So I forgot I was keeping a blog for the last few weeks, but I haven't been up to much. After coming back from the jaunt to Uganda and Rwanda, I decided to make the most of my last few weeks in Moshi. The other weekend a group of us from the Hostel went to a Masai village outside of Arusha. It was really amazing to see. The Masai are famous for their beautiful bead-work and their jumping dance. We got to take pictures too, which was a plus. I can't even describe their amazing outfits. They wear bright blue, purple, and/or red plaid clothes draped over their bodies. They always have a machete at their side and usually a club in their hand. And then they have beads everywhere! But I'll have to wait till the slide show to tell you guys more ;D
I also have been keeping myself busy with dance. I got amazingly lucky one day after school when I was walking home...I heard a drum beat and decided to follow the music. It ended up leading me to an after school program that does theater and dance with kids. I tried to sneak in and watch, but being the only white person around, they kinda noticed me right away. As is common with the culture here, they instantly welcomed me in and before I knew it someone had wrapped a kanga around me and I was out dancing with all the kids. (fyi a kanga is a type of cloth here, it is beautiful and very colorful. All the ladies wear them wrapped around like skirts). And so I got hooked. I've been going for the last 3 weeks now, every Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes I get to drum, sometimes there is no dance and I watch them practice acting, of which I only understand the words 'action!' and 'cut!'...Everyone there has been super nice to me and on my last day (yesterday) one of the leaders, Kisodu, gave me a paper with one of the songs on it. This song is about the region of Kilimanjaro and we sing it (or attempt to mouth along) as we dance. I was really excited to get it in writing so now I can keep practicing.
Today was my last day teaching and leaving all the girls was really hard. Karen, the English teacher, and I brought them all notebooks and pens and lollipops and then we played games all class. It was really fun to just hang out with the girls. It was really a challenge working there but I know I learned a lot. Patience is key and learning basic Swahili is a must. Some days were much more frustrating than others, but this last week as we finished up with geometry, the girls seemed to actually understand...so it was a good way to end.
The next month and a half brings a whole new level of excitement and adventure. I leave Moshi on Sunday and take a bus up to Nairobi, Kenya. There I will stay a night with a professor from study abroad Equatorial Guinea. Professor Quintin Luke, an impressive Botanist who is currently putting together a book on the flora of EG. Then I take a bus out around Mt. Kenya and to stay for a while with another professor, Dr. Tom Butynski. He is a very amazing biologist and I will be continuing my frog searches there...and the circle comes back to the frogs! I am really excited to get away from the tourist path and hand out in nature for a while. Tom lives next to a reserve where much research is currently being done, and we will be able to go on mini-safaris and check out some animals (fyi- safari in Swahili just means journey, so whenever you go somewhere, even if not to the Serengeti, then you are still going on safari).
After a few weeks playing with animals in Kenya, I swing back through Moshi for a night, then off for a 5 day train/bus journey/safari to VICTORIA FALLS!!! (Zambia side) I will be traveling with a girl I met at the hostel, Shannon from Canada and we are going to be doing a Zambia and Malawi trip for about 3 weeks. And so far, the country names is about all we have been able to decide on, but we figure with 5 days of travel, we'll have plenty of time to read up before we get there!!!
Once we circle back to Dar es Salaam, we will split up and I will head out to spend my last week in Zanzibar. This is a beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania and I will be able to rest and finish up my shopping (presents for all of you of course!) there. Then July 1st I fly home to see all my dearly missed family and friends.
Although plans are bound to change along the way, this is the current schedule for my last month and a half in Africa. I can't believe time has flown by so fast and I know the next leg will zoom by even faster. So I'm going to get off the computer and go soak up the last bits of Moshi before getting on the bus...
