In Tanzania!

09.05.2010

I’m underway! I’m sitting in London Heathrow Airport. And, welp, I’m exhausted. But would you expect anything less? ;)

I flew from Minneapolis to Newark, where I met most of my gang. This semester is going to be interesting and awesome. We are a slew of every kind of person. I love our variety. I won’t tell you about everyone (or anyone right now) since I’ve met over 20 new people in the last 24 hours.

We arrived in London to face a 12-hour layover, so a few of us went into the city! Oh man. London is uh-maze-ing. We first saw Trafalgar Square and Big Ben. There were bicyclists everywhere. They were having an annual bike-a-thon to promote bike riding in the city. Love it!

After eating lunch in a park, we walked down to hit up Buckingham Palace. Wow. Wow wow wow. That place is huge and classic and GORGEOUS. I was feeling surreal the entire time, feeling a bit prepared for Africa, but not at all prepared to see a palace! But I love London. It’s so classic. The buildings have so much history and their culture is so evident.

I’ve already made a fool of myself. Oh joy. We were walking down the street in London around some construction, and I must’ve been really into the conversation because I ran into a construction barricade, ended up straddling it and grunting. Wow, I’m attractive. The good thing is, it’s so far the highlight of everyone’s trip! Ha. We are already a group that can laugh at each other. And I like that.

Well ... I go to Africa tomorrow. And start class this week. It’s crazy. Here are some things you can pray for:

Fatigue. My group is already pretty tired. Honestly, we’re zombies. I’m sure everything will start to regulate and we’ll fall into a routine. But it’s difficult to start a semester this way. Our schedule is packed; and we can expect 13 hour days. So please be ever praying for our energy!

Adjustments. Some of my team has had experiences abroad before, but adjusting is never easy! I’m a little worried about tackling that along with starting class and field work ... it’s just seems like a lot to handle at once!

Academics! Sigh. I really want to do well in this program. Pray that I find the intention and diligence to succeed!!

G’bye for now! I miss you all already, but I’ll be back in a jiffy. And I’ll see you soon.

09.07.10

I bless the rains down in Africa // Gonna take some time to do the things we never have ...

Wow. Tanzania. We are here. We are alive. And we are stoked.

I feel like I’m in a family already. I absolutely LOVE these people. Just thought I’d mention.

Last night we arrived in Tanzania and stayed in a hotel in Arusha. I was oh so nostalgic. I never understood when people talked about the smell of Africa. There’s a distinct smell to it. And it hit me hard and I was so giddy all night. Yes people, Africa has become my drug.

This morning we took the four-hour trek to the Center for Wildlife Management Studies (CWMS) camp just outside of Rhotia. We saw animals on our way! I saw a giraffe head stick out of the bush and zebras from afar ... I think. Haha, they were really far away. But, we did see Baboons on the side of the road. Fantastic.

More to come, because we’ll be staying in National Parks (Serengeti, Terengire, Ngorogoro, Amboseli ... ) and will be in close proximity to animals. In fact, we learned how to handle baboons and their food-thieving today. : )

When we got to camp, we met our staff, who are all Tanzanian (amazinamazingamazing) except our Student Affairs Manager (SAM), Erica, who’s from Colorado. We settled in (after our baggage arrived; what’s a trip to East Africa without lost luggage?), got to know each other better, learned some more Swahili, and had a bit of orientation. Let me just say this semester is going to blow my mind.

So our camp. We’re located about three hours west of Arusha, TZ near a small town called [Rotea]. Our camp is a fenced in area equipped with a gate and an askeri (a guard) 24 hours a day. In the center of camp is the chumba, the dining hall/meeting area, which also has a duka, a small store. We have a small kitchen staff; and after two meals, I am so happy! The food is fantastic.

On one side are the student bandas (cabins), with two bunk beds and a bathroom. The other side of the camp contains staff offices, our classroom/library, and staff/faculty cabins. Our camp is basic, but also very homey and accommodating.

One person we met today is our director, Dr. Moses Okello. He is officially the 2nd East African I’ve met (including my trip to Uganda) who has a sarcastic sense of humor. So I already like him. He has inspired us a lot already, not only to succeed academically, but to represent the States and the School for Field Studies (SFS) well. We are the first students and Americans to tread through this town. Our camp was just set up this summer, so even some of our staff have never met an American.

My bandamates are fantastic. I love them both already. And I love the way we’ve set up our banda.

Amira is from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She had never been out of the States, but she backpacked through Europe this summer and met us on our London layover. So she’s already been traveling for three months and is in for three more. Crazy! She [couch surfed] through a ton of places, including London and Spain (where she was when they beat Germany in the world cup!). She’s adventurous, tender-hearted, and full of life.

Jackie is from Penn State and also traveled before the program to Egypt and Spain. Clearly, she is also adventurous! This girl cracks me up. She has a great sense of humor and is one of those people who could brighten any day.

Well, we officially start our academics tomorrow! They’ve warned us about how rigorous this program is, and I guess they we’re lying.

09.09.10

Crazy story. Our Wildlife Management professor showed up to camp after we did. I met him a few days ago over breakfast, and found out that I used to live less than a mile away from him in Minnesota. He’s Tanzanian but did his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and lived in St. Paul at the same time I went to Hamline. Weird. He’s a fantastic professor so far.

One of my favorite Tanzanians so far is Askari Burra. He’s one of our overnight guards (we have three). This guy is hilarious. He doesn’t know much English, and we don’t know much Swahili. So our interactions are great. We know a few animal names, and one day he just started making ridiculous animal noises. My favorite so far is fisi (hyena). Baha ...

Things are good. I’m feeling at home here, and this is going to be an amazing semester. We’ve started class (amazing!) and we’re heading to Lake Manyara National Park on Saturday! First safari!!