Pole Pole

(This post is basically just about my closing thoughts about my trip.)

I have officially been bake in the States for a week. In some ways, it has felt like I never even left. But, on the other hand, it also felt like I spent a lifetime in Tanzania. Assimilating back into American culture was a lot easier than I had expected it to be (it wasn't too difficult to go back to drink iced capps from Tim Horton's, though!)

Perhaps it's because I started moving into my house on campus right away or that I've already started working. I guess I haven't really given myself a chance to process all that has happened. It sort of started registering with me the other night, which resulted in me crying at my dining room table. Going to Tanzania for a month was something monumental for me and, I think, I've been acting very nonchalant about it.

I think this experience is something that will be a part of me for the rest of my life. I learned a lot over there, both about Tanzanian wildlife and myself. I think what will stick with me the most is the phrase, "pole pole." Pole pole just means "slowly, slowly" and is mainly used when talking about "Tanzanian time." It is a well-known fact in Tanzania that the people move on their own time and just because you have something scheduled at 2:00 pm, it doesn't necessarily mean it will start at 2:00 pm.

This idea was presented to us on the first day to remind us that we need to be able to adapt to any situation. Pole pole really stuck with me because often I have my mind set on something and when something comes up to deter my plan, I get frustrated. I think it's a good reminder that sometimes I need to slow down and enjoy life. It also reminds me that I can't let small things get the best of me, and that if I can accept that and adapt in response, then everything will be okay.

Another (very) important lesson I learned is that you should listen to the safety advice your mom  gives you and be more aware of your surroundings and personal safety when abroad. Unlucky events can and will happen to anyone, including me. Whether my phone was lost or stolen, my actions (or lack of actions) caused its disappearance, and next time I'll know how to secure my personal belongings better and just be, overall, more prepared when traveling.


The safari back home was a long one--it took at least 30+ hours to get from Rhotia, Tanzania to Columbus, Ohio. Though it was long, it was a lot easier than the safari to Tanzania. I think it was a mix of knowing what to expect from the plane rides and that I had 20 friends traveling with me that made it all a little easier. I didn't sleep much, but I watched 6 movies between all of my flights, so I say it was an overall success!

My stomach is slowly getting used to protein and dairy again, I know only have to worry about my shower being too hot, and  I haven't driven on the left side of the road (yet, anyways)! But, I miss the chilly mornings (I had forgotten how humid Ohio gets in the late summer), the colorful sunsets, and (of course) the passion fanta!

I don't want to forget the small things about Tanzania but I also want to be present in my life here in America. Sometimes I think that I have nothing left to look forward to now (I had about 9 months to obsess over Tanzania), but I just moved into my first house, I turn 21 in a few weeks, and I'm beginning my third (I honestly can't believe it) year of college, so I think I still have some exciting things ahead of me! I think it will just be a matter of accepting that my journey is over, though I'll never forget it, and that more new and exciting adventures await me here.


Here's the part where I post more pictures. I know I didn't post many pictures while I was away, but I have excellent wifi now so I thought I'd post random pictures that you guys didn't get the chance to see:

The view from Moyo Hill 

This is what the gate to camp looked like 

This was the inside of my band (I don't miss the mosquito net)

This is what my classroom looked like 

The class in front of the gates to Serengeti National Park

Hopefully this video (from the Hadzabe tribe) works now! 

Me (right) and my banda mate (left) with some Maasai women 

I didn't get an O-H-I-O pic with a giraffe, but I did get one with the sun setting over the Serengeti plains 

Olduvai Gorge. We stopped here on the way back from the Serengeti. It is known as the cradle for mankind because the first pieces of evidence for human evolution were found here. 

Some elephants because why not?

Me and Lily on a game drive in the Serengeti

Me (left) presenting my second RAP (plus Zach, Harry, Devra, Virginia, and CoCo)

The ladies of Moyo Hill Camp 

Me and Courtney with an elephant outside of a grocery store in Arusha 

I want to say one last thank you to those of you who have followed/supported me throughout this journey. I'm eternally thankful.

Baadaye,
Abby 

Whiskers on Kittens

Today is an extremely bittersweet day. It is my last full day in Tanzania.

This experience was more than anything I could have ever imagined. And while I’m extremely excited to go home, I'm also extremely sad to be leaving Tanzania.

We spent the morning talking about our time here, the memories we made and the lessons we learned. It was really sad to hear the staff say goodbye to all of us, and I’m going to miss all of them more than I thought I would. I’m going to miss all my fellow students too. Even though I didn’t have the chance to get to know all of them super well, they are all such great people and I hope the best for them in their futures and careers!

After lunch, we passed around sheets of papers with our names on them and wrote down notes for every student, kind of like a yearbook. I thought it was such a great idea and I can’t wait to read what everyone wrote about me (we don’t get to see them until we get to the airport tomorrow)!

Later, a group of us walked around Moyo Hill, the namesake for our camp, and it was extremely beautiful. I’m sorry I didn’t walk the loop sooner. I’ll post pictures when I’m back in the states!

We took one last trip to the tailor to pick up the last of our things. I finally got the purse I asked for a few weeks ago! We flooded his business with orders and electricity isn’t the most consistent, reliable thing here, so he got behind. It sucks it took so long, but I’m grateful he was able to finish it before I left! We also ran into the little girl who wanted us to swing her in the air. Not long after she found us, 4 other kids found us and wanted to do the same thing. I’m glad we go to see her before leaving!

We talked a lot about reverse culture shock today and I know at first I’ll be excited about fast food and washers and dryers and warm showers, but after all that excitement subsides, I know I’ll start wishing that I was back in Tanzania!

Some things I’ll miss about Tanzania:

-The sunsets

-The stars

-The people

-The animals

-The mountains

-The friendliness

Some things I won’t miss about Tanzania

-Cold showers

-Eating rice/pasta every day

There’s not much to hate about this place. I’ll forever be grateful that this was the first place outside of the U.S. that I chose to visit, and I definitely plan on coming back. Whether it’s to Rhotia, or Serengeti, or Kilimanjaro, I’ll find my way back in the future.

While I am happy to be heading home, I am not looking forward to the long plane rides. Our plane leaves tomorrow around 8:00 pm but I won’t land in Ohio until 8:00 pm on Wednesday. It’s going to be a long safari, but I’m looking forward to buying chocolate in Amsterdam and buying American food in New York!

So, I’m not saying kwaheri to Tanzania, only baadaye (see you later)!

Thanks for following me and my journey! The support I received throughout this process was incredible and I’m forever grateful for it. I’ll probably post one more post when I get back to America, so be on the look out! 

Moja, Mbili, Tatu

Serengeti was AMAZING. It would probably take me 12 hours to accurately explain all that happened, but I'll do my best to give the highlights.

Before going to Serengeti, we stopped off at Ngorongoro Crater, more affectionately known by SFS students as a big bowl full of animals!

The view from above (it was very chilly)

Water buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, and Thomson's gazelle!

The crater is the largest volcanic caldera in the world. I saw my first rhino in the crater, which was pretty cool! It was too far away so it's only a black blob in the picture. I also saw my first water buffalo. They are a lot larger than I had imagined!

We only spent a couple hours in the crater before we left for Serengeti (which I fell asleep for and promptly woke up right before we reached the gate)! We did a game drive on the way to our camp. About twenty minutes in, the car I was in got a flat tire so I got to stand out in the middle of Serengeti. You normally aren't allowed to be out of your vehicles in national parks, and if you're caught, you get a huge fine (I can't remember if I already mentioned this so sorry if I'm repeating myself)!

After all the chaos, we got to camp at nightfall. The sunset in the Serengeti is beautiful. I wish we were allowed to stay out a little longer so that I could get more vibrant colors in the picture, but I'm still pretty happy with what I have.

For all four days we were there, we ate our meals out of tuppeware containers and had to use headlamps at night so we could see the food! If we wanted to go to the bathroom after dark, we had to have a guard (askari) guide us. I shared my tent with three other girls and it was surprisingly warm in our tent. It wasn't the most comfortable though...I probably woke up at least 10 times each night! 

A lot of animals roamed through our camps at night, including baboons, hyenas, lions, and elephants! When I woke up Tuesday morning, there was an elephant by the kitchen pulling leaves off a tree. It was really peaceful watching the bull. If I had a chair and a cup of coffee, I would have been set! 

Serengeti was exciting because I got to see all the big cats! The leopards were always far away and blended into the trees, making them very hard to spot, even with binoculars. There were a lot of lions! Mostly lionesses. I only saw male lions from far away. We got really close to a lone lioness one day. There was another car right in front of her, and when they finally pulled away and our car moved up, she became unhappy and roared! Everyone in my car ducked down, but my brain did not register any fear or anxiety for the current situation and, as a result, allowed me to take this great picture: 

One car was lucky enough to see a cheetah kill one afternoon, but by the time my car got there, the cheetahs had disappeared with their prize. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to see them, but when we drove out of the park on the last day, I finally got to see 5 of them! 

Of course, I enjoyed seeing many of the elephants. Out of the 400 pictures I took, probably 200 of them are of elephants! 

Finally got a good baby pic! 

Leaving the park was bittersweet: I was ready to go back to camp so that I could sleep on a bed and take a shower (I didn't shower once during the four days we were at the park!) and have clean clothes, but I was sad to leave such a breathtaking place. You could be driving down one of the roads and on the left there would be endless, yellow plains and on the right there would be a riverine habitat surrounded by luscious green trees. At night, you could see so many stars, including the Milky Way, and you just felt small (in a good way) because things so much more brilliant than you existed. I wish everyone had the opportunity to go to the Serengeti. I think the world would be a much happier place! 

Today we had a non-program day and it was jam-packed! In the morning I went to a batik lesson held by one of the gentlemen in the community. Batik started in Indonesia, but this guy brought it from Uganda to Tanzania and it was really beautiful! It's a technique that uses waxes and dyes. It's kind of hard to explain, but very easy to execute! The outlines he gave for us were very simple, but the ones he made and sold were very intricate. They were all so great that I ended up buying a piece for myself! It's called Drum Dancing. 

An example of what batik looks like (not mine)!

In the afternoon I went on an elephant cave hike. There weren't any elephants (a lot of elephant dung though!), but it was still a great hike with amazing views! It wasn't nearly as extenuating as the waterfall hike we took at the beginning of the session, so that was a relief, because I'm nowhere near in shape. 

I was pretty excited about my walking stick!

After the hike, me and some other girls headed to Mtu wa Mbu to go to the Maasai market. I brought some things with me that I don't want to bring back to the States to trade so that was a fun twist to the haggling scene! One vendor wanted the pants I was wearing! I luckily avoided that scenario, and got the sign I wanted for a decent price. I also ended up getting a bracelet for a mechanical pencil and 500 shillings (25 cents!) so that was probably my most exciting trade! 

When we got back to Rhotia, some of us stopped at the tailor's to pick up our things. When we were walking back to camp, a little girl, probably no more than 3 or 4, came up to us and held our hands. She kept counting moja, mbili, tatu (one, two, three). At first we didn't know what she wanted us to do, but then we realized that once she got to three, she wanted us to lift her in the air. So we did all the way down the road, but then we got pretty far away from where she met us and we didn't want to get her too far away from home so we had to try to explain to her that we were leaving, but she kept say "nuh uh." It was insanely cute! 

It was my banda mate's birthday so we got to do another fun birthday dance (my legs didn't hurt as much this time)! Each night, a student has to give a presentation on anything of their choice. Usually we just play games, but tonight the boys (only 5 of them!) danced to N'Sync's Bye Bye Bye. It was really amusing! I have to present again tomorrow, so it will be a tough act to follow! 

All in all, it's been a busy, crazy, fun few days here in Tanzania. It's crazy to think that I leave next Tuesday! 

Kwaheri! 

Twende Serengeti!

It's been a fairly slow week here at Moyo Hill Camp.We had a poster presentation on Wednesday about the population density of the animal of our choosing. This concluded the end of our graded assignments (besides our final). It's nice to be done with the school work (even though it wasn't that hard) and be able to focus on the last week and a half of my stay

On Thursday we went to a near-by village (though it took us almost two hours to get there because of poor road conditions) to interview the people about how they use their land and animals. The people came from the Iraqw tribe and, therefore, they didn't know much Swahili. Our guide had to translate Iraqw to Swahili to English! After an hour or so, the interviews got kind of cumbersome because we asked the same questions and pretty much everyone had the same answer. It was still an interesting experience though, the land was beautiful and the people were kind. The kids were really intrigued by us. They kept coming up to the other two girls in my group and touching their hair. My hair is too short so I had nothing to offer them, but they were extremely fascinated by the long, blonde hair.

Yesterday we had a cultural day and visited two tribes. The first visit was to the Hadzabe, a group of hunter-gatherers. The Hadzabe are very unique in the sense that there are less than 5,000 of them in the world, they are allowed to hunt bushmeat with bow and arrows, they consider you a friend if you bring marijuana (!), and their language is more similar to Zulu (they use clicks) which is spoken in South Africa. For example, if you want to say "head" you just click your tongue. The Hadzabe showed us how to make a fire and then they gave us an archery lesson!

Call me Katniss. 

Next they performed one of their traditional songs. While I have seen the Maasai perform at least 3 or 4 times now, I think I like the Hadzabe's style better. They have more rhythm I think. I have attached a video of the dance they had us participate in. Hopefully it loads!

Don't mind the poor quality. 

Afterwards they showed us all their jewelry, pipes, and miniature bow and arrows. The bow and arrows they craft are very intricately carved and they are adorned with genet and baboon fur. For only 10,000 tsh (5 USD) I had to buy one! Next we watched the women dig for jicama roots (their major source of water). That concluded our visit, so we ate and talked about the problems facing the Hadzabe.

Next we drove about 20 minutes to meet with the Datoga. We didn't stay there long, but we got to see one of their houses and they showed us how they melt down scrap metal. The Datoga are blacksmiths and they still use very traditional methods to make their jewelry and arrowheads. It was a very cool thing to watch! 

Tomorrow we leave for the Serengeti and to say that we are all very excited is an understatement! We are going to be camping in the middle of the Serengeti! I'm going to get to see the sun set in the Serengeti! I'm going to see elephants in the Serengeti! Ahhhhhhh. I won't have my computer with me while I'm there so I probably won't update my blog until next Wednesday or Thursday. 

Can't wait to see some cats (paka)!

Kwaheri! 

Nobody Said It'd Be Easy

I have learned a lot during my first two weeks in Tanzania. I have learned how to hand wash my clothes, how to make eggs, how to haggle, how to identify tracks, and how to eat rice every day.

But I think the most important lesson that I've learned, is that when you're a girl abroad, you can never let your guard down. I let my guard down when I went to a local market on Saturday and, as a result, my phone (mkono) was stolen. While there is a good chance that it fell out of my pocket, it is more likely that it was stolen, because from the moment I got out of the car, I was constantly surrounded by guys trying to sell me things. While I was telling someone "No, I don't want to buy anything" someone else could've grabbed it out of my pocket. There was also a guy who held pants up to my waist and kept saying "So simple. So simple." He could've taken it out of my pocket, too, when he pulled the pants away.

In retrospect, I should've left my phone at camp. I took it with me because one, it's habit and two, I wanted to take pictures of the market. I bought a pay as you go phone to use during my last two weeks so I still have a way to communicate with my family. Maybe it will be good for me to be without a smart phone for two weeks. It will definitely remind me of the caution I need to take in life. I am not invincible and I am not excluded from horrible/awful events in life. 

Besides being (obviously) upset by losing my phone, I was mad because I didn't want the event to ruin the outlook I had on the last two weeks of my stay. Because, in honesty, when I was retracing my steps at the market trying to recognize vendors, I looked at everyone with contempt, and I didn't like that feeling. Ninety-eight percent of Tanzanians are incredibly kind and friendly, but it is a poor country and theft is common. Even if I had dropped my phone, there was no way someone would go out of their way to try to find and return it to the owner. 

No one said going to Tanzania would be without its hardships. It definitely hasn't been the easiest thing I've done in my life, but for good or bad, this trip will always be with me. 

Kwaheri! 

Christmas in July

Visiting the Maasai bomas was very interesting. As soon as my group got to our boma, the men and women started singing and dancing. They separated the guys from the girls and gave the girls big necklaces to wear, while the guys got wooden staffs. We probably danced for 15 minutes or so. Though I couldn't understand the words to the song and had to be lead around by the mama holding my hand, it was very fun! After the singing and dancing, they showed us inside their huts. The huts are very small and dark, and there is really only enough room for beds. Next, they showed us how they milk their cows. The Maasai are known to drink cow blood, so they shot a cow in the neck (it is still alive!) so that they could get some of its blood. Next, they showed us how they build their huts. First they make a frame out of branches from trees and then they insulate it with a mixture of cow dung, dirt, and water! We then had a chance to ask them questions. My question was how they charge their phones because everyone in Tanzania has cell phones, even tribe members, but electricity isn't everywhere. It turns out they go to Mtu wa Mbu and pay a small fee to charge their phones. The Maasai then had a chance to ask us questions. They wanted to know where we were from and if we were all related! Finally, the mamas laid out their jewelry and some of us bought some (guilty).

When we got back to camp, we had lunch and all of us shared our experience. We all went to three different bomas and each visit was unique in its own way. Next was the goat slaughter so I promptly left camp to go to the tailor's! My dress wasn't ready because he lost electricity for awhile, but we went to the duka next door and I got a passionfruit fanta (our duka has run out of them!) Passionfruit fanta is super delicious and I wish it was something that we sold in the States. Defintely going to be something I miss when I leave.

Dinner, of course, was a special occassion because of the goat and it was one of the student's birthdays. Birthdays aren't really that big of a deal here, but they have a really cool way of brining out the cake. We basically start as a conga line and there is a lot of jumping (my legs were super sore) and there's singing, but I wasn't entirely sure what was being sung. My banda mate's birthday is in August so I can't wait to do it again for her birthday!

Today we drove to Karatu (which was the first time for many of the second session students) and learned about soil management. We practiced making contours on some farmland and it turns out the marks we made will actually be used by the owners of the land so that they can prevent soil erosion. It was nice to actually be able to help!

Later today, most of us are going back to Karatu because a big, monthly market is going on. I'm in the market for some fabric that has elephants on it so I'm excited to go! Hopefully by now I'll be used to being a mzungo!

Today is also Christmas (Krismasi) in July here at camp. We are doing a secret santa after dinner and we will have a bonfire! It was a really good idea by one of the students and we are all pretty excited for it.

Kwaheri na Likizo Furaha! (Bye and Happy Holidays!)

Elephants and Monkeys and Goats, Oh My!

We have had a very busy week here at Moyo Hill Camp! On Monday, we went to a village nearby called Kilimatembo (Elephant Hill)! We split into groups and went on what is called a transect walk. During our walk, we wrote down everything we saw, which was mostly farmland. We also talked to a few of the farmers and asked them what they grew, why the chose to grow it, and what sort of problems they faced. I didn't expect to learn about agriculture while I was here, but it was very interesting. One of the farmers wanted to ask us questions before we could ask him any. He wanted to know we were here in Tanzania, what we were studying, and what we hoped to accomplish while we were here. I think that he thought we were truly there to help, but in reality we were only there for an assignment. I wish we could help, but as students, we don't have the time, money, or resources to be able to make a difference (though I wish we could).

Side note: I went to town after lunch and picked up my pants. They are super cute and I can definitely see myself wearing them all the time! I also bought some nutella, which is probably my best purchase since being in Africa!

On Tuesday we went back out to Maasai land to identify different vegetation. It was a lot like our poop assignment, except I didn't have to touch any poop! Again, we had a Maasai person walk with us to help identify the different trees. He told us their Maasai names and what use the trees were to them. Mostly they were used as fencing or building material. They had a lot of date trees, so they ate the fruit, and they had a couple trees where they used the bark as a cure to sickness. They really had a use for every part of the tree so that it didn't go to waste. It was very hot and dusty out on the plains and I think brought back more dirt with me to camp!

Yesterday we drove 2 hours away to Tarangire National Park, a park that boasts having the highest concentration of elephants per square kilometer than any other place in the world! So you could say I was very excited for the trip. The park definitely didn't disappoint! I think we saw our first elephant within the hour. It was a lone female and she was shaking the tree she was at.

I don't know why she was doing it, but it was pretty cute. We saw a lot of animals (giraffes, vervet monkeys, zebras, wildebeests, a black momba, and a quick glance at some lionnesses from far away!) but mostly my pictures were of elephants! I don't regret anything. Here are some of my favorites:

I didn't have the chance to get a good picture of a baby! The tall grasses usually hid them so I'm glad you can at least kind of tell that one of the elephants is a baby in the last picture!

We had lunch at a picnic site, but the place was surrounded by vervet monkeys trying to steal food!
One stole a banana right out one of my classmate's hand. Another stole a sandwich in a plastic bag from another classmate. And then another stole another banana! These monkeys have no fear. One jumped over me as I was trying to take a picture:

The monkeys are such a nussiance, that sometime you have to throw rocks in their direction to get them to stay away. But one guy went as far as chasing a monkey, even after it was already running away, down to throw rocks directly at it. There always has to be one ignorant person wherever you go. His family was basically asking for it: they were chopping up fresh fruit in the middle of a national park. Of course it would attract monkeys. It was one of those times where I definitely preferred animals to humans.

We have a paper due tonight so most of us were working on it last night when we got home. We all gathered into the dining hall and tried our best to get something done. Luckily I was finished, I was just trying to edit my paper, but most people were just starting theirs. We are really are college kids, waiting until the last minute to get something done. In their defense, it doesn't feel like we're at school here. There are too many fun things to do!

Today we had another game drive at Manyara Ranch. But it wasn't nearly as exciting as Tarangire was. I think the most exciting thing that happened at the ranch was the fact that we saw a cow with massive horns:

We were there for about two and a half hours and then we left. On our way back, we stopped off at a Maasai market (not the same one we went to on Sunday). As soon as we got out of the car, people were trailing us, trying to sell us jewelry and shirts and fabric. One woman actually started putting bracelets on my arm! I understand that they are trying to earn a living, but after saying hapana asante (no thanks) ten times, you would think they would get the picture. I think what bothers me is that they would never do that to a local person. But because of the fact that I'm a mzungo (foreigner), they think it is okay to harass me. Like one guy kept following us around the market. At first it is nice to have the attention, but after awhile, it really starts to get annoying!

Overall though, Tanzanians are super friendly. It just so happens that the vendors are the most annoying!

Tomorrow we are going to learn more about Maasai culture and actually get to visit some Maasai families at their bomas (villages). When we get back to camp, there is supposed to be a traditional goat slaughter. Living in America has allowed me to be very removed from the meat industry, and as much I understand the importance of such a sacrifice to Tazanians (eating meat is very rare for them), I do not think I will be staying around for it. My banda mate said she was there when they did it last month and told me that the sound was the worst part and had to leave. So I think during that time, I'm going to go to town and pick up my dress I had the tailor make for me.

We see so many goats and cows on the road when we drive, and I just don't think I can watch one die. I always thought goats were kinda bleh before coming here, but now I think they are so cute and I kinda want one!

Here's to another eventful day in Tanzania!

Kwaheri!