Habari za muda ya siku kuu?

As always I just read over my last journal to see where I left off and I noticed two things: I rushed the section about my parents' visit and I really gave Peace Corps a hard time about the workshop. Let's start with the latter. Joining Peace Corps is one of the best decisions I've made and I really appreciate the opportunity it's given me to live and work here in Tanzania. But sometimes I feel the administration overlooks our dual commitment as a volunteer for Peace Corps AND a volunteer for our villages. The section about my parents...I was tired. I wrote that at 12:30 at night (my bed time is usually 9:00pm) after a stressful but good week in the village with my parents. It was great having them but our roles were switched and I was sort of the 'parent' since they couldn't speak the language and didn't really know cultural expectations. Is that what it's gonna be like having kids? So there's my excuse. My parents stayed here for another 3 weeks (not always with me) so I have more to tell but let's see if I can't flesh out the week they spent in Chidya to give you more detail...

My parents arrived in Dar and spent one day trying to tie up some loose ends of our trip. Michelle and Mike met them in Dar and really helped them get around and get stuff done. Thanks so much you guys. Then they flew to Mtwara where I met them. I had already arranged a taxi and was waiting, trying to remain calm, and read my book. I heard the plane touch down and my heart began racing. This had been the longest I had been away from my parents without seeing them. I waited a short while and then saw them. Did they look different? Did we come to a big embrace? No. They looked the same and immigration wouldn't let them pass for a bit so we just stood waving at each other. Then Mom came through and I gave her a great big hug and then Dad. We put the stuff in the taxi and headed off. Our driver, named Zawadi which means 'gift', didn't speak much English so I got to practice a little translation. I was surprised to find I wasn't too nervous speaking Kiswahili around my parents. I think the difference is they won't know when I make mistakes while other volunteers do. We had a nice evening and the next day we got on a small bus to Masasi. This was the first test for my parents: Tanzanian public transportation. I think they did fine but couldn't really tell since they were sitting across the aisle from me. Meaning there were about 3 or 4 people standing between me and my parents in a space meant for one person. I'm glad we had a crowded bus so my parents could experience it. In town we got chips mayai, which my Mom loved, and then took the lorry up to my site. I had reserved the front 2 seats for my parents because, I've said before, standing in the back is like an hour and a half workout. As I hoped the road was pretty bad due to some rain we got the past few days so my parents got to experience that too.

Once here I tried squeezing in all the stuff I had planned to do which I mentioned last journal. The visit was good and we got the important things in: we walked a hour outside of town and my parents got to see the real village: mud huts, small dirt paths, and such. They got to observe and participate in a review session with my Form I students, see how I cook, meet Geofrey, Fundi Ally and Adjere, and some of the local Mamas. And of course they got Tanzanian clothes made and took pictures of the village and its people...and were followed by an entourage of school children simply for being a white people in a tiny village. It really did go too fast but soon we were on our way back to Mtwara.

I had communicated with my headmaster the previous day and we thought we could meet in town since he was coming back from a seminar that day. But his car was delayed from Dar es Salaam and my parents weren't able to meet him. However, we did meet Steph in town and traveled with her to Mtwara where she would pick up her parents from the airport the next day. That evening we had dinner with Tenney and Dennis and my parents really enjoyed meeting other volunteers and hearing their stories. The next day we went to the fish market where my parents marveled over boat life in Africa and the fact that the catch many, big Barracuda here and eat them (they're known to carry poison and just not taste that good in the Bahamas-where my parents cruise part of the year). That night Steph's parents arrived and we all had dinner together. Steph's Dad is known for sending 'different' sorts of care packages often with interesting and somehow quirky devices so it was nice to meet them.

The next day Steph and her parents left for her site while my parents and I left for Arusha. We spent one day there preparing for our safari and happened to meet Brendan (in my training group; genius behind mullet-fest) and his father who had just finished their safari. They were leaving for Brendan's site, near Moshi, so we only talked a little bit. The next day we met our guide, named Wellking but we called him King, and drove out to Lake Manyara. King had been the guide for another Peace Corps family the year before and they recommended him. He was really helpful and just seemed to enjoy being there even though he's been doing tours for 8 years.

Our first stop was a snake museum which we weren't too excited about, or at least I wasn't, because we were so close to the parks where the animals just roam free. But we really liked the museum and seeing some very interesting snakes. Here the most dangerous snake is the Black Mamba which they call the 7 step snake or one cigarette snake. If you're bitten by it you have energy for only seven steps or time for one cigarette before you die. We also saw some beautiful viper snakes and birds that they keep only to rehabilitate before releasing back into the wild. After the museum it was off the the park.

We checked in at the gates and got out to stretch our legs. And right in the forest were a group of Blue Monkeys. My parents were excited to see animals before even entering the park-that just wouldn't happen in America. Upon entry we came across some Baboons playing on the road. We stopped for photos and continued on. Then we saw our first big animals: Elephants. The tour guides communicate over the radio and mostly use Kiswahili. I knew King was talking about elephants but didn't hear the Kiswahili word for them: tembo. It turns out they have a nickname for them: masikio, which means 'ears'. I thought that was funny. We also saw a mother warthog and her two babies, some impala, various birds, and stopped at a hippo pool. They were loud. Imagine a pig oink but more guttural and...well, just loud. They carried on and got in to small scuffles with each other. It was nice to just hang out there a while. On our way out we got a real treat: an elephant charged us...slowly. It was grazing by itself and we came to a stop. The elephant came toward us but there was a small stream in the way. It started moving its head around like it was crazy. I don't know how else to describe it; it was the most ungraceful, uncoordinated, bizarre movements I've seen. At this point King said, 'You see? This is meaning that he wants to charge us.' Then the elephant began blowing bubbles in the stream. It found a place to cross and started advancing toward us. 'OK, this is dangerous,' King said in a very calm voice. We started the car and pulled slowly away. At some point another car had come up. We passed it and then watched as the elephant began charging their car. It brushed up against some branches and then began flapping its ears while it slowly marched towards them. I think it couldn't have been more than 10 feet from the other car. We both got away safely and that marked the end of our first day.

Our second day we spent traveling to the Serengeti which is a little more than a half day of travel. On our way out we were treated to another gorgeous site: a herd of giraffe galloping across the road. Usually the site of a giraffe running is a little awkward and goofy looking. But seeing a large herd (maybe 15 or so) gallop almost in sync from about 200 meters away is quite spectacular. We stopped at the Olduvai Gorge where one of the oldest human fossils has been found. It's a short stop at a small museum and was a welcomed change from sitting in the car. Next we got a call that lions were resting on some rocks so we joined a group of cars to watch. It was overcast but the sun soon came out and the loins decided that meant it was a good time to mate. King said this was pretty rare to see...and I think I'll leave it at that. It was getting late so we decided to head to the lodging for the night when we came across a car stuck in the mud. We tried helping but King decided our car might also get stuck so we got on the radio and got reports that rangers were on their way. We were so lucky to get stopped because on the way we spotted a cheetah and pulled over to watch it. Then it started toward us and crossed the road right in front of us. We were one of only 3 or 4 cars there.

The next day we spent touring around the Serengeti in the morning. We didn't see too much but we did get reports of a leopard being spotted (no pun intended) and raced to see it. By the time we got there it had climbed out of the tree and was lying in the tall grass so we couldn't see it. We ate lunch there waiting but didn't have any luck. On our way back through the plains toward the Ngorongoro grater it began raining and I got some good panoramics of the plains filled with wildebeest, zebra, and impala. We were visiting during migration when close to 2 million wildebeest pass through along with many zebra. It began raining and we came up on the same herd of giraffe grazing in the wild flowers during our return. I got a great picture of this. We spent that night in a hotel on top of the crater and our view was breathtaking.

Our last day was spent in the Ngorongoro crater. We left early in the morning and were treated to a pride of lions lead by two young brothers. They were just roaming the road right in front of the cars. The animals are used to cars passing by and some of the wildebeest won't even move as you pass inches from them. We passed by a hyena an heard a very unusual sound. We were looking around for the source when King told us it was the hyena. I don't know how to describe it; it wasn't a howl like I expected. It was very melancholy and had a low trill. Almost beautiful. This day we also saw six rhino...from very far away. Even with the binoculars they looked far. I was looking at a rhino thinking how small it made the wildebeest look, which had looked big the other day, when I realized it was just a baby and its mother was sleeping behind it, easily two and half times the size of the baby. Wow. Just before leaving we trekked through the forest and passed an elephant just off to the side of the road. My Mom loves elephants and this was a real treat as our last animal encounter before leaving our safari.

Our vacation was far from over; we still had Victoria Falls to visit. But before this we flew to Dar where my parents met Anna who came with us to Zambia. Anna and I have been dating for some months and it has been wonderful sharing this experience together even though we live three days travel apart. We hadn't seen each other in 12 weeks (who's counting?) and so were looking forward to it but also we were a little nervous about her meeting my parents. And no matter how many times we told each other it'd be just fine we still were nervous. We met at the airport and my Mom was quick to start up conversation and soon the nervousness wore off. My parents really like Anna and we had a real nice week together in Zambia.

Our journey started with a long bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Livingstone. So that night we treated ourselves to pizza and milkshakes. The next day we visited Victoria Falls, which in the local language is called Mosi-oa-tunya: the smoke that thunders; I think that pretty cool. And after seeing the falls you know why. The water falls into a narrow gorge and the mist rises back up the other side of the gorge sometimes more than a hundred feet. So from far away it looks like smoke but you hear a rumble in the distance. We walked every path, having most of the park to ourselves since it was raining a little that day.

We hadn't made many plans so we asked the travel agent at the hotel about activities. In a very 'no-big-deal' sort of way she suggested a trip to Livingstone Island. She said this trip was only available when the water was low (we weren't sure how visiting during the dry season would compare to the wet season...can I strongly recommend dry season? why...read on) and that we could swim out to a rock on the edge of the falls and look over. Alright, we heard her but it really didn't register what exactly we'd be doing. We met up at a very nice hotel right on the river leading to the falls. We took a boat out to Livingstone Island and met out guide, Johanna. He asked if we were swimming out to the rock (not everyone does) and we said 'yes' and a big smile greeted us. He gave us some history as we walked on the island that goes right to the edge of the gorge. Then we got ready to swim. We were swimming just 20 yards from the edge of the falls through a gentle current. It was amazing. Then we climbed on to a small rock. 'OK,' I thought, 'This is the rock where we can look over the edge.' Nope. Johanna explained we would now jump into a pool of water right at the edge. I looked into the pool and observed the current pulling to water over the falls. 'He's kidding,' I thought. He explained there's a rock wall at the edge where only inches of water pass over the top so it's perfectly safe to jump in and be swept by the current to the edge. 'He's NOT kidding!' I realized. He jumped in and was gently pulled by the current to the edge. Feeling a little more confident but still very scared I kissed Anna goodbye just in case and jumped into the pool. It was over my head, about 7 to 8 feet deep. I surfaced and swam out the rock ledge. Anna was next followed by Dad then Mom. Then Johanna explained he would hold Anna and my legs while we pulled ourselves to the edge and looked over the falls and then my parents. So Anna and I edged out and observed the falls, looking down them at the level at which the water drops. Absolutely amazing. My parents did the same and then it was over. We swam back to Livingstone Island and saw the rainbow in the mist. Then we had a small meal, hopped in the boats and went back to our hotel. To finish this amazing day the sky lit up in bright purples and oranges while the clouds lazily passed through.

Then it was back to Dar where I said goodbye to my parents and Anna and traveled back south. It was hard saying goodbye to both my parents and Anna in the same day especially after such an awesome vacation. But I was looking forward to sharing stories with Geofrey and friends back in the village.

But it was too quiet. No students and it's been too hot so most people are just sitting around. And as Chris will tell you I have trouble just sitting around. Christmas was busy. I spent the morning preparing for a baptism party for Julius' two kids. Then I had a good talk with my parents and Tony. He's back in the States now and I really miss him. We had a good talk and then it was off to my headmaster's house for dinner. After Christmas I went to Steph's site for a quick visit and we shared stories about our parents visiting and showing them around a different country. We both found it fun but tiring to show them around the village. It's tiring because you're translating so much and you want to show them everything you've done in the past year. But it was also so...awesome just to show them around and watch them interact. After Steph's I returned to the village where it rained a lot. Way more than cats and dogs. I had bought some seeds in town and so dug a small permaculture garden. I kind of don't really know what I'm doing so I dug a small spot and will see how it holds up. I plan to get more info from fellow PCVs at MSC. I spent new year in the village but got really sick so was in bed before 9pm. Woohoo.

A new year. This one's been great. I've met incredible people and have been changed by this experience. And I'm only half way through...

Justin