I am having a wonderful time. instead of doing a safari I stayed in a village last night It was great. No electricity. Can you imagine me functioning? I slept under a mosquito net. Like that commercial! There was no running water. They gave us a bucket and an old oil filter to shower. I am so dirty and happy. I spoke to a class of school children today. They were learning English. They call us Mzoogo. It means "white skin" in Swahili. It's funny. They laugh at us. We met so many people in the village. We stayed at Akita's Garden. Akita was a really nice man. We want to keep in touch. His wife made us meals yesterday and today. 2 of the people even slept outside. I had no idea there were so many stars in the sky. People are really nice.
We talked a lot about the war and Sept. 11. The embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed in 1998, so we talked about Al Queda. It's interesting. All of the women with children are called "mama" and their child's name. Like mommy, you would be "mama Alyson" It's really nice. I spoke some swahili. Anyway, I need to go. I love you an miss you very much. Thank you all for everything. I love you.
Alyson
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Ayson
Tanzania
Hi everyone,
Things in Tanzania went great. I decided not to do a safari. I was one of very very few people who did that and I couldn�t be happier.
Day 1- Today was spent in the Holiday Inn in Dar Es Salaam trying to find a safari to a game reserve in the south. When everyone decided to go north, I decided to stay. Maggie and Kim were doing a homestay that I was very interested in and I was not up for a 13 hour ride. I went to a nice dinner and tried Ugali, an African side dish. It was very good.
Day 2 and 3- Today Anna, Maggie, Kim, Brianna, Julie and I set out to Akita�s garden. It was such an adventure. We took a ferry. I felt very out of place. We paid about 10 cents to ride a ferry to a village called Kigambone. When waiting for the ferry, men sat on one side and women on the other. When it was time to get on everyone rushed to go onto this barge filled with people and vehicles. We arrived in Kigambone and we stuck out so much. People stared at us. We asked a cab driver to bring us to a village called Guazalole, where Akita�s garden was located. He told us that would be $80. Yeah right. We got on a dalla dalla. What an adventure that was. 28 people in a minivan driving down the bumpy roads of Tanzania. 2 men hung out the side. Maggie had to keep her legs elevated because someone put a bag of grain under her feet. So funny! On the dalla dalla we met a boy, Shaban, who was also heading to Akita�s Garden. He helped us out. Akita was in town and would not be back for about 3 hours. no cell phones to call him ?
We went to lunch and played in the Indian Ocean for a while. Amor, a man we met at the �restaurant� climbed a tree to get the girls coconuts to drink. It was cool. While he was doing that I played with all of these little kids. I gave them each a crayon and a piece of paper from my little memo pad. They all wrote their names on them and showed me. It was cute.
Akita arrived home early. Why? Because he heard about us. He heard about the six white girls running around Kigamboni and figured we were there to see him. He gave us a tour of the village. We met the most amazing people. Mama Ria and her husband cultivated seaweed. We learned how to make the roofs on the houses. We saw a woman making mats out of palm leaves. Everyone was so inviting. We met some teachers and the head of the local school. We talked about politics. Akita was amazing.
We went back to the garden for dinner. Akita�s wife made a delicious meal. We ate with our new friends Shaban, and Zakia. Zakia was Akita�s sister in law. They were our age. Zakia was married with a child. She�d been married since she was 16. It was time for bed. We slept under mosquito nets and it was so hot. I�ve never camped before. I had no idea there were so many stars in the sky. There was no electricity. We filled an oil filter from a bucket of water to bathe. It was so different that what we are used to. It was great.
I woke up before everyone else. Shaban was up too so we went for a walk. We went to the school. I asked to see and English class. Communication was rough because my Swahili is limited. The teacher asked all of the kids in the 7th grade to go inside. I felt bad that they had to stop playing. I sat in front of the class all by myself. I said �do you speak English?� �Yes� they answered. Now what, I thought? I introduced myself. And asked their names. Each student stood, in their white and blue uniforms, and said �My name is ________� It was so cute. I said nice to meet you 30 times. Then I had to dismiss them. I told them they could go. No one understood. I said, �go outside� and pointed outside. Still nothing. Finally, I stood up and motioned with my hand �come on� I said and walked out. They all followed. It was really fun. It was incredible to me that of 1000 people on the boat with me, I was the only one who had that experience. All by myself in a village in Tanzania.
After breakfast Akita took us around the village some more. We met Mama Leah. She mad pottery. I bought a bowl from her. It�s great. We returned to the garden to get our things and left. There is no way in the world I will not return to Akita�s garden. I hope everyone I know can go there. If anyone knows anyone in this part of the world encourage them to go and you are all invited when I return there.
We took a cab back to Kigambone and it was like being in a different place. We knew some Swahili at that point and were saying hi to everyone. People were so nice. We had such a great experience we weren�t scared of the looks anymore. We were excited to talk to people. We shopped, bought many really pretty skirts (I�ll share, mommy.)
That night we took Zakia and her husband to dinner. It was nice to spend some time with them. They live in the �city center� section of Dar Es Salaam.
Day 4- Back on the ferry�back to Kigambone. Shaban offered to take us to an orphanage so we went back. It turned out all of the children were in school, so we did some shopping. One our way back to the ferry this man approached me. He came about 3 inches from my face and started screaming in Swahili. I knew he wasn�t mad. He kept smiling. I asked Shaban what was going on. This man was really causing a scene. He was telling me how beautiful I was and asking me to marry him. It was so funny. He was really screaming. When I get home I�ll do the impression. I laughed for about a 1?2 hour. By the way �toto� means beautiful in Swahili.
Ebony wood carvings are big here and my roommates had gone on the first day to buy things. I knew what I wanted so I was in and out of the market quickly. While we were there the girls ran into Doreen, a friend they had met on the first day while I was at the Holiday Inn. She hung out with us for the rest of the day. It was fun. We did lunch and some more shopping.
That night we went to a concert with two professors. It was a famous band in Tanzania, Double M Sound. It was fun. The dancers were like acrobats. So cool.
Day 5- Today we decided to spend the day on this deserted island with Doreen and her friend Ursula. We got on this boat straight out of pirates of the Caribbean, it broke 3 times on our way to the island. The island was nice. I snorkeled for a bit. We had dinner and some Kilimanjaro beers (they�re great) and headed back to the boat.
We went back to the boat to listen to everyone�s safari story. I hope that people don�t forget that there is more to Africa than the animals. I�ll bet giraffes were cool, but I�m willing to bet Mama Ria is a hell of a lot cooler. I am so happy for my experience in Tanzania. I have had several good conversations in each country, but this is the first place where I have made real connections. We cried when we left. It was an incredible 5 days in Dar Es Salaam.
Hope all is well at home.
Alyson
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