Time really does fly when you're having fun, it is crazy to think that the Thursday just passed marks 3 weeks being in Tanzania - it is crazy!!
The week has been a pretty awesome one - Monday/Tuesday was our epic adventure to Arusha, heaps and heaps and heaps of fun - it saw us wandering around town, visiting markets, the Meserani Snake Park, riding a camel out to a masai village, having fun holding snakes, and just generally having an awesome time with our group
I am currently typing on what has to be the world's most irritating keyboard so this post is going to be short, sweet and to the point.
anyway, after returning from our road trip, we got stuck back into project work, this time starting on a new aspect of the building - constructing a stage. we lugged volcanic rock and have begun to brick the front of the stage - it is looking pretty impressive and we are all impressively buff now, and I can safely add 'bricklayer' to my resume
this keyboard is sooooooo irritating!!!
anyway, continuing on, life in camp is much the same, we pulled an epic prank on the boys last night so it is now officially war, but in a good way, cause they thought the joke was hilarious.
all in all, it has been a pretty quiet week, the hikers for meru and kili leave on monday and the two-monthers return today after their safari
I am off to meet the school group as well today, should be good fun
until next time (hopefully with a less annoying keyboard)
KWAHERI!!!!!!!
xoxoxoxo
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
More of the tales of moi
Jambo guys, once again, I find myself in the cosy Internet cafe I frequent after another amazing week in Tanzania, ready to tell you of my happenings, so please feel free to pull up a bean bag or something comfy and listen to my tales.
This week has been much like the last - we have fallen into a rhythmic pattern of life which I adore, the walk to project, chilling with the kids in the school while we work, mostly ending up in them laughing at our poor Swahili, returning for lunch and siesta and the once again at the project site in the afternoon, minus the children and we find ourselves quite content to be in each others company, often singing on the scaffolding on which we work to famous Disney tunes (of which, "I just can't wait to be King" is a favourite.) I am becoming quite adept in a majority of different tasks on project, including plastering, carpentry, cementing etc (Ruya, I am still waiting on a theme song :P). Of the jobs, plastering is by far my favourite, followed closely by carpentry. Plastering is smooth and rhythmic and very relaxing, and I feel like saying 'wax on wax off' nearly all the time. Cementing is in it's own league, it is (hands down) the most frustrating job. you pick the cement up on your trowel, hurl it at the wall praying as it flicks through the air, it will stick on the wall, while other people around you do the same and you find yourself coated in cement. Then, you continue, until, say, your pillar, that you have been working on all morning, nearing completion, decides that the last lot of cement you threw was jsut too hard or in the wrong spot and you watch as all your work comes tumbling down in a rather unflattering sound. The last and perhaps greatest insult is that it 99.99% of the time will fall smack into your face, making you a better choice for a wall that the wall you were meant to be cementing. Such is life. But it is all good fun!
We visited the local markets on wednesday to, as our fearless leader Tommie says, 'Go African' by picking out local fabrics and visiting the local mamas to have dresses and shorts etc made for us (which I am actually picking up this afternoon) The market and towns are so vibrant and alive, it's exactly what one would think of when imagining a Tanzanian market.
The Aussie girls have essentially begun a prank war with the boys which could potentially last the duration of the 3 months (it could get ugly :P) but hey, we are all getting along well, joking, having quiz nights, fighting over which gender is better at lighting fires (all the usual stuff)
The boys have also converted me to the World Cup and I frequently sit and watch some of the games (Australia's loss to Germany was embarrassing - many comforting pats on the shoulder from the blokes)
I am currently organising a trip to Arusha for the 3-monthers that will take place on Monday (ROAD TRIP!) we're all very excited. It will hopefully take us to the ICTR and to some other Arusha attractions.
That's about all for me for now, I am still alive and loving Tanzanian life and living the moments :)
hope you're all well, God bless and peace out!
Annie
This week has been much like the last - we have fallen into a rhythmic pattern of life which I adore, the walk to project, chilling with the kids in the school while we work, mostly ending up in them laughing at our poor Swahili, returning for lunch and siesta and the once again at the project site in the afternoon, minus the children and we find ourselves quite content to be in each others company, often singing on the scaffolding on which we work to famous Disney tunes (of which, "I just can't wait to be King" is a favourite.) I am becoming quite adept in a majority of different tasks on project, including plastering, carpentry, cementing etc (Ruya, I am still waiting on a theme song :P). Of the jobs, plastering is by far my favourite, followed closely by carpentry. Plastering is smooth and rhythmic and very relaxing, and I feel like saying 'wax on wax off' nearly all the time. Cementing is in it's own league, it is (hands down) the most frustrating job. you pick the cement up on your trowel, hurl it at the wall praying as it flicks through the air, it will stick on the wall, while other people around you do the same and you find yourself coated in cement. Then, you continue, until, say, your pillar, that you have been working on all morning, nearing completion, decides that the last lot of cement you threw was jsut too hard or in the wrong spot and you watch as all your work comes tumbling down in a rather unflattering sound. The last and perhaps greatest insult is that it 99.99% of the time will fall smack into your face, making you a better choice for a wall that the wall you were meant to be cementing. Such is life. But it is all good fun!
We visited the local markets on wednesday to, as our fearless leader Tommie says, 'Go African' by picking out local fabrics and visiting the local mamas to have dresses and shorts etc made for us (which I am actually picking up this afternoon) The market and towns are so vibrant and alive, it's exactly what one would think of when imagining a Tanzanian market.
The Aussie girls have essentially begun a prank war with the boys which could potentially last the duration of the 3 months (it could get ugly :P) but hey, we are all getting along well, joking, having quiz nights, fighting over which gender is better at lighting fires (all the usual stuff)
The boys have also converted me to the World Cup and I frequently sit and watch some of the games (Australia's loss to Germany was embarrassing - many comforting pats on the shoulder from the blokes)
I am currently organising a trip to Arusha for the 3-monthers that will take place on Monday (ROAD TRIP!) we're all very excited. It will hopefully take us to the ICTR and to some other Arusha attractions.
That's about all for me for now, I am still alive and loving Tanzanian life and living the moments :)
hope you're all well, God bless and peace out!
Annie
Saturday, June 12, 2010
it's me again
Jambo Jambo!!!
Just come into town for a bit of adventure this morning and got to meet up with Tess and Emily which was fantastic!!!
So glad it is the weekend, it's been an amazing week but it has been quite tiring! Our work at the project is going very well (though I am sure OHS would have a few issues with our scaffolding and general building procedures heehee) but I am becoming quite the handy-woman - plastering, concreting, building doorframes and mixing cement. Anyone needs a house built when I get home, I have good hourly rates :P
Life here is still just as amazing though I will admit I do miss some of my home comforts, like my horses and my cats :( not quite the same falling asleep without Jasper purring in my ear. On another note, the two monthers have shipped out of base camp and into the Kili foothills camp of Kidio, living for 8 days in a local village, helping with the mamas in their daily chores and really experiencing village life - can't wait for our turn!! but it means that base camp is very quiet, only 15 of us left. But it means I can have two mattresses on my bed - HEAVEN!! unfortunately the thin mattresses mean that you can feel the bed slats underneath you as you sleep and can get a little uncomfortable on your hip bones but two mattresses is quite the treat. Life is just sooooo good!!!!
miss you all and ninakupenda kwa moyo wangu wote!!!! (google translate :P)
Just come into town for a bit of adventure this morning and got to meet up with Tess and Emily which was fantastic!!!
So glad it is the weekend, it's been an amazing week but it has been quite tiring! Our work at the project is going very well (though I am sure OHS would have a few issues with our scaffolding and general building procedures heehee) but I am becoming quite the handy-woman - plastering, concreting, building doorframes and mixing cement. Anyone needs a house built when I get home, I have good hourly rates :P
Life here is still just as amazing though I will admit I do miss some of my home comforts, like my horses and my cats :( not quite the same falling asleep without Jasper purring in my ear. On another note, the two monthers have shipped out of base camp and into the Kili foothills camp of Kidio, living for 8 days in a local village, helping with the mamas in their daily chores and really experiencing village life - can't wait for our turn!! but it means that base camp is very quiet, only 15 of us left. But it means I can have two mattresses on my bed - HEAVEN!! unfortunately the thin mattresses mean that you can feel the bed slats underneath you as you sleep and can get a little uncomfortable on your hip bones but two mattresses is quite the treat. Life is just sooooo good!!!!
miss you all and ninakupenda kwa moyo wangu wote!!!! (google translate :P)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
the post you have all been waiting for - drum roll please
well well well, we meet again in the land of cyber space - for the last time (joking)
There is so much to tell, even though it has only been a week, there is so much to tell, so much has been happening. I suppose I will begin to bore you with the tale from the beginning, if it becomes to much of a pain to read feel free to bow out at any time
ok, flights over were, how do you say it, excruciatingly long but (and no matter how much you dis it James - brother) Thai airways was very impressive, it was nice to fly with them - watched Sherlock Holmes, was fantastic, want to see it again!!!
We finally arrived in Kilimanjaro airport after flying between Mt Kili and Mt Meru (hoorah, I hiuked meru does the dance) and was the most amazing sight. I nearly cried, I was finally back in Tanzania, after wanting it for so long and after planning it for so long
Home is Mbokomu Camp, Camp Tanzania, located across from the Keys Hotel in Annex, along Mbokomu road. there is a small toilet block, 4 showers, a small mess building, campfire and three large tents in which we all live in blissful harmony (well, so far, there are a few english/aussie rivalries but never fear, with frequent renditions by the 7 australians in camp of Down Under and Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gumtree, True Blue and of course, the national anthem, Aussie pride is staying strong. They just think we're really weird :P)
We started working in the school on our project on Monday, and a typical work day goes a little something like this:
7-9 am brekkie
9 am - leave for work, walk 15 mintues (10 if you're eager) up the road to reach the school
9:15am-12 pm work on the building, either cementing windows mixing cement, plastering etc
12 pm - head home for lunch
2pm - back to the school for work
4pm - home for the afternoon
6pm (monday and friday) swahili lessons
7pm- Dinner
and then the afternoon is ours, to go into town or just chill in camp and sing true blue
Tuesday was an interesting day for me as after dinner, I started to feel a bit funny and later proceeded to break the world record, or at least tanzanian record on how many times one human can vomit in the space of 8 hours (record now standing at 9) needless to say it was a miserable night, and I wasn't the only one, there were 5 victims, though my record stands. Whether it was adjusting to the food or food poisoning no one quite knows, but all better know which is the main thing to be honest.
And the most random things have been happening in between, like on Sunday, a few of us just went out for a walk and cam across a Catholic church procession featuring practically the entire district that apparently only happens once a year, and were invited to join in, so we all sang (as best we could in broken kiswahili) and clapped and danced our way up the slippery clay road all the way to the church. It was an amazin experience, something so random and out of the blue but incredible.
And today, proud me, I got to cement two window frames into their slots and have been doing a lot of carpentry etc. Seriously, this should count as an apprentiship! I'm like Bob the builder without the cheesy theme song! And even better, is we get sooo grubby! (sorry mum!!) but see, now, instead of just being grubby at home, now I am grubby for charity, so it's all good. But seriously, there's no word int he dictionary to describe how filthy we get but moreso how much fun we have doing it.
Well, that's about me for now, we're in this camp for a month and then we will be heading off to our wildlife camp and camp kili where showers are buckets and soap and oh, how shocked the boy's looked :P ooh, I have been doing my own washing by hand as well, very proud!! (though I am not sure if some things will ever be quite clean again :P)
I hope everything Down Under is going swell, miss you all like crazy!!!
until my next trip into town or to an internet point
Annie
There is so much to tell, even though it has only been a week, there is so much to tell, so much has been happening. I suppose I will begin to bore you with the tale from the beginning, if it becomes to much of a pain to read feel free to bow out at any time
ok, flights over were, how do you say it, excruciatingly long but (and no matter how much you dis it James - brother) Thai airways was very impressive, it was nice to fly with them - watched Sherlock Holmes, was fantastic, want to see it again!!!
We finally arrived in Kilimanjaro airport after flying between Mt Kili and Mt Meru (hoorah, I hiuked meru does the dance) and was the most amazing sight. I nearly cried, I was finally back in Tanzania, after wanting it for so long and after planning it for so long
Home is Mbokomu Camp, Camp Tanzania, located across from the Keys Hotel in Annex, along Mbokomu road. there is a small toilet block, 4 showers, a small mess building, campfire and three large tents in which we all live in blissful harmony (well, so far, there are a few english/aussie rivalries but never fear, with frequent renditions by the 7 australians in camp of Down Under and Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gumtree, True Blue and of course, the national anthem, Aussie pride is staying strong. They just think we're really weird :P)
We started working in the school on our project on Monday, and a typical work day goes a little something like this:
7-9 am brekkie
9 am - leave for work, walk 15 mintues (10 if you're eager) up the road to reach the school
9:15am-12 pm work on the building, either cementing windows mixing cement, plastering etc
12 pm - head home for lunch
2pm - back to the school for work
4pm - home for the afternoon
6pm (monday and friday) swahili lessons
7pm- Dinner
and then the afternoon is ours, to go into town or just chill in camp and sing true blue
Tuesday was an interesting day for me as after dinner, I started to feel a bit funny and later proceeded to break the world record, or at least tanzanian record on how many times one human can vomit in the space of 8 hours (record now standing at 9) needless to say it was a miserable night, and I wasn't the only one, there were 5 victims, though my record stands. Whether it was adjusting to the food or food poisoning no one quite knows, but all better know which is the main thing to be honest.
And the most random things have been happening in between, like on Sunday, a few of us just went out for a walk and cam across a Catholic church procession featuring practically the entire district that apparently only happens once a year, and were invited to join in, so we all sang (as best we could in broken kiswahili) and clapped and danced our way up the slippery clay road all the way to the church. It was an amazin experience, something so random and out of the blue but incredible.
And today, proud me, I got to cement two window frames into their slots and have been doing a lot of carpentry etc. Seriously, this should count as an apprentiship! I'm like Bob the builder without the cheesy theme song! And even better, is we get sooo grubby! (sorry mum!!) but see, now, instead of just being grubby at home, now I am grubby for charity, so it's all good. But seriously, there's no word int he dictionary to describe how filthy we get but moreso how much fun we have doing it.
Well, that's about me for now, we're in this camp for a month and then we will be heading off to our wildlife camp and camp kili where showers are buckets and soap and oh, how shocked the boy's looked :P ooh, I have been doing my own washing by hand as well, very proud!! (though I am not sure if some things will ever be quite clean again :P)
I hope everything Down Under is going swell, miss you all like crazy!!!
until my next trip into town or to an internet point
Annie
Saturday, June 5, 2010
first tanzania post
well, here I am, backin tanzania - WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is frickin AWESOME!!!!!!! it's amazing to be back, it'sexactly as I remember it :D flights in were killer, and I am still jet lagged, i keep thinking lunch is dinner, but am, slowly getting accustomed to the time difference. this will only be a quick post as it took forever to get onto my account but my next one will be longer and more substantial and probably cost more shillings lol. oh, and PASSION FANTA oh ow i have missed your passiony goodness :D it's amazing here, i love being back!!!!!
love you all, will post a more substantial post next week, after we start work at the school!!!!
ninakupenda, kwaheri!!!!
love you all, will post a more substantial post next week, after we start work at the school!!!!
ninakupenda, kwaheri!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)