I have almost met my goal of blogging once a week, but time here flies by so fast. I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone at the hostel (Hostel Hoff, about 20 ppl) and they are a really fun group to hang out with. I have explored the greater downtown Moshi and all the amazing art you can buy, I'm going to have to get rid of something to pack it all when I leave...
I've been exploring all the projects for the last week and finally get to start teaching my math class this Wednesday. As I've never done it before, I'm pretty excited.
This last weekend me and some friends from the hostel went hiking in Macheme (sp?) near moshi. It was very nice and calm, walked through a bunch of little towns and saw some amazing clothes. So many colors and flowers its incredible. We got to try fresh passion fruit and even sample some banana beer, quite good actually.
Sunday was day of rest, reading and hanging out with the tortoises and lizards. As my book list continues to expand with every conversation, I must make time to read to keep up!
As I continue to settle into the routine, its beginning to feel like a home away from home, and since all the people at the hostel are there for a long time, its really nice because they begin to feel like family. (we are excited for April fools day...)
I will post again within a week. Hope everyone at home is good and safe. Best, Kerry
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
I've arrived safely in Tanzania...
SO first off, i would like to thank my mom for all the trust she has given me, cause i need to honestly say i was crossing my fingers when i arrived by myself at the airport in Kilimanjaro at 8:30pm hoping that someone would be standing at the exit with my name on a piece of paper...and they were!!! So Yuma picked me up and drove me the 40 min back to Moshi and i am now safely staying at Hostel Hoff (google it to see how amazing it is). Everyone is there for extended stay and volunteering locally at schools and an orphanage. Even though I got there late, they had saved a plate of dinner for me...very sweet. Denis took me on a tour of the town today and already the differences between TZ and Equatorial Guinea are huge! First off, there is more than one newspaper, more than one radio station, and I can actually walk around by myself without being hassled by the military...its grand! Everyone here is very friendly (even in the airport, no more fingerprinting :D) and I aleady have met a lot of people. I even ran into a couple of guys i met on the airplane, so it already feels like a small town.
So this week i will be figuring out what project i want to work with and get started on that. this weekend, Denis and I already planned to go to Arusha (1+ hr east) to see a basketball tournament that is happening there and has countries from all over east africa. I've also already met 2 different people from different tour companies, one local and one from Australia, so hopefully i'll be going on safari soon, as March is the best (right before the rain hits, but before the tourists). Denis and I also have already planned for an unknown date to go to lake Victoria for a week (which will be much cheaper and more informal than a safari, basically, tour by local bus...the best way I've found to see a country).
So far the people associated with the hostel speak english, but apparently that is not too common, so i'm trying very hard to learn swahilli. hmmm, what else have i learned? well, from EG i've learned to ask questions, and i'm very excited about that. so from my million and a half questions to Denis, i've learned: there are 26 regions in TZ, which is then divided into a lot more districts, economy is based a lot in tourism but also from mineral goods (like tanzanite, found in TZ and used in cell phones), TZ's futbol team is pretty good, but Zambia is the best, and my phone will work in all of east africa, so that is good. my number is: 0-789-534-144 (fyi, this blog is officially my journal because my computer died and this internet cafe is now all i have).
So that is my last 12+ hours, I hope all is well for my friends and family, i miss you all!!!
Kerry
So this week i will be figuring out what project i want to work with and get started on that. this weekend, Denis and I already planned to go to Arusha (1+ hr east) to see a basketball tournament that is happening there and has countries from all over east africa. I've also already met 2 different people from different tour companies, one local and one from Australia, so hopefully i'll be going on safari soon, as March is the best (right before the rain hits, but before the tourists). Denis and I also have already planned for an unknown date to go to lake Victoria for a week (which will be much cheaper and more informal than a safari, basically, tour by local bus...the best way I've found to see a country).
So far the people associated with the hostel speak english, but apparently that is not too common, so i'm trying very hard to learn swahilli. hmmm, what else have i learned? well, from EG i've learned to ask questions, and i'm very excited about that. so from my million and a half questions to Denis, i've learned: there are 26 regions in TZ, which is then divided into a lot more districts, economy is based a lot in tourism but also from mineral goods (like tanzanite, found in TZ and used in cell phones), TZ's futbol team is pretty good, but Zambia is the best, and my phone will work in all of east africa, so that is good. my number is: 0-789-534-144 (fyi, this blog is officially my journal because my computer died and this internet cafe is now all i have).
So that is my last 12+ hours, I hope all is well for my friends and family, i miss you all!!!
Kerry
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Heading off for new things....
Hey all,
So i didn't realize i hadn't written for a while...my bad. Anyways, tonight I say goodbye to Equatorial Guinea, hello to Europe for a little while, and hopefully by tomorrow night I'll be in Tanzania. I'll be staying in Moshi and will continue by posts as I travel there for the next three months...I gotta run, love you all!
So i didn't realize i hadn't written for a while...my bad. Anyways, tonight I say goodbye to Equatorial Guinea, hello to Europe for a little while, and hopefully by tomorrow night I'll be in Tanzania. I'll be staying in Moshi and will continue by posts as I travel there for the next three months...I gotta run, love you all!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Changing views
First off, major credit for writing two blogs in one week, I'm getting better. This one will also be quick but we have wireless internet right now, so I had to post something. We have been on the Hess oil company compound the last few days. We gave them presentation about our program and it went really well. I have been able to talk to some very knowledgeable people about the petrol industry and its affects on EG...and I have learned a lot. There are a lot of stereotypes about oil companies that I definitely had coming into the program and those stereotypes have proved to be very inaccurate. Hess is really doing some amazing development projects on the island and the impact on the country is really amazing. Yesterday we drove east toward the heart of the country and explored along the way, eating very strange food and getting amazing pictures. Today we went to survey for bushmeat in the local markets. Unfortunately we ran into an unexpected holiday: International Woman's Day. It's a huge deal and all the city celebrates. Thus, the markets were pretty closed. We did find some bushmeat, some turtles on their backs to keep them from getting away but to keep them alive and fresh. Some turtles without shells (these are forest turtles). Some Hornbills, Duikers, and luckily no monkeys, though one of the ladies working said they had already been sold. We got yelled at for taking pictures, ate some more crazy food, and got a hint of the celebrations. We fly back to Malabo Monday morning at 5 am in order to get back for class at 10 (though I doubt anyone will be able to stay awake through it). School is winding down and work is becoming majorly overwhelming. But by my next blog, it will all be wrapped up and the next phase will be coming fast. As always with trips like this, its amazing how fast it goes: Jan 8th: Fly to EG, Feb 8th: Research at Moka, March 8th: International Woman's Day in Bata...April 8th: ???
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Just a quick note
Hey Everyone!
So I haven't blogged cause I haven't had time to sit down and write a book about it, but then I realized I hadn't said anything in a few weeks, so I would just do a quick update.
Classes here are really busy, we are cramming an entire quarter into 6 weeks and it is super fun...The classes I am taking are: Natural Resource Economics, Society and Environment, Field Research Methods, Spanish and Culture, and Field Research. We have finished our Field Research class which was a two week intensive course. That's when I spent my whole life living, thinking, and breathing frogs. Now we are back in the Capital city of Malabo and attending the UNGE university for the other classes. Our teachers are from EG but educated abroad. Each weekend we take a field trip to another part of the country and have our field methods classes there.
This upcoming weekend is super exciting...we are going to mainland EG! The city is called Bata and the mainland is called Rio Muni. We are being flown over by Hess, an oil company on the island, and have to do a presentation to them regarding our reports. We will be staying on their compound, but I think get Saturday free to explore the city and surrounding forest. I really hope this works out cause there are actually forest elephants near by and I want to see one :D It will also be very interesting to see the differences in the forests between an isolated island and a portion of the large continental forests.
We are currently winding down the quarter and spending time working on our term papers. On March 21st I leave EG and head to the east...to Tanzania! I'm excited, but really not ready to leave EG yet. This country is really just at the start of amazing development/progress and being here it really seems like one of those places where one person can actually make a difference. You get inspired everyday by something that needs to be fixed that you can actually help with...it gets overwhelming, but its amazing.
Anyways, we have Spanish class in a few minutes and I have 4 reports due by midnight tonight. I love you all and hope you are doing well. Thank you for the comments and happy March!
So I haven't blogged cause I haven't had time to sit down and write a book about it, but then I realized I hadn't said anything in a few weeks, so I would just do a quick update.
Classes here are really busy, we are cramming an entire quarter into 6 weeks and it is super fun...The classes I am taking are: Natural Resource Economics, Society and Environment, Field Research Methods, Spanish and Culture, and Field Research. We have finished our Field Research class which was a two week intensive course. That's when I spent my whole life living, thinking, and breathing frogs. Now we are back in the Capital city of Malabo and attending the UNGE university for the other classes. Our teachers are from EG but educated abroad. Each weekend we take a field trip to another part of the country and have our field methods classes there.
This upcoming weekend is super exciting...we are going to mainland EG! The city is called Bata and the mainland is called Rio Muni. We are being flown over by Hess, an oil company on the island, and have to do a presentation to them regarding our reports. We will be staying on their compound, but I think get Saturday free to explore the city and surrounding forest. I really hope this works out cause there are actually forest elephants near by and I want to see one :D It will also be very interesting to see the differences in the forests between an isolated island and a portion of the large continental forests.
We are currently winding down the quarter and spending time working on our term papers. On March 21st I leave EG and head to the east...to Tanzania! I'm excited, but really not ready to leave EG yet. This country is really just at the start of amazing development/progress and being here it really seems like one of those places where one person can actually make a difference. You get inspired everyday by something that needs to be fixed that you can actually help with...it gets overwhelming, but its amazing.
Anyways, we have Spanish class in a few minutes and I have 4 reports due by midnight tonight. I love you all and hope you are doing well. Thank you for the comments and happy March!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
snow day on the Equator
[The following is a minute by minute account of the morning, followed by the blog. FYI everything here is JUST FINE :D and we will hopefully be off to class again tomorrow]
Tuesday 17 February 2009
SNOWDAY!!!! Well, actually terrorist attempt day.
4:45-6:00 sounds of bombs going off and gun fire, followed by many planes.
7:12 Elis texts. Not received till after Anton’s call.
7:17 Anton calls from the embassy, we are to stay inside today
7:28 Josue texted. Had been trying to call for half an hour. “There is an armed group in the city. Everybody stays home.”
7:30 Mary Johnson calls. Yes, all the students are here and safe.
It seems like the current rumor that is sifting through the gray air today is that a group from Nigeria has made an ‘attempt’. I don’ t really know what constitutes an attempt, but Julia said it was never an attack, just an attempt. That and the noises is as much as we have right now, maybe we’ll learn more later, maybe we won’t.
8:50 Homemade cinnamon rolls are brought out of oven. Raisins hand picked out of Raisin Brain box cereal included. Even looks like whole wheat.
8:59 No more cinnamon rolls left. Time to take Malaria pill, but still hungry.
9:28 Strange silence outside. Julia says the area is probably closed off. Benefit of living next to the presidential palace I suppose.
9:37 wondering where the president might be. Obiang will come up here tomorrow to check the road to Lake Biao. Obiang is in the US because he is very sick.
An interesting note with all the presidential palaces sprinkled around the country is that no one every really knows where the president is. Therefore, you always need to be on your best behavior, because you never know who is watching you.
It’s amazing how fast they can shut down a city as well.
9:43 we have missed our first class and I’m really hoping we get to go to our guest lecture at 11:00, it seems promising as there are cars driving outside (but we don’t know whose cars they are) and we can hear some talking as well, but once again, we don’t know who it is. And the thing about having a giant cement and spiky wall all around your property is that is keeps everyone out, including possible information.
9:48 Julia laughs and cuts herself off mid-sentence, “I guess we can’t turn on the TV and see what’s going on, its not America.” This, yes, in addition to the fact that we don’t have a TV.
9:50 Trying to analyze the types of cars driving outside for more information. There’s not very many, true. There still aren’t people or kids playing. I believe the neighbors have been slaughtering chickens, so the ‘attempt’ has surely not helped them out.
9:57 and now I’m bored. Nap? Or work? Journal would be good, or making a blog. Yes, I should make a blog, but I’ll get some peanut butter first.
10:13 silence is suspicious. Screeches in the street sounds like life getting back to normal. We thought we heard a screech, but it now sound like the city is on shutdown and we told Bosco not to come over. He said to stay safe. We said we’d try.
10:20 Jose calls to make sure we are not going to class today.
10:21 No class at eleven. Mary J. says that the military has closed down the streets.
10:22 Julia calls Elias Edjo, ‘we will not be making it to your lecture today, and do you have any more information?’ Doesn’t seem like it…I’ll ask.
10:23 ‘everything is under control now and they are just doing surveillance, so don’t go outside.’ And that’s all we will find out for now, all that will make it through our concrete wall.
10:27 Benjamin calls, no class. You guys are staying inside house today? Maybe no class tomorrow. Our total so far: 4 people have called to make sure we are safe. Nice to know.
10:45 ‘that was a metal box going down the road.’ No new info from that.
10:52 another professor from UNGE called to make sure we were all here and inside.
11:10 text from someone else making sure we are all ok (Katy McIntosh). Nice to know.
11:18 official report from Embassy of ‘apparent attack’ in vicinity of Presidential Palace, resulting in heightened security and recommendations to stay inside.
11:45 Heidi calls to check in on us.
15:33 Jose calls me to make sure we are ok. Super sweet.
17:54 Now trying to scavenge dinner from rice and our fruit trees. We are looking at rice and mango/papaya chutney. Hopefully we can leave the house tomorrow…
Blog:
First off, I would like to assure everyone that we are all ok. For those of you who didn’t happen to stumble on a tiny BBC article about EG, we had a little excitement today but nothing serious at all. You are welcome to read the article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7894651.stm . We all stayed home from school today and are currently on house arrest (thus having time to finally write a blog, funny). We have plenty of rice to eat so we are fine. The ‘attempt’ as it has been labeled is all under control now (the military is carefully patrolling the city) and it has showed us how many people care about us. The amazing-ness of a small island is that we are all like family. We got our first call at 7:17 am directly from the embassy telling us to not leave the house (yes, exactly 7:17 am). This was followed at 7:30 from our friends at MEGI (the Mobil oil company) who called to make sure we were all there and safe. Yes, we were, thank you. By 11:00 we had received more than 10 calls or texts from friends and/or important people in the city to make sure we were all good. This included UNGE (the University), professors from UNGE, our UNGE students, and a whole bunch of other friends who are our important connections in the city. This program is very respected in the city (thus the extremely strict rules for students to behave properly) and also survives off the connections it has made. If something is going to happen, we know about it first. So to sum up, we are not worried and I really want to make sure that you are not worried as well. We are all fine, hopefully we’ll be able to go to class tomorrow, and life is grand. To be honest, a day off was really needed :D So I will take the rest of my suddenly free time to fill everyone in on the rest…
Two weeks is a lot to catch up on, especially here, but I have time to write today (see above) so I figured I would give in and write. We left for Moka on the 11th. Moka is a small town more inland on the island and up on a mountain, therefore it is much cooler and less hectic. I really liked it up there, more than in Malabo. Plus the influence of the Expat’s is almost none, which is a nice change. Its amazing the amount of American oil workers or middle eastern construction workers walking around the city in Malabo. It almost makes us stick out less, almost, but not quite.
We headed up to Moka with all our UNGE students. These are the 5 students from University National Guinea Equatorial (you can figure it out) that are taking classes with us. We all went on the expedition together and have gotten really close. It’s been really fun because we have all become really close friends and the language barrier is becoming less of an issue. My partner is Cayetano and the irony of it is fabulous.
On the expedition we all had to announce our projects and who we were in Spanish. Then the UNGE students talked for like 5 min and chose a project to join. Cayetano chose frogs. That would be me. He announces it and I get to meet him. He is the smallest of the group, both in build and in height. Kinda like a little frog, its really rather cute. And then we were partners to spend all nights together wandering the woods and rivers looking for frogs, that was the best part. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The five UNGE students that are in our program are all Environmental Conservation majors and very passionate about their studies. It’s been really amazing seeing the amount of enthusiasm these guys have for their country. In order to be able to use their names throughout, I will introduce you to them now:
Benjamin: seems kinda like the leader of the group. Really funny jokester that can really just be described as goofy, yet a very serious student when it comes down to it. Very stubborn. Project: Seed dispersal of fruiting trees. American partner: Kelly D.
Jose: Has an alarm that goes off at 5 am every morning for approximately 10 min. terribly afraid of horses, which we refer to as large Galagos for his sake. Very social and nice guy. Project: Money and Duiker. American partner: Carolyn K.
Antonio: learned English from rap songs so sounds like a rapper when he says yeeaahhh. We told him that and he tried to switch to a British accent, which just sounded funny and he switched back unconsciously. Also the best dancer of the group and very interested in learning West Coast Swing, we had a dance off last weekend and he seems like a good partner. Oh, and he picked up Salsa super fast, so I’m excited. Also really likes the song by Eminem “cleaning out my closet” (yes, old song) and translating this was quite and interesting task. Project: Chameleon habitat and behavior. American Partner: Emilie K.
Monica: the only girl of the group, very passionate about botany and just strong headed in general. Very nice and made us chicken for dinner once on/for Kelly’s 21st birthday (I guess she got tiered of Spam, shocker). Will laugh at everything you say. Project: Orchid habitats and abundance. Partner: Jason L.
Cayetano- my partner! Shy and reserved. I believe to be lowest on the social/class level totem pole, which is hardly ever visible, but does appear every now and again. Cute smile when you get him laughing, the kind of smile that makes you smile. His dad was actually a professional soccer player and wanted him to do that, by Cayetano wanted education instead (really good guy) but is still a really good futbol player. Project: make a wild guess on this. American partner: once again, use that American education of deductive reasoning, if you didn’t get it, stop reading this blog.
The two American students who didn’t get an UNGE partner due to a shortage are Andeliene (Galago habitat studies) and Autumn (after many switching projects, chose Praying Mantis behavior and habitat. Which, if you knew her, could not be any more perfect. And was quite great cause we all got to learn a lot more about these insects and I’m not going to lie, it was pretty cool watching it eat a glow-worm for dinner once.)
Other key players in this game include:
Julia- our crazy resident advisor who has to make sure that our teachers actually teach and call them in the morning to make sure they show up to class. We like her.
Tom Butynski- excellent professor, world-class primatologist (google him). Very quiet guy but can make a good joke and fun to pick on, cause he picks on you back. We really like him too.
Heidi- Manager/director of Moka Wildlife Center. Very fun and friendly, good life stories of past jobs in zoos and a sweet heart. Good to talk to learn more about the Guinean culture and trying to work in the country (which proves to be a challenge with the lack of initiative and entrepreneurial spirit of the town). I guess I can’t stop now, but we like her as well. In fact, there is really no one we didn’t like, so just attach that to everyone so I don’t have to write it anymore.
Demetrio- Very awesome Guinean (Bubi) who works at the Moka Wildlife Center and helps interpret for everyone. Always happy and smiling, very good natured.
Filamon- from Ureca (another small town) and is also Bubi. Extremely hard working and usually seen reading a dictionary in his free time. Best eyes and ears for monkey senses ever, can hear a fruit dropping 100 meters away.
Quinton Luke- British descent, born and raised in Kenya. The epitome of a 18th century botanist, accent and all. You really must see pictures to understand. Can give scientific name of any and all plants on the island. Came for a few weeks to collect more plants and is currently working on a book about the fauna of Bioko. Oh, any always ready for a party in his Kenyan formal wear that looked more like a skirt to the rest of us. Try google-ing him too.
Background that I realized while writing it may be good to fill everyone in on:
1. I believe there are 7 ethnic groups in the country, mainland and island.
2. I’ve been told they are Anoboneses’, Fang, Bubi, Combe, Mdoioe, Bujebos, Bisio.
3. The main ones we meet are Fang and Bubi.
4. The island was originally colonized by Bubi, who then had to deal with all the stupid colonizers such as the English, Portuguese, and most recently Spanish (thus the national langue is Spanish)
5. Currently the president, Obiang, is Fang. Which kinda makes the ruling class Fang.
6. There are still a lot of predominately Bubi villages around the island.
7. All of the UNGE students are Fang. The director of the program in Bubi.
8. They each have their own language that for the most part is verbal and cannot be written down. They can tell instantly which group you are associated with from your accent in Spanish.
9. When just hanging out, their language of choice is of their ethnic group, not Spanish.
10. There does not seem to be any sort of tensions between the groups, but there are definitely some unspoken feelings of superiority, though that may just be class levels.
11. Everyone seems happy with this president and doesn’t want another. I’ve been lucky enough to learn more about the past and its been very interesting.
So I’m thinking that I should get to work on my homework now before I rot sitting in front of my computer. Of course there is more to say, like what we actually did in Moka, but I will save that for the next blog. But I will let you all get a heads up on it. My and Cayetano’s project title was: Frog Habitat and Elevation Distribution at Moka and the Caldera on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.
I took too many photos of frogs to count and am currently working with a few expert herpetologists from around the world to identify them. We are really hoping to have found a species new to the island, or even new to science…but we’ll see, there is a lot of work needed to do that.
I have the preliminary photo document without tentative IDs from just the Caldera uploaded at:
http://www.zshare.net/download/54825189fe89cf08/
I also put up some of the more interesting frogs at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35062908@N08/?saved=1
Unfortunately, this uploaded information is a bit old now and the work has progressed a lot since then, but this is all I’ve got online for now. I’m sorry I didn’t get to go too much into actual things I am doing, but I feel like the people who I am spending so much time with are a very vital part of the experience, and this way you can get to know them too.
I keep thinking of things to write while avoiding actually doing work, plus I figured I would amp up the blog with some interesting story bits. So here are some teasers…
· I tried both sea snail and forest snail grilled on a shish-kabob stick off a street vender at the beach. Very good sea snail, not so much the forest snail. Fyi it didn’t make me sick. Also, the forest snail here is huge! About the size of a fist.
· We played soccer/futbol with some of the little kids of Moka, very cute, but very competitive. We won (mostly by efforts by UNGE students, see Cayetano’s bio above).
· There are ripe mango and banana trees here now in our yard, very good. Same with avocado.
· We went to play rugby with the Expat’s at Marathon (one of many oil companies). I still have some bruises, it was almost 3 weeks ago.
· I got to see some horses at Moka and briefly pet one. I tried to figure out if I could ride it, but the answer was repetitively no. I think I could…maybe I’ll sneak back (its only an 1.5 hour drive from Malabo).
· Why are there no cats in the city? Cause they get eaten.
That might actually be it for now…I hope everyone is happy and healthy at home, happy late Valentines day.
Tuesday 17 February 2009
SNOWDAY!!!! Well, actually terrorist attempt day.
4:45-6:00 sounds of bombs going off and gun fire, followed by many planes.
7:12 Elis texts. Not received till after Anton’s call.
7:17 Anton calls from the embassy, we are to stay inside today
7:28 Josue texted. Had been trying to call for half an hour. “There is an armed group in the city. Everybody stays home.”
7:30 Mary Johnson calls. Yes, all the students are here and safe.
It seems like the current rumor that is sifting through the gray air today is that a group from Nigeria has made an ‘attempt’. I don’ t really know what constitutes an attempt, but Julia said it was never an attack, just an attempt. That and the noises is as much as we have right now, maybe we’ll learn more later, maybe we won’t.
8:50 Homemade cinnamon rolls are brought out of oven. Raisins hand picked out of Raisin Brain box cereal included. Even looks like whole wheat.
8:59 No more cinnamon rolls left. Time to take Malaria pill, but still hungry.
9:28 Strange silence outside. Julia says the area is probably closed off. Benefit of living next to the presidential palace I suppose.
9:37 wondering where the president might be. Obiang will come up here tomorrow to check the road to Lake Biao. Obiang is in the US because he is very sick.
An interesting note with all the presidential palaces sprinkled around the country is that no one every really knows where the president is. Therefore, you always need to be on your best behavior, because you never know who is watching you.
It’s amazing how fast they can shut down a city as well.
9:43 we have missed our first class and I’m really hoping we get to go to our guest lecture at 11:00, it seems promising as there are cars driving outside (but we don’t know whose cars they are) and we can hear some talking as well, but once again, we don’t know who it is. And the thing about having a giant cement and spiky wall all around your property is that is keeps everyone out, including possible information.
9:48 Julia laughs and cuts herself off mid-sentence, “I guess we can’t turn on the TV and see what’s going on, its not America.” This, yes, in addition to the fact that we don’t have a TV.
9:50 Trying to analyze the types of cars driving outside for more information. There’s not very many, true. There still aren’t people or kids playing. I believe the neighbors have been slaughtering chickens, so the ‘attempt’ has surely not helped them out.
9:57 and now I’m bored. Nap? Or work? Journal would be good, or making a blog. Yes, I should make a blog, but I’ll get some peanut butter first.
10:13 silence is suspicious. Screeches in the street sounds like life getting back to normal. We thought we heard a screech, but it now sound like the city is on shutdown and we told Bosco not to come over. He said to stay safe. We said we’d try.
10:20 Jose calls to make sure we are not going to class today.
10:21 No class at eleven. Mary J. says that the military has closed down the streets.
10:22 Julia calls Elias Edjo, ‘we will not be making it to your lecture today, and do you have any more information?’ Doesn’t seem like it…I’ll ask.
10:23 ‘everything is under control now and they are just doing surveillance, so don’t go outside.’ And that’s all we will find out for now, all that will make it through our concrete wall.
10:27 Benjamin calls, no class. You guys are staying inside house today? Maybe no class tomorrow. Our total so far: 4 people have called to make sure we are safe. Nice to know.
10:45 ‘that was a metal box going down the road.’ No new info from that.
10:52 another professor from UNGE called to make sure we were all here and inside.
11:10 text from someone else making sure we are all ok (Katy McIntosh). Nice to know.
11:18 official report from Embassy of ‘apparent attack’ in vicinity of Presidential Palace, resulting in heightened security and recommendations to stay inside.
11:45 Heidi calls to check in on us.
15:33 Jose calls me to make sure we are ok. Super sweet.
17:54 Now trying to scavenge dinner from rice and our fruit trees. We are looking at rice and mango/papaya chutney. Hopefully we can leave the house tomorrow…
Blog:
First off, I would like to assure everyone that we are all ok. For those of you who didn’t happen to stumble on a tiny BBC article about EG, we had a little excitement today but nothing serious at all. You are welcome to read the article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7894651.stm . We all stayed home from school today and are currently on house arrest (thus having time to finally write a blog, funny). We have plenty of rice to eat so we are fine. The ‘attempt’ as it has been labeled is all under control now (the military is carefully patrolling the city) and it has showed us how many people care about us. The amazing-ness of a small island is that we are all like family. We got our first call at 7:17 am directly from the embassy telling us to not leave the house (yes, exactly 7:17 am). This was followed at 7:30 from our friends at MEGI (the Mobil oil company) who called to make sure we were all there and safe. Yes, we were, thank you. By 11:00 we had received more than 10 calls or texts from friends and/or important people in the city to make sure we were all good. This included UNGE (the University), professors from UNGE, our UNGE students, and a whole bunch of other friends who are our important connections in the city. This program is very respected in the city (thus the extremely strict rules for students to behave properly) and also survives off the connections it has made. If something is going to happen, we know about it first. So to sum up, we are not worried and I really want to make sure that you are not worried as well. We are all fine, hopefully we’ll be able to go to class tomorrow, and life is grand. To be honest, a day off was really needed :D So I will take the rest of my suddenly free time to fill everyone in on the rest…
Two weeks is a lot to catch up on, especially here, but I have time to write today (see above) so I figured I would give in and write. We left for Moka on the 11th. Moka is a small town more inland on the island and up on a mountain, therefore it is much cooler and less hectic. I really liked it up there, more than in Malabo. Plus the influence of the Expat’s is almost none, which is a nice change. Its amazing the amount of American oil workers or middle eastern construction workers walking around the city in Malabo. It almost makes us stick out less, almost, but not quite.
We headed up to Moka with all our UNGE students. These are the 5 students from University National Guinea Equatorial (you can figure it out) that are taking classes with us. We all went on the expedition together and have gotten really close. It’s been really fun because we have all become really close friends and the language barrier is becoming less of an issue. My partner is Cayetano and the irony of it is fabulous.
On the expedition we all had to announce our projects and who we were in Spanish. Then the UNGE students talked for like 5 min and chose a project to join. Cayetano chose frogs. That would be me. He announces it and I get to meet him. He is the smallest of the group, both in build and in height. Kinda like a little frog, its really rather cute. And then we were partners to spend all nights together wandering the woods and rivers looking for frogs, that was the best part. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The five UNGE students that are in our program are all Environmental Conservation majors and very passionate about their studies. It’s been really amazing seeing the amount of enthusiasm these guys have for their country. In order to be able to use their names throughout, I will introduce you to them now:
Benjamin: seems kinda like the leader of the group. Really funny jokester that can really just be described as goofy, yet a very serious student when it comes down to it. Very stubborn. Project: Seed dispersal of fruiting trees. American partner: Kelly D.
Jose: Has an alarm that goes off at 5 am every morning for approximately 10 min. terribly afraid of horses, which we refer to as large Galagos for his sake. Very social and nice guy. Project: Money and Duiker. American partner: Carolyn K.
Antonio: learned English from rap songs so sounds like a rapper when he says yeeaahhh. We told him that and he tried to switch to a British accent, which just sounded funny and he switched back unconsciously. Also the best dancer of the group and very interested in learning West Coast Swing, we had a dance off last weekend and he seems like a good partner. Oh, and he picked up Salsa super fast, so I’m excited. Also really likes the song by Eminem “cleaning out my closet” (yes, old song) and translating this was quite and interesting task. Project: Chameleon habitat and behavior. American Partner: Emilie K.
Monica: the only girl of the group, very passionate about botany and just strong headed in general. Very nice and made us chicken for dinner once on/for Kelly’s 21st birthday (I guess she got tiered of Spam, shocker). Will laugh at everything you say. Project: Orchid habitats and abundance. Partner: Jason L.
Cayetano- my partner! Shy and reserved. I believe to be lowest on the social/class level totem pole, which is hardly ever visible, but does appear every now and again. Cute smile when you get him laughing, the kind of smile that makes you smile. His dad was actually a professional soccer player and wanted him to do that, by Cayetano wanted education instead (really good guy) but is still a really good futbol player. Project: make a wild guess on this. American partner: once again, use that American education of deductive reasoning, if you didn’t get it, stop reading this blog.
The two American students who didn’t get an UNGE partner due to a shortage are Andeliene (Galago habitat studies) and Autumn (after many switching projects, chose Praying Mantis behavior and habitat. Which, if you knew her, could not be any more perfect. And was quite great cause we all got to learn a lot more about these insects and I’m not going to lie, it was pretty cool watching it eat a glow-worm for dinner once.)
Other key players in this game include:
Julia- our crazy resident advisor who has to make sure that our teachers actually teach and call them in the morning to make sure they show up to class. We like her.
Tom Butynski- excellent professor, world-class primatologist (google him). Very quiet guy but can make a good joke and fun to pick on, cause he picks on you back. We really like him too.
Heidi- Manager/director of Moka Wildlife Center. Very fun and friendly, good life stories of past jobs in zoos and a sweet heart. Good to talk to learn more about the Guinean culture and trying to work in the country (which proves to be a challenge with the lack of initiative and entrepreneurial spirit of the town). I guess I can’t stop now, but we like her as well. In fact, there is really no one we didn’t like, so just attach that to everyone so I don’t have to write it anymore.
Demetrio- Very awesome Guinean (Bubi) who works at the Moka Wildlife Center and helps interpret for everyone. Always happy and smiling, very good natured.
Filamon- from Ureca (another small town) and is also Bubi. Extremely hard working and usually seen reading a dictionary in his free time. Best eyes and ears for monkey senses ever, can hear a fruit dropping 100 meters away.
Quinton Luke- British descent, born and raised in Kenya. The epitome of a 18th century botanist, accent and all. You really must see pictures to understand. Can give scientific name of any and all plants on the island. Came for a few weeks to collect more plants and is currently working on a book about the fauna of Bioko. Oh, any always ready for a party in his Kenyan formal wear that looked more like a skirt to the rest of us. Try google-ing him too.
Background that I realized while writing it may be good to fill everyone in on:
1. I believe there are 7 ethnic groups in the country, mainland and island.
2. I’ve been told they are Anoboneses’, Fang, Bubi, Combe, Mdoioe, Bujebos, Bisio.
3. The main ones we meet are Fang and Bubi.
4. The island was originally colonized by Bubi, who then had to deal with all the stupid colonizers such as the English, Portuguese, and most recently Spanish (thus the national langue is Spanish)
5. Currently the president, Obiang, is Fang. Which kinda makes the ruling class Fang.
6. There are still a lot of predominately Bubi villages around the island.
7. All of the UNGE students are Fang. The director of the program in Bubi.
8. They each have their own language that for the most part is verbal and cannot be written down. They can tell instantly which group you are associated with from your accent in Spanish.
9. When just hanging out, their language of choice is of their ethnic group, not Spanish.
10. There does not seem to be any sort of tensions between the groups, but there are definitely some unspoken feelings of superiority, though that may just be class levels.
11. Everyone seems happy with this president and doesn’t want another. I’ve been lucky enough to learn more about the past and its been very interesting.
So I’m thinking that I should get to work on my homework now before I rot sitting in front of my computer. Of course there is more to say, like what we actually did in Moka, but I will save that for the next blog. But I will let you all get a heads up on it. My and Cayetano’s project title was: Frog Habitat and Elevation Distribution at Moka and the Caldera on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.
I took too many photos of frogs to count and am currently working with a few expert herpetologists from around the world to identify them. We are really hoping to have found a species new to the island, or even new to science…but we’ll see, there is a lot of work needed to do that.
I have the preliminary photo document without tentative IDs from just the Caldera uploaded at:
http://www.zshare.net/download/54825189fe89cf08/
I also put up some of the more interesting frogs at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35062908@N08/?saved=1
Unfortunately, this uploaded information is a bit old now and the work has progressed a lot since then, but this is all I’ve got online for now. I’m sorry I didn’t get to go too much into actual things I am doing, but I feel like the people who I am spending so much time with are a very vital part of the experience, and this way you can get to know them too.
I keep thinking of things to write while avoiding actually doing work, plus I figured I would amp up the blog with some interesting story bits. So here are some teasers…
· I tried both sea snail and forest snail grilled on a shish-kabob stick off a street vender at the beach. Very good sea snail, not so much the forest snail. Fyi it didn’t make me sick. Also, the forest snail here is huge! About the size of a fist.
· We played soccer/futbol with some of the little kids of Moka, very cute, but very competitive. We won (mostly by efforts by UNGE students, see Cayetano’s bio above).
· There are ripe mango and banana trees here now in our yard, very good. Same with avocado.
· We went to play rugby with the Expat’s at Marathon (one of many oil companies). I still have some bruises, it was almost 3 weeks ago.
· I got to see some horses at Moka and briefly pet one. I tried to figure out if I could ride it, but the answer was repetitively no. I think I could…maybe I’ll sneak back (its only an 1.5 hour drive from Malabo).
· Why are there no cats in the city? Cause they get eaten.
That might actually be it for now…I hope everyone is happy and healthy at home, happy late Valentines day.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Orange tents...
Jan 25, 2009
I've passed the physical test. I hiked more in the last two weeks than I have in my life and it was amazing. I have gained the nickname 'Frog Girl'. I have had my hiking boots stolen. Thats just the overview.
So to set the scene: there are about 8 volunteers, 7 students, 3 grad students, 4 professors, and approximately 55 porters. Our job was to hike the southern portion of the island of Bioko, EG, to conduct census of the 7 primate species of the island and analyze the affect of the supposed law against bushmeat hunting. Bushmeat is the capture and selling of wild animals for food and has been the reason for the great decrease in primate populations in the past decade (for more info just google bushmeat). The government finally set up a law in response to pressure from our program (BBPP) but enforcement of the law is anything but. So we spent two weeks counting primates and any other animal we set our eyes on. What did I learn? That census is a lot of work!
Except I didn’t really do many censuses. I studied frogs. A lot of frogs. And the last two days I’ve been working on the preliminary report of all the frogs I collected and photographed. My goal is to maybe have found a new species, but we’ll see. There are a lot of species here though. I have about 50 collected specimens that we will be sending to a herpetologist in CA to identify, then we’ll find out.
Since I don’t have time to tell everything, I would recommend checking out the program website at www.bioko.org and it will tell you almost everything we did, minus the personal little stories, which will trickle out over time…
Tonight we are enjoying out last meal at the MEGI compound and will be moving to our student out tonight. I’m super excited because we will finally get to leave the barbed wire fences and patrol guards for the reality of Africa. It feels really like I haven’t really been here yet. Tomorrow is our first official day of classes and we get to actually spend a 5 nights in a bed! This is super exciting because ever since the day we got here we’ve been sleeping in a tent. Its really funny though because the program has like 10+ matching bright orange tents that we take everywhere with us, its like a herd of big orange pods marching towards some unknown goal. Kinda creepy.
Yesterday we did get to leave the compound for a morning and we went to the market to check out the bushmeat section. Wow. It really makes me appreciate the work we spent in the Caldera with the primates. They actually break the legs of the animals so they can’t go anywhere but so the meat stays fresh since there are definitely no refrigerators. Then the animals just lie there until someone buys them, then they are sliced to pieces on a piece of cardboard on the ground. And there are animals everywhere, all types of animals. And most of them are collected illegally, however I think its pretty clear now that it is absolutely not enforced. It was a good first experience of Africa and I am really excited to get more starting tomorrow.
Anyways, Friday we leave for the Moka Wildlife center and will be spending the next two weeks back again with our best friends, the bright orange tents. And I did finally figure out, about half of my 3 months here will be spent in a tent…I am really appreciating my sleeping pad now! Then we go back for a few more weeks of normal school in classrooms, then finals week and we’re gone. Its very hodgepodge, but such a unique experience and unique program that I just have to realize I’m lucky to be a part of it. Oh, and every single weekend we go on a trip somewhere in the island (and yes, we stay in our orange tents wherever we go). I think in a few weeks we get flown to the mainland Bata by one of the oil companies for a party and presentation of our projects. So I’ll get to give a speech about my frogs :D
Anyways, there is about a million little things I want to tell you guys but I just can’t type fast enough to get it all out. I can tell you one thing though, my scheduled day for internet is Thursday. We are 9 hours ahead of CA time, so just make sure to have your skype account signed in all the time and hopefully we can talk. I already got to test it today and it seems to work pretty good. Most likely I will be on about noon CA time.
I love to hear from you guys, please email me about life in the USA and you will make my day. I can’t wait to be able to tell you guys about the real Africa…soon to come!
I've passed the physical test. I hiked more in the last two weeks than I have in my life and it was amazing. I have gained the nickname 'Frog Girl'. I have had my hiking boots stolen. Thats just the overview.
So to set the scene: there are about 8 volunteers, 7 students, 3 grad students, 4 professors, and approximately 55 porters. Our job was to hike the southern portion of the island of Bioko, EG, to conduct census of the 7 primate species of the island and analyze the affect of the supposed law against bushmeat hunting. Bushmeat is the capture and selling of wild animals for food and has been the reason for the great decrease in primate populations in the past decade (for more info just google bushmeat). The government finally set up a law in response to pressure from our program (BBPP) but enforcement of the law is anything but. So we spent two weeks counting primates and any other animal we set our eyes on. What did I learn? That census is a lot of work!
Except I didn’t really do many censuses. I studied frogs. A lot of frogs. And the last two days I’ve been working on the preliminary report of all the frogs I collected and photographed. My goal is to maybe have found a new species, but we’ll see. There are a lot of species here though. I have about 50 collected specimens that we will be sending to a herpetologist in CA to identify, then we’ll find out.
Since I don’t have time to tell everything, I would recommend checking out the program website at www.bioko.org and it will tell you almost everything we did, minus the personal little stories, which will trickle out over time…
Tonight we are enjoying out last meal at the MEGI compound and will be moving to our student out tonight. I’m super excited because we will finally get to leave the barbed wire fences and patrol guards for the reality of Africa. It feels really like I haven’t really been here yet. Tomorrow is our first official day of classes and we get to actually spend a 5 nights in a bed! This is super exciting because ever since the day we got here we’ve been sleeping in a tent. Its really funny though because the program has like 10+ matching bright orange tents that we take everywhere with us, its like a herd of big orange pods marching towards some unknown goal. Kinda creepy.
Yesterday we did get to leave the compound for a morning and we went to the market to check out the bushmeat section. Wow. It really makes me appreciate the work we spent in the Caldera with the primates. They actually break the legs of the animals so they can’t go anywhere but so the meat stays fresh since there are definitely no refrigerators. Then the animals just lie there until someone buys them, then they are sliced to pieces on a piece of cardboard on the ground. And there are animals everywhere, all types of animals. And most of them are collected illegally, however I think its pretty clear now that it is absolutely not enforced. It was a good first experience of Africa and I am really excited to get more starting tomorrow.
Anyways, Friday we leave for the Moka Wildlife center and will be spending the next two weeks back again with our best friends, the bright orange tents. And I did finally figure out, about half of my 3 months here will be spent in a tent…I am really appreciating my sleeping pad now! Then we go back for a few more weeks of normal school in classrooms, then finals week and we’re gone. Its very hodgepodge, but such a unique experience and unique program that I just have to realize I’m lucky to be a part of it. Oh, and every single weekend we go on a trip somewhere in the island (and yes, we stay in our orange tents wherever we go). I think in a few weeks we get flown to the mainland Bata by one of the oil companies for a party and presentation of our projects. So I’ll get to give a speech about my frogs :D
Anyways, there is about a million little things I want to tell you guys but I just can’t type fast enough to get it all out. I can tell you one thing though, my scheduled day for internet is Thursday. We are 9 hours ahead of CA time, so just make sure to have your skype account signed in all the time and hopefully we can talk. I already got to test it today and it seems to work pretty good. Most likely I will be on about noon CA time.
I love to hear from you guys, please email me about life in the USA and you will make my day. I can’t wait to be able to tell you guys about the real Africa…soon to come!
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