Fishing trip

Fat Fish
Everyone Kickin it in the boat

Swimming outside of the boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We saw hella turtles and dolphins!

Me diving off the boat

Photos from the Sunset Boat Ride

My new amazing SHIRT!!! In photo, Maisha, Me, and Sara
On the Sunset Boat ride

The Sunset

Sonya (shorty) and I

Pictures from Nungwi

Our reading nook on the beach in Nungwi
View from the nook

Baracka Bungaloos

View from water of Baracka

Nungwi

This week my friends and I are in Nungwi, a village north of Stonetown. Nungwi is composed of white beaches with surreal topaz blue waters. We are staying at the Baracka Hotel, a small bungalo that costs $12 per person with breakfast included. A regular day in Nungwi consists of sitting on the beach, reading, playing soccer, and chatting it up with locals in Swahili. Yestarday a friend of ours took us out on a boat for a sunset cruise and snorkeling trip. It cost each of us $18, and included music aboard the boat and an entire King fish! It was quite a feast and a party. When we stopped to snorkle we all took turns jumping off the boat into the water below. As one stood on top of the boat you could see the fish swimming around. The boat we rode on had a top level to it where everyone was able to sit, sing/play drums and guitar, and dive into the crystal clear water below. It was truly worth all the money!!! Today I am in Stonetown again, a friend of ours from here sister died, so we took a Dala Dala (less sketchy Tanzanian version of a Mutatu) to see him. Later tonight we will take this bus, imagine a pickup truck with a raised wooden cover above it where people store their fruit and bicycles, and beneath that level there are seats. Under the canopy everyone sits huddled together while the wind buzzes past ones faces. This form of public transportation beats AC Transit 1000/1.

I will post some Nungwi pictures soon!

Much love, and keep commenting on teh posts, I love hearing from you all!

Stone town

The streets of Stowntown

The streets of Stowntown

People on a boat off the coast of Zanzibar

View from hotel in Stowntown

We are currently in the village of Nungwi on the north side of Zanzibar. It is free week, and 11 of my friends and I came up to Nungwi to relax. It is paradise here, we are staying at a hotel right on the beach with breakfast included for $12 a night! Its pretty sweet! Today at 4 we are going on a sunset boat ride, snorkeling trip with dinner and beer included for $18. I will post pictures again as soon as i can.

Photo Recap of the past few weeks

Ft. Jesus in Mombasa
View from the Fort
Another view over the Forts wall.
The sickest tree house ever!!!!

Photo Recap of the past few weeks

Sunset in Mombasa
School house in Meru
School children
Mt Kenya

Photo Recap of the past few weeks

Gede Ruins
Henna in Tumbe
The streets of stonetown
My house in Tumbe

Photos From Tumbe

This past week we travelled to the Island of Pemba for a three day homestay in the village of Tumbe. To get to Pemba we travelled by boat. Sadly the boat we were supposed to take, a two hour speed boat, was out of service due to a strike. Instead we were forced to take a ferry that took from 7 pm until 6am to cross the same distance of Ocean. It was an epic journey, as we boarded the boat I felt as though I was a refugee leaving my homeland to seek refuge somewhere else. There must have been 2,000 people on this ferry, a number far exceeding its normal capacity. In our first class cabin, which consisted of chairs and not much else, the floors were covered with mothers and their children sleeping in any space they could find. The concept of a fire hazard did not exist. Half way through my journey I had to use the bathroom, as I tip- toed between people sleeping on the floor I felt as though I was walking through a feild of land mines. I was so scared I was going to step on some small child and squash them. After many hours we finally arrived in the port of Pemba. A van was waiting to take us to the small rural village on the North side of the Island. When we arrived in Tumbe I could not believe my eyes. As the first white people to ever village this village, everyone came out to greet us. Children gazed up at us with huge eyes watching our every move. Our names were called off and our natives came up to claim us. My native was the headmaster of the secondary school. From the place where we were greeted my host father and I headed back to his house on a small mo-ped. As we drove down the main road people stood on either side waving and shouting KARIBU TUMBE (welcome to Tumbe). This hospitality did not stop the entire time I was in Tumbe. From the second I arrived I was brought from house to house to see everyone, I swear I met every person in the village. Because there were only 23 of us to live with families, we had to visit everyones house to make it up to the families who didn't get to host. One of my favorite parts of my visit was walking along the beach helping women plant seaweed called Mauni, a major export for the community. Most men fish and most women in the community plant Mauni and rice. Due to this I ate more rice and fish than i ever have in my whole life. In Tumbe people eat with their hands, more specifically their right hand. The left hand is used to wipe ones behind, and the right hand is used for everything else. At first it was quite difficult remembering this as well as using my hand at all! By the end of the trip I had it down as much as I possibly could.

Before I knew it the homestay was over, yet it never really felt real at all. The whole time i was there i felt like i was in some movie. This trip/homestay was one of the most interesting and educational aspects of our trip thus far. In fact it was the most educational homestay I have ever done thus far in my life. I lived with an incredibly rural family, one that washes dishes with sand, catches and harvests all their food, doesn't have electricity, and sleeps on a straw mat on the floor. The inhabitants of Tumbe have lived there their whole lives and many of them have never even ventured off the Island of Pemba itself. As the first white people they have come into contact with we were given the unique experience of breaking down their stereotypes of white people. It truly was an amazing experience I wish lasted longer!

The Ferry
My host brother in Tumbe, two friends, myself and my host father.
View of the beach from the village we stayed in.
On the ruins of a mosque right outside the village.

Some more pictures from the last couple of days

Outside of the Mambruri Mosque College. I am behind Amira, the women with the white shawl over her head.
The group under the arches of a palace at the Gede ruins in Malindi

Photos of Riruta

Driving down the streets of Riruta
A view from the sidewalk of a typical shop in Riruta
Mama Kenya (left) and Mama Sara(Right) walkingon the path I took to school everyday.
The dinning room table of my house.
Mama Kenya and I in the living room. Check out my sick pants!

Finishing one chapter, beginning another.

On Saturday October 4th we had our last full day in Riruta. At around 2 o clock all the students and our families went to the school house for a massive picnic. Every family brought either rice, meat, vegetables of traditional Kikuyu honey brew. The meal and the company I was in could not have been better. It was really nice meeting everyones families, and putting names to their facews. Everyone seemed so happy and content sitting with their families under the large white circus tent that the banquet was held in. As things winded down I headed home with Mama Kenya to grab my bag. The walk home, down the same dirt path I walked to school on everyday, was hard. Even though I know I will be back in Riruta this December, it is hard to imagine a different routine and life here in Kenya. So far Riruata, and my life with my host-mom has been my experience, and a great one at that!
Saturday night/late afternoon I arrived back at the Methodist Guest House, the hotel we stayed at for our first week in Kenya. It was bizarre walking down the same hallways that had at one point been my only interaction with life in Nairobi. After two days of relaxation we headed out for an eight hour bus ride to Mombasa. Mobasa is a coastal city on the Indian Ocean. Since the early 15th century Mombasa has been a major port for imperial powers. It was first used by the Portugese Navy, then the Arabs and lastly the British. Historically as a large trading port, Mombasa is a very heterogeneous society. There is a large mix of asians, arabs, and kenyans, a much more diverse place than Nairobi. Before checking into to the Lotus Hotel Saturday night we had our first Swahili dinner. The Swahili people are the tribe found mainly on the coast of Kenya and Tanzania. It is their language that was adopted by traders and eventually became one of the national languages of Kenya. This meal consisted of lamb, rice, chapati, and curried vegetables. Greeting us at the restaurant was Ahmed Sheik and Amira, two close friends of Professor Sperling.
On Tuesday morning we met Ahmend Sheik and Amira at our hotel and we headed into Mombasa town. In town Amira and Ahmed took us to buy traditional muslim attire at a local bizarre. Because of the early trading done by Arabs in Mombasa there is a very large percentage of Muslims here. Not all female residents of Mombasa cover their heads, but as visitors and students of their culture we are wearing traditional garments and observing their traditional practices. (As I am typing this in Zanzibar I am wearing a bright pink head wrap). Amira took us to a fabrica bizarre where the girls bought cloth to cover our legs and heads, and the boys bough Kanzus and Kofirs.
The fabric I bought is going to be made into pants and a shirt for me after I leave Zanzibar. I have already gotten two pairs of pants made. Pretty soon my whole wardrobe is going to be made of African Fabrics.
After we all purchased our fabrics we went to the Swahili cultural center where Ahmed and Amira recited some beautiful Swahili poetry for us. After listening to their beautiful poetry we headed to Ft. Jesus. Ft. Jesus is a Fort that was build by the Portugese in the mid 15th century. After an informative tour we had a little white to walk around while we waited for our bus to show up. Architecturally and culturally Mombasa is very different than Nairobi. The buildings that line the nicely paved and trash free roads are painted whilte. The white buildings epitomize that of most coastal cities in the world. The general ambience of Mombasa is very different than Nairobi as well. People in Mombasa smile as you walk by and greet you with Karibu Kenya (welcome to Kenya) often followed by Habari zak0 (how are you). Overall I really like Mombasa and the overall feel of the city. I wish we were spending more time ther.
After an half an hour of waiting the bus arrived. It took us to Ijumia Beach resort, where I am currently sitting in a beach chair next to both the Indian Ocean and a gorgeous pool writing this post in my notebook. I am typing this post on the computer in Zanzibar, getting ready to leave for a three day homestay on the Muslim Island of Pemba. Tonight we are taking an 8 hour boat ride from Zanzibar to Pemba, a ride the usually takes two hours. Sadly the company that runs the speed boats is on strike and so we are stuck going on a cargo boat transporting cloves and other spices for export.

Last week in Riruta

September 29, 2008

On a lighter note, yesterday I completed my first hand-written essay. It was quite a feat, Kelly and Susan I desperately needed your proof-reading. I caught myself looking at the world susceptible for a good five minutes trying to figure out if it ended with an –able or an –ible. Somehow I managed to complete my essay. Hopefully the grade I receive won’t be too bad.

Today, October 3, we took our Swahili exam. It is crazy to think that I am 1/4 of my way through my classes here! Monday morning we leave for Mombasa. Hopefully i will be able to find internet cafes there as well.

Much love

Rural Kenya

This past week we have been traveling through the Eastern and Central Province of Kenya. The first stop we made was in a place called Embu. Embu is the largest city in the Eastern Province. When we arrived we split up into groups of two to three people and explored. We had two hours to explore Embu and find several landmarks; the district commissioners office, a hospital, a blood transfusion center, and a mosque. The point of this assignment was for us to walk around, talk to and observe the people of Embu.

After exploring for a few hours we headed to the hotel we were staying at for the night. It was straight out of the Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands. The walls of the exterior building were painted Mary Kay pink. Somehow we each managed to get our own rooms, mine was complete with leopard print sheets!

The next morning, Wednesday, we were greeted by a young man named Davis Kirambo. Davis was a student of Professor Sperling(our International Studies and Islam instructor) a few years ago. Currently he works for the Clinton Foundation in Nairobi. He took us to his village where he is building a high-school.

*Entire Sperling Paper*

After visiting the village we headed to Meru. In Meru I saw my first glue kids. These children are mostly orphans or run-aways who have taken to sniffing glue as an appetite suppressant. It was quite disturbing seeing them walking around with a glue filled container (plastic vodka bottle) hanging from their mouths. The containers hanging from their mouths had a brown like substance in them. This substance is industrial glue that can be purchased at hardware stores, stores that sadly exist all over.

Looking back on my trip to rural Kenya I realize that this is one of the first times rural poverty has affected me. I have seen more people in El Salvador, but for some reason these glue kids greatly affected me.

In addition to me standing out in these places, the destitute conditions of the people living in these cities stood out to me. There were times I honestly did not want to step out of the bus. I just wanted to curl up and pretend that what I was seeing didn’t disturb me. But it did and has. As a group we are constantly making jokes about the glue kids, trying to hide the fact that we are all so disturbed by them that we have no other option but to laugh. Sometimes laughing is the only option one has to keep from crying.

I am so glad I am here in Kenya experiencing all that I am, I know that this probably won’t be the last time I am seriously affected by what I see. But honestly its good to be uncomfortable sometimes. When we are always comfortable we deprive ourselves of seeing, or being aware of, the differences that exist in the world. I have been blessed that thus far in my life I have not been confronted with the pain of poverty that exists in this world. But I am thankful that I have been exposed to the reality of it.