Leaving the honeymoon phase

2/10/12

Mambo! (whats up!) to which you reply- Poa! ( which means ‘cool’, but that’s just how your respond)

I have a lot to write about in this post cause it’s been awhile, so sorry for the length in advance.

Last week we had our first safari trip to Lake Manyara National Park, and it was such an amazing experience. We piled into large, 8 seater green trucks and drove down to the bottom of the manyara escarpment(we live on the top of it) to the entrance of the park. Then it was time to put our roofs up! You can lift up the entire top of the trucks and then stand on the seats and look out at everything around you. Really awesome. It was finally time to drive into the park on the dirt roads, with dust being kicked up everywhere and dense forest vegetation on either side of the road. It was an overwhelming amount of visual and audible stimuli, and its really difficult to explain how beautiful this place is. Definitely not what I imagined for a safari trip; I imagined pretty much a desert with very few trees and being able to see animals everywhere. Instead, there were many different types of habitats that we drove through (acacia woodland, riverine vegetation, grasslands, etc). We had three different assignments to do while we were in the trucks, but all I wanted to do was take pictures and observe!! Unfortunately that wasn’t possible, so on my neck I juggled my camera with my large telephoto lens, my binoculars, my sunglasses, my hat, and in my hands I had my clipboard, a notebook, a safari field guide, and a pen. Overwhelming. But I was too excited by what I was seeing to care! We saw elephants(about 7 feet from our truck!!! Amazing!!), giraffes,zebras, warthogs, buffalo, baboons(tons!), vervet monkeys, dik-diks(which are about 2 feet tall, adorable little deer-like ungulates), lots of impala, some amazing birds, and more. Its really quite magical as you drive through this place, with the top half of your body out of the roof of the truck, snapping pictures fervently, and there are these white butterflies that are so numerous its like you are constantly driving through flower petals falling from the sky. Its so amazing. On the horizon are mountains and the top of the escarpment, with baobab and acacia trees everywhere. The trees are so stunning and some look as if they are sculpted from clay. In the grassland area near the lake(which is so vast) there were so many zebras and water buffalo. Flamingoes dotted the lake and flew up in groups every few minutes. I got some pretty good pictures and am very excited to show them to you all!

                

 The second day we went back to Lake Manyara NP and focused on studying and observing olive baboon behavior. This consisted of driving until we found a troop of baboons(a group,  stopping and observing them until they retreated to the forest where we could no longer see them, taking notes every 5 mintues. These guys are so cool, with very interesting social interactions. And the babies are so adorable!! I had to write a scientific paper on my observations that I just handed in yesterday, and I think it went pretty well.

Okay. So a few days after that we had a non-program day, meaning we didn’t have class. So, you would think we would just get to laze around right? Nope! They had activities planned all day that we could choose to sign up for, but OF COURSE im going to sign up for all of them! I don’t want to miss anything!

First we went to Karatu, a town near us that is bigger than Rhotia(I was mistaken in a previous post. We are not in karatu,  our camp is in Rhotia. Sorry about that). We were let loose to explore and buy things if we so desired. As soon as we got out of the cars we had at least 7 people surrounding us trying to make friends or sell things to us. I could tell their items were mass produced, but they all insisted that they made them themselves or their grandmothers made them or stories like that. I didn’t fall for it. We ventured away in a smaller group to try to avoid seeming as touristy, but lets be real. Everyone knew we were tourists. We walked off the main road and explored little alleys and side streets with shops selling fruits, fabrics, clothing, toiletries, etc. Overall everyone was very friendly, but we still had people following us. One was very nice, his name was Christian, and he helped us learn the name of various fruits as we explored this really fantastic food market. He actually didn’t try to sell us anything, which was nice of him. I bought some fabric in karatu which is really beautiful, I think I may have it made into a dress by one of the tailors here.

Then we went to the Karatu market, a few minutes away, which only happens once a month. We drove up to a large, open area with dust clouds hanging in the air and hundreds of people congregating everywhere. We were told we had 45 minutes, and then had to be back at the cars. 45 minutes seemed like so little time at the beginning, but in retrospect any longer than that would have been way to overwhelming! This was the strangest experience of my life to date. It went something like this:

We stepped out of the car and IMMEDIATELY  5 men were around us shoving necklaces, bracelets, and t-shirts in our faces. “Hapana, asante” (no, thank you) we replied meekly, afraid to offend. Myself and two others were on a mission to find maasai fabric, but were unsure where to start. Around the perimeter of the main area(consisting of hoards of people with various items placed out on large tarps), there were people selling cattle at auctions, radio stations rapping to audiences, and tons of people conversing and sitting on bikes. We started to venture into the thick of it, and already had a group of about 15 men following us, trying to sell us things. One passing man blatantly tried to pickpocket beth, luckily she had nothing for him to take, and after that we kept a very tight hand and eye on our bags. One very forward man, who I am POSITIVE I saw in karatu as well(how did he get here so fast??) asked us directly “what are you looking for?” and I replied “fabric.” He set off in a brisk pace and motioned for us to follow. Winding through tarps, meat cooking on sticks over fires, various smells of spices being sorted, and clouds of dust we finally arrived at a tarp with at least a hundred different types of fabric. “what color do you want?” he asked me. “im not sure. I am just looking” I replied.

“take your time” he said, and then proceeded to literally bombard me with choices. “what about this one? Very pretty! This one? Or this one! This has that color you touched before. You want that color? All these are that color! What color do you want? This is a nice one, very cheap. I sell you for good price. Very cheap. This one? You like that one? I have this one too. Look at this”

IT WAS THE MOST OVERWHELIMG THING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. Dude! Just let me look! I then told him I wanted maasaii fabric, and he set off again to find another tarp. Here he did the same thing, but I actually found something I wanted. After bartering with him to get the price down, I got a large piece of, beautiful purple fabric for about 20 USD. I’m so excited about it. But, we still had a group of people trying  to sell us things, following us, staring at us, etc. and I felt like I just needed to get OUT. So we walked to the outside, and some still followed us. At this point we had gotten used to forcefully saying “HAPANA.” (NO.) and then they finally took us seriously, walking away in disappointment.

After the market we went to a place to get some food, and I got a cheeseburger and some beer, which was great at the time! Later that night…not so much. Definitely not used to eating that much red meat and rich foods, so it hit my stomach pretty hard. A lot of people weren’t feeling so hot that night.

Since then I have actually been feeling pretty rough. These past three days I have had abdominal pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and achiness. Havent been eating much lately, but at least now I can be around the dining hall during meals, meaning the smells don’t make me nauseous! Yay! Improvement! Still can only stomach fruit though, and am working up to bread. It seems a lot of people are having these problems. Perhaps just now our bodies are realizing and catching up to the fact that we are going to be eating the same things for some time, and are just getting used to it.

Im leaving the’ honeymoon’ phase of being abroad now, and starting to hit a low point actually. Feeling homesick for my family, friends, bed, normal food, normal activities. You wouldn’t believe how much I miss cheese. Like, seriously. I am really trying to push through these feelings though, knowing I’m just getting adjusted. In the meantime, email me about your lives cause it makes me really happy to hear what you have been up to. I may not get back to you for awhile, but trust that I do read them!

Im off to write a paper on the effects of poaching on zebra populations. Interesting  stuff! To me, at least. 

UPDATE: wrote this post while our internet was out. it just came back a bit ago, so now i can post! update, i am no longer sick! huzzah! 3 days of feeling REALLY crummy and pretty homesick and now im feeling way better. lifted spirits, can eat the food again, and my papers are written! tomorrow we get to visit a rural maasai village and volunteer at an orphanage. im SO EXCITEDDDD. 

Also, today we had a traditional maasai goat roast! Johanna, one of the staff who is so knowledgeable and amazing(he is maasai and grew up in a very rural village in the typical maasai community you can read about) did it for us and it was really interesting. I watched the process the entire way though, and then ate some ribs and leg. Dont be grossed out, its actually way less gross to me than eating factory produced meats at mcdonalds. I like knowing where my meat comes from! 

Love,

Natalie

Classes and Adorable Schoolchildren

Jambo rafiki,

All is well here in Tanzania. Its 9:45pm and im getting ready to go to bed. My schedule is so different here than it is at school, normally I would go to bed at 1am and wake up at 9:30am, now I go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6:30am. I have no problem waking up though, surprisingly, as the birds are very active in the early morning and the roosters crow incessantly.

Today we had lots of class, 5 hours of it. The most we've had so far. We had wildlife management where we basically learned methods to collect data in the field and count animals, estimating population densities and other trends in wildlife from observations alone. We practiced estimating distances and then checking them with a rangefinder; I can now put on job applications that I am a skilled estimator of distances between 10 and 50 meters. Nice. We also had our economic and policy class today with a very heated discussion on how we should balance the interests and basic needs of local communities with the goals of conservation efforts to conserve wildlife. It's a really tough issue to address; as humans we have every right to focus on the short term and address the needs of the people and communities here so that they have access to basic necessities like food, water, shelter, etc. That being said, we as conservationists look in the long term and recognize the need to find sustainable ways to keep ecosystems healthy for years to come, which ultimately helps the communities as well if they have access to the resources or are the ones managing the resources. Its just difficult, putting yourself in the shoes of a family that lives here, what is going to be more important? Providing food for your family for the week, or protecting elephants and lions that eat your crops and cattle in the name of conservation? We are working to try to develop a way to encourage the communities here to invest in conservation efforts and invest in the wildlife and resources so that although they are the ones that pay the price for conservation, they are also those that receive the benefits. But, we have to avoid forcing ourselves upon them and into their lives, informing them what to do, or telling them what they are doing is "wrong" or whatever else. That is not how we want to interact with the community and that isn't how we want to work towards sustainability. Undoubtedly it was people coming in and displacing them from their land(ahem the Berlin Conference. if you don't know what it is I suggest you look it up), disrupting their traditional management and tenure systems, and imposing the western way of life onto these various cultures that initially sparked a lot of the issues we are dealing with today. Instead we hope to be sort of mediators, and help to further community conservation efforts where locals, who know the most about the areas, can lead the way towards conservation.

After class I went for a walk with two friends to practice using our binoculars on moving targets. Well, that was the goal we set out with...but that didn't happen. At all. Instead, as we walked towards the school yard, mobs of little adorable children came bounding towards us, all smiles and open arms. We were bombarded with greetings and it was a bit overwhelming to be honest. They were all absolutely adorable and so sincere and warm, but the sheer number of them was intimidating! Three of us and about 50 children! They pushed to be the one who got to hold our hand, give us hugs, and look through our cameras and binoculars. So many little faces staring up at me, unable to communicate more than hello's and names. Little Martha kept wanting me to pick her up, but I unfortunately couldn't hold her, hold hands with 10 others, and hang on to my binoculars at the same time! If they couldn't hold my hand they would hold my arm, and some even started rubbing my skin, giggling at the freckles and white hair. Some even began to smell my arm, which was strange, but then I realized I had just put on sunscreen that probably smelled really floral. It was still a strange experience though, although they were clearly just curious. After 45 minutes of being swarmed with adorable we said "kwa heri rafiki!" (goodbye friend!) and pushed our way out of the group, some of them following us and holding our hands all the way back to the gate of our camp. Ive never experienced anything like that before, ever, but although overwhelming they all meant no harm and were so darn cute.

Later I went for a "run" with some other friends, and I put run in quotations because it was hardly that. One mile loop on a dirt path around the outside of the camp, and I was pretty much dying. The elevation was really affecting my body. Difficulty breathing and muscle cramps as if I had already run 6 miles! Its definitely something ill have to work up to, some people are already going 5 laps and inviting me along, no way!

After dinner we played a game around the campfire, I feel like i'm at sleep-a-way camp for college students haha.
Oh the only other thing I can note is that I think I am either allergic to something here or have a sun rash? Its only on my forearms and itches mildly, but i'm waiting for it to go away it looks so strange and spotty. Ick. But if thats the worst of my medical issues I definitely cannot complain! 

oh also, we figured out that we actually have hot water in the bandas! there's a switch you turn on and it heats it!! Life's little pleasures, I no longer have the instinct to hold my breath when I shower.

Tomorrow we go to Lake Manyara National Park for our first field expedition. I AM SO EXCITED. Ill report on what its like in the next blog post!

-Natalie

Getting Settled

2/1/12

Jambo!

Habari gani? 

I have now been at the Moyo hills camp in tanzania for a few days, and am starting to get adjusted to the time zone, the schedule, the heat, and the general daily life here. And guess what! My luggage came! Yay! Life is good. I wake up at about 6:45, as breakfast is at 7, and surprisingly I have no problem getting out of bed in the mornings. The nights are cool, perfect temperature for sleeping with a blanket, and the mornings refreshing. We wake up to roosters crowing, cows mooing, and numerous beautiful and rhythmic bird calls from the trees around us. Very similar to any rural area you would see in wisconsin, so its interesting to see that rural is pretty much rural wherever you are. At night I often wake up to the sounds of hyena talking and howling, not in a particularily aggressive way but simply being active. The sun begins to rise after 7 and the camp is illuminated in bright sun yet cool enough to be extremely comfortable. I crawl out of my mosquito net from the top bunk and the breakfast bell rings to signal food is ready. During the day it gets really warm around 2pm, and luckily I havent gotten sunburned yet(a lot of people here cannot say the same!).

The food has been great so far; for breakfast we have eggs with peppers, bacon or sausage, toast, pancakes, fruit, and cereal if we so desire. For dinner we often have noodles, sauteed veggies(sometimes in curry), rice, fruit, some kind of meat, and some sort of bean or lentil dish. I usually try a bit of everything and its generally very delicious! For dinner today we had chapati which Is probably my new favorite food here, it’s a sort of flatbread, thinner than pita and naan but soooo delicious. We all sit in the dining hall with two large tables, and chat with the staff and professors. 

The staff are all really amazing. We have cooks, gaurds, drivers, assistant professors, professors, student affairs managers, and a few other people who do other tasks around the camp, like maintaining the safari trucks which are the most expensive things on camp. A lot of the staff only speak swahili, and all of us mainly speak english, so its an interesting language barrier that we work to overcome. One of the staff members likes to communicate by making animal noises and its really entertaining, he makes us all giggle. Today he taught us a popular song in swahili, and its pretty simple. People have clearly had it stuck in their heads all day, as you can hear us singing it all around the camp. It goes like this:

Jambo/ Jambo Bwana/ Habari Gani?/ Mzuri sana!/ wageni/ mwakaribishwa/ tanzania/ hakuna matata

Hello! / hello sir / how are you? / very good!/ our guests/ all are welcome/ tanzania/ no worries

If you want to hear how it goes you can google the jambo song, im pretty sure that’s what it is and its very popular!

Today was our first day of class, and im really excited for the academic part of this experience. We have a wildlife ecology class with John Kioko(everyone is named john by the way, its extremely popular), wildlife management with german Christian(I cant remember his last name), and socioeconomics and policy with professor John Mwamhanga. Unfortunately our swahili class wont start for another week, which I am dissapointed about because I really want to learn how to communicate with the staff more easily! Its kindof interesting to get used to their accents during lecture, the two johns have thick swahili accents and Christian is SO german. Classes are at different times each day which it’s a little strange, and are generally about an hour and a half. Between classes we have time to do homework or nap or read, whatever really. I layed in a hammock for about an hour today in the shade and read--bliss. 

Yesterday we took a tour of the town we are in, Karatu. I felt SO touristy walking in such a big group with our cameras and looks of amazement, I was a little self concious. I am actually looking forward to going out in a much smaller group, two or three people, so we don’t stand out AS much, although we will always stand out. I kept accidentally lagging behind as everywhere I turned was a photo op I couldn’t pass up. Its really great, everyone in the community knows who we are and where we stay, and are very welcoming because the SFS has such a great repuation in town. When we leave the camp we are a reflection of the SFS, so we have to be respectful and well behaved. There is a school about  5 minutes away from our camp, and the first time I left the camp to go for a walk three kids literally RAN towards us, arms outstretched, and I braced myself for the most sincere, enthusiastic hug ive ever received! THEY ARE SO ADORABLE. They couldn’t speak much english and we couldn’t speak much swahili, so it was mainly hello’s, how are you, smiles, and playing with our cameras. They loved to be in pictures and see them on our screens afterwards.They giggle seeing themselves in pictures.  At one point a little girl pointed at my glasses, took them off my face and then started walking away with them! No, no, no! I swept her up and took them back, laughing and trying to communicate that I needed those! I think glasses are just so rare here that she wanted them as her own. 

Walking through the town is very interesting, people sit in the shade, hangout with livestock, or work on separating these purple beans from their stalks. These beans are scattered everywhere on the dirt walking path, as they fall out of bags as they are being transported on bikes to be sold for food. Everyone says “jambo!” as you walk by and smiles, recognizing that we are so clearly not locals. At one point a lady motioned to one of the other students and so she walked up to see what she wanted, it was as if she wanted to give her something. Then she started motioning like she wanted to give her a piggy-back ride, it was so strange, and her face became a bit aggressive so we quickly said have a good afternoon and left. Im still not sure what she was doing. Also, sometimes people will motion to you to give them money, and at first I had no idea what the hand gesture meant. After someone told me it became pretty obvious, and I felt a bit sheepish as I had smiled broadly and waved back thinking it was some welcoming gesture. 

A HUGE locust just flew into the room, oh my gosh its like 5 inches long and literally flies!! So crazy! Havent gotten to see any big animals yet, but we are taking a trip to the manyara lake ecosystem on Saturday. I cant wait! There are a few cats that roam around here but you don’t want to go near them really, even if they would let you, cause they are pretty much feral. The dogs and cats here are not treated the same way you treat them in america, you generally don’t want to touch them because they probably have fleas and really arent that domesticated. 

Well, im going to go watch the lion king, its playing on the projector right now and its so cool to see the opening scene with all the animals when we are so close to actually seeing them in real life!!

Hope all is well, and if I don’t respond to emails its because my internet is really sloooowww at loading wiscmail.

Lots of love

Natalie

Where to start? The beginning.

Wow. Where to start?

I am currently sitting in a ‘banda’ in northern Tanzania. Its about 9pm. The air is warm and a bit humid. Outside of the small building that consists of a dividing wall to make two rooms with three beds each and a bathroom, the breeze is soft and comforting. The crickets, or whatever insect they are, are calling out to mates now that the night is upon us. My mosquito net is on my bed, my roommates have crawled in theirs already, and the staff are outside giggling about something in swahili that I cant yet understand. 

I suppose I should start by going over my journey here. On the 28^th of January I arrived at the Madison airport around 8am, after a minor misstep of having to run back home after we were already on our way to grab the watch I am wearing and will probably not take off for the duration of the trip, as it also doubles as my alarm clock for the 7:00am breakfasts we will have every day. I checked in with my mom, and as I hugged her goodbye before I entered security I had to force myself not to start crying, but couldn’t help getting emotional when my mom wished me luck with tears she was working hard to hold back. The flight to Chicago was short and painless on the tiniest plane I have ever ridden, and once I arrived at my terminal in Chicago I had a few hours to relax before my flight. Adam, another person in my group who flew in from MN came to meet up with me around 11:30, an hour or so before we boarded. I felt a bit numb, actually; the reality that I was leaving hadn't really hit me fully. In JFK we arrived hours before our next flight, the one in which we were meeting up for the group flight to London. More of the group trickled in as the hours went by and we repeated introduction and the typical facts about ourselves; “where are you from? Where do you go to school? What is your major?”

                It was about an hour before we were to board our flight to london that I got really anxious and the reality that I was leaving the country to go overseas for the first time set in. my attempts to be social and interact with my new living mates were postponed by my strong need to be by myself for a bit, in my own head, to prepare myself for the upcoming days of travel. As I ate a grilled cheese before we boarded the subject of our malaria pills came up, I realized I had to take mine as soon as possible so I didn’t get sick on the plane ride. I then subsequently remembered my travel doctors warning not to eat diary for an hour before or after  taking the pills. Oops? I took them anyway, and lived to tell the tale! Good ole processed amurrican cheese.

                Any sleep I got on the plane was fitful and short in duration, so I’d bet I got about an hour and a half total. Once at the london airport we decided not to go explore during our 8 hour layover as some people had to recheck their bags and we wanted to stay together as a group. Such traveling noobs haha. I attempted to get a nap in on the loveseat chairs but really couldn’t fit very well and ended up mostly just listening to the commotion and boarding calls around me. I got some food with some new friends, Riley and Nicolette, at a bar/restaurant that looked okay. The waitress was plump and frazzled, speaking softly in a fast paced english accent that I had to strain to understand. I ordered some traditional ‘bangers and mash’ because, well, when in rome, right? It was good… until we got the check. About 50 euros, and we had no idea what the exchange rate was we were struggling to decide what to tip. The plump waitress stopped by our table after being totally absent for about 45 minutes and explained to us that we were paying about 85 US dollars for our meal. Uhhhhh WHAT? Needless to say we were pretty unhappy with that reality. Remind me never to live in a london airport…yikes.

  After hours of killing time we finally we boarded the flight to nairobi and I was just ready to crash—but not before I ate my fantastic complementary dinner. Curried chicken, lentils, rice, and a brownie for desert. Seriously better than any plane food i've ever had, go kenyan airways!  I recommend them, their service was great! So friendly, great food, free wine, and warm towlettes. Attempts to sleep on this flight, the longest yet(9 hrs) were a bit more successful, save for thee ye little babe that decided to moan “I don’t like it” and cry every five minutes on the dot(I timed it). Earplugs can only do so much in those situations. I forgave him though because he was ADORABLE.

                We then arrived in kenya, and I started to get really excited. The language was now swahili for the overhead calls (with english and french second and third) and I was just getting so antsy to be done traveling already!! We exchanged our money and worked with a SFS staffer to work out our baggage situation, as most of ours had to be transferred to our next flight . Jolly and missing his front teeth, he answered our questions and gave us an extremely warm welcome. He informed us that all of our luggage had been found and transferred to the next flight, except one bag. Pleaseeee don’t be mine I thought, although I had a gut feeling my pleading would be to no avail. Luckily for me, I was right. One of my bags had been picked up by someone else at baggage claim accidentally, and wasn’t able to be located. AWESOME REALLY? THAT’S SUCH GOOD NEWS. Again, luckily(and I mean that sarcastically yet again) it was my bag with all my clothes, all my toiletries(including sunscreen which I NEED) and all my first aid stuff(which was a substantial amount of medicines in case of any mild to extreme health emergency.) Needless to say I had a little bit of a moment, and walked down the halls of the airport silently cursing the gods of long distance travel, what had I done to deserve such punishment?! They still havent located the bag, but are hoping that the lone bag that was left at baggage claim belongs to the person who took mine, and hopefully he/she will come back to return mine and claim their own. They really shouldn’t need three months supply of feminine products, ugly old clothes, and sunscreen, right? God I hope I’m right. 

                So anyways, la de da, lets skip ahead to the good part eh? We have arrived in tanzania after a very bumpy plane ride from nairobi, and then got on safari trucks to drive three hours to get to our camp. Great, more traveling! At least this time we got to see the countryside, provided we could keep our eyes open from a total of about 6 hours of sleep over 48 hours.  I'm really not sure how to explain how fantastic this place is, but ill give it my best shot. The air is heavy  and hot, but not stifling. It smells of earth, dust, and sweat(which in retrospect sounds really gross but its pretty awesome.) We drove through dry steppe and arid grasslands with little vegetation and frequent, small dust tornadoes. There are people walking along the roads constantly, and they almost always wave—and are almost always with goats or cows. Seriously, everyone has goats and cows. And possibly  an african ridge back dog(I think that’s what they are called) that meanders in the general vicinity, looking cute. The clothing is vibrantly patterned and covered in dust. As we continued along the green vegetation increased and so did the amounts of shops and people congregating around them. In all seriousness, everywhere I looked was a photo opportunity, but alas we were driving too fast to catch any of it on film. Almost everyone was sitting under some source of shade, often hanging out with their cows or goats that were  lazily grazing on the scarce grass. Traffic is strange, there arent any real rules it seems. Just honking and being forceful. And there are speed bumps everywhere, which our driver decided not to really slow down for, so I hit my head on the ceiling(which was padded thankfully) about 25 times.

Once we got away from stores and into more rural areas,  everywhere I looked groups of cattle or goats were being nonchalantly monitored by men, women, or children in long clothing swaying rapidly in the fierce winds. They often had sticks with them and bells, and waved as we drive past, shouting “jambo!” if close enough to our window. We wound up a road which increased consistently in elevation, passing small huts and crudely built brick buildings with no windows or doors. This often contrasted with the occasional resort or safari hotel, clearly distinguished by its modernity, scattering of touristy trinket shops nearby, large gates keeping everyone but the rich and those who work for them out. Even I don’t think ill ever be able to afford a stay in one of those places. We wound up ever higher as hills and valleys rose on all sides, covered in now lush vegetation and fruit trees. Huts and small houses were nestled into the valley hillsides, often with residents calmly sitting somewhere outside in the shade, watching the cars go by and waving. We stopped on the side of the road to observe a group of three giraffes, and I kind of freaked out I was so excited. A momma and two babies, although they looked not so young anymore. They stopped and stared at us, majestic and effortlessly sweeping from tree to tree top to graze once they decided we weren't worth investigating. 

                Finally we arrived at our camp, and were introduced to everyone. I will probably post tomorrow about what camp is like, because ill know more and I honestly really need to sleep now. Plus this is super long, sorry about that.

Thanks for bearing with me if you got to this point! Ill post again tomorrow I think, send your good vibes to my luggage so it comes to play with me. I really need it actually. 

Hope all is well,

Natalie

First Blog Post!

Welcome to my first blog post!
I decided to start a blog this semester to record my experiences while abroad in Tanzania and Kenya. This is my first time writing about my life for others to read and hopefully i'll improve/get more interesting and clever with time. But no promises... keep in mind I'm no english major. If I could have my friend Julia Z. write this for me I totally would; her wit and superb use of puns would surely provide endless entertainment. But alas, that isn't a realistic option.
To set the mood, click this youtube link and listen to one of my favorite songs, which I named this blog after. Its called Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J47JCDAPLs4

I'll start by explaining what I will be up to this semester. I am participating in a study abroad program through the School for Field Studies focused on wildlife management and community development in east africa, spending half my time in Tanzania and the other half in Kenya. Choosing to study abroad here was a relatively easy decision. I wanted an experience that was academically focused on my majors, would provide research and field-work experience, and one where I would get to interact with cultures that are totally different from anything I have ever known or experienced. When I read about this program I couldn't contain my excitement and knew I had to apply. I got the call informing me I was accepted after class last semester whilst standing at the top of Bascom Hill.  In elation(too wordy?), I performed a pretty extensive happy dance in front of all the students walking to class.  And now here I am, headed across the world in a mere 4 days.

Its both alarming and entertaining to hear how many people say something along the lines of "oh! thats so cool you decided to go to africa! I hear that country is beautiful." when I tell them my plans. So, perhaps we should start by clarifying, Africa is not a country. It is the diverse and beautiful continent where humans began their existence. Ill actually be near Olduvai Gorge, otherwise known as "the Cradle of Mankind." Throughout the countries are thousands of unique cultures and languages. I will get to learn a lot about the Maasai people, a semi-nomadic ethnic group in east africa. I will also be taking a class to learn some Swahili, or Kiswahili as it is referred to in the language itself, and have actually already tried to learn some of the basics.
Wanna see?
Jambo - Hello
Habari gani? - How are you?
Mzuri - Good
Asante - Thank you
Jina langu ni... - My name is ...
Kwa Heri - Goodbye
okay you get the idea. pretty cool stuff.

In addition to trying to learn some basics I've been doing a lot of preparation for the trip, and theres a lot to do. Beyond the standard passport, visa, packing clothes agenda, I have to bring camping supplies, all my toiletries, textbooks, supplies to wash my clothes by hand, and enough sun screen and bug spray to cover my entire body at all times basically. And let us not forget the delightful process of immunizations. Shots on shots on shots to protect my pale little western body from rabies, hepatitis, typhoid fever, yellow fever, malaria, you get the picture. The malaria medication is going to be especially rough; I have to take a pill every day I'm there which will make me even more sensitive to the sun (yay!) so I'm gonna have to wear long sleeves and pants to avoid direct sun exposure. S'all good though, I think my body should  become acclimated to the temperatures within a few weeks, which can get up to the 90's. Plus I got to go shopping at savers (my favorite) for some practical, modest clothes which was really fun. Im actually so pumped to not have to worry at all about how I look while I'm over there. Im already going to stand out being super pale and all, so I don't really want to draw any more attention to myself than will come naturally. Oh also I just cut all my hair off. Its a 'pixie cut' I believe. Its sort of like a peter pan hair cut, or Justin Beiber even, but way more awesome cause its on me...no but seriously I love it, it will be so easy to manage  while I'm there.

A lot of people have questions about safety while i'm over there, and I can assure you as much as possible (given the unknowns of any travel adventure) that I should be very safe! The SFS is so great about making sure we are in contact with the right people and are always looked after. We will travel in groups and will be in more rural areas, which are generally way safer than large, urbanized areas. Im taking all the precautions I can to avoid getting sick while I'm over there, but I'm also preparing myself mentally for the possibility and almost certainty of not being comfortable at all times while I am there. But, I find that a welcome challenge to see how I can cope with situations that are way out of my comfort zone. I think it will really help me grow as a person.

Okay wow sorry this is so long. But i'll part with saying I leave on saturday, and am working on packing everything now. I have about 2 days of traveling, going from Chicago to New York to London to Nairobi to Aarusha, Tanzania. Its so hard to fit everything in two bags and then have to get it under the weight limit! ah!

Will post again once I actually have interesting new things to report on!

Kwa heri!
Natalie