back in Dar es Salaam

hey! so I'm back in Dar.. the huge, hot, dirty city. the pictures below are from my two week stay in Musoma, way up by Lake Victoria in northern TZ. things in Dar are going well. it rained quite a bit last night so maybe the rainy season has started. the power cuts are still quite regular, though not at all on any schedule. i don't really enjoy dar, but it is nice to relax a bit by the ocean. (don't picture a beautiful beach..there's quite a lot of garbage all over the beach, therefore to most of us volunteers the ocean look nicer from farther away, so i enjoy sitting on the balcony of the house that looks out at the ocean). i'm also attempting to write some final reports. and.. Jason arrives in Dar tomorrow! i'm soo excited!!! so in the next month i'll be volunteering for one more week, then traveling around the country for three weeks.

a picture taken at the site of that baboon project I mentioned earlier. this day (march 15) we trekked up to the top of the hill where the Roots & Shoots groups are planting more foods for the baboons to eat so they won't eat the farmer's crops as much. (I also learned that the farmers took revenge on the baboons and started burning patches of the hill, and thus the baboon habitat.. this seemed to only make matters worse for the farmers and the baboons did not leave as they may have hoped) anyways.. we got to the top of the hill, sat on a large rock, and after awhile the baboons sat on a rock similar to ours but opposite us and just stared at us while we stared at them. i could have continued this staring contest all day long! 

me and Diana sitting at Bibi's (grandmother's) house. Diana is about 4 years old I believe. she and I spent hours playing almost every day I was in Musoma. our favorite games were echo games (using various sylabbles and other random noises) and catch-me games. we also just enjoyed laughing at eachother. Diana, i miss you so much already! 

a picture of the Roots & Shoots group at the Nyankanga Primary School working on the fuel-saving stove project. (I'm not sure why they are all boys, but I think there are also girls working on the project.. Deus will you let me know?) the woman on the far right is a teacher at the school and the guy in the light blue shirt and pants closer to the center is Deus, the Roots & Shoots Regional Coordinator (and a great friend of mine, he enthusiastically showed me around Musoma the entire time I was there) 

Musoma

Just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely in Musoma.. about a week ago. Since then I've been very busy visiting Roots & Shoots groups and spending time with the regional coordinator and his family (all very very nice). The groups in Musoma seem quite active and have two awesome on-going projects: a baboon project which involves rebuilding the local habitat to prevent them from damaging so many crops, and a fuel-saving stove project. I'm currently in Mwanza, about a 3 hour bus ride from Musoma, also visiting some clubs. Its good for me to be able to see how Roots & Shoots works throughout the country. I've decided it sometimes works very well, and sometimes not at all. But I suppose that's the way things go sometimes. More on the awesome Musoma projects later, and hopefully some pictures as well.

Arusha

For the past few days I've been wandering around the city of Arusha. Its a large city in northern Tanzania with plenty of tourists. Its also quite an irritating city in that so many Tanzanian vendors on the streets want to sell me things and/or simply talk to me. This morning I visited the International Tribunal of Rwanda and sat in on a couple of court trials on the Rwandan genocide. The building seems so different from the rest of the city, much more similar to a court house in a developed country. The trials were interesting to watch and sad to think about in relation to all that I've studied about the genocide. It was all translated for the court room and the visitors through head phones, which was great. Later this afternoon I'm traveling to Musoma by bus.. a 16 or so hour bus ride that goes up through Nairobi first then down to the Lake Victoria area and Musoma. I've never been to the Lake Victoria area and am looking forward to a change of scenery, though not really excited about the bus ride. There will be new Roots & Shoots projects there as well that I will be able to help out with. Baadaye! (Later!)

Bangata

Yesterday I left Moshi Town, took a packed bus ride to a bus stop near Arusha, then hiked up the foothills of Mt Meru for about two hours to finally arrive at my old homestay house in a small village called Bangata. (I stayed there for 3 weeks during September of 2003) The hike up was beautiful and the people all very friendly and helpful. I admit, I did get a bit lost at the end, so two school girls showed me the way. It was great to see the family again! Chatting with each of them, laughing with the kids, cooking with my sister.. I also brought a photo album of pictures I had taken when I stayed with them, which I gave as a gift. It sure did bring a lot of smiles. Well, I'm in Arusha now, a large city with so many people hurrying from place to place.. such a contrast from Bangata. I plan to return to Bangata again sometime next month. It was well worth the two hour hike to get there. The three pictures below are a glimpse of my homestay.

Four really cute neighbor kids, three brothers and one sister. I remember the left two kids very well. The girl, second from the left, is named Dora and was always so sweet and adorable. And the little guy on the far left.. when I first arrived for my homestay in 2003, he was so afraid of me that every time he saw me he would get scared and sometimes cry. By the end of that trip, he wouldn't let go of either of my hands. Yesterday whenever he saw me, he had this huge smile and would sometimes have this great laugh. Great kids! And they always will bring a smile.  

My host sister, Tumaini, and I sitting in the kitchen. The kitchen is a separate building from the house because they cook with a three stone fire system.. as in they put the pot on top of the fire by balancing it between three large stones. I used to love sitting in the kitchen.. cooking or attempting to chat with my mama (she doesn't speak any English) while gazing at the fire or up at the stars. Sitting there brought back lots of good memories. 

Bibi (grandma) cleaning the maize that has been drying in the sun. She lives in the house next door to Baba Julius, my host father. The children in the previous picture live in the house behind Bibi. She seems to be a very happy old lady, always smiling. She was very hestitant to have her picture taken, but I don't think she was mad at me for taking it.