Hamjambo!

October 4, 2009

Today was the second day of orientation here at Basecamp. We have had breakfast, a short talk and then walked into town, mostly to get acquainted with where things are and feeling comfortable walking in the streets. It has been a little overwhelming, but overall great. The streets are pretty rocky and really dusty, so when a car drives by you almost have to stop and cover your face to avoid inhaling it all the time. All the plants and trees along the sides of the road are not green, but rather brown from a thin layer of dust that constantly covers everything. There are also far less white people than I had expected to see. Unless we have been at a place where they are known to hang out before heading on Safari, I have only seen one or two. Even still, the people leave you alone and do not hound you for money at all. Most of them barely make notice of you, unless they say hello as they pass by. Also something I had not expected, but much appreciate. I would have to say the craziest thing about Arusha so far has been the driving. It is kind of scary sometimes and often feels like you are in a video game where there are people flying here and there and bicycles and push carts and chickens flying…pretty entertaining.

Today we also went to the used clothing market and I got a pair of pants to wear around sometimes. My dresses are nice to wear, but sometimes you need to wear pants and it is culturally acceptable for the most part. For dinner tonight, we went to a place called Khan’s for orientation that serves Indian bar-b-que. It was delicious and very local. We sat at a picnic table on the side of the road and drank freshly squeezed passion juice. Yum.

We unfortunately didn’t get to go to church this morning because of orientation, but we are going to go next week. There is a church next door to our house, though, so it was nice to hear the singing all morning. It is also a school during the week, so we can hear the kids playing during the day, which is also kind of fun.

October 6, 2009

We are still in orientation week and enjoying it a lot. We have had our first two days of language training and then gone into town in the afternoons. The language training is hard, but we are going to practice and stick with it until we are confident with using it.

Yesterday we went to town to get cell phones, which we can call within Tanzania really cheaply and we can receive calls for free here also. It is cheap to call from the states with a calling card, so if you are interested in getting our number, just e-mail me and I’ll send it to you because I don’t want to post it here J Yesterday we also went to the Meru Market, where you can buy all sorts of crafts and things made by the locals. I think I could probably spend all of our money there, but we are going to have to pick just a few things to bring back, since we are limited in what we can carry back. We are going to look into the cost of shipping things though, because it just might be worth it.

Today we went to a place down Ilboro road from our house called the Arusha Center for the Development of Women & Children. We met the lady who runs it, Mama Hindu, and she gave us a soda and a bracelet made by Maasai women. She made a microfinance program for women, mostly Maasai, and teaches them about women’s rights and things also. For the children, they run a school, but they don’t have enough teachers and can’t afford to feed them, so they can’t have a full day of school since hungry children can’t concentrate or learn anything.

October 7, 2009

Last night we went to a show called “Mama Africa”. It was kind of like the African version of Cirque de Solei, with a lot of contortionists and gymnasts and jugglers and things. It was only 4,000 Tsh for both of us, which is less than $3, so it was definitely worth it!

Today we went to the ICTR to watch one of the war trials from the Rwanda Genocide, which is one things that I really wanted to do while we were here. I was not sure what to expect, but it was really fascinating. We actually got to see a trial that was kind of exciting. A witness for the defense was being cross-examined about his witness to a crime committed by a man named Dominique, who was a government official in Butari. He was being tried because is thought to have tricked a group of Tutsi’s up a mountain and told them they would be safe, but ultimately led them into a trap where they were all killed. What was cool was that we were able to actually understand what was going on and got a full picture of what had happened during that time. I thought it was pretty amazing that even though the incident was 15 years ago, the questions and answers were so detailed. It makes you wonder how much is true and how accurate it all is.

Well, that’s about all for now. Sorry the installations are so long, but we are trying to keep it thorough J We are still loving Arusha and feeling more and more confident and comfortable here. I know that when we can move out of the volunteer house, we will feel very comfortable and safe moving into a place of our own. We hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon.

(The picture posted here is of the street that we walk down every day to get to town, with the view of Mt. Meru in the background.)

Written by Whitney