The internet has been out here is Part One

8/14/07

Today Lacy and I rode the daladala to town to buy Material for our house girl to make us skirts. I’ve decided that after this experience I will think differently about riding Marta and foreigners in the USA.

Our house girl speaks very little English (she says Good-morning in the afternoon and Thank you and ok), but despite this huge language barrier we went with Seche (pronounced Say Chay) to the market. On the way in we rode a daladala and actually had a seat, but because we got a bus we had to stop every 2 Km to unload maiz, rice, chickens, etc. 20 twenty minute ride took 40 minutes, making Marta seem almost as reliable as the German subway system. But I love these moments when I am hit the realization that Flexibility means so much more here than it does in the U.S.

Our trip to town was successful and after much sign language we were able to show Seche what we needed. Our ride back on the daladala was usual. There is a joke here, “How many people can fit in a daladala?”
“At least one more”

When we got home we handed over the material for her to make “skirti” for Lacy and I, she didn’t measure us but hey the key word here is FLEXABILITY!


8/15/07

Tonight Lacy and I have to cook for ourselves, A.K.A attempt to!!! We have been spoiled here and have it worked where we are eating at someone’s house almost every night for two weeks. Last night we had dinner with Carol and Tim from England. Carol works in the Library with Lacy and I, she reminds me of my great Aunt and already I love her!

In order to get ready for our cooking extravaganza we went back to town to buy fruits, veggies, and other necessary ingredients. The market is crazy. There are young boys hovering around us at all times to carry our baskets, and sometimes to rob white folks. Luckily, our bag boys were trustworthy. I am impressed with the produce sellers here; all produce cast 500 TSH whether you buy an onion or a head of cabbage. Every vendor around town sells their produce at this price. They’ve gotten together, set the price, and there is no negotiating. It’s like a union.

After getting all our necessary items in town we went home and begin preparing our meal. First, we had to clean all the produce by soaking them in bleach water for 20 minutes. This is so we can eat them raw. Then we began stir-frying veggies and boiled the noodles. After a few hours of chaos, we put together a glorified Ramon looking meal, and a cucumber, tomato, onion and avocado salad. It was pretty good, and we are hoping that by the end of this trip we will be able to cook from scratch like the locals do!

8/16/07
Today this blog is in Memory of Rev. Hendree Harrison, a man who has touched me and who is loved by many!

One of my greatest worries about leaving home was loosing someone I loved: not being able to say good-bye, not being able to give condolence to friends and family, and not being able hug those who are still here on Earth feeling like a bit of them has gone too.

Hendree Harrison, my former Rector at St. David’s in Roswell passed away in his sleep. He was the greatest parish leader I’ve ever known. Those who worked for him admired him. He never thought twice about flying across the country to be with a family as the daughter went through a dangerous heart surgery. He started “Hendree BBQ,” held every year at Wills Park. During announcements he would inform the congregation of UGA’s Saturday Football score. Hendree didn’t mind all the Vacation Bible School kids laughing at his silly Shepard outfit. Nor did he mind my brothers and I holding up the other members in line waiting to shake his hand after the service, while we each gave him a hug! I am glad I got to give him a hug last summer when his family was at Camp Mikell. The Harrison’s reflect his values of community, and they will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

8/17/07

I am going to Ruaha National Park tomorrow with Lacy, Robin and Paul. It is a 9 hour drive from Dodoma. We are flying with MAF, an airline for missionaries, at an incredible price. We are leaving at 7:30 and getting to the park at 8:30. We will be there until 4:00 p.m. and will have lunch at the lodge. The Cessna only seats six. I am really excited to fly in a small plane, it is one of those things I want to do before I die along with the Safari. I am glad I have to opportunity to do both tomorrow.

The man at MAF told me that the plane can only hold 500 Kilos because there needs to be enough fuel to get us there and back. He asked us our weight and like most women I rounded down a few pounds. Opps, and I also just had my first Tanzanian feast, I guess I will have to bring less in my bag tomorrow to make up for the difference.

Our Tanzanian feast was at Faculty member George’s house just across the dirt path. He and his two daughters walked over and picked us up at our house at 7 p.m. We got there and sat around the living room and introduced ourselves to his family. He has three children and another girl living with him whose parents died from AIDS. George’s family is absolutely amazing for taking in this girl.

Before we ate dinner the family sang one song in Kiswahili and one in English as a prayer of thanksgiving for the food. Lacy and I also taught them the famous Camp Mikell prayer, Johnny Appleseed. They loved our new prayer and I am glad I was able to teach them one of my favorite prayers.

Janet, George’s wife cooked dinner, and it was wonderful. We had a traditional meal: rice, something like collard greens, fries, and dikdik. The dikdik is like a deer, and George told us he had just killed it the other night, yummy. Not only that but George says that we will probably see one on are Safari. It really was amazing, it was very tender which made it very different tasting then deer. I ate more food than I really wanted, but I am told that it is very polite to have seconds and it the best compliment I can give. I am not sure I can give these compliments every night.

8/18/07

I woke up early for a Saturday morning. It was overcast and chili outside, not exactly Safari weather. Nonetheless, Lacy, Robin, Paul and I headed to MAF to meet our pilot at 7:30. While the airport in Dodoma is paved, it is a small airport with only one routine scheduled flight. The “passenger lounge” is where we met the pilot, weighed our bags, and went through security. The pilot showed us to the plane and went over the seatbelt and safety rules. Lacy and I climbed into the back of the 6 passenger Cessna, put in our ear plugs, and said a prayer before take-off.

I really liked flying in the small plane, and I really hated having no leg room (my knees were practically in my cheast). The view was incrediable coming into the park as we landed safe on the dirt runway. We were met by our guide at the “airport office,” and customs (if you can even call them that) was there to take our park fees. The airport office was a big tiki hut, how official!

After finishing our paper work, Lacy and I got in the back seat of the Safari vehicle. The vehicle was basically a truck with theatre seating, open air, and a canvas top for shade. Of course we didn’t need shade; believe it or not it is cold here in Tanzania today.

As soon as we begin our Safari, we saw Baboons, Zebras, Jackals, and Impales. A few minutes later we saw a Giraffe, we were told Ruaha is nicknamed Giraffec Park. Minutes later we spotted an elephant and then around the corner the whole herd of elephants men, women, and babies. I really wanted one to blow out of there trunk; if they had only made the sound of the elephant on the jumbo-tron at Bryant-Denny Stadium! We did give them a big ROOOOLLLL TIDE ROLL!!!

At the beginning of our ride we spotted lots of animals. We saw the bird that is Simba’s guardian in the Lion King (don’t know the birds name). There was a hungry crocodile on the bank of the river. A herd of Buffalo about a mile long was trekking through the park. As we stopped to take a picture it seemed that the leaders of the herd were conversing, “should we move? Should we stay? Everyone protect the babies, men assume your position.” I wondered what kind of defense strategy they were developing.

After the Buffalo, we couldn’t believe how quickly we were checking animals off the list. We were now on a hunt to see lions. It felt like we were driving forever. There were more impalas, zebras, elephants, giraffes, exotic birds, and even some dikdiks (like the ones we had for dinner last night)!!! And then finally we got to see lions. There were two females and one male way across the river bank, not as close as I wanted them to be, but I was happy to finally see some.
After seeing the lions, we headed to lunch! Thank God because I was starving. On the way to lunch we had to wait a few minutes for the Giraffe in the middle of the road to move; it was soooo close. It was on our way to lunch that I saw one of the most amazing animals, kudu. I had never seen this animal before, not in pictures, or even a zoo. They look like they are in the deer family. These beautiful creatures are full of detail. They have white lines down there bodies; it looks like God took a paint brush drew these lines. There ears are bright red and there is white on there faces that reminds me of war paint. The males have horn, goatees, and what looks like a Mohawk on top of their back. I was taken back by the intricate detail. I could have spent hours admiring there beauty, but I was hungry.

We ate lunch at the lodge, which I highly recommend as a vacation spot. There are luxurious huts to stay in near the hippo pond, and no need to worry because a man from the Masi tribe is there to escort and protect the guests at night. The lodge looks like a cross between a Caribbean tiki hut and a Colorado ski lodge. Lunch was buffet style, the way Americans like it. Of courses I stuffed myself because who knows when I will have a meal that tasty again.

We spent the rest of our lunch break admiring the view before meeting our guide at the car. On the way to the car there was an elephant about 50 feet away, BREATHTAKING! I took this as a good luck sign that Alabama will have a great season.

The ride back was by far the best part of the day. As we are speeding back toward the “airport,” our guide notices a few lions in the distance (how he saw them I am still trying to figure out). He backed up the car and took a side road to get closer to them. There she was 100 feet away. I was on the side of the car nearest to her, wishing there were windows on the crazy SUV. Then we spotted more females, two across the river, one more straight ahead to form a triangle. There was another female behind the one straight ahead, the male yards behind her, and another female yards behind him. They were strategically place, protecting something or getting ready to hunt dinner. There strategy is incredible it has such a clear defined purpose, a well thought out plan for survival.

We continued to drive down the path getting closer and closer to the male lion. The female lions near him got up and ran behind the bushes in the distance. I was praying that we were not their clear defined purpose…tonight’s dinner. We got closer and closer and closer to the male lion, he and I were staring one another in the eyes. Too close for comfort! We stopped and took pictures and continued to drive, hoping that the females weren’t waiting around the corner to get us. Once we got around the corner, we realized why they had run in that direction! There young cubs were resting in that area; they had run to protect them. There must have been seven or eight. The mothers were waiting to see what were going to do. I could hear the cubs crying. It reminded me of a scene from 101 Dalmatians. I image that we were scaring them more than they scared us. I couldn’t believe it, a whole pride of lions, on my first Safari!

8/19/07

Lacy and I spent another amazing Sunday out in a village. Sandy’s former student asked her to do the sermon at his thanksgiving ceremony for graduation. This village was quite different from the one last Sunday. We arrived at Musa’s house where we were greeted and had chai in his family’s compound. The compound was made up of several mud homes that formed a square. In the middle was the Shamba (farm) and two bathrooms, holes in the ground. This compound is considered high quality and would be placed on the market for more money then some of the neighboring compounds. His family’s homes are made of red mud, which reminds me of Georgia red clay. The ceiling/roof is held up by fine carpentry of hard-wood beams covered with mud for the roof.

After Chai we walked to the local Anglican Church and began the service. Again, I was amazed by the local’s songs and praise. There was even a band that played hand made instruments made from local materials. The members played string instruments, xylophone looking instruments, and drums. Musical intraments, voices, rythem and sound are a very important part of celebrating life and joy in the Wagogo culture.

Yet again, church lasted three hours. There were two offerings taken, which I am beginning to wonder if they only do that when wazungus are present. There were baptisms and communion. One thing that sticks out in my mind about this service is that women were breast feeding their children in church. I find this too be odd, especially since speaking about sex, pregnancy, and using the bathroom is a big cultural, NO NO.

Lunch was served after the service at Musa’s house. I took a chance and ate the tomatoes and onions that were raw, and I haven’t had a problem yet. The only thing that made my stomach queasy, was finding out that I ate some animal’s liver or kidney, ewwwww! At the end of the meal we said our thank you and signed the guest book. Musa’s gave Sandy and Martin a chicken. Lacy and I got one as well, even though Lacy is afraid of birds, I was quite thrilled to receive our first Tanzanian gift.