But I didn't really have time. So I'm just going to give a quick little blurb.
I had a glorious weekend. Lots of beautiful walking, and hanging out with awesome people. And a whole lot of Skype on Sunday (six hours! That's definitely a record).
So, for the next two weeks: Selela! We'll be vaccinating chickens for the first week, and then week two, teaching classes. Tell you more about how it goes when I get back!
On the weekend, I'll be going on safari to Ngorongoro! Yes, that's what they based the area of Lion King off of. And yes, I will see lions. And zebras. And giraffes. And hippos. And cool birds. And a bunch of other animals!
So, that's all I've got time to say. Have a great two weeks!
Amani,
Brendan
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Engaruka is hot.
The last three weeks have been intense (not unlike camping. In fact, we were camping! [Okay, maybe the "intense" thing doesn't work in writing, but I just don't care]).
When we arrived, Kinsey, the Country Director (also the former Tanzania Director of Heifer International. Perhaps you've heard of it?) told us that Engaruka is the furthest out volunteers had ever been. And I believe it. There was no way I could have experienced a place like that if I hadn't been doing this. Sure, some tourists come through there, but they don't really experience the people and the way they live. Going from house-to-house, vaccinating chickens, you get to see how people in this seemingly inhospitable land live. It is amazing, just how durable the Massai are. Engaruka is desert, in the middle of the Great Rift Valley. You can see the mountains around Ngongoro crater, and there is a stream flowing into Engaruka that runs from somewhere up there; the people with land near the water have all the money, and all of the food. If you go maybe a mile away, it's just desert, where the Maasai have their bomas and their cattle graze on what vegetation they can find.
The first week was chicken vaccinations. Week two I did one HIV/AIDS training in the morning, and one class of primary school students in the afternoon. Week three I did a Sustainable Agriculture training in the morning and taught the same students in the afternoon. Teaching the children was definitely a lot of fun. We got to play a lot more games (including teaching them Matamoscas--anybody remember that from Granada Spanish classes!?), and it was two weeks of classes instead of the usual one. We added more puberty and anatomy to the classes, and just had a rockin' time!
We also dug a "halfyear" (sp?) which is essentially a giant hole in the ground that is lined with plastic and fills with rainwater for the further-from-water people. That was wonderful (though hot, dusty and tough). It rarely rains there, but, as they say, "when it rains it pours." A day or two of good rain can, apparently, last about three months.
The second weekend, we didn't make the four-hour trek back to Arusha; we went to lake Manyara and saw thousands upon thousands of flamingos! There were some... organizational issues, but it was okay. The first day there, we hiked up to a wonderful waterfall. And by wonderful, I mean it was well over 100 degrees outside and the water was cold. It was truly the most excited any of us had been to jump in water. Day two, I was sick from the heat and my body had sort of stopped digesting... so I threw up lunch from a few days prior. That wasn't all that fun. But as soon as I got it out of my system I felt much better. Everyone else went on a hike while I tried to nap in the shade, but it was just too hot so I ended up reading instead. Not all bad.
Let's see... what else have I been up to? I've pretty much lost track of time and days and dates here. I just realized, my family + Christine + Grace are coming in a month. Which is super exciting! Then, three weeks after that, I'm shipping home. It seems like it's coming way too fast, and I don't know how I feel about it. I want to stay here. I want to go home because I miss my friends. I need to finish my education. But I can study abroad here, right? I don't know. Maybe in Dar Es Salaam or Nairobi. I'm going to look into it when I get home. Then again, when I get home, maybe I'll want to stay. We shall see.
When we arrived, Kinsey, the Country Director (also the former Tanzania Director of Heifer International. Perhaps you've heard of it?) told us that Engaruka is the furthest out volunteers had ever been. And I believe it. There was no way I could have experienced a place like that if I hadn't been doing this. Sure, some tourists come through there, but they don't really experience the people and the way they live. Going from house-to-house, vaccinating chickens, you get to see how people in this seemingly inhospitable land live. It is amazing, just how durable the Massai are. Engaruka is desert, in the middle of the Great Rift Valley. You can see the mountains around Ngongoro crater, and there is a stream flowing into Engaruka that runs from somewhere up there; the people with land near the water have all the money, and all of the food. If you go maybe a mile away, it's just desert, where the Maasai have their bomas and their cattle graze on what vegetation they can find.
The first week was chicken vaccinations. Week two I did one HIV/AIDS training in the morning, and one class of primary school students in the afternoon. Week three I did a Sustainable Agriculture training in the morning and taught the same students in the afternoon. Teaching the children was definitely a lot of fun. We got to play a lot more games (including teaching them Matamoscas--anybody remember that from Granada Spanish classes!?), and it was two weeks of classes instead of the usual one. We added more puberty and anatomy to the classes, and just had a rockin' time!
We also dug a "halfyear" (sp?) which is essentially a giant hole in the ground that is lined with plastic and fills with rainwater for the further-from-water people. That was wonderful (though hot, dusty and tough). It rarely rains there, but, as they say, "when it rains it pours." A day or two of good rain can, apparently, last about three months.
The second weekend, we didn't make the four-hour trek back to Arusha; we went to lake Manyara and saw thousands upon thousands of flamingos! There were some... organizational issues, but it was okay. The first day there, we hiked up to a wonderful waterfall. And by wonderful, I mean it was well over 100 degrees outside and the water was cold. It was truly the most excited any of us had been to jump in water. Day two, I was sick from the heat and my body had sort of stopped digesting... so I threw up lunch from a few days prior. That wasn't all that fun. But as soon as I got it out of my system I felt much better. Everyone else went on a hike while I tried to nap in the shade, but it was just too hot so I ended up reading instead. Not all bad.
Let's see... what else have I been up to? I've pretty much lost track of time and days and dates here. I just realized, my family + Christine + Grace are coming in a month. Which is super exciting! Then, three weeks after that, I'm shipping home. It seems like it's coming way too fast, and I don't know how I feel about it. I want to stay here. I want to go home because I miss my friends. I need to finish my education. But I can study abroad here, right? I don't know. Maybe in Dar Es Salaam or Nairobi. I'm going to look into it when I get home. Then again, when I get home, maybe I'll want to stay. We shall see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)