A little excitement today

So, in Tanzania, the police are pretty much useless. Which means, if you get caught doing something bad, you basically get mobbed. Likely killed.

Have you heard the Dane Cook routine, where he watches someone get hit by a car? "You're about to be struck by a vehicle!" Yeah. If you haven't, it's a good one.

Today, whilst eating lunch on a patio, my chair was replaced by the hood of a car.
Story:

We went out to lunch at one of the only places that was open today, being the day after Easter. The woman running the place seemed a little distracted; as in, one of us would order and then she would just walk away. That's not totally unusual for Arusha--we've actually nicknamed a place "Space Cadet" because one of the servers is quite spacey. So it was a little bit entertaining but we thought nothing of it.

We were on the patio, under a little awning thing. A car pulled up and parked outside, and then started to honk. We thought it was a taxi waiting for someone. The rice and beans we ordered were delicious. Adam and Alana were hungry, so they each ordered another batch.

"Look out! LOOK OUT!" shouted Adam. I looked into the kitchen, thinking something was going on there. Perhaps there were some flying chipati, or chips mayai had caught on fire. Adam and Alana jumped, Gabby grabbed my shirt and pulled, and I was hit by a car. The table collapsed onto me, glass shattered and I lost my soda. My soda! At the time, looking back, all that was on my mind was my Bitter Lemon baridi. Odd.
The car then backed up and sped away. Which was probably the smart thing for the driver to have done, because people were running out, ready to pull him from the vehicle and bludgeon him to death.

We all assumed that he had meant to be in reverse, and accidentally just drove up, over the curb, and into us. It turns out, however, that this was not the case. You remember how the woman had seemed distracted? Well, apparently she had been fighting with her husband. The man behind the wheel: her husband. He wanted to do some damage.

We put the plastic table back together, and I picked up my broken Bitter Lemon bottle. there was a little liquid in it, and I tried to take a sip but a man grabbed it from me and everyone looked at me like I was an idiot. At the time, I just wanted my soda. Now, of course, I realize there had probably been glass shards contained within the last drops I so desperately wanted. So I ordered another one. We sat down, and a woman brought us our bill (with a few deductions). Adam and Alana's second batch of rice and beans, however, never made it.

A man who spoke English quite well came up to us and offered to help in any way he could. He offered to take us to the police station, but we've heard stories about how useless that would have been, so we declined. He told us he had the license plate number, and why the man had done what he did. Then we went and got some chocolate.


I'm still shaking a little and my mind is slightly befuddled. So, if this doesn't make much sense I'm sorry, I just feel like that was a story I needed to tell. And getting it out in words helped.
I'm okay, everyone is okay. There were no serious injuries. Just some bruising on its way.
Crazy day. TIA.

Love, Brendan

I've Come to Love You

And I hate saying goodbye.


My time in Tanzania is coming to an end soon. Last week was officially my last week of training. It's amazing how quickly it's coming--I feel like I've only just started to know this place. Last weekend, Gabby and I discovered a truly beautiful lake, Lake Duluti. It's just outside Arusha, and would be a great place to escape to, if needed. There is so much more to explore, to discover.

At this point, I'm mostly just crossing things off my list of things to do whilst here, but it's not short enough of a list (which means, I will just have to come back). Today I went to the Craft Market and did some necessary gift/souvenir shopping, and it was actually a pleasant experience, considering how hassled I could have been. I'm sure I'll be back again before the end of my stay.

What else is left to do... We'll see about getting a tattoo, a labyrinth with a little African flair on my pec/front shoulder; the waterfalls in Merangu; eating at all the Mzungu places in Arusha; I'm actually not sure what else. But I have a list, somewhere.

The last three weeks have mostly just been "fun" weeks. First off, my family came! I'm sure you all know about that! They spoiled me at a lodge with, not only showers, but HOT showers. And a swimming pool. I took them to some of my favorite places to eat Mzungu food, and then we went on safari! We went to Ngorongoro, which is glorious, even having been twice, and to Lake Manyara, which is beautiful. It's forest, as opposed to most of the other places to safari which are more plains. I love the forest. Still, no leopard though... That's my last creature that I need to see.

But! I will hopefully see them next week! How, you may ask? Well, our friend Albert has offered to take us to the Serengeti! And, we're getting an amazing price! So, I'm really excited. Gabby is probably coming too, and she and I have the best adventures, so just having her along is going to be good luck, I'm sure!

Oh man, I don't even know what else to write. I've been not-so-good at blogging. You all know I'm a terrible story teller, and I apologize.


Here's my plan for when I get home: I will walk straight to the laundry room, put my clothes in the washing machine, start it, and stare. Then, I will move my clothes to the drier. Whilst waiting for my clothes to dry, I will take a shower. Perhaps two. After taking said shower(s), I will put on some clothes straight out of the drier.
Where will you find me after that? In front of the TV, watching whatever is on the DVR, fast-forwarding through commercials, of course. This will likely last until either: every show has been watched, or people drag me away from the television because it's Friday Night and everybody's been waiting for me in the backyard for hours.


See you in ten days,
-Brendan

A Little Time to Catch Up

Dudes. It's been quite some time.

So, the last few weeks. What kind of catching up is needed? Let's just start typing and see where it winds up.

Selela is a gloriously beautiful village. Its inhabitants are equally glorious. The campsite where we stayed is surrounded by wildlife (including toucans!), and we were fed truly wonderful food.

The first week we did chicken vaccinations, and then had a lot of down time in the afternoons. For a while we tried to make a hafir, but we hit a layer of bedrock, about a foot deep, that we just couldn't get through. As in, we broke four pickaxes. So, we decided not to do a hafir at that location, and start a new one the next week. Anyway, in the down time, we went on hikes in the mountains of Ngorongoro. We got amazingly close to the rim, and probably could have gotten in to the crater, but then we certainly wouldn't have been back by dark.
Anyway, the place was beautiful.

The other side of the camp, opposite the hills of Ngorongoro was jungle-ish. Adam and I had our Massai knives, and did some glorious bushwhacking. Few things in life are more satisfying than hacking your own trail through the reeds, vines and "bush."


Week two:

It's amazing what one can learn from a classroom full of primary school students! Like, did you know that white people don't breastfeed?

The second week, we had a community group class and then two classes at a primary school. I also spent some time working on the second hafir. So, I was pretty much at the community group every-other day, and hafir the rest. And then I was at the primary school every afternoon. This was probably one of the most gratifying weeks of teaching, because the classes were both so in to it and very appreciative.

There was some minor frustration the first day, but it happens at almost any group in a rural community. The thing is, that many organizations pay people to come to their classes. Their argument is that because people are not working while they are in class, they are losing money. But, the problem with that is people then just show up for money, and often don't even pay attention or learn anything. The organizations often give out way too much money (as in, in one day, more than the students would earn in a month). But, it makes the organizations look better, since more people come to trainings. So it's good for statistics, and to bring in more money, since they train more people. Anyway, the first day many people in the class came expecting to be paid. When we told them we weren't going to pay them, quite a few left. But, this weeded out the people that don't truly care, so we had a classroom full of people who were incredibly grateful for what we were doing.

The primary school had a few "trouble-makers," but not the bad kind. Just a few students who loved asking questions to throw us off or to provoke certain responses they thought would be funny to hear. Like, you know, "what do white people use to masturbate?" or, "why are white men so hairy?" (that one, I believe, was directed at me). "Do white people have wet dreams?" was another one. There were, too, some very good questions, which means they were paying attention and really did want to learn. And, we had a pretty long talk about female circumcision. That is a tough one to talk about, without getting your feelings involved, but they had many questions.

At the end of the week, after we finished teaching the community group, one of the members had written us a speech. It was in Swahili, but Dismass translated for us. Then, he gave me the speech written out, and now I carry it in my wallet. Also, he gave me a Maasai bracelet which is really cool. This was the most grateful a class has ever been, and the most grateful I have ever been for a class. They said they were sorry they didn't have better gifts for us, and I told them we didn't need any, that their gift to us would be for them to share the knowledge we gave them with the rest of their community. I loved that group. They were glorious.



P.s. Glorious is my new favorite word. I may use it inappropriately, but I just don't care.

I wanted to blog

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

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.

The Last Few Weeks

I loved every one of the people that I met in Zanzibar, and every part of the experience. It actually was a lot of hard work, but in paradise with these wonderful people it really didn't feel like I was working much at all.

Kizimkazi Cultural Music Festival is an annual music festival meant to encourage protecting the environment. It has local, cultural artists, as well as, this year, international.

The people I've worked with before and after say I seem to love life more since Kizimkazi. I'm happy all the time and I almost never stop singing (which, they say they haven't gotten sick of [yet]). My friends say I should be a theater major (and I am considering a minor, actually). So much happened in Zanzibar, and I think I did change. I've been trying to write about Kizimkazi for weeks now, but I have no idea what to say. I think I will leave it out of the blogosphere for now--let us skip ahead.

After the New Year, a group of (mostly nursing) students came from Salisbury University. That was interesting. We were used to working with two or three other volunteers, and suddenly, there were fifteen! They were a lot of fun though; just bummed they were only here for two weeks.
We spent the last two weeks camping out in villages. The first week was in Mtu-WaMbu (Mosquito River in Kiswahili). It lived up to its name. There's a picture of my foot on my Picasa... 20-something bites--one ankle. This was my first time teaching the Sustainable Agriculture part of the program. My orientation was a little rushed, so the other people did most of the teaching and I studied a little. But I got to dig! Which is actually what I have been most excited for. It really does feel good to just get down and dig a 3-foot deep hole, 1.5x6 meters.
We met a kid named John who is 14; he makes bracelets and such to pay for school. He gave one of the girls some really nice gifts for her birthday, so we love him. They put together a package and are planning on sending him stuff, I think. And we bought a lot from him to help him out.

Last week, we were camping in Ngurdoto. No cell phone reception. Oh snap! We vaccinated chickens! It was actually a lot of fun, chasing them to put drops in their eyes. We started at 6:00 am, so the chickens wouldn't be far from the homes. Good times... So sleeping in this weekend is amazing.
Starting at 6 meant we finished early, and we didn't have much to do in the afternoons. So, we played with the children from the villages for hours. I learned that I'm not a very good soccer goalie, and we played a lot of frisbee with them too. It was great times. Now I'm back in Arusha for one week, and then back to camping (I think). I'll be camping without cell reception for about three weeks and I may or may not be back on weekends.

But I will keep in touch! Miss you all!

Goat.

I feel as though this part of the experience deserves a blog of its own.

Merry Christmas! In Sweeden and Germany, they celebrate Christmas on December 24th. So, we did the same, as Clockwise was from Sweeden, and Rico (another volunteer) and the owners of the property (our hosts) were from Germany.
Anyway, that's not the point of this story.

To celebrate Christmas, we decided to buy a goat. And, in doing so, I began my participation in a very... interesting cultural experience.

We named the goat Queen Victoria, took pictures with her, and, you know, got attached a little bit. But then came time for the Masai to.. prepare her.

Stop reading now if you are a vegetarian, are thinking of becoming a vegetarian, or love animals to an extreme. PETA members strictly prohibited. Also, don't read if you are faint of "heart"--If you know what I mean.

I know it was gross, and may sound disturbing, but you really had to be there. In the moment, it was completely different.

Erik (one of the members of Clockwise) and two of the Masai held down the goat, and Tom cut its throat. The Masai were holding a cup in front to catch the blood, and passed it around. Then, once it slowed down, they started drinking blood straight from the throat.
After watching this, I felt like giving it a try. So.. I nealt down and drank some. Possibly one of the most out-there things I have ever done, in retrospect. I knew before that I wanted to try the blood, but from the throat? Never crossed my mind (though I didn't even know they did it).

I am proud to say that I was the only Mzungu to drink the blood. Hah. I won't talk about the flavor right now, however.
I think someone got it on video... but you probably don't want to see it.

After they finished skinning Queen Victoria, the Masai handed Erik, Rico and I pieces of Kidney. We tried it; Erik and I managed to swallow it. It actually was much better than I had expected. The after-taste was pretty good, in fact. I have to say it didn't taste very dissimilar to the part of the meat the Masai cooked (they cooked half their way, and we cooked half our way). I was expecting it to be chewier, I think, but it really wasn't of an unpleasant consistancy.

It was very delicious cooked. Erik and Yolanda marinated it, and then Erik and I grilled it. It turned out amazing-ly.

The next day I was attacked by a goat. Oh goodness, crazy times. I messed with it like a Matador, and Yolanda just laughed and laughed.