a delicious dinner, we all piled into our respective tents, only to lulled to sleep by the several noises of the night, everything from bushbaby calls, to the 2 am rooster crow, to the early morning bird songs. After a restless night for several of us, we crawled out of our tents to see our new home for the next week, basking in the sunrise.
Camp is made up nine tents that outline the perimeter of camp, two students to a tent, except for my tent which is comprised of Mariah, Dorcy, Sadie and myself… let’s just say it is a full on sleepover every night. Our classroom is an open air shelter, situated next to the open air kitchen, where Gideon, our fantastic cook somehow creates a delicious meal every morning, afternoon, and evening. So far, the group’s favorite meals have been chapati-tacos, post-beer crawl mac-n-cheese, and spaghetti and meatballs. *Chapati translates to pancake, from what I can tell chapatis are to Tanzania as nann is to India.
Though, no day has looked quite the same, our general schedule for each day has looked like so:
6:30-7:00 am Wake up
7:00 am Sunrise
8:00 am Breakfast
9:00 am Kiswahili class beging
10:00 am Cookie time!
10:20 am Kiswahili class resumes
1:00 pm Lunch
1:30-3:00 pm Siesta
3:00 pm Kiswahili class again or Art class
5:00-7:00 pm Free time
7:00 pm Dinner
8:00 pm Hot Seat!
Last Friday, we steered away from our daily schedule and had a day in town. We began by visiting the bank to get shilingi (shillings), then we went to a the a big market, where we bought khangas—traditional Tanzanian fabric women wear and use for several purposes. From there, we went to the Cultural Heritage Museum, where we were able to look at several genres of Tanzanian art. Afterwards, we went to a second hand clothes market to get warm clothes, as we are traveling to the Usambara Mountains, where it will be higher elevation and colder than Arusha.
Finally, our guide for the day, Maggie Duncan (or as we soon would call her Mama Maggie), took us to DARE women’s foundation, which she founded dedicated to helping women get out of difficult situations, building confidence and work skills, and finally encouraging and teaching about good female hygiene. Visiting DARE was my favorite part of the day, since it was the most time we had to get to interact with people. The exchange was so much fun, there was so much joy in the air and smiles shared.
Alright it is 9 o’clock, time to hit the hay, peace out brussel sprouts.